Fridgeezoo.
March 8, 2011
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.
Witty Business Card.
March 8, 2011
I randomly found this business card online, and I love it. I love the witty and informal approach it has, it would definitely catch my attention. A nice change from the usual stuffy, corporate design business cards. Alexander Parker created it as a temporary business card.
Jasper – What could have been.
January 4, 2011
I am currently sorting through all of my sketchbooks and I came across this, one of my first mock ups of ‘Jasper’. I had initially wanted to create the book from collage paintings and images, but due to time constraints I had to simplify all the images, and wow Jasper took on quite a different look, I think for the best, this Jasper does not look too child friendly.
Jasper.
October 3, 2010
Over the past few months I sold a few couples of my book ‘Jasper’ a book I wrote and illustrated in 5 days, on the ethics of design, so I felt it appropriate to put some more updated pictures of the book itself. Writing and publishing illustrated books is something I am interested in doing in the future, so my first introduction into this process was a great learning curve, and I will definitely not write and illustrate a book in the space of five days again. However it was still a fun process.
Jam Jar Tees.
October 3, 2010
I had previously posted some of my advertising for a tshirt project I had completed as part of a project, but I just realised I had not posted the actual tshirts. I made three t shirts each with the slogan ‘Orphan’ or ‘Bold Face Orphan’. Two where hand painted (yellow ones) and one was screen printed (blue ones). As part of the project we also had to create tags for the t-shirt and also packaging, and this is mine below.
Pecha Kucha Tees.
October 3, 2010
This was a collaboration between myself and a fellow designer Winnie Shek. To promote the first Pecha Kucha in Belfast which I have previously posted about we took the elements we designed to brand the night (our hand drawn typography and illustrations) and we created a tee, that we wore on the night and the lead up to Pecha Kucha. We chose to leave it simple and allow the type to be the main focus, so that at a glance people could read what we were advertising. I absolutely adore these tees.
Paperclips.
October 2, 2010
Some of my packaging Prototypes
Last year at university, we were given quite an interesting project. We had to choose an object, mood, feeling anything really and change people’s perceptions of it. Our tutors wanted us to choose something that was not obvious, or that wasn’t well marketed out in the environment. After much thought, and many mind maps I finally settled on the ‘paperclip’. I thought it would be an easy task to change the perception of such a generic item, but I found that it was easier to talk about the perceptions than to visualise it.
My core message for this was ‘if a paperclip could talk’. I wanted people to take a step back and really realise why they use paperclips. A paperclip is a mundane piece of stationary that we use everyday day, we take it for granted to hold our documents together. Why do we choose a paperclip to hold our documents together? The reason is how they are marketed; paperclips will not rip or mark your paper, and allow for movement of pages within the document allowing for no error in paper orientation.
The paperclip was made an iconic piece of kit by the 1980’s epic MacGyver! MG could get himself out of jail, disarm bombs, break into high security buildings, fly planes armed only with his paperclip! Now ask yourself truly how exciting is a paperclip?
So how could I get these ideas together, and stop people from mistreating these poor paperclips, not giving them the respect that they so rightly deserve. I broke it down into smaller chunks of copy. I created my very own Paperclip font and each of the phrases began with ‘I can…’
I can protect you. (Holds your legal documents together, or reminiscent of MacGyver)
I can tell your secrets. (Holds secure information)
I can hold your heart. (Hold together Love poems, letters, thoughts)
I can hold your inspiration.
And so on.
When I came to visualise these it became difficult, as for an advertising campaign, through billboards and idents to change the perception of a paperclip would not appeal to any paperclip company as they have no need to advertise a piece of stationary that we use everyday. I had to find another way to capture the hearts and minds of the public in a way that might appeal to a company who makes paperclips. From my research I had realised that the packaging of paperclips is really lack lustre, the paperclips themselves can be silver, or coloured but they are all packaged in transparent, plastic boxes. There was no meaning or thought to the boxes, or to the reasoning behind the colour and that really bothered me as a lot of thought had gone into the style and use of the paperclip to make it so user friendly, to prevent it from damaging your documents. Why had this same care and consideration not been taken over to the packaging presentation? This is what I chose to tackle. I created a box that was playful and exciting, that would please the eye and draw you over in a stationary shop. That would make you stop and think, why does this packaging look like this? I created illustrations to provide a visualisation of the different uses of a paperclip. I created a box with the branding ‘I can…’ placed on the front of it. Inside the box is four compartments each colour coordinated, (inside each box is some paperclips the colour that corresponds with the colour of the lid.) Each box not only has a colour but it also has a use. So when you require the help of a paperclip you choose the corresponding use; heart, inspirations, dreams, secrets. All the boxes I made by hand from my own net designs.
Jam Jar.
August 8, 2010
This is how the piece below started, this was my first ever attempt at bringing my hand rendered type into Adobe Illustrator, I adore experimenting with hand rendered type, it is a great way to produce personality, and express meaning. I adore using pen and paper. The contrast on the blue against the black on this piece I feel really works with the pop of the white in the background. I have more experimentations with this technique that I shall put onto the blog in the near future. Let me know what you think.
Gary Chang.
July 23, 2010
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.
The trail of the Olympic Pictogram.
July 22, 2010
The Olympic Pictogram first appeared in 1936. For the New York Times, designer, and writer Steven Heller took a look through the varying Pictograms for the Olympics over the past few decades. Heller looks specifically at the ones that were successful and those that failed miserably. There were quite a few dodgy ones over the years, but it is a beautiful piece that proves a creative approach, and an intent to create a piece that is new, fresh, that has an element of risk that pushes the bar on the norm can prove to be the most successful approach. It also highlights a differing approach from purely black and white, to a bold use of colour.
(found via NY Times)
My little space.
March 18, 2010
University coursework has been chaotic, so I have not had time to update my blog, which I am quite disappointed about. I just wanted to introduce you to my little space, were I have spent a lot of time in uni the past few weeks. This is my little cubicle in our studio, it is tiny, so I work in constant mess but I would not have it any other way, I work best in mess for some reason. Anyway this is my little area, my little studio, prototypes lay strewn across it from previous projects, animations and a tee designing project. Just a little insight into my world.
A Terrible Beauty.
January 19, 2010
I have only just returned from a weekend in Dublin City, where I took an extreme dash around the city attempting to go to as many galleries and exhibitions as possible, although I failed at finding some I really wanted to go to due to my awful sense of direction and my lack of knowledge of Dublin. I managed to get to Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, The National Gallery of Ireland, The National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History and I got lost on the way to The Museum of Modern Art and never got to go, but the streets of Dublin are lined with galleries!
I was stunned by the immense catalogue of World Famous artists, each museum I shrieked at the art I had stared at for years in books, was now right in front of me. I saw a little bit of Monet, Manet, Renior, Goya, Degas (paintings and sculptures), Gris, Piccasso, and to my immense shock and excitement I even saw Caravaggio’s ‘The Taking of Christ’ which is absolutely breath taking. I have been to the Louvre, the D’Orsay, the Metropolitan NYC, but Dublin is definitely on power with the greats.
Although all this art was exciting the best part of the weekend was going to the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. It is currently holding the ‘Francis Bacon- A Terrible Beauty’ exhibition. Out of all the exhibitions I have ever attended this is definitely the best. It is room after room, floor after floor of information, quotes and works of the extremely talented Dublin born Painter Francis Bacon. Even the Graphic Design and wayfinding of the exhibition were breath taking. Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take photographs in any of the galleries, even phones were prohibited, so I could not photograph any of the exhibitions.
The exhibition started with a video presentation of Francis Bacon back in the 90′s in his studio in London, in which he talks about his work ethos and background. He explained how he had never went to art school as he did not want to be told how to draw or paint, he did not want to be forced to mimic the work of any other painter. He chose to teach himself and learn through trail and error, so that he found and carved his own style influenced only by himself, and I think this attitude is what made him a great. The video is facinating, it shows how he liked to work in chaos, his studio was incredibly messy and that is how he liked it, he used the doors and walls of his studio as palettes to mix colours. He also exclaimed how he never sketched before paintings as he felt that once he started the painting he would then only be ‘illustrating a drawing’, which is a beautiful way of thinking.
The video also let you delve deeper into Bacon’s thinking and also showed how unique he was. He exclaimed he always used the wrong side of the canvas, he would turn his canvas around and paint on the unprimed side as it took the paint better and if he made a mistake he would be unable to fix it, he would just go with his brush strokes. He exclaimed how he wanted each brush stroke on the canvas to be like the first, to stand out, and he likened this to painting a wall, how important the first stroke is to the finished product. He exclaimed too that if his brush strokes took him in the wrong direction instead of carrying on and trying to fix the error he would destroy the painting. In one room of the exhibition the walls are lined with paintings that Bacon destroyed, which is probably the most fascinating part of the exhibition. Large canvas line the wall, with large chunks cut out of them, and slits down them created my frantic knife slashes. You really feel like you get into his way of thinking. It is also nice to see the vulnerable side of the artist, in galleries you never see the artists faults or failures just their great pieces of work, you take it for granted you don’t see the numerous pieces that had to fail to get to that point and I think that is why this exhibition is so successful it shows the human side to Bacon, it grounds him, makes him more approachable and easier to embrace, you can relate to him.
The exhibition, is bursting with photographs Bacon used, pages he ripped from books to use as reference (later in his career he preferred to paint from photos than live models), his sketchbooks, notes, paintings, doodles. Everything the gallery could salvage from his studio that showed a personal insight into the life of this artist. The most breath taking part of this exhibition is in the second room. They took his studio from London and recreated it in a huge glass box; walls, ceiling, floors and contents, all arranged to how it was when Bacon worked in it, I could have stared at it all day, it was amazing. Along with his actual studio are photographs of the ajoining two rooms, which housed his kitchen and bathroom which were in one room, and his bedroom and living room which were one room. It was a bizarre living arrangement, but what was odd, was the polar opposite of these two rooms compared to his studio. The studio was a chaotic mess, but his living quarters were absolutely spotless, not a thing out of place, every item had its space, straight and tidy, this was a huge insight into his private life. I don’t want to ruin the exhibition so I will stop there. At the exhibition I bought the book cataloguing it and its contents, it is gorgeous book, beautifully designed from front to back and it is a must to buy in the gift shop and is a steal at only 18 euros! It is a huge book and it is bursting with facts, quotes, paintings (even those he destroyed), his notes, doodles and pages from his sketchbooks!
This is an exhibition not to be missed I could talk about it all day. It runs until the 7th of March, here are the directions and opening times from the flyer:
Morag Myerscough.
November 15, 2009
I am so excited, this wednesday night Morag Myerscough is giving a talk at my university, I am counting down the hours. I absolutely adore her work, she literally thinks outside the box and comes up with the most insane design solutions that are so appealing to the eye and mind. She has such a talent of engaging and interacting with her target audience in her design, she is definitely someone who inspires and instills passion in me, I am so excited to hear her speak, and hear how she thinks!
Morag set up her own cross disciplinary design practice in 1993. Over the past thirteen years she has created work for many large businesses, here are but a few of her clients:
Barbican Art Gallery: Future City exhibitions
The British Council: British Pavilion, 9th Venice biennale
Derwent Valley: Tea Building Signage
Science Museum: Future Face 2004 exhibition
RIBA:literature and exhibition
Architecture Foundation: Greetings from London, 2004 exhibition
Conran: bluebird branding and Conran Collection food packaging
Wedgwood: Rebranding all packaging 2005.
Her talents cross over many fields of design, but my favourite of all are the work she does in the field of wayfinding, it is so strange and out there. She is not afraid of doing signage that is in your face, and screaming at you from every angle. Her work is made to be seen, it has a purpose and I suppose her success in doing so is why I admire her talent and ability so much.
Here are a few of her pieces I love the most:
I absolutely adore the work she did for the Deptford Project. I absolutely adore her use of colour, she is not afraid to experiment. I have the same attitude to colour as Morag, I love to just throw every colour out there at a design, to give it personality and to make it visually appealing and hypnotic in a way. This piece is a clash of colours, type and illustration, it looks like the train smashed into a print factory, it is chaotic but at the same time in a way organised, I absolutely adore it!
Information overload or what? You will definitely not get lost in this building. The wayfinding she created for Westminister Academy, just screams out at you, Morag was definitely not afraid to use garish colours at weights and sizes most would hide away from. This ballsy attitude that Morag has is so risky but it pays off, she is not afraid to mix it up, she is not afraid to break the mould and upend the rules of design. She is doing design her way, on her own terms and it is working for her.
If you would like to see any of her work visit here!
I will update on how her lecture went!
Imagehaus.
September 21, 2009
Imagehaus is an American Graphic Design agency who produce everything from branding to websites. I instantly fell in love with their work, it is so organic and quite retro in style. The colours are all quite pale and neutral which all compliment each other, along with their use of textured papers.
Out of all of their pieces of design that I have seen this is by far my favourite piece. It was created for the All Seasons Wild Bird Store, and the agency created a complete brand revamp, starting with the logo then to the stationary, gift cards, packaging, store bags and signage. The bag design has such an organic, country feel. The muted colours and simple illustrations against the natural brown package background really make the design pop and appeal to the eye. This definitely shows how in design that less is more, and how pattern breathes life into the designs. I love how each bag has its own identity, with different font styles and illustrations, but though still consistent enough that they look like they are from the same company.
This is some branding the company designed for a barber shop in Minneapolis called Schmidty’s. The branding again got a revamp with a glossy-free, retro feel by Stuart Flake. The company describe the shop as a ‘no frills’ barber shop. I think a beer mat was an amazing idea for the business card/ brochure. A mans barber shop, none of their clients would take notice of traditional business card, but a beer mat would definitely catch their eye. I have always liked design ideas that are both branding but that are also practical. A beer mat is an easy way to spread word, and a less aggressive way too. I love the muted colours too, the designers have been careful to make design actually look like a beer mat not a business card, so the whole design fits and works.
This is a piece of branding that the company created for Anglo-Italian inspired clothing company Kuhlman. Imagehaus describe this piece as ‘a complete collar-to-cuff brand makeover’. I absolutely adore this piece of branding, it is so clean and crisp and it has such a superior feel to the design, it looks expensive. I love how all the pieces differ but are the same in style. I love the use of green it is very royal especially with the use of pattern. It is a highly decorative piece of design, that is exciting, new and fresh.
visit their site at: Imagehaus
There is a lot of beautiful inspirational pieces of branding and stationary design on the website.
robert the.
July 20, 2009
I just happened to stumble across the work of a man called Robert The, he studied in the Institute of Lettering and Design, Chicago and he is now creating sculptures out of second hand or scrap hard back books. His work is so amazing, and brings books alive making them into pieces of art. It is very hard to actually find any information on him and his work but he does have a pretty basic website here , if you are interested into looking into anymore of his work. His bio is a sentence long and the site just consists of previous exhibition dates and a handful of examples of his work. I wish there were more information on him but I suppose curiosity only adds to his charm!
He has created quite a lot of sculptures of guns out of book, how quirky would this be if it were incorporated into the design of a crime novel.
The beetle, is beautiful, you can see this appealing to kids, get them into reading!
A puzzle from books, this is captivating, really catches your intention. It completely confuses the brain.
It was created for the soul purpose of sculpture, but from a design perspective how great of a gimmick would this be for design, obviously altered so it wouldn’t disrupt the text, but if part of the cover came of to create a gun for a crime novel or an animal for an encyclopedia, it’s quite an inventive way of thinking.
