LAUNCH BLOG - Posts Tagged with design

Noul logo pentru stiupecineva

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:36:00 +0000

Un blog dragut si util - stiupecineva.ro - cere ajutorul pentru creatia unui logo la fel de dragut si util.

Si cum sunt intotdeauna deschis la colaborari si proiecte interesante, m-am gandit ca ar fi bine sa-i ajut. Asa ca am creat un logo dragut, fancy chiar, cum zicea o colega.

Sper sa le placa si sper sa fie ales. Votarea a inceput asa ca, daca si voua va place, votati propunerea cu nr. 18.

p.s. Ideea era ceva de genul "telefonul fara fir", de aici si ilustratia - totul intr-un stil fancy-retroish.

Metallica logo improved

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:55:00 +0000

Turner Duckworth designed the new logotype, album and supporting identity materials for the release of Metallica's new album - Death Magnetic.

Turner Duckworth, the same design consultancy who also designed the new Coca-Cola packaging and won a Cannes Lions Design award for it.

The new logo is not really new, just a refined version of the old one, but it looks way better.

From the press release:
Turner Duckworth re-worked the classic Metallica logo, created a signature typographic style and designed key promotional materials including a flag, a coffin shaped special edition and a vinyl boxed set. A design kit including logos, imagery and graphics was distributed to the band's record companies to produce a vast array of promotional materials around the world.

Update:
On CR Blog you can read an interview with David Turner and Bruce Duckworth about the rebranding of Metallica and you can see more images of the artwork.

Funkyou platform

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:32:00 +0000

It seems that the old funkyou.ro website has some new owners and its making a comeback.

Funk You is a platform for experimental graphic design and will be the first magazine of its kind in Eastern Europe. Our aim is to present designers with the opportunity to express themselves without the constraints of a usual designer-client relationship.
Funk You stands for experiments and developing new ideas. Everything is possible and we want to encourage people to try a new way of thinking and creating. Funk You will feature both Romanian and international designers.

The guys at Citrus Design, with Stefan Lucut as an Art Director, are releasing through this new platform a quarterly magazine featuring artists and projects, the Funk You website and forum, a new website - minimalexperimental.com - that will organize monthly graphic design exhibitions, then some workshops and presentations organized three or four times a year.

I'll wait to see what the guys have prepared for us, but for now, all this looks very promising. Nice going guys!

Blue Iris is the Color of 2008

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:02:00 +0000

Did you know that PANTONE® 18-3943 BLUE IRIS is the color of 2008?

Combining the stable and calming aspects of blue with the mystical and spiritual qualities of purple, Blue Iris satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement.

SHIFT 2008 CALENDAR

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:25:00 +0000

SHIFT a anuntat cele 12 lucrari alese pentru calendarul lor anual.
Inafara de cea pe care o postez mai jos, restul mi se par de-a dreptul urate. Si eu care ma gandeam sa particip...

Abramovich identity

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:11:00 +0000

I just wanted to show you Abramovich's visual identity, designed by PARKLAB. Interesting, clever concept and nice visuals.
Better than Tony Blair's, I think.

Also check out the official Abramovich website. Funny!

Adobe.com redesigns

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:02:00 +0000

Adobe redesigned its main website, the Adobe Developer Connection and Design Center. Pretty much everything is new.

This is a major update after acquiring Macromedia (and borrowing the old Macromedia website style and design for their website).

The new design is superior, simple and effective, loads faster and it can hold a lot more info now. Also the new color theme is darker with lots of gray areas so that the content can pop-out of the page easily.

Most of the templates are fixed-width though, not scaling to the content, but everything seems fine and the information is not crowded at all. They could have done better with I.A. because there is a tremendous amount of information on adobe.com and most of it is still hard to find. A search function in the top-right corner comes in handy and I'm glad it was kept just like in the old version.
Lots of Flash, Flex, AJAX put into this release for more functionality.

I really appreciate the new website and will browse more of it daily.

Cannes Design Lions 2008

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:38:00 +0000

The Cannes Lions festival will be having in 2008 also a Design section, the brand new Design Lions 2008.
This new section will honor the creative and innovative use of design for brand and product communication and development, with projects entered into three categories: Packaging Design, Brand Identity and Environmental Design. And yes, there will be a Design Grand Prix to be won.

Rodney Fitch, the Chairman & CEO of Fitch Worldwide, will be the Chief Chairman of the Jury for this section, so you will need to impress him.

See more or less details on Cannes Lions' web page dedicated to this section.

Really interesting move from Cannes. They will be direct competitors to D&AD Awards now.

Creative Review thinks this stunt was pulled to take some of the cash away from D&AD Awards.
Oh well, competition is always good and it will be interesting to see what is the best design agency and what are the best design projects, next year in Cannes.

I also think Romanian design and branding agencies (Brandient, Grapefruit, etc.) will make it big in this event, given they've won already lots of international awards for Branding, Identity or Packaging design.

Designing Happy

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:39:00 +0000

Designing Happy is a set of guidelines, for design practice and design education, which identifies some key tips that design work can incorporate so that the design is better positioned to be productive in the manifestation of happiness and contibute to our wellbeing.

A design research project asking what design makes you happy and what design makes you unhappy. Simple, fun, plenty of insights will spring from it for sure.

Can't wait to see the findings!

Already you can see on Designing Happy website some happy and some unhappy designs. Prints, logos, colours, even a Citroen car. Added Apple's Might Mouse with the happy design gallery myself.

Audi R8

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:46:00 +0000

This microsite for Audi R8 is the best flash website I've seen in a while, but also one of the slowest I've seen in a while.

The old one won some awards and was a big hit at the time, but this one is more like the car and the advertising campaign.

First time I see a curved scroll bar used in a website plus After Effects video animation and Flash workframe as usual. And the music...

Great presentation.

Audi is investing a lot of time and effort into building the R8 car (assembled by hand!), so they launched a campaign called AUDI R8: The Slowest Car We've Ever Built! just to let people know about it so they will desire even more the new model.
The 90-second short film by BBH London features a group of Audi engineers putting together a R8 over the course of several days "from the very first bolt to the finished car."
See the making of Audi R8.

Website is developed by GT along with a full online campaign.

edit: R8, my bad.

Design is

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:31:00 +0000

Design is the intermediary between information and understanding.

Richard Grefé
Executive Director, AIGA

Pentagram07

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:18:00 +0000

Hillman Curtis released yet again a great short movie, this time featuring the famous design partnership Pentagram.

Paula Scher's initial presentation of Pentagram partner's history is simple beautiful.
And, if I brought her up, she commented recently I don’t think countries should have logos. Logos are for corporations. after being asked by CNTraveller.com to participate in a rebranding exercise for her country of choice and she chose to rebrand Slovenia.

Watch the Pentagram short by Hillman Curtis.
You will like it.
After Paula Scher and Milton Glaser great features, Hillman did it again.

BusinessWeek redesign

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:18:00 +0000

It seems that BusinessWeek, one of the leading business magazines in the world, has changed their identity and the layout of the magazine.

Read more on BusinessWeek's website.
Also I've seen people already started commenting on Brand New.

I like better the new head and the new layout. Will wait for the Romanian issue before a more throughout review.

Fabulospirit loveste din nou

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:53:00 +0000

Scriu aceste randuri deoarece doresc sa atrag atentia, asa cum au facut-o si alti colegi, asupra proiectului guvernamental de creatie a unui manual de identitate pentru administratia publica din Romania.

Mai simplu, cineva fara experienta cu astfel de proiecte complexe, incearca sa se joace cu imaginea statului roman. Devine deja un cliseu...

Si nu ma pot abtine sa spun ca aceasta noua imagine este cat se poate de reprezentativa pentru Administratia Publica din Romania. Jenanta, dar reprezentativa.

De ce spun asta?
Avand in vedere ca toata lumea "cunoaste" sistemul, cred ca toti colegii care au atras atentia asupra acestui proiect, imi vor da dreptate. Reflecta foarte bine sistemul: vechi, ineficient, ignorant, jenant.

Prin urmare, salut aceasta "opera de o maiestrie artistica corel-istica* nemaintalnita pe aceste meleaguri" si astept cu nerabdare sa fie adoptata.

Sigur, se putea face ceva mult mai bun. Ca exemple pozitive pot aminti Germania, Elvetia, Anglia.
Wally spunea ca "orice tara poate fi transformata intr-un brand, daca se gaseste esenta acelei natiuni". Identitatea vizuala e un pas in acest proces. Dar acest proiect discutat, nu tine seama de regulile crearii unei identitati.

Cred ca fara sa ma insel prea mult, aceasta noua identitate si manual au fost create ca de obicei in-house, "dupa ureche", romanian style. Corel-ul a fost folosit ca program de catre "designerul" care s-a ocupat de executie. Sper sa nu se supere profesionistii care folosesc Corel-ul, dar pana si ei recunosc ca acest program este cel mai folosit de catre toti amatorii care "incearca" sa devina designeri. Stiu, e trist, dar dupa cum se vede, foarte adevarat.

Se poate intampla totusi si la case mai mari, cum a fost si cazul Spaniei.

Am completat sondajul de opinie cat mai obiectiv. Rog si pe altii sa faca la fel, sa lase critica ieftina si sa comenteze pertinent si constructiv. Numai asa cred ca cei care au initiat acest proiect isi vor da seama de greseala lor si poate inca se poate repara ceva.

Ma declar deschis la orice initiativa de a imbunatati cumva acest proiect si sper ca totul sa iasa bine pana la urma.

Sugestii ar fi:
- consultarea unei agentii specializate care sa poata oferi o directie, o strategie; sau care chiar sa detalieze procesul de dezvoltare, alcatuind poate si un caiet de sarcini;
- creatia unei noi identitati de la zero, in urma unui proces de cercetare serios, ca solutiile gasite sa fie bazate pe situatii si date reale; sa nu fie o identitate vizuala creata rapid, dintr-un impuls, "pe genunchi", fara un concept in spate, ca acum; sa aiba in spate o strategie si un concept foarte bine gandite;
- sa nu se grabeasca in nici un fel procesul de creatie; cred ca acest proiect are nevoie de cel putin 1 an pentru dezvoltare;
- manualul de identitate sa fie creat exclusiv de o agentie cu experienta pe acesta nisa; daca ne gandim cate aplicatii va avea noua identitate vizuala, aceasta trebuie sa fie extrem de flexibila ca sa acomodeze orice format si mediu (solutia vizuala propusa acum nu poate fi folosita pe toate mediile);
- oricare va fi alegerea finala, sa reprezinte foarte bine statul roman, sub orice forma;

Cam atat as avea de adaugat momentan.

Sper ca prietenii si colegii care au scris despre acest subiect - si vor mai scrie - sa nu judece prea aspru aceasta solutie, sa vada in ea o noua oportunitate care poate fi totusi valorificata daca se discuta ce trebuie si nu se arunca cu pietre din prima. Rog comentariile la adresa noii identitati vizuale si a manualului sa fie constructive si sa se ofere solutii reale, pe cat posibil.

Cred ca din moment ce s-a cerut si parerea publicului (o noutate la proiect guvernamentale de acest gen, care pana acum se realizau cu usile inchise) echipa care s-a ocupat e inca deschisa la imbunatatiri si schimbari benefice.

Sa le deschidem ochii si sa le oferim solutii.

Photoshop new logo

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:54:00 +0000

I must say I am very disappointed with the new direction of Adobe's Photoshop logo design.

I understand the strategy behind the new change, but the design is very weak. Photoshop Expressions interface design is also very weak. How can we expect this, coming from the leader in design software?

It resembles a lot Microsoft's Silverlight logo.

After a very disputed change of their applications icons in CS3 package, now introducing a cheap logo for Photoshop and also a slogan, its a bit to far I think.

Adopting a weak image like this will bring Photoshop down a lot in the eyes of the community. People need a trustworthy application and Adobe Photoshop Elements for amateurs.

Will wait and see the progress of this, but when I first saw it, I thought it was a joke. I still do.

Update:
People killing the new design on Brand New and John's blog, the Senior Product Manager for Adobe Photoshop who started all this.

Second update:
Tolleson Design was the agency responsible for the launch of CS3 new identity and, as I've recently learned, also for this new Photoshop logo, targeting with it more markets and opening new opportunities for Adobe.

80 Percent Solution

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:11:00 +0000

"Apply the 80 Percent Solution

During the design process, if you discover problems with your product design, you might consider applying the 80 percent solution—that is, designing your software to meet the needs of at least 80 percent of your users. This type of design typically favors simpler, more elegant approaches to problems.

If you try to design for the 20 percent of your target audience who are power users, your design may not be usable by the other 80 percent of users. Even though that smaller group of power users is likely to have good ideas for features, the majority of your user base may not think in the same way. Involving a broad range of users in your design process can help you find the 80 percent solution."

This was taken from Apple Human Interface Guidelines (pdf), some great guidelines for developers and designers working for the Apple platform.

But the "80 Percent Solution" can be applied to other various fields of design, because all must communicate to a target group, to deliver a message.

So my fellow designers, don't forget to design for the average Joe first and then think about the rest of your target group.

Your design work must be very accessible and always keep in mind your target group, even if your boss or the client thinks otherwise.

Unfortunately, many of us designers face this situation almost everyday but you must be determined and keep your head up. Explain as many times as needed that the end-user will benefit from your work the most and not just your direct client (and maybe his family or cousins...).

I encounter all too often "designs" that don't communicate to the average person who was the main target and I ask myself "...why bother then?". Why even bother to design if the results fail to make a difference.

Of course, there are still many designers who think that if they get it and it's beautiful and all their friends like it (also designers), then it will be a hit. All too often this type of thinking will send their "great" solutions down the line of failure. Thus, we will be seing on the streets, in stores, all around, more bad design. Bad because it is not easily understood by everyone, because it is not transmitting the right message or worse, not communicating it at all.

Apple understands good design and maybe because of this, their products are a class above the competition, right?

I must admit that from time to time I like some of my works more than I should and I do think I constantly provide the right design solutions. I don't know if this is always true, but for now, all my clients are happy and from what I've seen, their clients are happy too.

Sure, I'm not a designer working for Apple, but I think their approach can be understood and used by all of us.

So, keep in mind that you really work for other people, maybe for your cab driver, your teacher, most of your friends (designers or not)...

You work even for you. Think about it.

New Coca-Cola cans

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 22:06:00 +0000

Coca-Cola released some new can designs for its line of soft drinks, mainly for Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola zero brands.

The new look is simpler, getting back-to-basics with this new approach.

And while Pepsi is changing its packaging more than 35 times this year alone, Coca-Cola is taking some bold moves here with just one change, but a good one from what I can see.

LA Galaxy rebranding

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:38:00 +0000

Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS) launched a redesigned Galaxy team uniform and logo for the 2007 season in time for the unveiling of its "brightest star", David Beckham.

The new logo features a "quasar" and it will appear on the new playing jersey with two embroidered stars representing the Galaxy's two MLS Cup championships, accompanied by the adidas three stripes down the sleeves. The uniform also highlights the new LA Galaxy team colors, collegiate navy, gold and white.

The new look will have its debut when they'll play against Chelsea FC in the World Series of Football tournament, July 21st at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

This is the first re-branding that the franchise has undergone in their 12 year history, timed with the Galaxy's recent signing of international soccer star, David Beckham.

adidas and the LA Galaxy worked closely with SME Brands to develop the new logo, which is very good in my opinion.

And of course, the marketing machine already started the engines...
The official adidas LA Galaxy licensed product range includes replica home, away and training jerseys retailing for $65, plus a variety of apparel and training gear, available starting July 11, 2007.

This new 23 jersey will sell fine in the US, but most important, it will sell worldwide, due to Beckham's high profile in the football/soccer world. And I guess this being the main reason the LA team signed Beckham, they will profit from this expanding worldwide market.