I am obsessed with these beautiful creatures! Fridgeezoo is the best Eco friendly product out there. These animal themed cartons let you know when you open the fridge door for too long, letting the fridge cool, meaning more energy and work is required from the fridge to regulate the temperature. Such a smart, chic idea! Thanks to the Dieline for introducing me to my new obsession.

I cannot choose between the Penguin and the Walrus.

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Next year I will be choosing my ISTD/ D&AD brief and so I have been looking into work that previous students have created. I found this beautiful piece by Rishi Sodha, I was instantly pulled in by the presentation, the beautiful, chic black packaging, and the explosion of the individuality wrapped posters. A beautiful controlled and executed piece.

Rishi is a very talented, award winning designer, I’m sure Rishi’s career will be very successful. On Rishi’s website Rishi explains the thoughts and process behind the concept:

“The original brief was to explore the concept of 100 and its significance.

As such, in this project I decided to answer the question: If we are defined by the people we know, can you be defined by your relationships with 100 people? 100 people were each given 100 seconds to answer 3 simple questions about an anonymous person, referred to as X. These posters look at their answers & invite the viewer to make their own judgements of the anonymous subject.”

The Buchstaben Museum (The Museum of Letters) was one of the highlights of my visit to Berlin! This museum is hidden in the corner of Berlin Carre Shopping Centre across from the TV tower at Alexanderplatz and is a mere €2.50 to gain access to this heaven of type. The musuem which is a non profit organisation was created in 2005 by Barbara Dechant and Anja Schulze, under a passion for typography. They wanted to rescue threatened letters from public spaces. The museum preserves and restores type not only from Berlin but from around the world too. Each letter in the museum has a card with its identity and information. The museum strives to document the history, origins and stories behind each of its pieces.

Every corner of this commercial space is overloaded with type, it is lying on the floor, piled one infront of the other against walls, hanging of string from pipes. This is only a temporary space for the museum until the owners can find somewhere permanent, and hopefully bigger.

No space is left unused, even the bathrooms are off limits as type is placed in there and showcased. I absolutely adore this. They just have so much to offer but just not enough space.

Some of the type on show is still in working order, which only adds to the exhibition. Some of the pieces have been plugged in to show them in their working glory.

I adored the organisation of this museum, lack of space does not prevent them from being creative with their presentation. The museum is split into many small rooms and some of these rooms are colour coordinated, there is a yellow room, a blue room, and a red room! The red room was my favourite room as it had the most eccletic taste in type styles, some quite coporate, some highly decorative.

This is a must see museum for any type geek or just general design lover. Check out the Buchstaben Website for more information…www.buchstabenmuseum.de
I shall definitely return on my next trip to Berlin. It is hard to describe how amazing this museum is, it truly is something you have to see with your own eyes. The owners are doing an amazing thing, rescuing all these amazing specimens of type which would otherwise be destroyed and forgotten about.
The musuem accepts donations and sponsors, to help keep it running. You can also adopt a letter, which is something I am very tempted to do, in order to help this project grow. You can also help the museum grow… if you have seen a display letter worthy of rescue send photos, contact information and information about the location to the museum via their website.

The Buchstaben Museum current location:
Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 13,
10178 Berlin,
Alexanderplatz,
Berlin Carre,
1.0G/1st Floor

Opening Hours:
Thu—Sat, 1—3pm

Entrance:
€2.50

Jessica Hische is in Belfast, Northern Ireland this Tuesday as part of the Build Conference. If you are not attending the Build Conference but would like to hear Jessica Hische talk then get your tickets for ‘Build: An evening with Jessica Hische’ here… http://aneveningwithjessicahische.eventbrite.com/ .

If you would like to see more of Jessica’s Fabulous work check out her website…http://jessicahische.com
Or add her on twitter @jessicahische

I cannot wait to see more of her work and hear her speak on Tuesday! It’s great to see the Females getting recognition in such a male dominated industry!

Matthew Gray Gubler is an illustrator, photographer and film maker. I accidently stumbled across his illustrations and instantly fell in love with the texture and style of the pieces. The intense quality of each piece gives each its own personality, and draws the eye in, to explore lines, colour and detailing. Definitely the most inspirational illustrator I have seen in quite some time. I picked out a few of my favourites from his online portfolio.

The use of proportion, is what is exceptional about these pieces, the human torso is contorted and elongated, providing quite surreal portraits of interesting characters. The muted use of colour and shading add dimension to the pieces. I adore the proportions in the above piece the placement of the head, on the subjects shoulders is beautiful, it adds motion to the piece.

Each piece is individual, with their own quirks that allow them to each own unique personalities. The exploration of colour adds character, as shown above, the use of colour with lines age and weather the above rough subject.

I feel that what I draw most from Gubler’s work is the personality of each piece, his subjects are playful, innocent almost. The illustrations show a hidden honesty of each character, that is only highlighted more by the careful attention to detail, colour and framing. The above piece is very playful, it is a fun, personal portrait.

This piece above is by far my favourite of Gubler’s online portfolio. I am not sure if it is the simplicity of the lines and detailing or if it is the colour, but it all works beautifully together and is visually pleasing, a beautiful piece of illustration. I just adore typography, especially hand rendered and the additional written information only adds to the piece. Gubler is definitely an illustrator I will be keeping my eye on, stunning, and inspirational work.

Be sure to check out Gubler’s site for further works, including his photography and motion work.

CLICK HERE!

A little piece of architecture to throw into the mix. Hong Kong architect Gary Chang, did not want to give up his 344 sq. ft. apartment that he has lived in since a young boy, with his parents, sisters and yes even a tenant. Hong Kong is over populated so space costs money, most apartments are small and this is acceptable. Gary Chang decided to make his apartment work for him, and through his knowledge and expertise in his craft of architecture he created a home that consists of one room, that though a mirrored ceiling, he created sliding panels and walls that ‘transform’ into 24 different rooms, and it is all green living. Gary Chang calls his masterpiece “Domestic Transformer”. It is unbelievable.

Warmth is invisible. Director Olivier Babinet alongside Lovo Films and TBWA Brussels wanted to create a film that made warmth visible. This piece is for natural gas, and through the use of wool, Babinet wanted to create a story of motion that shows the gradual heating of a house in the morning through natural gas. The scenes are created by going backwards, the scenes are covered with sheets of knitted wool which are then pulled. A beautiful, warm and innovative concept, that is such a simple technique which creates a beautiful piece of stop motion. This film took a month to prepare, 4 days and nights to shoot and had an impressive crew of 40 strong. The entire piece is created via the beautiful technique of stop motion, and it took four cameras to capture this. An incredible piece of motion design, that definitely managed to do all it set out to do.

A very talented designer Paula Cassidy hand crafts these beautiful and playful plushies. She creates palm sized plushie breakfast food consisting of french toast (with berets and moustaches, pop tarts, mushrooms and even fried eggs! She is venturing into Milk Cartons, and also scented tea bag plushies.

I am a proud owner of one of her Pop Tart keyring plushies, mine is strawberry and it is absolutely stunning, a rainbow of vibrant colours sprinkled upon it with neat stitches.

Paula is very passionate about her work, and each plushie is crafted with exceptional skill and quality. Each are absolutely beautiful and as you buy one, you want to buy another to have a complete set.

Paula has even ventured further creating these absolutely beautiful fried eggs and mushrooms. Soft and playful and a must for adults and kids alike, especially to brighten up those studio desks, with their vibrant, feel good qualities.

If you would like to purchase any of Paula Cassidy’s Merchandise they are a steal at £7. Paula will hand craft a one off creation for you, to your colour specification, adding that personal touch, that will ensure the absense of disappointment. They are crafted to the highest quality, and are created with skill and a lot of love and passion.

Contact Paula for orders at: cassidy-p@email.ulster.ac.uk
or check out here website: Paula Cassidy

Last year I bought his ‘Hope’ booklet, I received number 187 out of 200. The booklet is blue ink on blue paper and I adore the minimalist approach to the front cover which begs to be opened and the quirky back cover with its upside down graphical detail. The pack includes two random button badges. I have not been able to bring myself to unseal the packaging and have a look at the actual book in the 2 years I have had it, I cherish it too much to increase the chance of it getting damaged.

He signs and numbers every single one, and even takes it upon himself to post them out. I was incredibly impressed when I received the book to find that even the envelope he had taken the time to put his artistic flare on. It shows how much he cares for his work, he wants to showcase it and he wants to make an impact when the buyer receives their merchandise.

The envelope is illustrated front and back with rubber stamps of Soto’s own illustrations with an orange or brown ink, it is a subtle detail which works beautifully and compliments the envelope.

I later purchased his calender with which I received this accompanying booklet. I gave in and opened it when I discovered that some lucky books included hand drawn sketches and hand signed pages. I wanted to know if I was lucky enough to have received one and to my happiness I was.

Within my book, I have a hand signed piece of tracing paper, which Jeff signed with his tag ‘Soto Fish’. I love his personal touches to his products, he cares about his fans, and this effort only blows his fan base wide open.

The book is bursting from front to back, with photographs, sketches, paintings, doodles all by Jeff. Some black and white and some vibrantly coloured. It is a breath taking piece of work.

If you would like to see some of Jeffs work go to his site, his work from past to present is there to view. Whilst you are there check out his blog which he regularly updates with posts on his own work and posts on the work of fellow artists whom inspire him, it is a very inspirational blog so be sure to check it out.

“Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. If you look at it to admire it, you are lost.”
Samuel Butler

“Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better.”
John Updike

“I am still learning.”
Michelangelo

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”
Leo Burnett

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.”
Albert Einstein

“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.”
Paul Rand (I can relate to this)

“Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one.”
Stella Adler

“I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.”
Orson Welles

“When you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in B&W, you photograph their souls.”
Ted Grant

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
Jamie Paolinetti

“Art has to move you and design does not, unless it’s a good design for a bus.”
David Hockney

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep”
Scott Adam

“Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humours.”
George Santayana

A great quote for students:

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
Pablo Picasso

“The first mistake of Art is to assume that it’s serious.”
Lester Bangs

“Colour does not add a pleasant quality to design – it reinforces it.”
Pierre Bonnard

“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.“
Bruce Feirstein

“Creative without strategy is called ‘art’. Creative with strategy is called ‘advertising’.”
Jef I. Richards

“Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.”
Freeman Thomas

Personally I gain so much inspiration from the truth behind this quote:

“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person’s brow.”
Charles Brower

“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
Dr Edwin Land

Feel free to add to this!

What type are you?

So why not take a few seconds and find out what type you are. Pentagram have a beautifully created, interactive film on their site. An elegantly dressed man, whose face you never see, asks you a series of four questions to determine what typeface you are. The film is so well designed, close up of his hands and movements, make for an interactive experience, he interacts with the time it takes for you to answer a question etc. It is a very quirky piece, his german accent just adds to it all, and his scholar vocabulary just draws you in. It is an incredible piece, and a great idea, and the design of the whole piece works so beautifully. A great idea, extremely well executed. So check it out and let me know what you get. Oh and the password is character.

Whilst researching for my current Ethics project I stumbled across The Co-operative Bank animations. The Co-operative have created many shorts highlighting the many concerns of their corporate responsibility and Ethical Policy. Each short is different, and are all beautifully put together and are quite hard hitting and rather powerful. I am extremely impressed by what they stand for, they won’t take on clients who fund or arm war, who use animal testing, sweat shops and that is only a few of many. This above film is created by Matte Black films. It is my favourite of all of them as I adore the illustrative style, it is so rough and raw and works so well in the environment, it looks so used and sterile. I love the letterbox style framing too, it adds to the overall eerie feel of the piece as if you are peeking in at something you are not supposed to see, and that just sums up the whole idea of the piece. The choice of sound works so well too, it is spine chilling. Amazing work! YouTube the rest of the videos, you will not be disappointed!

I wish they made these as purses as well as wallets as I absolutely adore them. This is just a beautiful and quirky crafting of helvetica on a practical everyday object. Personally I am not one who has sold into the whole helvetica hype, but that does not make this design any less exciting for me. I love humour in design, I love when it is designed to be enjoyed as the soul purpose.

This was the designers sales pitch, short and sweet, it is a wallet designed for a target audience; designers and type enthusiasts:

” I am not one to Who’s the original and who’s the impostor? I think we all know the answer to that one. This wallet was designed to further the debate between the Arial and Helvetica camps, while firmly stating its own position.

Wallets come in two flavors-Helvetica Good (white) and Helvetica Evil (Black). This is the evil (mwa ha ha) version.”

BUY ONE HERE!

Again another take on helvetica with a humorous treatment. It is a beautiful layout on the bag. Tote bags are just part of everyday life, they are just like plastic bags, every supermarket, clothes shop, music shop etc have jumped on the Tote band wagon, so it is nice to see something different and exciting done with the design on them. Again this piece was crafted with a target audience of typography lovers in mind. It is not a generic design designed to sell to a wide audience. It is carefully crafted and thought out and this is what attracts my attention. I adore that effort has also been put into the production as the totes are silk screen printed.

This is the designers sale pitch:

“silkscreen some days feel like helvetica tote

be green while making a statement!
this tote is inspired by helvetica. playing on syllables, words & meaning while creating visual interest with typography. perfect for any font savant, designer or typoholic.”

BUY HERE!

These are created by the same designer as the above totes. They are beautiful, playful cards and I want to collect them all. I would love to receive one of them. They are letterpress printed which gives them a beautiful quality and texture. They are beautifully designed and the lay out uses debossing and negative space. They are designed with the designer or type enthusiast in mind, and they really speak out to this audience not only through design but through the quirky humour.

This is the designers sales pitch:

“letterpress futura card

this card is part of a series. the series is based off some of my favorite & maybe even one not so favorite fonts. playing on words & meaning while creating visual interest with typography. perfect for any font savant, designer or typoholic.”

BUY THEM HERE!