"Graphic Designers and Visual Communicators are Management Consultants."
—Neville Brody, Research Studios
Wave Building in Vejle, Denmark is a graceful motion
In a world where so much is forced to exist within rectilinear convention, a successful application and fresh approach to curves seems to feed life to the subject. From a distance, this bold wave almost appears to have been drawn on the horizon line by a single, graceful stroke of a pen. Lovely.
Advertising: Immaculate Ice-Cream brings Salvation, and an ad ban in the U.K.
Who doesn't agree that ice-cream is purely about sensual, guilty indulgence? If its production is artisanal and superb, can it not be deemed "immaculate?" And if it soothes the pains of a bad day, can it not bring forth a shimmer of salvation to one's mood?
The campaign certainly makes the point. In one ad, a visibly pregnant nun holds up Federici Gelato, captioned as "Immaculately Conceived," while in another ad, "Salvation" is suggested as two priests share a moment of gelato sin. Perhaps the imbedded social commentary isn't suitable to everyone's taste, but it certainly underscores the product's alleged sublimeness bordering on sin.
Gelato maker Federici timed the advertising campaign around a papal visit in the U.K., earning the company an advertising ban that it has pledged to fight.
Visualizing the wealthiest 300 people in the world
From a design standpoint, something about the graphic leaves something to be desired. The billionaires singled out with their affiliated companies could, for instance, be highlighted in a different color on the global map, for the reader to more easily assess which geographical area they are in. Where, for example, is Red Bull pointing to in that cluster somewhere around Switzerland?
Still, an interesting set of information.
Architecture: Wild sky pool, longest in world, in Singapore
Three times Olympic pool length, this sky-high pool at Marina Sands, Singapore appears to run off the edges of a bullet train held up by three building posts. Wild!
Night image by P. Grimshaw
Inspiring Mixed-Media Illustration by Pasqualini
Traditionally hand-drawn characters are laid before photography-based settings in these illustrations by Hannes Pasqualini, creating a unique mood. A very successful application of multiple media.
Design Process: A simple logo direction—13 sketch pages later
It may not be obvious from contemplating some brands and their logos, but coming to a simple, elegant design solution that communicates a brand's position with clarity, is often the result of a long thought-process.
The process begins by honing on a clear brand message: its key points, its differentiation from the competition, its value proposition to the user. Hopefully, these are in place before the brand is further defined via a logo and other marketing collateral; if they are not, then the company should back track and make, as a minimum, a simplified marketing plan to identify these.
In a logo design process, these marketing propositions lead the visual explorations that eventually get distilled into what is hopefully the clearest message.
These thirteen sketch pages are a great illustration of the logo design process as applied to Offsetters, a carbon-offsetting group.
Credits:
Creative director: Ian Grais/Chris Staples
Agency: Rethink
Designer: Nancy Wu
Label Design/Branding: Delirium Nocturnum, anyone? Drink this!
I had to laugh when I found this label's promise of delirium delivered by a pink elephant! Fun branding for a Belgian Beer.
Today, I'll only take the photo. Tomorrow... maybe a test drive. :P
Infographic/Interactive Design: Ecomagination Challenge
via ge.com
GE's Ecomagination Challenge pledges US$200 million in seed grant to the winning idea.
Users can spin through ideas and sort by three categories: Power Generation, Power Connection, and Power Use. Larger dots indicates more votes received; each dot is clickable for more information.
A good, clear graphic.
Contest is open for 6 more days; votes are live through then.
Architecture: Swiss firm proposes first zero-carbon Olympic structure for Rio
via rafaa.ch
Breathtaking and energy-conscious, this Olympic waterfall tower proposal for the Rio 2016 Olympics would employ solar-power to pump water and generate electricity for the city of Rio. It includes public spaces and an elevator to the observation deck at the top which provides a 360° view and a glass sky walk over water.
To top it off: a bungee-jumping platform.
Credit: RAFAA architecture & design, Switzerland
Package Design: Book-Box-Product-In-One, for Cell Phone's Easy-Follow Instructions
A year of research resulted in this packaging design solution, Out of the Box, for a Samsung mobile phone.
The goal: Creating simplified, non-intimidating, easy-to-use phone instructions and reference material for the elderly or other users who may have difficulty with tiny instruction books full of technical jargon.
The design and research team concocted a book-like package, whereby each page interactively guides a single setup action. A set of cards and a map completes the collection.
Credits:
Clara Gaggero and Adrian Westaway of Vitamins Design, in collaboration with the Helen Hamlyn Center and Samsung Design Europe.
Infographic: Who is the safer driver? Teens vs. Seniors. An appealing Design.
This infographic organizes data from 2009 for U.S. drivers divided by age, sex, geography, and a 10-year comparison. California, Texas and Florida stand out as highly concentrated areas of fatal crashes—a piece of data on the subject matter that may not be obvious at first thought—the graphic hereby adds an element of discovery to most readers.
From a design standpoint, something about the understated color palette, plenty of negative space and slightly vintage approach add a gentle touch to a not-so-pretty topic, somehow managing to take the edge off the subject-matter. Interesting approach, successfully executed.
Credit: Gavin Potenza
Architectural Design: Italian-Korean hybrid style makes the most of small space
In Seoul, Korea, Italian architect Simone Carena beautifully fuses East and West in his home. A traditional Korean exterior hides a sleek, modernistic interior, and makes the most of small spaces via minimalistic choices. Slideshow at New York Times.
Photoshop Tutorial: Create a Gorgeous Space Scene
This is one of the best step-by-step demonstrations for one of the most tastefully rendered cosmic scenes I've seen. Full tutorial at Spoon Graphics.
Design/Art Fun: Mini Munny toys make 3D creative canvas
Mini Munny 3D vinyl dolls are fun blank canvases for creative exploration. Each toy comes with one random accessory and one random marker to set off artists/designers on the path to a unique creation. Here are some fun examples.
It looks like some creative amputation and re-attachment went on in some of the more intensive designs!
More examples at Design Stuff Daily, with sources listed.
Shop at Kidrobot.
Visual Learning Disabilities means some Designs are challenging for some to See
Most people are aware of the challenges posed by Dyslexia or Color Blindness, but there are other, less well-known visual impairments that can also challenge a viewer's comprehension of visual information: Central Field Loss, Contrast Reduction, Peripheral Field Loss, and combined Peripheral & Central Field Loss.
The Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL) is proposing an exhibit that illustrates this lesser-known, but equally challenging group of visual impairments. The exhibit, designed in collaboration with Chapman University Design Professor Claudine Jaenichen, will invite visitors to wear "tainted" glasses designed to simulate these various visual impairments, giving viewers a first-hand experience of the resulting altered comprehension.Visual learning disabilities may not always be easily accomodated by design solutions in the practical world, but they are worthy of keeping in mind when design is called upon to serve a need where there may be an increased number of visually-impaired users or audiences.
Branding: Funny airline brands with humor, from plane design to crew attitude.
Kulula is a low-cost airline from South Africa with planes designed to teach and entertain—click through the images for progressive close-ups.
To complement the brand experience, attendants and pilots fill their announcements with humor:
"Please pay attention to the safety announcement, because you will be writing a test shortly."
"If you are caught smoking, you will be asked to leave the aircraft."
"You could be fined up to R 7,999 for smoking on the plane, and for these prices, you could be flying SAA."
"Please take all of your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please be sure it's something we'd like to have."
"Welcome to Johannesburg. If this is not where you were intending to go, then you have a bit of a problem."
That's one airline that'll be hard to forget.
See similar: Southwest Airlines steward busts a Safety Rhyme