I just came across this amazing set of kaleidoscopes with patterns made from type. According to the artist, Katerna Orlikova, the idea was based off of the topic, “Light and Typography.” You can read more about the project and see more images here.
Archive for the 'Graphic Design' Category
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What is Letterheady, you might ask? A blog that showcases nothing but letterhead designs from various time periods, of course!
Love this poster for me office. Be sure to check out some of the other work, as well, on the Borja Bonaque Illustration & Design website.
While we’re on the subject of Haiti… The Haiti Poster project is “a collaboration of designers and artists from around the world, benefitting victims of the earthquake in Haiti.” Moxie Sozo and Josh Higgins, organizers of the 2005 HURRICANE POSTER PROJECT and the 2007 SO-CAL FIRE POSTER PROJECT, respectively, have teamed up to seek limited edition sets of posters from artists, designers and design firms from around the world to be sold online to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.
What a wonderful opportunity for designers and artists to help just by doing what they love and do best. Submissions must be entered by March 15. For more information, visit thehaitiposterproject.com.
So, MTV has upgraded their logo, dropping off “Music Television”. I can’t say I’m a big fan of photography in logos and I certainly miss the old MTV I grew up on. But let’s face it, MTV is no longer Music Television, anyway. In recognizing the changes the channel has already made to it’s programming, I agree with those who say this change is long overdue.
MTV says: … The logo is part of MTV’s re-invention to connect with today’s millennial generation and bring them in as part of the channel.
What do you guys think?
I literally just came across this packaging for Backyard vineyards, done by Barral Fabien. The intricate and beautiful detail in the custom typography and the illustrations floored me.
An explanation of the job and concept, as well as details of the actual label can be viewed here.
I think most Brooklynites are already savvy but I wanted to give a quick mention to Brokelyn, just in case. Brokelyn is a web magazine “founded in celebration of a place we’re endlessly enthusiastic about, no matter how [synonym for crummy] the [synonym for economy] gets.”
I check, and check back often. And believe it or not, there’s a lot of cool stuff out there in the Borough of Kings that doesn’t cost much. Plus, aside from being a great resource, Brokelyn’s fabulous identity was designed by my former undergrad classmates at Tyler School of Art, The Heads of State.
Currently? I’m reading Best Cheap Beers for the Superbowl.
“Bad clients lead to more bad clients… Doing good work for good clients will lead to more good clients!” — Michael Bierut
This morning I forced myself to get out-and-about very early for January’s CreativeMornings event hosted by Tina Roth Eisenberg, also know to bloggers and designers as Swissmiss, the “Swiss designer gone NYC”. Tina hosts the CreativeMornings breakfast lecture series each month right here in NYC but this month particularly interested me. The speaker was Michael Bierut, partner in Pentagram’s New York office.
Mr. Bierut gave an invigorating talk about clients. And we’re not just talking client horror stories, here. Today’s discussion touched on how clients can be the best part of the design process, what makes a client good or bad, how to effectively profile and work with clients, and finding the right designer/client fit. But given the current economic state and some very real issues I’ve been noticing, what really struck me about this point of discussion was the declaration that in order to do good work and continue getting the opportunity to do more good work, designers should only work on good projects with good clients.
As a freelancer who is fairly new on the scene, coming from a 9-5 full-time job, it is painfully obvious to me that right now many of the jobs I come across or am presented with are coming from a client who wants quality design work for their not-so-quality project from an educated graphic designer for one-third of that designer’s price. Because things are tough right now. I get it. But what most non-creative potential clients don’t seem to get is that this business of graphic design is our livelihood. Not only do we not want to spend our time doing bad work that will not represent us well in our portfolios; we especially don’t want to spend our time doing bad work for a fraction of the market value. And yet, given the economy and the current struggle to land any client, many designers may be considering taking on bad work for bad clients at whatever value!
Mr. Bierut advises against it. “Bad clients lead to more bad clients,” he says. “[And] doing good work for good clients will lead to more good clients!”
In other words, while it may be tempting to take on a crappy project for some extra cash, or even for a large paycheck, resist the urge. If you want to do good work and keep doing good work for the right kinds of clients, you need to avoid the crappy stuff — no matter what. There will never be an instance where a crappy job will lead to a good job. Crappy jobs only lead to more crappy jobs.
So it’s up to you: Do you want to be a designer who gets by doing crappy jobs, or do you want to be the kind of designer who is asked to speak at an event like CreativeMornings? The choice is yours. And I know the economy is making it difficult for us, but still: if you want to be doing good work, don’t succumb to the pressure to take on bad work just because work seems hard to come by right now. It will only hurt you in the long run.
“Five good clients,” says Mr. Bierut. All you need is five and you’ll be set for life. Do you have your five? If not, what are you waiting for? Go get them!
For more about CreativeMornings (which, by the way are free), visit creativemornings.com and for more about Tina Roth Eisenberg, visit swiss-miss.com. This month’s sponsors were Behance and Blurb, so a big Thank You goes out to them for helping to keep this event free for NYC’s graphic design community. For more on today’s speaker, Michael Bierut, and Pentagram, visit pentagram.com.
Do you know about 8 Days a Week? This “premier event calendar for the New York City design community and all those who work, think and dream design 8 Days a Week” is a valuable tool for learning about upcoming events in one simple, easy to navigate spot. Valuable for all designers but especially for those in the NYC area who like to frequent local industry events. Bookmark it, if you haven’t already!
I could lie and say that it’s very hard to pick favorite things… But that would be a lie. I keep two folders at the bottom right corner of my desktop: one titled “Inspiration” and another one called “Love!” (I think you can guess what I keep in my Inspiration folder.) Here, I’ll share with you a few of those things that are currently taking up space in my Love! folder. Clockwise from the top left:
1. Studio on Fire
Minneapolis-based letterpress printer, Studio on Fire produces amazing work. Right now, I’m coveting these awesomely weird cards, and the Power of Love poster would look great in my bedroom!
2. House Industries Stuff
The large Ampersand Pillow would look cool with the duvet set I’ve had my eye on from Dwell Studio. And I’m loving most of their prints, but the Benny and Ford prints in particular would look great in my living room!
3. Fontfabric Type Foundry
Loving the clean, modern Zag typeface, as well as Uni Sans, a wonderful alternative to Helvetica when used in caps. Plus, the distinctive lowercase has a clean, modern feel.
4. Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.
Need an Evil Blob Containment Capsule (among other cool Superhero supplies)? Look no further.
My Love! folder is always full and occasionally I need to clean it out to make room for some new Favorite Things, so keep checking back. Each time I do a clean sweep of the Love! folder I’ll share a few items with you right here.
