Posts filed under 'Design'
I don’t know why I don’t write about these fellas more often. They’re seriously kickin’ asses in places I’ve never dreamed of. Most people, only try to appeal to their clients and do the whole show up at 9 and leave at 4:45 thing, not these gents. For these guys, sleep is optional and appeal is for pussies. This is their special sauce, their power animal, and their destiny; there is no one who can get in the way of their magical creative powers. That’s right, these boys are more than Centaurs, they’re designers. And damn good ones too! I had the luxury of working with Cypher13 back in 2007 on a variety of schemey projects and plans that are only growing more intense in strategy and outcome. It kinda makes me jealous, but more accurately keeps me inspired and pumped on my 15 hour days working to be Kung Fu true and at one with the way of the designer… But that’s another story all together…
August 22nd, 2008
I really don’t like soda, and Fanta would probably have to be somewhere at the bottom of a favorites list if I had one, but the recent identity refresh and animation spots sure have grabbed my attention. It seems that the once elite, “trendy” and so very “temporary” concept of ultra pop minimalism is taking flight. Shit, even if it’s not, those very designers and illustrators responsible for pushing it are getting some decent sized accounts and jobs out of this new realization. It seems that you truly do win when great creative is attached, no matter how shitty the product is. Too bad Pentagram can’t seem to turn that concept around. Anyhow, take a gander at what San Fransisco studio Office did for Fanta. Quite inspirational if you ask me…
August 22nd, 2008
Build throwing down some handstyles. See video here.
August 21st, 2008
Jonathan Saunders is a contributor on motionographer, he is also responsible for an insanely solid portfolio.
August 20th, 2008
The Soft & Furry logo design contest just came to a close earlier today. It ended with the victory of a particular artist by the name of Markham “Shitty Kitten” Maes. Sources say that there was shouting and dismay followed by simultaneous cheers and ferocious clapping. Hundreds, maybe even thousands gathered as the last minutes of the contest slowly slipped away. The tense and seemingly awkward merit ceremony left one man “blinded by the joy that filled the room…” Overall, those involved in this witty display of graphic demonstration have been noted as brave and cunning opponents. Any who dare challenge will have surely met their match…
Many entered, and only one rose above the rest to be the new poster boy for this soft and precariously furry project. Shitty will no doubt be the topic of many soon to come conversations and dialogues to sweep the blogger nation. Stay tuned for more information and updates on the artists involved in the forthcoming stages of this daring scenario known as Soft & Furry.
August 8th, 2008
Keds has teamed up with Zazzle to bring you fully customizable canvas shoes. You can upload your own art and have the capability of customizing every part of the shoe even the stitching! And it all starts at $60 bucks a pop. Threw this shoe together just to test the waters. Maaan, I can’t wait to really throw down, it’s going to be dope!
August 5th, 2008
FLAKE.tv is a small collection of videos broadcasting some of the hottest stores, fashions, etc in the world. Definitely check out the flick of Colette, they are reopening later this month so it’ll be interesting to see how they step their game up. FLAKE.tv also has plans to include videos of creatives in all fields in the future, which is definitely something to look forward to. Anyway, peep the videos, get jealous and then realize that you own/do most of these things anyway.
August 5th, 2008
New film by Gary Hustwit, director of the fantastic movie Helvetica. I’m excited and can’t wait to see how it unfold. Logo by Build.
Via JoyEngine
August 3rd, 2008
Call for entries for Fl@33’s newest book titled Made and Sold. The Graphic designer’s Sidelines! They are looking for self-initiated and self-promo work, send your ish in and find out if you make the cut. Due date August 25th.
August 3rd, 2008
Has some nice illustrations.
July 21st, 2008
Mike Perry’s new book featuring hand-drawn patterns. Ships Sept. 15, preorder that ish now.
July 14th, 2008
It’s been a while now, but it’s always worth a mention. A month or so ago TEEBEE and I were sharing some of the latest shit we’d been working on and out pops these precious little guys. A collection of samurai and sensei in a progression of skill sets. I’m definitely a sucker for vector characters and even more so those that have little back stories. Sooner than later, I hope to see Todd and Lucian take these little creations and turn them into a full line something… something…? Could be toys, paintings, stickers, characters for a short story or even (my fav) a group of characters for a super secret short animation! Ha! The moral of the story being that sharing is cool and keeps my ass inspired. Thanks gentlemen! Keep ‘em rollin’.
July 5th, 2008
Above is a hand-bill created by yours truly for the Super Fresh Block Party taking place this weekend, July 5th ( FIF! ) on East Colfax! Starting at 6pm you can swing by the Rock Bar parking lot for some BBQ and check out Live Painting by: Shitty Kitten, Mike Graves, Robert Maestas, Josh Wills, Eric Cox… and possibly a few other super secret and extra special guests, Hearts of Palm will serenade your soul! The shenanigans will continue throughout the night up until around midnight… A guerilla fashion show will take place along the super block at about 10pm and will feature the Denver Roller Dolls. Opening receptions for the following art shows will also be taking place throughout the night: Watermelon Belly Featuring new works by Shitty Kitten @ The Shoppe, Layer Upon Layer featuring the work of Robert Maestas @ Plastic Chapel, Paul Moschell is showing new work @ The Fabric Lab, and IKON is showing work @ Newspeak! DJ’s will be setup all along the East Colfax corridor pumping out Block Rock’n beats that are sure to seduce your ear drums & make your ass jiggle! We could think of nothing more patriotic than collaborating together to bring you all a FREE event in an effort to celebrate our individual freedoms! Goodie bags will be handed out to all that attend while supplies last… America at it’s finest!
July 2nd, 2008
It seems harmless enough to take some time every so often to realign yourself based on the changes in the market. People change, their habits come and go and how they spend their money is always effected. Recently I’ve seen a lot of corporate identity refreshes. Honestly none of them seem to be doing a very good job in my opinion and I’m curious why that is.
The two most recent I came across were Walmart and Miller Coors. Neither company holds much of my interest to start with but I realize their longevity and contribution to both of their markets. My problem comes in a few forms. The first being the most important in my mind, which is the relevance of recognition to its own consumers and clients. To me, it’s quite obvious that neither of these logos have done a good job staying consistent with their placement in the each of their markets.
Walmart changed, the colorway, the typeface, changed the name to a title case structure and added a totally unnecessary sunburst icon in an attempt to be seen as a more contemporary company with “bright” ideas. I’m sure if they would have hired the bunch of hippies that make up Pentagram they would have plenty of buzz words and drawn out explanations of what the starburst means and how that color blue influences people during the recession and so on. Whatever. My problem is that the new Walmart logo looks like it should be for an investment bank like WaMu or something. I also feel they missed some great opportunities to address their fastest growing demographic, Hispanics. Shit, I think they took a leap away from addressing their original target market (boomers) and didn’t even think about trying to grab the attention of the second most important demographic, the eco-conscious young person.
Miller Coors is another story all together. Corporate identities are generally used to represent the brand and relate to the consumer or at least the product. This does neither in my opinion. It could be argued that this isn’t the intent and of course it could be said that the generic look and feel is a fair representation of a corporation that holds share in multiple businesses. With this being said I can see the reasoning behind the direction chosen but it’s hard for me to see any longevity in stripping a company of all of it’s cultural equity to prepare for the future. Pentagram takes what many might see as daring steps into reevaluating a brand and bringing it back down to earth. But more times than not, they seem to over simplify everything they touch, which of course is ok by the client as long they have some over analytical interpretation of it’s meaning to calm their curiousities.
Why does this method seem so prevalent lately? Tear it apart and leave it as a blank canvas for those who will be there to critique it in the future? Or should we all leave it alone and just get used to it? What makes more sense in this case or any other similar? Why are these refreshes turning out so poorly? I’m all spent on this for now, but let us know what you think. Give us your opinion on this trend and what you think its significance is if there is any at all.
Side Note: Sounds like Coors is moving their headquarters somewhere outside of CO. I wonder how seriously that will effect all of the CO agencies on the Coors dollar? Hmmm…
Via Brand New & Pentagram Blog
July 1st, 2008
As some of our loyal artistically vertical peoples may already know, Soft&Furry is about to round up week 3 of its logo submission contest. As its final weeks grow near, both Celeste and I (along with a handful of other crew affiliates) are chiseling away at some things to submit. It’s really a great exercise and could end in a whole mess of magical prizes if one of our logos makes it to the end. Here are a couple of the things I’ve submitted for this past week. I will attempt to add more along the way and in doing so, frolic through my whimsical array of stylistic maneuvers to tear apart all else who attempt to trump me. Well, maybe not all of that, but I’ll sure try to make some things sparkle.
June 28th, 2008
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