Wordle

Here's a site (Wordle) that takes whatever text you give it and assembles the words in a typographic composition based on the frequency of the words in the source text. You can adjust the font, orientation, color palette and more. It is pretty fun. Here's a quick sample of one I did.

Advertising Age Top 10 Commercials

Advertising Age magazine ranked their top 10 commercials. Check out the Coke, Skittles and Discovery Channel ads. A couple of other ones are a little freaky, but they all stand out in some way.

Beer Bag/Ad

This is an awesome marketing/advertising idea. They placed an image of the a case of beer on the side of a bag. It looks like the shoppers are carrying a case of beer.

Ahhh, Butter

Great billboard for butter in Switzerland. (Ads of the World)

Best Commercial: Star Burst & Lionel Richie

Here's one of my favorite, all time commercials. It's an amazing Starburst ad with a Lionel Richie song in the background.

Vespa animation/commercial

Someone did a Vespa an animated, 3D "commercial." I'm not sure it aired, but they rendered a pretty nice version of a scooter.

VW carbon footprint

A great UK ad publicizing the carbon footprint savings from a VW.

Wendy's Ad: Meatarians (disgusting)

Ok, so I am not a vegetarian, but I find this Wendy's meat-centered ad disgusting. I am craving broccoli.

Holiday & SPD

SPD has done a great, retro design for their holiday party that incorporates their brand very well and looks like a well designed retail style.

Buy-ology

Here is a book on the psycology of why we buy. It could give some insight for a designer as we design a brand and identity to make it the most effect for the client.

Stylized, Branding Type

I admire Hoefler & Frere Type and how they market their typefaces. They seem to brand it and stylize it so well to make it even more interesting to use then almost anyone else.

Miracle Meal

Here's a title element design I am working with for the Miracle House menu as well as section location elements for the manual.

Affordable Specialty Printer

This is a print company, Moo, that has a select product line that you can choose from for short runs. They have a few unique products that could help ad punch to an identity or event. I love the sicker books.

Accidental Type Composition

So, I got some prepress proofs (PDF) back from printers for work and thought I would see what happened if I tried to open them in a browser. Since a browser cannot directly read a pdf it made some very cool typographic mix ups.

Art Not Ads Show

I went to the Art Not Ads gallery opening on Friday night. It was much more then I expected. It was held at Studio Chambers, a large photo studio on Edgewood that was a garage decades ago. There were probably 150 or more people there when we arrived. The studio was packed with paintings, sculpture, illustration and mixed media from some awesome local designers, advertising execs, photographers and illustrators. I was so impressed that people in the professional design community find time to continue and grow in mediums distinct from their everyday, career related creativity. It is encouraging to see that it can be done and challenging to think that I should be sketching and painting more. Artists of mention: Ed Young, from Young and Martin Design and Tim Smith of BreenSmith Creative Advertising. The show was full of free food and beverage and a donation supported the Grady High School arts program. It was awesome.

Vespa Commercial

King Kong and a Vespa. The video quality is poor, but the concept is there. It's funny.

Rutgers ID Manual Exemplary

I have been using the Rutgers Identity Manual is a great model of a well thought out guide. I have been using it as a model to check mine against as I develop each section. I know a few others have also found this guide and I think it has helped us all.

Art Not Ads Show

A designer I know in town recommended going to this art show next week. It is art from designers in town. The opening is Friday, November 14, 6:00-11:00 pm.
It is only open for the weekend at this photo studio (Studio Chambers).

BrandED needs an Education

I found this Brand consulting group and from the look of their own brand it looks like they need a consultant to help them improve their brand.

Free Starbucks for Voting

Here's the promo for the Starbucks free coffee for voting. It's a simple, but nicely done type-based video promo.

Stationery + Store Tags

This is a designer I admire. Their site is nothingsomething and they have a wealth of examples of good work for identity and other projects. This is a set of identity materials for a store. Very nice, stylized design.

Voting is Sweet Again!

So, Ben & Jerry's is doing a promo on Tuesday that is similar to a concept I experimented with for a voting campaign last Fall. FREE ICE CREAM on VOTING DAY!
My vote's for Half Baked (no intentional candidate reference).

Heinekin Identity Manual

I found this identity manual for Heinekin beer international. It is mostly for their internal forms, communications, and brand management. However, it is a very thorough structure and guide, especially for a web based manual.

NYC Pix Gallery

Here is a collection of pix from my recent visit to NYC. It's a variety of weird and wonder times and the city. Enjoy. They should all be full-size, high-res, downloadable images, if you need anything.

Visit to Pentagram Design, NYC

Jim Anderson of Pentagram Design in the Manhattan Flat Iron District, was gracious to meet with me and give me a studio tour of Pentagram. Pentagram is a multidisciplinary firm. They design for print, identity, environment (basic signage to entire building), interactive and architectural (Yes, they even have an architect and architectural design team). Their office was a bank many years ago, so it has striking detail and seemd like an inspiring place to work. The basement has the old bank bank vault, which is now their samples library and project storage. They also have a large comp building station outside the vault.

Brand Explosion

This is a shot I took in Times Square of a Target ad. It's huge. Target is well known for pimping their logo in every way in their advertising, but it works and their identity is very clear.

Brand at the Door

The entrance to the Morgan Stanley offices in midtown Manhatten gives a clear visual of brand right as you walk in the door. I assume it also helps when giving directions.

Visit to CURIOUS PICTURES

While in NYC I was able to visit Curious Pictures in downtown Manhatten (near NYU). I met with Dominie Mahl. She is the Curator of Art & Design at Curious, which is a unique and beneficial role for a design house. She was extremely helpful and gracious with her time and insight. They are a very large and busy firm. Unfortunately I had a sign a non-disclosure agreement as soon as I walked in the door, so I can't mention anything they are working presently.

HEAVY METAL: Identity for all Mediums

According to a blurb in one of the latest email newsletters from GD-USA, Metallica was very savvy in the design process for it's latest album, "Death Magnetic." I am not a fan of their music or even this design, but the thought and intention they put into its creation is commendable. I mean they actually used the work "iconography." It's enough to make any headbanger momma proud.

Here is an excerpt from the Graphic Design USA newsletter:
"Metallica’s new album “Death Magnetic” features packaging and branding by the Turner Duckworth design firm. With CD sales challenged by widespread downloading, the band says they were looking for new ideas. “This time, we wanted to work with professionals who understand iconography,” said lead singer James Hetfield. Lars Ulrich, the band’s drummer and frequent spokesperson added, “We wanted somebody who commanded respect in branding but were not jaded by the music business.” David Turner said, “The songs are about how death — and life — repels and attracts us. Our image expresses the theme, with a white coffin resting in a grave, surrounded by a magnetic field.” The image was created to be recognizable even on a cell phone screen. “It’s not just about sleeve art any more, it’s about creating icons that work across media,” added Turner."

Brand Recognition

Is it good to have your own product beat your company brand in a consumer survey? In a recent U.K. survey the iPhone beat Apple itself for brand visibility.

LAYERS mag Adobe CS4 tutorials

So, Adobe is going all out to establish CS4 as the new standard for design. They have put together dozens of tutorials that really get you stoked about the new features (see Illustrator gradients and multiple artboards). I was planning on waiting 6-9 months or longer to upgrade, but now I might jump in much sooner.

Pantones for 6pack

I bought some cider this weekend and the box had a bit too clear labeling of the print specs, PMS included. I know you can usually find the registration and color bars on a hidden part of the package, but maybe they are proud of their color choices.

BBC rebranding video

Here's high-concept promo video with a low-brow twist for the rebranding of BBC three channel and one of its programs. It's quite fun.

New House Ideas

Taking the arch idea, I developed a few new perspectives that I think are more understated and fitting the client. With Stan's insight, I gave them further tweaks. I am just playing with color and trying to see if I have any other brave, new concepts hiding under my creative couch.

new MH logo concept

Here's a different concept for the Miracle House logo. It is modeled off of the Triumphal Arch. It represents Welcome and Victory, which I thought had correlation to the welcoming spirit of MH and their work adding to the medical fights that they are supporting and helping to win.
The colors need work and the icon needs refinement, but the idea is there.

New Identity Design and wall Installation

Here's a new identity design I did for a high school student organization (remix). I designed a new logo, website, collateral print materials, a wall wrap and animations.

Miracle logo (if only!)

Here's the thing about designing an identity for Miracle House. How do you give an identity to "Miracle." The thing about a miracle is that it's indescribable. It can't be explained. It cannot be quantified, conveyed or converted into anything that is grasped or known or recognized by any human, because we don't know what a miracle looks like. We only know what the effects of a miracle look like. The miracle of this project would be developing a logo/identity that related the supernatural work of MH without trying to explain it.

iPhone Apps-New Corporate Identity Boom

There are now 3,000 or so applications available through iTunes and others through jailbroken sources. More than 100,000,000 apps have been downloaded so far. Many are spin offs of existing companies, but many are brand new products and services. To that regard, new identities and websites are springing up every day for these new software entities.
Sadly, I think too many of the software developers are taking the identity design of their new products in their own hands and the logos and identities reflect a less than stellar design. How do we get developers to look at enlisting real designers to help them out?

Logo Lunacy

Okay, so this company is undermining the logo design process and making Corporate Identity design a drive-thru business. How sad.
Anyone want to test their skills and give them $300 for a fake logo?

Miracle House logos (rough)

Here's a look at rough comps for the Miracle House logo redesign.

BlackBooks Stencils and fabrication

BlackBooks is a vendor for custom stencils or business cards or promo pieces. It could add an inexpensive, yet striking element to the ID project (style guide).

Other Miracle Houses

Here are a couple of "logos" for other Miracle House organizations. I don't even need to say a thing.