Thursday, February 19, 2009

Funny Drinking Glass


These are very funny drinking glasses made by the German company Donkey Products. If you're not a beer drinker, you can certainly say that beer tastes like piss. Donkey Products design and develop humorous products that are creative and original as well as help advise young designers. They definitely try to think outside the box. Check out their collection here  http://www.donkey-products.com/en/collection/

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Inspiration-Nike Ads by Laura Alejo

I'm going to post every now and then designers that has some artwork that can be inspirational for other designers. Surfing the web, I came across the designer Laura Alejo's advertisement illustrations for Nike. Since I'm a fan of splatter and splashes this caught my eye immediately. I enjoy seeing how other designers and artists push the splatter theme. I also have been working on trying something different for a personal project. Laura Alejo has plenty of other good designs, such as package design, which I feel is one of the hardest tasks to take on. You can view her site here: http://www.lauraalejo.com/ .
Nike Ads:






Sunday, February 15, 2009

Creating a Logo Brief

Before starting on any design project, it's essential to gather all the information that you can. When it comes to a logo or a corporate identity project there are a few pieces of information that is needed. It's important to ask these, because it helps you understand what direction you should be heading and what the client is looking for.

Communication Information
First, establish the person that you will be speaking with during the whole process. Find out if it is easier to speak with them over the phone, by e-mail, an instant messenger of some sort like AOL or Skype , or in person. Ideally for the whole process, it would be best to have meetings with your client in person. It is easier to gather all the information needed and understand how they work a bit clearer. Also, you can see the client's reaction immediately to the samples you show them. Plus, it is easier to state your reasoning behind your concept or persuade them to make a better decision, which might get lost in translation through e-mail. Since not everyone can meet in person, it is important to know the contact information for anyone you are expected to discuss your ideas.

Company Info
It is important that you find out the background information on the company, because you do not want to be heading in one direction than find out that is not how they perceive themselves or want to be perceive. Find out their history and a summary of what their company is all about. What services do they provide? I like to find out what is their website and if they have tag line or some sort of slogan. If it is a logo redesign ask them why they would like to revise their logo. Their answers can be they want to update it or it possibly be that they never liked it.

Who is their target market?
This will give you a better idea if you should create a very fancy and cutting edge look or a more conservative look. Ask what is their demographic and who is their ideal customer. It is best to find out who are their competitors. I created a logo for a pest control company and they provided me with who their main competitors are. I researched them and saw what they created and steered away from any of their ideas. I had one idea that I had to scratch which I thought was a good idea, until I did my research and saw it was done before.

Design Details
After all the information about their company is gathered, it is time to find out how they want their corporate identity to look like. Try to find out what the logo would like to say about the company, because designing a logo for an accounting firm will not be the same for creating a logo for a heavy metal rock band. What can also help, is finding out what logos appeal to them and if they would like a similar but original look. It is very useful to find out what colors they would like to have. The client is going to get a black and white version off the bat, but they will need a color version for the web and printed items. A logo should look good in black and white as well as in color. A determining factor for the amount of colors the logo has to do with printing costs. Even though printing 4 colors can be rather inexpensive, printing stationaries, business cards, and other identity collateral can become costly if the company has many employees. Knowing the meanings behind colors can help on your quest whether or not they provide you with colors. Another question that I ask or have the client fill out, will they be need a stationary and business card. Sometimes a company wants a logo and not the whole corporate identity package. If there is any additional details that may not have been asked or mentioned, have that written down.

If you are having a meeting with your client or taking all of their information over the phone, make sure that the client has a copy. Tell your client to keep this for their records. This design brief is only a guideline, the concept and execution is where the fun begins. I hope this was useful and if there is anything that you think should be added, do not hesitate to comment.

VIDEO- Sign Language

I first saw this on the Qn5 Music forums (http://www.qn5.com) a couple months ago and I've always liked the way this video was created. It is made by Allan Corbett who used the first verse by Pack FM from the song "Sign Language" off Substantial's critically acclaimed album "Sacrifice." I've seen some other music videos using only words and at first I didn't think much of it, but I grew to like them. It is a different form of animation, but I do think you may like it.

Friday, February 13, 2009

DOWNLOAD- Flourish Vector Designs



Here's another goodie today, flourish design vectors. It seems that this Friday the 13th is a lucky one. I've always liked nice elegant swirls or tattoo style ones, so I would sketch them in my sketchbook. Even when I'm only doodling some of these flourish designs would leave it's mark on my book. It became more fun once I transferred them onto the computer and was able to experiment or use them in projects. So there are a variety of these flourishes to use and even created a unique shield. I will continue to draw more up and use them in my work, but until I release those to the world enjoy these.

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD- Grimey Strokes & Splatter



Since it is Friday the 13th and the new Friday the 13th movie comes out, I thought it would be appropriate to release some
splatter and grimey, grungy, strokes for you to use. You can use them to add a texture, create an illustrator brush, or add it to a design to grunge it up. It was fun painting them(splatter counts as painting, remember Jackson Pollock's work). I like using them for my designs. Here you go for your designing pleasure.

DOWNLOAD

Here's a little tidbit for you. Did you know that Friday the 13th part 3 was when Jason first wore his infamous hockey mask?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

RANDOM-Pepsi's new logo: Breathtaking?



I assume everyone's seen the new pepsi logo and recently it seems like it's a big discussion on the net. The company that was hired a year or so ago to recreate the identity for Pepsi surfaced with a book that they presented to pepsi. It is 27 pages explaining how their logo is the future and breathtaking. They're making it sound like this is this generation's masterpiece that will be remembered for ages. I'm not sure what to think about it, but if I was given a couple million to tilt their logo I would come up with a good presentation too. I'm not sure what to make of it, it's a well thought out presentation, but I think the final result is mediocre. Here's the link to a pdf their presentation. At the end of the day, I choose Coca-Cola.
http://bunnitude.com/misc/files/pepsi_gravitational_field.pdf

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

RANDOM-Twitter Tips For Beginners




Twitter is still a new site for me to use for networking. It seems like you have to constantly be on it and update it for your followers to know what's going on in your life. It reminds of the Rockwell song featuring Michael Jackson song, "Somebody's Watching Me." Since I'm still getting the niche to twitter, here is a useful article that I came across and would like to share for the twitter noobs. Click Here To Read
To Follow Me on Twitter http://twitter.com/joebarondesign

Monday, February 9, 2009

BUSINESS TIP-How to Get Clients to Pay Invoices Promptly

So, it seems that sooner or later every designer has to deal with the worse rite of initiation of being burned by a client. It seems to happen a bit more when you're freelancing, but having a "client" not pay you for the service you provided sucks. They will dodge your phonecalls and e-mails and you're only trying to get paid for what you deserve. It usually happens when you're starting out, but sometimes it'll happen to a vet. I came across this article and thought it was a great article on how to get clients to pay. It even lists how you should handle your business with friends and friends of friends, which I think is very important. Pretty much, never be lenient with them at all.
To read the article:
CLICK HERE

RANDOM-Video For Font Lovers

This is for all the typography heads out there. I came across this video from College Humor about a Font Conference and I have to say it's quite amusing. I figure it'll brighten up your Monday.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

DOWNLOADS-First BLOG POST

What's going on designers & artists,
        Welcome to a new design blog where I will update this blog with plenty of cool design references and tips. It's been a long time overdue, but here it is. To celebrate the first post, I am releasing some vector design elements I created for you to use. You get some graffiti style arrows, splatter, radial designs, and cartoon splashes. It's in .eps format Enjoy!