Beautiful Exterior = Luscious Contents

Chocovic Coberturas Selváticas by Paul Núnez Associats, Spain, 2007. "The exotic provenance of the cocoas used in these gourmet chocolate bars is expressed through Eva López's Rousseau-esque 'wild forest' illustrations." (Kirkpatrick, p. 60)

Beautifully designed. Alluring. Fantastic. HAS to be delicious chocolate!

I absolutely love these chocolate packaging designs. I came across them while doing research for Project 3 (organic food packaging redesign), and they particularly struck me due to their stunningly illustrated jungle/forest motifs at the top combined with the beautifully simple typographical treatment at the bottom. I want my chocolate to be rich, and I would describe these packaging designs with the same word. 

I have a special personal relationship with chocolate (especially dark chocolate), and I suppose it isn't a particularly healthy one. Be that as it may, really, really good chocolate takes me away to a special paradise for the few magical minutes of tasting, feeling, consuming, experiencing it. I sometimes close my eyes to focus purely on the senses of smell, taste, touch, and swallowing. The creamy texture, the sweet/bitter-sweet flavor, the sensations throughout the mouth...it's exquisite. My my my.

Okay. I'm being overdramatic. 

My point is that the brilliant thing about each of these designs is the paradise-like colorful and detailed illustration that is highly reminiscent of the work of Rousseau placed atop a very simple and appealing bright rectangle with excellent, clean, and clear typography, including typeface choices, alignment, and hierarchy. (I recognized the similarities to Rousseau's work before reading the description at the top; Rousseau is my absolute favorite artist from my modern art history class this semester.) These rich illustrations are so aesthetically pleasing and attractive to the consumer without detracting from the bottom portion containing the information. The bright colors and lush rainforest/jungle scenes evoke richness in flavor. Without a doubt.

To me, if the package is this beautiful, the chocolate inside must be equally delicious. 

Source: Kirkpatrick, Janice. New Packaging Design. London: Laurence King, 2009. Print. P. 60.

Bad Graphic Design: Photography Studio Logos

Finding bad graphic design isn't very difficult. It's everywhere, and there are websites dedicated to the stuff. For example, logodesignerblog.com, where I found these three images, has a section of bad, ugly, worst logo designs that has some gems! From typographical snafus to overuse of effect to poor composition to just plain ugly—it's interesting to see what people are designing and putting out there. 

Three logos/identities for photography studios/companies are presented. Which is the worst one?

1. Fierce Photography is pretty awful. The large, gold, blurred, and heavily effected F, is made even worse by being translucent. The blurriness of it is what bothers me the most, I think. The centered type also has effects that don't help it at all. The tag line, "Capturing a memory, a moment, a smile, a look..." aligned right in a swirly script typeface is barely readable, has no room to breathe, and is anything but fierce! On to number two.

2. Fresh Look Images Photography has plenty of problems of its own. What's with these large, heavily effected Fs? Oy. Then there's the drop shadow on it and the drop shadow on "photography" but the rest of the type is flat. The choice of typeface itself is abysmal. And what's with the background? It looks like a faint brick texture on the left that fades into a flat background. It makes no sense. Fresh? I think not.

3. David Dove is...maybe...a photographer of celestial bodies? What is with the egg yolk Saturn-looking thing? Why would anyone put the a inside the D in David, when the D has a stroke on one side and the rest of the lettering doesn't (for one thing)? Then, the a's tail gets super-thin and extends to the right to underline the rest of the name. Yikes. The two typefaces clash. The extender of the h goes up through the d. David starts with a capital D, and dove doesn't. And I still just don't get the egg yolk planet. It's really pretty bad.

Maybe, just maybe, one, two, or even all of these photographers have a great eye for what makes a photo good; it could just be that they can't reason when it comes to graphic design. Maybe these were the throwaways—you know, the bad ideas before the designer came up with something brilliant. Maybe they were just starting out with little money and couldn't pay a decent designer. 

But I seriously doubt it.

So if you had to choose, which is the worst of the three? I honestly can't decide.

Source

Simple, elegant...retro...vintage. All good stuff.

What's so great about vintage or retro? This understated packaging design has a true vintage look that serves a real purpose.

This Atlas Brush Company paint brush packaging design is simple, yet beautifully elegant, using the kind of "vintage" illustration (tiny black silhouette of someone painting) and typography not unlike that of early commercial art. The three colors (a different color for each specific brush type) are soft and have a faded look to them. The decorative typeface used for the names of the brush types is gorgeous, and it definitely has the look of calligraphy from the past, but the color matches the other part of the packaging which is more modern. The other typeface used is Copperplate Gothic, designed in the early 1900s by Frederic Goudy. If this isn't beautiful vintage packaging, I don't know what is! The purpose of it is clear—the message is that the paint brushes and Atlas Brush Company are of very high quality and have been around for decades. The company is trustworthy and established; even the packaging states that it was established in 1952. The beauty of the packaging shows that they take great care in their work and craftsmanship of the brushes. It's no wonder they won a design award in the Communication Arts Design Annual (2008). 

I love it. I think it is the perfect design solution for this established company's paintbrushes. The colors, the typography, the simplicity, the illustration, and the continuity make it worthy of a design award. 

Source: Communication Arts Design Annual, 2008

CommArts Web Site

Credits:

Mary Ervin, designer

Michael Stanard, creative director

One Zero Charlie, design firm

Atlas Brush Company, client

ASICS: COLORS THAT RUN, literally!

ASICS Colors That Run Display
Winner, Communication Arts 2013 Design Annual

ASICS has been my running shoe brand for years. I'm due for a new pair, if I can ever find the time to run these days. Nothing like new exercise gear for motivation, right?

Well, I'm definitely motivated by these crazy-colored, extremely eye-catching ASICS shoes! The shoes themselves are so fun, but the 3-D displays are really modern and innovative, and they draw people in, bringing attention to the bright, vivid new colors. According to the blurb in Communication Arts, these displays were placed in 250 stores, and sales increased dramatically—58% at Foot Locker stores, 70% at Lady Foot Locker stores in the U.S.

I really love that everything is integrated. The shoes, the "paint pouring out," the ASICS storefront, the poster showing the shoe practically being blown apart by the vivid paint pouring into it, and even the comic/graffiti style poster on one of the displays. "COLORS THAT RUN" is the perfect tag line, and the understated, gray typeface is perfect for this phrase. This is a brilliant design, definitely cutting-edge. 

Okay. I'm seriously going to buy some new ASICS shoes and start running again. I am. I am. I really am. Seriously.

Credits:

Ahab Nimry, designer

Mike Brower, design director

John Vitro, executive creative director

Brian Dunaway, writer

Peter Schafrik, photographer

Cristi Perkins, production manager

Robbie Boyhan, production designer

Vitro, ad agency

ASICS America, client

Source: Communication Arts Design Annual 2013 (I have this in a hard copy, but I also subscribe to the online version, which is where the images are from). Go to website below (you may not be able to access it without a subscription; I'm not sure).

http://www.commarts.com/SearchOn.aspx?page=1&col=1184&inum=394&pj=30968

NO MORE! An amazing design solution to a great challenge.

I was looking for identity designs, thinking I would find some cool company that produces innovative products...I don't know what I was looking for, really. However, what I came across that caught my eye was a blue circle with a white circle, or circular hole, inside (it looks like a donut) with the simple words, "NO MORE" underneath (using the same "donut" for the O in NO). As simple as it was, it made me want to take a closer look and find out what it was about. No more what?

It turns out to be the award-winning visual identity for the NO MORE program, which was created by a coalition of top executives from leading U.S. corporations, advocacy, and service organizations, to bring about major change by uniting companies, organizations, communities—people all over the world—in ending domestic violence and sexual assault.

It was designed by Sterling Brands who had the challenging job of creating the "public face of this unprecedented initiative." (Sterling Brands web site) They created NO MORE's name, visual identity, and application strategy. Wow. That's quite a daunting task!

The circle within a circle is a symbol with a profound meaning. This is what Sterling says about it: "At the heart of this identity is the Vanishing Point—a powerful symbol rendered in a custom-formulated shade of blue, designed to signal broad social change (akin to the ubiquitous ribbon in the cause space). It stands for hope—a light at the end of tunnel and a safe, inclusive, stigma-free zone for discussion in the charge to eradicate DV/SA."

Pretty amazing. And obviously they have numerous celebrities who are promoting and supporting the cause. I really, really like the way it draws you in with the simple design that is so powerful and important. It's easily recognizable and will hopefully be integrated into our visual culture. Some of the slogans they are using (such as "ALL FOR NONE" and "EVEN ONE IS TOO MANY") are direct and to the point. This kind of design has got to be extremely difficult, and I, for one, am very impressed.

Original source: PRINT Magazine, The 2013 Regional Design Annual, December 2013, p. 175.

Online source for these particular images and quotes used in the blog: http://www.sterlingbrands.com/design/portfolio.php?pfolio_id=77&pgbacklist=true

GREAT WAY TO SPREAD JOY TO A HOMELESS KID!

I just got the new Communication Arts Interactive Annual 20 (March/April 2014), and since the next blog assignment is to find an award-winning example of digital media design... perfect!

There was one website design that really stood out to me called Build-a-Birthday, designed by Brand Content, project design and development/ad agency in Boston. The client is a nonprofit organization called Birthday Wishes that throws birthday parties for homeless children.  The purpose of the website is to provide a way for anyone to donate any amount of money they can and be able to see exactly what even $2 or $3 can buy for a party (balloon, juice box, etc.) and know that every dollar counts.

Even though there is a two-page spread in CA (p. 92-93), rather than scan the tiny images, I took several screenshots of the actual website (which was tricky because of the animation!). I think it's a brilliant interactive design, and I love the purpose of the website.

When you click on the Build-a-Birthday link from the home page of the Birthday Wishes site, the beginning frame shows the little girl in front of her birthday cake (it's video with just a little movement), and the words appear. I just took screen shots of what I thought were the most important ones. There's pleasant music playing, happy in tone but not "cheezy" or childish. Then you're taken to the bright blue page where you actually click on items to build a birthday party! Whatever you click on goes in the cart, and when you are finished selecting what you will donate toward, you check out and pay through Paypal or a credit card. Scroll through the image and you can see how it works.
Better yet, visit the website and check it out!

The site is really easy to navigate, the colors are bright and cheerful, and the little girl is adorable, but not "model" perfect. She just represents one of millions of homeless kids out there, many of whom have not experienced a normal birthday party. I love how the shapes that need to be "filled" look chalk-drawn, but then when you click on one to donate, it turns into the photograph of that item. It's like there's a story being told. It comes to life through the process. The simple mission of providing homeless kids with a party for their birthday. As stated in the article, "A $20 donation becomes a lot more powerful when it represents a birthday cake for a child who has never had one." (p. 93) Once the party is totally funded, there is a final piece (which I didn't see) where the little girl thanks you and makes a wish, then you are encouraged to get others to do the same. 

Please visit the site and see for yourself (link is above). I think the designers really hit their mark with this one—their primary goal was to create "a simple, fast user experience that was fun [and rewarding] to use and easy to share." They wanted it to be interactive and also provide users with a positive tone and a basic overview of the charity's mission; the videos, animations, and effects achieve all of these these goals. It's really simple yet remarkably effective! 

ICE CREAM SOCIAL IMPACT - MISSION A LA MODE

What an interesting way to bring people together! Ice cream... I don't think there are many people in our society who don't like it. Many love it. Many crave it. It's sweet, refreshing, creamy, delicious. "Ice cream socials" have been around for decades. Now here's a company—Mission a la Mode— that puts a new twist on that phrase. 

From the designer's (Mason Zimbler) website, "Central Texas nonprofit Mission a la Mode’s aim is to bring community members together through a pretty sweet incentive: ice cream." 

From what I understand, these are posters advertising the company and its ice cream (perhaps they are packaging designs as well?). The phrases are witty: "Ice Cream... Social Impact," "Soft Serve the Greater Good, and "Tasty Treat Others as You Want to be Treated."

I love the design of each of the posters, from the vintage, "weathered" look to the creative decorative typefaces used for the most important words (which even signifies an ice cream flavor) to the backgrounds comprised of white silhouettes against a light pastel to the layout and obvious hierarchy to the wooden spoons with phrases on them. Another thing that is cool is that each one uses different typefaces and background colors, but the continuity lies in all of the other design elements. It's clear that they are a set. 

This makes me look forward to Project 3—packaging! 

Source: Mission a la Mode, Posters and Campaign Collateral, PRINT MAGAZINE, Issue 67, December 6, 2013

The 2013 Regional Design Annual, pages 37–38.

Mason Zimbler, Austin, Designer
Other credits: Jeff Neely (creative director), Kathy Farley (assistant creative director/writer), Jimmy Dyer (art director/designer), Lori Otto, Lauren Reichman (writers), Mission a la Mode (client)

The actual scanned image is below; the above are the online images (easier to see clearly) found at http://www.mzl.com/#/portfolio/0012