I have decided to quit the business of graphic design and dedicate the remainder of my mortal life to writing. Let me be clear: I’m not going to just write, I am going to write in Ommwriter. Farewell Mr. Rand. So long Saul Bass. Good day Mr. Glaser.
Those were the orders from Hasbro on a re-packaging, re-positioning assignment for three of Hasbro's classic board games.
Pictionary, Trivial Persuit, and Taboo were canned to appeal to a younger demo with a bit more pocket change, but a shorter attention span in this hyper-digital-handheld-device-driven era we’re all traveling through.
We presented two themes with designs to match: Co-Ed Wrestle and Shock Talk. The games were miniaturized and made portable by using a squat can and decreasing the size of gameboards, pawns and whatnots.
Using found imagery and period appropriate typography, the cans take a spin in the mosh-pit of retail punkery with hopes kiddies and their mums are eager, or at least curious enough to slap down a few bucks for a little gameplay.
Another quick post to announce the selection of another logo I drafted to be included in the upcoming LogoLoungeMaster Library series
Above is a logo concept I did for Larry Barnes at Eternal Screen Printing in Bakersfield back in 2002. LogoLounge and Rockport Publishers will include it in the book, Animals, Birds and Mythology.
Sweet Street Desserts is venturing into the world of the consumer and as such, is ramping up their brand to appeal to the delicate sensibilities of the rabid American shopper.
Here at Marlin, working with senior copywriter, Judith Garson, we put together the above 7-panel consumer brochure to be included in every outbound online order from the amazing Sweet Street confections factory in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The idea was to take a series of Sweet Street’s products and create photo-realistic icons reflecting the essence of the dessert.
I'll put up the complete series of images in a future post.
My pal Brian Williams, CD at Inspiration Networks, threw me a bone with an identity exploration for a documentary television network.
Halogen takes a faith-based approach to exploring real world issues without the all-too-common whitewashing or sappy storytelling many Christian programs trip over.
Up top are my favorite solutions to the problem. Below are sample pages for a Field Guide the network publishes to express the voice, tone and manner of the channel.
A quick post to announce the selection of 6 logos I drafted to be included in the upcoming LogoLoungeMaster Library series.
The Master Library is a bit of a twist on the popular LogoLounge book series focusing on singular topics of reference including: • Initials & Crests • Typography • People • Animals, Birds and Mythology • Shapes and Symbols • Nature and Food • Arts and Culture (including transportation, sports and architecture)
Here’s my work which LogoLounge and Rockport Publishers will include in the first book, Initials & Crests:
Is any idea really original? What’s old is new and what’s new is old? I received an anonymous comment on my First Light post calling me to the carpet of unoriginality. The commenter pointed out a similar logo was created for another production company with a similar name and similar concept for an identity, Natural Light Films. Have I been called out?
The First Light Solution Logo design, when it’s done well, seeks to create a visual play between the mark and the thing it represents. In my solution for First Light, I used a big door in the form of an ‘F’ revealing a crack of light for the movie production house. I wouldn’t say that a big ‘F’ by itself is compelling, nor is using light cascading from an open door original either. But the two together create an interesting representation of the specific nature of First Light:
“First Light can either be one of two things: 1. The big bang that brought you all to my blog, or 2. The first star a new telescope is trained upon. Either way, the metaphor is spot-on for what the production company is trying to do: Get young directors and writers funding to realize their digital movie making dreams.”
For a point of reference, and a look into the work done exploring the First Light problem, below are the options presented to the client:
The Natural Light Dimmer Switch In the case of Natural Light the open door revealing a natural light source makes sense, but only in the literal form, and by itself, doesn’t create an ownable metaphor for the production company. On the Natural Lightsite there’s a brief statement outlining the mission of Natural Light:
“NATURAL LIGHT FILMS specializes in true to light documentary and television series production. We create programs that entertain, educate, motivate and involve each viewer as a participant in the lives and stories of each subject.”
So what do they mean by “True to Light?” I suppose it could be interpreted as presenting something as it is, or it could be faith-based. Whatever the reason, using an open door to represent the idea of “True to Light” simply isn’t unique. A quick search for ‘door’ and ‘light’ over at LogoLounge demonstrates the open door solution is a popular one:
What about my open door solution? Clichés can be good, but most often they’re bad, occupying that place along the road where pedestrian design resides. Good logo design often employs clichés to build a familiar link between an audience and a company, but the best clichés are those with an unexpected or clever twist.
So, the bell has rung and the gloves have come off: The open door for Natural Light is a bit of a bore. It’s rendered well enough and it does make sense, but the ambitious contender simply sits in its corner hoping for another chance at the title. But really? With a glass jaw, and an open door to an alley littered with tired ideas, did the First Light logo ever have a shot, all the while lacking the heart of a champ?
For quite some time, I have been fascinated with those little jewels up top in the URL address bar of our browsers to the cybernet. I think of them as a virtual lapel pin. Kind of like wearing a U.S. flag or Rotarian pin further stating the wearer’s allegiances.
Favicons are very much in vogue and seem to be a hallmark of better designed sites. Weighing in at 16 pixels square, getting the little icons to communicate the essence of the corresponding site isn’t always successful. Click the favicon collection above to see a downloadable mini-poster of favicons I like.
The solution that works well for this blog is right up there in the address line. The circular indent makes a nice pointer to the URL. It’s simple, it’s bold, and it relates to the identity of this blog.
Getting a favicon to work for your site is a snap:
1. Design your favicon (or download a free one) 2. Save it as an .ico file. (There is a Photoshop plugin to save your file in the right format, there is a site you can upload your art to that will save it properly, or you can try the favicon.ico Generator site to design and download your icon.) 3. Drop it into the root folder where your website resides and refresh your browser to see it work.
If you want to attach your favicon to a blog, here are links that explain how popular blogging sites accomplish this:
Online tools are becoming more ubiquitous, but more importantly, quite useful. FontShop has teamed up with Rob Meek (über type geek) and created an online font building application.
FontStruct makes designing, downloading and sharing fonts a snap. Simply choose different block shapes and grid sizes to build out all the glyphs commonly found in commercially produced fonts.
My first stab at a font using the tool is Madeline (today was her birthday!). The font is a contemporary digital sans serif display font. There are 98 glyphs including numerals, punctuation and lowercase letters.
Longtime ad man, creative director, agency principal and veteran wordsmith, John Mack wanted a simple portfolio site. So I helped out. Along the way I thought a simple expressive mark that reflected his sensibilites and style would help ground the site. Above is the result of the effort.
Mr. Tom Russell had his lovely wife (and my longtime friend) Courtney (Schieber) Russell enlisted me to work a mark up for a startup movie production company, First Light Productions.
Tom, professor of cinematography at Brigham Young University, filmmaker, and ex-ad exec, is an absolute riot. As evidence, checkout Napolean Dynomite. I swear, on all that is good and right in the world, that when I saw the movie I turned to my wife in the musty darkness of a dollar theater in Bako and whispered, “Holy guacamolé! That has to be directed by Tom.” I was close. Some of his students put the cult classic together, but Tom's influence was impossible to miss.
Tom, if he were Hawkeye Pierce, would have as his Trapper John McIntyre role filled by Bill Nelson. The two, along with cousin Steve Gabbitas, have worked on a gagillion projects over the years with the full-length dramatic comedy, Mr. Dungbettle as their fractured-family jewel.
First Light can either be one of two things: 1. The big bang that brought you all to my blog, or 2. The first star a new telescope is trained upon. Either way, the metaphor is spot-on for what the production company is trying to do: Get young directors and writers funding to realize their digital movie making dreams.
Tom, Courtney (Bill and Steve), you light up my life.
For ever and ever and ever I have done posters for the Bakersfield Jazz Festival on and off and on and off and now on again. Mark Ramsey is the A.D. on the gig and enlists my help to get a poster together every couple of years.
This year, Mark wanted to see something with silhouettes and a big splash of color—something to compliment the atmosphere the springtime event puts out. Marrying up the illustration with some expressive type, the poster is a departure from the past post-these-bills we've knocked out before.
