personal arks

Cosmo Power Co. President Shoji Tanaka crawls out from a spherical earthquake and tsunami shelter "Noah" made of fiber enforced plastic at the company's factory in Hiratsuka, west of Tokyo, Friday, Sept. 30, 2011. The Japanese generator maker has developed a modern version of Noah's Ark in case Japan is hit by another massive earthquake and tsunami. The company of just 10 employees completed the first Noah, that has 1.2 meters (4 feet) in diameter and can hold up to four adults inside, earlier this month and already has 500 orders. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

 

what i'm listening to

crystal castles

the xx

two door cinema

groove armada

the knife

lykke li

the presets

calvin harris

 grand national

sneaky sound systems

reminders...

I get caught up from time to time and forget why branding is so important to me and why successful execution of it has brought me so much satisfaction. Why do we fight for things like brand standards? the perfect voice for copy? the logo that wasn't designed by the client's friend who took a painting class? Individually these things may not hold a ton of merit but when combined properly....the possibilities are endless and can incredibly impactful. And at the end of the day the impact is what it is all about.  Seth sent me (and several thousand other readers) a reminder about this today:

Soles 

All you've got, all your brand has got, all any of us have are the memories and expectations and changes we've left with others. It's so easy to get hung up on the itinerary, the features and the specs, but that's not real, it's actually pretty fuzzy stuff. The concrete impact of our lives and our work is the mark you make on oth er people. It might be a product you make or the way you look someone in the eye. It might be a powerful experience you have on a trip with your dad, or the way you keep a promise.
The experiences you create are the moments that define you. We'll miss you when you're gone, because we will always remember the mark you made on us. There's a sign on most squash courts encouraging players to wear only sneakers with non-marking soles. I'm not sure there's such a thing. If you're going to do anything worthy, you're going to leave a mark.            -Seth Godin

comic sans: the loaded relationship

so i'm a comic book geek. By geek i mean geek. Let's just say my wife is a patient woman. so you can imagine my surprise when i decided to delve into the history of the villain of the modern graphic design world, Comic Sans and found it's roots in comic book art. The font was developed for Microsoft and based on lettering (the words in the bubbles) from classics like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. Both of these are definitive works that really redefined modern comic book storytelling. So how did a font with such legendary beginnings achieve such a toxic status?  The movement began in a response to blatant and eventually widespread misuse of the "humourus" font in serious or coporate situations. For example:





versus something you should take seriously and probably do every day, like this:

this font (FHWA Standard) says you can take your humor and shove it.
The misuse combined with kerning and leading issues when it's used in body type gave graphic designers good reason to boycott it altogther.

the takeaway for me is...
1)"comics get no respect."
2) It's sad what started out as a neat tribute to a great medium, ended up universally despised.
3) bleeding cowboy and papyrus (although not comic book inspired) are next.

more:
http://sixrevisions.com/graphics-design/comic-sans-the-font-everyone-loves-to-hate/
Cameron Chapman

Friday little known fact:

Freddie Mercury actually graduated with an art degree in graphic design.

He designed the crest:

on that note,

play us out Mr. Mercury.

Wee, wee, wee all the way home...

Blues, Brews and BBQ baby!
It's interesting to get to do posters for an event two years in a row. I like putting them
next to each other and getting some perspective on where i've been and where i'm headed stylistically.
Plenty of room to grow before i start working on next year's version!

2010

2011