She's Got Legs

The good news is I finished my paper, the bad news is I am still about 50 steps behind were I need to be. However I decided I am going to become I shut in next week and get down to business - yep that's my story and I am sticking to it.

As I was gathering examples for my Paul Rand project I came across these pieces that he did and well that's just great design there. 

If you are interested in learning more about this brilliant man check out his website, it pretty incredible!!

Here Goes Nothing

So I have been going back and forth on sharing my class projects here for a couple reasons. 1.) I am painfully shy and pretty sensitive most of the time and 2.) I am still learning and so I know it is all a work in progress. I also know that being a designer/ creative person is about putting yourself out there - how else will anyone ever find you and how will you grow?

Our latest project will take three weeks and incorporate many different areas that as a class we will have to vote on until we have an identity built for a concept that we developed last week. We are designing for a fictional business called The Art Shack. The idea behind this place is that it would be a place where artists from different mediums could gather and rent studio space, get work printed and generally meet other people. It would have a cafe, supply store and courtyard (among other things) - pretty awesome right?

The first stop was to develop a logo that each student had to present to the class on Tuesday and we would vote on the official logo for the business. And well my logo was voted in!! The funny thing is I see things that I would like to change to make it better, but I am always pretty critical with my own work. I snapped this pic of it yesterday to share with you all. My idea was that the logo should be clean, simple, appeal to a variety of creative types, and be easily reproduced on printed materials, packaging, etc. So taa-daa...

The Lover

I happened across a new graphic design journal yesterday called September Industry and spent more time than I should of taking in their collection of gorgeous design content gathered from all over the world. It is all amazing and I fell in love with so many of the pieces they featured it is silly. 

These theater pieces, designed by New Zealand designer Brogen Averill is one of the pieces that struck me. Yep - sort of in awe by them.

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Today

I really love this Polish book cover design. I have days like that, well almost every day, that I will come across something that catches my eye and make me happy for no apparent reason. I usually stash them over on my Pinterest page. Feel free to stop by and have a gander maybe you will find something that makes you smile too!!

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Packaging Goodness

Aren't these bright goodies from Mary and Matt great? They were designed last spring to be sold in Paris, but even full into fall I am drawn to the bright colors and handmade feel of these.

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2 Nice Layouts

On of my current school projects is to design a magazine cover, our topic is gaming which I am less than thrilled about mainly because I am not very familiar with that topic. I did a little bit of searching for layouts I like to gain some inspiration and these two struck my fancy. Not exactly the right topic but they sure are providing me with some inspiration and that's what it is all about.

image source: 1/2

Worldly Women.

Japanese artist Masato Kato has some pretty incredible pieces of work especially a collection entitled "World". The detail and research that must have gone into this project really comes through when you view the series. My favorites where the history of fashion ladies. Check out the entire body of work here. 

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Cities in Black & White.

These destination logos created by Albin Holmqvist are a perfect example of how lovely simple design can be. These are a few of my favorites, however you can check out the entire series here. As soon as I saw them I wanted to combine them with some vintage black and white images from the city they called home, because well we all know how I love to combine things. 

Hope you all have a very happy Friday!!

image sources 1//2, design layout by AQ

Branding Genius

Images via &Smith

Fabulous branding of a modern sweet shop by London design group &Smith. The cotton candy color scheme and delicate type is balanced perfectly with the collage style black and white photography. Whimsy and sweet.

I Heart Pretty Packaging.

I love this packaging that was created by Spanish designer Didac Ballester that was featured on Lovely Package. Nice font, gold accent and lots of white space - not too shabby! 

Design Hero: George Tscherny

Image Courtesy of Container List

George Tscherny is one of my favorite designers. I have always loved his simple yet striking compositions and these City Maps and Guides he designed for Pan Am in the 70's illustrate those elements perfectly. Perfection in my book!

Nice Space.

Image : Joe Schmelzer

I am in love with this kitchen. The natural light, those turquoise pendant lamps, the pop of yellow, and how clean and uncluttered it all looks. I have a bit of kitchen envy truth be told. This picture also made me want to add a fun polka-dot border just because it made me so darn happy. 

This blogging journey has been great in allowing me to find out what I am drawn to and to begin to develop my own design style and voice. I find myself drawn to really simple design and I have noticed with my own work that I tend to want to keep things very minimal and clean, but I do like to play around with color and pattern. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but that is part of the process, right? What design elements to you all find yourself drawn to?

Happy V-Day!

Image courtesy of: Life

Happy Heart Day to all you wonderful people!! I know people either LOVE or HATE this day, but I always think any day you can spread a little extra love around is a good thing. Z and I decided to celebrate this weekend and since it was "date night" anyway we thought we do it up fancy. We headed down to the Gaslamp and dined at the Palms Restaurant, I may or may not have devoured way too much cheesecake, then headed to see the San Diego Ballet Company perform Romeo and Juliet, and still managed to be home by 11. Every time we think we may make it a late night we are home no later than 11. Oh well being a homebody isn't so bad. Tonight we decided to make Punky her favorite dinner (pasta of course) and have some yummy chocolate cake.

Are you all planning something fun this evening?

I made Z this valentine and sent it off to him via email this morning just to say "Hi, I like you lots!", then I realized I may be doing too much math homework since apparently Venn Diagrams are showing up in my Valentine design.

Watch Me.

I have recently been on a bit of a short film kick lately and I wanted to share two of my recent favorites with you. I can't keep from watching them over and over and well you get the point.

First up is a short film that was produced for Kate Spade by King Burza. I am a huge Kate Spade fan and this film only increases my admiration for the brand. They are always spot on (in my opinion) with their copy, design and styling. Bonus: I would love to have those rings she is wearing in this film.

The second short film was made for the EF Language School. They produced one for London, Paris, Bejing and Barcelona. I love the use of type throughout. It also makes me want to pack my bags and hop on a plane. We were suppose to head over to London last year, but our flight was canceled due to the volcano that was going off and shut down most European travel last spring - true story. Maybe this year will be my year to head across the pond.

Here is a pic I snapped last year at the airport, it quickly became one of my favorites simply because our original flight to London was listed directly above our new flight to Hawaii. When life hands you lemons, go to Hawaii!

I Scream. You Scream.

Happy Monday Everyone, hope you all had a fabulous weekend.!!

I wanted to share with you all this fun carnival style branding/packaging combo that I came across last week while visiting Lovely Package. These fun little treats were developed by Wink for Honey & Mackie's Ice Cream Shop which is described as "an ice cream shop for kids that caters to parents."

Images via Lovely Package

I think everything from the colors that they chose, to their use of typography, to the silhouette's on the cups help make this feel like a place that I would love to visit with my daughter (and probably snap a picture or two - I am dyeing to know what this place looks like inside), plus the fact that everything is homemade with locally grown ingredients makes it a double winner in my book.

Black Swan.

There is not really much to say about Black Swan that has not already been said so I will just tell you it is a must see in my book. It is a visually beautiful movie with some amazing performances and enough twists and uncomfortable moments that make it a great thriller. With so many elements to take in I definitely need to see it again. The costumes alone, designed by Rodarte, may require their own screening. 

As if you need any more persuading check out the movie posters...

The silhouettes and simple color scheme remind me of great old movie posters and continue to reinforce that simplicity can go a long way.

The Resolve Project

Looking for some snazzy new wall paper for my iPhone I came across this great project started by Chris Streger. He asked designers to create a graphic wallpaper of their Resolutions for 2011. These graphics can then be downloaded by readers and used as their wallpaper. Whether you are a resolution holder or not these well designed images can act as great reminders of ideas or practices that you may be trying to incorporate into your life, plus they are fun to look at.  Head on over to the Resolve Project to see the rest.

Branding *Santa*

There is not really much to say about this take on *Santa* as a brand, developed by the Quietroom other than it is pretty brilliant!! I found it especially entertaining as we are currently in a rebranding process at my 9-5, and as a design student (yes I am currently a student after many many years off, I had to grow up before I figured out what I wanted to do, always backwards) branding as a whole is constantly being drilled into my brain.

These are just a few of my favorites...

I highly suggest that you check out the entire pdf here. Ho Ho Ho!!!

Color of 2011: Honeysuckle

I was so excited to check my inbox this morning and see that Pantone released their pick for color of the year!! (Not sure which part of that sentence makes me more geeky.) They are calling it Honeysuckle and I think it is oh so pretty!!

Pantone takes most of the guesswork out of how to incorporate the color into fashion, interior and design by giving some great insight including the correct color formula and colors that will complement this bright hue. The fashion illustrations that were included also caught my eye, this Badgley Mischka one in particular. I could just see myself lounging around the house watching Glee and sipping on a Diet Coke all the while looking fab in my designer gown, ok maybe not but a girl can daydream right?

So lovely readers what do you think of this color pick, will you be adding it to your life in 2011?

Fashion illustration by Badgley Mischka via Pantone

Movie Poster Love

Here are a few facts about me: I love a good horror movie, I love graphic design and I love movie posters.

Moxy Creative House recently redesigned 10 movie posters that are available for purchase. My horror movie nerd self was immediately drawn to their interpretation of The Shining, of course. If scary movies aren't your thing they also covered Top Gun, Dumb and Dumber ( hilarious) and Wall Street among others.

P.S. Those twins still give me the heebie jeebie's.