delicious

Hello, got a little bit of everything here. Firstly, I don't know if you like Jones Soda but you will now. Designed by Superbig creativeI got the Jones Soda Halloween cans from this month's print magazine. I really enjoy the clean, playful illustrations and also the great typeface...it looks hand drawn but y'know prolly not.

I found a few more examples to show. All of these came from a book from your friendly Parkland Library. The book entitled "White Graphics" was put together by Gail Diebler Finke and was published in 2001. The book centers around the use of white as a tool in design. I myself think of white as a painter thinks of his canvas.....to cover it all. After reading and looking through some of the examples, I know better. White space can serve as an organizational aid, as seen in the drug label, it can be used to create a sense of elegance as seen in the Chinese music and dance poster. It can also be used to create emphasis on the most important pieces of information or assets in a design as seen in the Smoke Signals poster. I highly recommend this book to anyone that might think the same way i did about their canvas.

books!

This week i chose to do some examples of great book cover design.

Firstly, i thought the photography and use of type in the book "The Healing of America" was very eye catching. Simple to read and a very well thought out idea, this composition uses a almost-symmetrical balance which, in itself, really sets itself apart. The designers are Keenan and Dagger Herren.

Moving on, I couldn't help but be pulled to this next one. High! spelled with a joint! Yeah, it was probably one of the quicker things that made it into the sketchbook but i really like how they treated the type and also the placement of the authors and subtitle. designers.

Lastly, I can't help but be enticed to the hand-made feel of this. The placement of the sentences and fragments also make this design work giving it a feeling of movement which in turn lead the eye toward the bottom of the page. Designed by Peter Mendelsund.

packaging

Hello, well.....I chose to do a bunch of examples of excellent package design.

The first of which is the for a product called Bear brand fruit/granola nibbles. The company boasts being 100% all natural and i think the design elements and look reflect this. Given the rough, almost hand-cut look of the bear and also the letter forms it gives off a handmade/homemade feel to it. The limited color palette really lends itself to a nice clean design. This was designed by http://www.bandb-studio.co.uk/

My second example is for a men's beauty product line named Kyoku. I really admire the decisions that the designer made regarding using clean elements and a minimal look. Type and line. Black and white.

the last one is probably my favorite. It's for an outstanding product, cheese! Wooden box, great illustration printed right onto the wood....these all work together to give a look of being made the old fashion way. What sets this apart from the total look of victorian is the excellent, and insightful, use of a modern typeface on an older package. I personally think that i couldn't get away with this but these guys can.

Well, i hope you enjoyed these. I sure as hell did.

handmade!

Ok, well once again, i'm updating my blog. Of course, noone's left a comment on a single fucking entry but whatever.

As we are working on posters I've tried to post (for the most part) examples of great posters with the theme of handmade. Whether that be the type or illustration or the actual construction of the posters. Which is the case of the first set of yellow posters.

the yellow posters were done by a french designer for a client called the cultural cellar. the best i could find on the designer was his blog here! Anyhow, the only real materials used in making these were pencil, tape, ink and marker. I really like the difference of each one and knowing that these are handmade gives me a renewed charge in GDS.

The second set of posters area actually wine bottle label for a winery called Michael Austin wines. Again, handmade feel and each illustration tells a story of the people that made the wine. the design firm, Templin Brink Design, is no longer in business but the site has links to the designers who work elsewhere now. The thought process is one that tells a story but does so in a way that makes them stand out from the rest of the wine on the shelf.

Lastly, (OK, there's only one real set of posters here) are coasters that were sent out by Design Army for the sake of simple self-promotion. The great thing about these are the feel of unification among the differing illustration, hand done of course.

I got all of these examples out of an outstanding book entitled "Fingerprints: the art of using handmade elements in graphic design". The book was put together by Chen Design Associates in 2006. Going through the book (which was available from your friendly Parkland Library) there's references to any kind of advertisement known including excellent examples of websites. Enjoy!