providing graphic design, branding, photography and marketing expertise to denver and the world

Quote of the Week:

The 80s are officially back

I've noticed it creeping into fashion. Heck, I even bought my first pair of Vans in 20 years just last January. But this video cements it: the 80s are officially back. Check the awesome Dire Straits video reference. And you can dance to it, too.



What does this mean for design and branding? Time to whip out the fluorescent inks and checkerboard patterns, baby. And if this fad runs its course in the usual timeframe, expect paisleys to make an appearance in about a year.

video awareness courtesy of dooce

Labels: music, video

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Our Blog: Now with more e-mail

This feature has been buried at the bottom of the main page feed for a while now, and I thought I'd bring it up top, in case anyone missed it:

You can get these blog posts via e-mail. Amazing 21st-century technologies allow us to send posts straight to your computer when they are created by the author! No more checking the blog page for an update, or even having to fire up your RSS feed reader; nosiree!

Now you can have all of the pablum, with none of the pain. Try it today!

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7.30.2008

Inspiring

Most creatives I know have a space near their workstation where they put up all kinds of stufff to inspire them, remind them to do something a certain way, and whatnot. I've blogged about mine before, but thought I'd share the latest iteration of my wall:



Check out the plans for the new office space! And the cool bike jersey I designed for the scholarship fund.

Labels: creativity, work

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7.29.2008

Politicos using social media: who gets it, who doesn't

A quick survey of two world powers shows me that the Brits know how to use social networking [twitter] [flickr] , and while the Yanks have twitter, it's pretty dang dry. Also, while he has an equally-passive Facebook page, W doesn't have a flickr page. WTF?

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Here's the Prime Minister's Twitter:

Content evaluation: lots of banter, and answering of questions from other twitterers. A

Design Crit: the use of a black background and the choice of a cropped photo showing the iconic "10" address numbers on the Prime Minister's door is very British. Understated and stylish. B+

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And the White House's:

Content evaluation: dry dry dry listings of press releases, and events. D

Design Crit: The pale blue background is weak. No read, white, and blue? No american flag? Soaring eagle? The image of the President being used is incongruous with the screen name "TheWhiteHouse"...is it a place (where the stream is reporting on not only the actionsof the President, but all of the Executive Branch), or is it a person (the President)? Demerits for the bad photoshopped-in background behind W's head, as well. Let's get consistent, people! D+

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For the comparison, here's Obama's twitterstream:

Content evaluation: this is somewhere in-between: it's mostly a marketing tool to raise awareness for the events on his campaign schedule. I haven't seen his twitterstream answer questions from others, although he does use it to drive readers to other social and interactive media, where they are (by self-selection) comfortable absorbing more information. I think the Obama camp could learn something from the PM in terms of talking to the people, though. B-


Design Crit: repeating the visual mark in the background and in the user icon...good, but perhaps a bit repetitive? And I know that Barack Obama is the brand, it wouldn't hurt to humanize the branding a bit with a photo of Barack's face for the icon. Let the logo work in the background image. B

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Stats of Twitter followers*:

• downingstreet: 3,504


• TheWhiteHouse: 569


• BarackObama: 51,402

hmmm, who is reaching out to, and connecting with, the online community?

*(and before I get mail about not including John McCain's stats here, believe me, I looked for him on Twitter. He's just not there.)

Labels: branding, politics, social networking

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New Brand Logos Reflect Shift at G.M.

From the New York Times article by Eric Pfanner:

The new Vauxhall badge shows the brand's longtime mascot, a griffin, in a bigger, bolder way, zooming in on its upper body. The mythical beast, which joins the head and wings of an eagle to the body of a lion, appears more three-dimensional; previous versions of the griffin were flat.

The Opel logo, a stylized lightning bolt, also gets more depth in the redesign, though the general shape is unchanged.

With these updates, General Motors joins other automakers, including Volvo, Fiat, Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, that have recently refreshed or redesigned their logos, seeking an edge in a difficult market.

Here are the new visual expressions:

Labels: advertising, branding

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7.28.2008

Site Refresh: eMusic

Looks like eMusic has updated their user interface. And increased the number of uploads for basic accounts from 30 to 40, too!

From the presser on 7/22:

Beginning today, eMusic customers will not only see album information and track-listing on the page, they will see imported content from YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia for the artist whose music they are exploring.

eMusic’s “taste-making” customers can also now share their finds outside the eMusic community. They can bookmark the album page or send it to their social network feed on 18 of the most popular social media sites, including Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, Twitter, Stumble Upon and more. eMusic will add support for more sites over time.

Here are the old (left) and new (right) interfaces:

Definitely more "Web 2.0"-ish...glossy buttons (these are getting a tad overused, yes?), mixed with the Leopard-style njonmetallic gray rewind/play/forward buttons...it's a little confusing, graphically. But there is more content there, and it is slicker than the previous interface, which made it's debut about a year ago (according to the wayback machine, anyhow).

The logo and top navigation takes up less space, which optimizes the usable area for content, and the "25 FREE DOWNLOADS" isn't omnipresent everywhere, which also makes for a better experience. The overall navigational structure hasn't changed much, which is good...the browseability is retained, with some added context brought to the table by eMusic's integration with feeds from other content providers.

Labels: design, interface, web design

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Doane Paper: when graphic nerds and word nerds collide

Ever needed a sheet of paper to pen some thoughts, then needed to sketch out a comp or a visual? Tired of carrying around graph paper and ruled paper/ EnterDoane Paper. Available in 8.25 x 11" perforated pads of 50 sheets per pad.

Labels: paper

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What We're Reading Online

I thought I'd share some of the content that is informing our work, seeping into our consciousness, and making us smile.

The Big Picture. This visual blog takes advantage of the fact today's monitors allow us to see big images onscreen. Each Big Picture post presents several images with a common theme. It's a wonderful bit of online photojournalism, and a big inspiration. Some recent favorites: photos from the Tour de France, Xenophobia in South Africa, and Images of Jupiter.

The Denver Egotist. This anonymous blog shows and tells various design/agency projects coming out of the Denver area. it's occasionally juvenile and snarky, but lately has been growing up into something more than a space for ranting, trollbaiting commentators. They bring some interesting design and campaign news to our notice, and for that we'll overlook the occasional misfire.

Logo Design Love. It's all about the visual identity here. Good posts on good logos, bad logos, and occasionally similar logos.

Cool Infographics. A well-executed infographic is better than a good-looking piece of design. And it's more than art. It's a visual expression of hard data or process that makes the viewer come to a more complete understanding of that data or process.

In that same vein, there's Subtraction, the blog of nytimes.com's design director, Khoi Vinh. As the person responsible for guiding the interactive visualization of the New York Times's content, Mr. Vinh has a lot to shoulder, and he does it well. Not only does he have some great talent backing him up at nytimes.com, but his personal expressions of visual information design show he's the captain of the ship there, as well.

The Design Observer. This design blog is edited by three of the biggies in the design world: Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, and Jessica Helfand; and lists contributors that anyone who has picked up an AIGA annual in the last ten years would know by their designs, if not by name. Ms. Helfand's nostalgic post on the good old days of press rooms filled with make-readys made me remember my earlier days, and made me a little wistful for zipatone and rubylith, too.

So, there's your reading list for today, young blog-reader. Enjoy!

Labels: advertising, creativity, denver egotist, design, information graphics, photography, print, printing, writing

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Graphic Design Icon: Susan Kare

For those of you who don't know her by name, you've still undoubtedly seen her work. For, you see, Susan Kare created the face of Apple's Macintosh computer back in the day:

You see, Apple needed a series of icons for it's newly minted Macintosh Operating System back in the early 1980s. As Apple's screen graphics and digital font designer for the Mac, she was charged with creating icons that, today, are among the touchstones for a whole generation of computer users. Her Apple portfolio page has more samples, but I have to show you my favorite:

The classic in error message iconography.

For those of you who weren't born when the original Mac came out, you still probably have seen her icon design work. For, you see, she is the designer of many of the original Facebook gift icons, as well:

She is also a typeface designer, and has a wide range of other work. Go check it out!

Labels: icon, mac, typography

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7.27.2008

The best quote for artists I've heard in a while

There's a slideshow profile at nytimes.com on a show of emerging artists at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The reviewer has this to say in the last frame:

This show suggests that there is no point in spending time on "professional development" if the artistic kind is not well under way. And that kind starts with looking at lots of art, good and bad, from all periods and cultures. Don't go back to your studio until you have something you urgently need to say and a burning conviction that no one else can say it.

That is one of the most obvious statements made about working as an artist, yet it's one that's often overlooked. If you don't have something to say, don't bother. Instead, first work on finding out what it is you want to say, something that drives your art, something that compels you to go into the darkroom or the studio or the editing room and create. Because (like I've said a million times before) the thing you create is just an artifact, not art. The art is in the creation, in the doing; and if you don't have a compelling reason for the doing, then you aren't making art. You're just wasting time.

Labels: advice, art, creativity

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7.25.2008

If a Corporation had to design the STOP sign

Clients: don't let this be you. Not only will designers hate you, but the result will be pretty much what you see here. Designers: we feel your pain.

via Kottke.

Labels: humor, process

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7.24.2008

Microsoft cares about Typography?

Apparently so. Being one of the world's largest suppliers of operating system software to personal computer users, onscreen type is a big deal to them. That doesn't mean that they have the breadth of, say, Adobe, when it comes to typeface offerings. But that's not what they're about. They need a core set of fonts to work in a variety of applications for a variety of users.
For graphic designers like me, it's important to know what typefaces come preinstalled with Windows XP and Vista. So Microsoft has this nice list, arranged by product. And the core web faces are listed right there. So, if you need to know, there it is.

Apple has a similar list, by the way. And they have a long history of caring about typographic design.

Labels: typography

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Great jacket design, using your own material

Most of you know I love cycling. So when I came across this jacket from Eleven Gear, I fell in love. They take the Tyvek racing numbers from the events you've raced in over the years and make them into a jacket. It's $233, which seems pricey, until you remember that it's one of a kind.

Labels: creativity, cycling, fashion

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7.23.2008

Testing a post from MarsEdit

I'm trying out MarsEdit, since they just announced a new release, and so far it's working fine. It's nice to compose messages offline, and a heck of a lot more efficient. I have to see if it does things like create future posts, etc., and make sure it plays nice with my feed, etc. I'll let you all know what I think of it as I play around!

Labels: blogs, mac, software

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The ten things not to forget about when branding your organization

Sometimes the excitement of creating a brand can blind you to why you are doing it. Maybe you are about to launch a new venture, or perhaps you are rebranding an old one; but either way, it is essential to remember a few things (in no particular order):

• Uniqueness and Authenticity: what does your organization stand for?


• your brand should be an authentic expression of your organization


• Stand apart: if your brand is just like your competitors', then it's worthless


• Plan ahead: your brand identity should look towards the future, not back into the past (or even the present)


• Can we get it? Your brand should make sense


• Get excited: champion your brand once you create it. If you don't, no one else will.


• Distill: start by thinking big. end up with a few words that encompass the entirety of your organization's value.


• First, form. Then, contrast. Then, color.


• Don't design by committee: It always ends up watering down the power of the final result. Instead, pick one or a select few that makes the decisions, interfaces with the brand team, and moves things forward.


• Consistency in application makes for a stronger brand. A key element in branding is creating a set of guidelines on brand application and usage, and making sure everyone in your organization follows them. This may involve training. Even if it takes time away from your staff's other duties, such training is essential--from the VP of marketing to the Executive Assistant. If everyone knows how to apply the brand properly, your organization will come out looking great no matter who prepares that sales presentation/brochure/press release/print ad/web banner/flyer.

Labels: advice, branding

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7.18.2008

The List, Item Nine: Leave it Here

It's a lot harder nowadays to leave your work at work, for the simple reason that you can work pretty much everywhere.

So in honor of our national last day of the workweek, I say to you all: try actually leaving your work at work for the next 64 hours when you close up shop today. Spend the weekend NOT WORKING. Have a life apart from your office, even if your office is at home. I bet it will all be waiting for you when you get back.

This ends the list. To recap:

• do the unpleasant stuff first


• say no when you have to


• delegate (but not only the unpleasant things)


• organize--one thing at a time


• give yourself uninterrupted time to do what you need to do


• don't procrastinate


• clean up


• make lists


• leave it here

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Labels: productivity

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(Relatively) New work from us: 200 Essential Pieces in Classical Music Booklet premium piece

Last year, The Classical Public Radio Network, a consortium of classical public radio stations scattered across the country, asked us to design an inspiring premium print piece to send to higher-value donors. Their idea was some sort of listing of not just the 200 most important pieces in classical music, but the 200 most important performances as well. The list had to contain artist information, composer, featured conductors, soloists, and the recording's catalog number, enabling people to quickly find the recording and purchase it. We produced a key to the listings, featured near the front of the piece:


This is a lot of information, and pretty dry stuff. But it's the sort of list a true classical music enthusiast would really enjoy. The challenge was to present the information in a way that:

• was easily accessible,


• engaged the content with the viewer in a compelling way, and


• had an enduring, lasting value that would make the user keep the piece around for a long time.

It was decided to present the pieces chronologically, arranged by date of composition. Below the list, we created a timeline showing the lifespans of the eras' major composers, as well as notable historic and musical events that took place. The dates of the timeline on any given spread corresponded with the pieces listed above them:


Throughout the booklet we also included features on some of the world's iconic performance halls and spaces: the Paris Opera House, the Tomaskirche, the Disney Concert Hall, and others. This helped to break up the list into more visually manageable chunks:



The client was an excellent collaborator, including a lead who knew her stuff, and what her audience would respond to: Karla Walker; and one of my writing pals from my University of Denver days, Jon Pinnow. We had amazing printing help from Tamera Rice-Ehrman at Sprint Press/Denver. They made the strike-through dull/gloss spot varnishes we used on the cover (subtly imprinting the composers' names over the front of the piece, and emphasizing graphic blocks and timelines inside the booklet), as well as making my 4-color quadtones look great (done in three colors of warm gray plus black).

By all measures, the piece was a success; it was a valuable draw when used in combination with other premiums at the $1,200 level and above, and both the client's stakeholders and recipients polled about the piece loved it. It's a piece that will continue to work for the client for a long time to come.

Labels: design, graphic design, information graphics

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The List, Item Eight: Make Lists

A bit self-referential, but this item has its supporters.

It's all about organizing your thoughts, people. If you have more than two things to do, write 'em down so you can see what you've got. And then you can see them again after a bout of Twittering. And then you can see them again after you got the first thing done and were deciding what to do next.

Labels: productivity

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have a war and a smile

in case anybody missed it the other day, NATO has hired the head brand manager of Coca Cola to remake its image. It's not a big stretch, as the guy in question, Michael Stopford, worked at the United Nations and the British Foreign Office before he was at the soda giant. A better question would be: what about working for the UN and the British Foreign office made him so appealing to the folks down in Atlanta?

Labels: branding

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7.17.2008

Did I mention you can follow me on the Twitter?

...I hear it's the newest in time-wasting internets technologies. You can find me here.

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7.16.2008

Change is always possible

The Sartorialist reminds us that there is no such thing as a lost cause when it comes to rebranding yourself:


Two years ago:


Today:

Labels: branding, fashion

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7.15.2008

En Francais: "Le Burrito"

Like thousands of other Coloradans, I am excited to see the Colorado-based team Garmin-Chipotle competing in the Tour de France this year. And now that they are in France, it looks like one of the main title sponsors is wasting no time in extending their brand:



Here's a story from the Denver Post.

Labels: branding, cycling

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7.11.2008

...and because I was complaining about not finding a good app that could update social network statuses...

I give you this article.

Labels: social networking

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Free Slurpee Day

It's 7/11. So get to it.

Labels: food

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The List, Item Seven: Clean Up

I could tell you my office is spotless. Well, it's not. It is in a constant state of flux between clean and a little, um, overwhelmed.

There are some great tips and sites out there on how to unclutter and clean up your space, so I won't go into the techniques here. But the benefits are enormous. A clean space gets your mind prepared and focused on the task at hand, and makes sure there are no distractions. remember how I told you it was a really bad idea to multitask? Well, your brain is subconsciously multitasking when faced with clutter, even if you are consciously focused on one particular thing.

SO: when you finish one task, pick up the inevitable detritus that it created. And when faced with a mountain of clutter, at least organize it into little piles. It'll at least make your brain think you're cleaned up, right?

Labels: productivity

posted at 7:19 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

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7.09.2008

Andy's back from Toulouse

And he has made some amazing photographs. If you haven't purchased his Five plus One portfolio, which will include a surprise image from his recent trip to Toulouse, do it now. I've been given a sneak peek at his "plus One" image, and it's beautiful.

Labels: photography

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The List, Item Six: Don't Procrastinate

Hmm, you might be wondering why it has been so long since I posted. It wasn't because I was procrastinating. Well, it wasn't because I was procrastinating writing a blog post. It was, however, because I had been putting off a client project that I wasn't really excited about.

I had a bunch of things on my plate, and this one project just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the stack. I can't really say why; it was an exciting project, for a fun client. But it was in an intermediate stage; you know, one of those steps that every project has to go through before it gets done, but also one of those steps that isn't that creative, or that much fun. So that's probably it: I had funner things to do. But if I had looked at my workload objectively, I'd have seen that this thing should be at the top, or at least near the top, of the stack.

But that's the problem. People have a hard time being objective, all the time. Especially when it comes to what they want to spend their time on.

So: I say it to myself with as much conviction as I say it to you: don't procrastinate. You'll feel better in the end. I promise.

Labels: productivity

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7.03.2008

Happy Independence, Everyone.

TO celebrate, I have a non-american piece of street animation for you, from BLU in Argentina (via Gizmodo):


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Labels: animation, argentina

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7.02.2008

But does it talk with a saucy British accent?

The Denver Egotist brought to my attention a fun set of ads for Volkswagen's european market, and I wanted to spread the love:



More importantly, I found a YouTube video that is even better. It is explained probably only by the massive popularity of David Hasselhoff in Germany. My favorite part is that the driver is so obviously into the music. Watch and enjoy.

Labels: advertising, print, TV

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7.01.2008

The List, Item Five: Give yourself uninterrupted time to do what you need to do.

I have a friend who is always in a rush. She seems to have about twenty things on her virtual to do list at any given time, and they all have to be done right now. For some folks, this isn't a problem; it's how they operate, no matter how much time you give them, or how limited you make their scope of action, they will always find a lot of htings to do, and try and do them all at once.

The problem with this is that it's really hard to do everything really well when you're doing them all at once. One facet of this is that your tasks aren't given the proper respect, in terms of time and attention; this leads to a poor, or at best, a mediocre, result.

Giving yourself enough time to do what you need to do is important. But how to do it?

My technique isn't new, or unique, but it works: Usually I schedule things too tightly. This goes for running errands, getting to social occasions, and even (gasp) running a project timeline. So, because I am an incorrigible optimist, I overestimate the time it takes me to do certain tasks. This offsets my optimistic viewpoint and brings my task time closer to reality. Worst-case: I have extra time to work on my task, or go to the movies, or take a nap. Sounds like a good solution to me!

Labels: productivity

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80% of US Businesses have Macs

Surely that must be a typo, you say. But according to this new study, it's true. So for all those people who say a Mac won't work for them because "we can't use them in the office": get your heads out of 1995, and join the rest of us in easy-to-use, high-design workin'!

via TUAW.

Labels: mac

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Wal-Mart's New Brand: Still not as good as Buy-n-Large

Wal-Mart unleashed its new brand image on its legions of bleary-eyed discount-hungry shoppers today (which is to say, all of us):



Definitely a more internet-friendly and approachable visual image. The tagline has been in use for a year or so, now, as well. And so is it now "Walmart", or "Wal-Mart" (which is how news organizations are still terming the company?

I noticed that when visiting their website, the fav.ico in the URL bar in the browser hadn't been updated, yet. The icon still utilizes the Wal-Mart star that you used to see in between the "WAL" and the "MART". Wal-Mart needs to be more of a brand evangelist within its own organization, and ensure that the application of the new logo and logo elements is seamless--and universal:




As an aside, the little gold asterisk (sunburst?) to the right of the typography reminds me of another similar illustration[vaguely NSFW]. I am woried that it makes Walmart seem too much like an energy company. But then, hey, they're Walmart! Who's going to confuse them with anything? They could probably use whatever font and layout they wanted and be really inconsistent and still have people know who they are (as they did when they were getting started back in the early '60s).

Labels: branding

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