Don’t Stop Drawing!

In my freshman year, my first drawing professor made it clear that although many talented individuals in that field are abound, drawing is a skill that anyone can learn. Some can be more naturally skilled than others, but it is nevertheless, a skill and not some magical feat as commonly perceived by people that are quick to state they “can’t draw”.

I also believe that drawing skills are one of the biggest assets to anyone in the creative field. Being a part illustrator myself, learning to draw got me far in a summer at fashion school, and now allow me to communicate visually effectively (in the conceptual stages especially) to clients, as well as being my usual next stop to visualizing my photo shoots frames as a photographer – especially if the effort involved is group work. It’s a cheap, easy, and fast form of effective visual communication.

Like most skills, consistently drawing is the only way to get better. I’ve come across some beautiful sketches by Wesley Burt which show beautiful realizations of some visuals he put together on paper – and all he needed was a graphite pencil, paper, obviously honed drawing skills and some vision. You can see where he’s taken from his surroundings and recreated people, locations, etc.. Some are more ‘set up’ than others, but the process is so clearly raw and inspirational; showing how the beginning steps in exploring a composition are dynamic and ever changing.

I’m putting some of my picks of Wesley’s work up in hope that it’ll inspire and remind everyone (including myself) to keep drawing. Enjoy, and you can view the rest by clicking here for more.

45 Rules for Creating a Great Logo Design

-By freelance designer Tanner Christensen (you can check him out here); found it both funny and an informative reminder of some general tips.. Obviously, this isn’t a how-to on logo design, but some things to keep in mind and I personally find funny easier to remember. I’ll be bold enough to add that if you’re a good enough designer, you wouldn’t be breaking any of those rules anyway. Also, in the spirit of personalizing this post just a teeny bit more I've added my 2 cents (in red) to a few of the tips. Feel free to add what YOU have to say in the comments :)

1- Do not use more than three colors.

2- Get rid of everything that is not absolutely necessary.

3- Type must be easy enough for your grandma to read.

4- The logo must be recognizable.

5- Create a unique shape or layout for the logo.

6- Completely ignore what your parents and/or spouse think about the design.

7- Confirm that the logo looks appealing to more than just three (3) individuals.

8- Do not combine elements from popular logos and claim it as original work.

9- Do not use clip art under any circumstances.

10- The logo should look good in black and white.

11- Make sure that the logo is recognizable when inverted.

12- Make sure that the logo is recognizable when resized. A helpful 'rule' of thumb is to be able to have a functioning recognizable and legible logo even when scaled down to one inch in size.

13- If the logo contains an icon or symbol, as well as text, place each so that they complement one another.

14- Avoid recent logo design trends. Instead, make the logo look timeless.

15- Do not use special effects (including, but not limited to: gradients, drop shadows,
reflections, and light bursts).

16- Fit the logo into a square layout if possible, avoid obscure layouts.

17- Avoid intricate details.

18- Consider the different places and ways that the logo will be presented. Depending on the company, think of the various media presentations the logo will be displayed on or through. From print to web... to large scale banners in some cases.

19- Invoke feelings of being bold and confident, never dull and weak.

20- Realize that you will not create a perfect logo. Dali will be the first to tell you: do not fear perfection, for you will never reach it.

21- Use sharp lines for sharp businesses, smooth lines for smooth businesses.

22- The logo must have some connection to what it is representing.

23- A photo does not make a logo.

24- You must surprise customers with presentation.

25- Do not use more than two fonts.

26- Each element of the logo needs to be aligned. Left, center, right, top, or bottom.

27- The logo should look solid, with no trailing elements.

28- Know who is going to be looking at the logo before you think of ideas for it. As always, target audience/consumer is key. Your client's job depends on pleasing them, and pleasing them therefore pleases your client. It's done deal right there.

29- Always choose function over innovation. But don't compromise.. Just remember that the priority is always a strong mark.

30- If the brand name is memorable, the brand name should be the logo.

31- The logo should be recognizable when mirrored. Interestingly enough, I'd like to add that this is a good test to know if the logo is/will be memorable. Gotta love the human brain.

32- Even large companies need small logos.

33- Everyone should like the logo design, not just the business that will use it.

34- Create variations. The more variations, the more likely you are to get it right.

35- The logo must look consistent across multiple platforms.

36- The logo must be easy to describe.

37- Do not use taglines in the logo.

38- Sketch out ideas using paper and pencil before working on a computer. TRUST ME ON THIS TOO! I get an initial designer block roughly 80% percent of the time if I head to the computer first.

39- Keep the design simple.

40- Do not use any “swoosh” or “globe”symbols.

41- The logo should not be distracting.

42- It should be honest in its representation.

43- The logo should be balanced visually.

44- Avoid bright, neon colors and dark, dull colors.

45- The logo must not break any of the above rules. :)

And You Thought Hand Modeling Was Ridiculous…

Well no, he’s not the model behind the hand but he’s certainly behind the artistic touch (pun intended) . Italian artist Guido Daniel, born in Soverato and now working in Milan, is a hyper realistic illustrator whose work you’re probably familiar with from billboards and various ads. He’s certainly found his niche, even with body painting being extremely regulated in many parts of the world, Guido has been able to establish a career with global brands as well as branching to fashion events and exhibits. Trompe L’Oeil techniques are nothing new, but his work has had both private and public patronage for buildings and other similar artwork.

In 2007, Animal Planet awarded Guido the Animal Planet Hero of the Year Award. You can check him out on his website, as always here are some picks:





**photos via yoke.cc

XDRTB.org - Photography Making A Difference

I'm sharing these photos by James Nachtwey because there's nothing I believe in more than art that makes a difference. A grand slice of my entrance essay to Pratt had me going on about how my real goal in studying communication design is to be able to contribute to something bigger and more important than the mainstream heavily commercial world of design. Taking everything I can learn from that and taking action with the bigger picture. Who gives a crap if you can drink Coke and listen to MP3 downloads on the latest iPod when we're heading towards an environmental (and human) apocalypse anyway… When issues like the mandatory switch to renewable energy sources, solving the GWC through community values, and oh so much more are just pushed aside because the majority of people (1) don’t understand the urgency completely (2) are being guilted instead of educated first, (3) are not provided enough information on how easy it is to make a huge difference with tiny, easy, consistent and combined efforts (4) don’t completely understand that a lot of industries have lobbyists keeping them in the dark about their consumer actions/consequences (5) etc etc etc…


I could go on and sound (even more) like an angry granola chick, but I’ll leave that for another post. Only because this post is as important in it’s own aspect. In effort to tell the tale of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and TB, Nachtwey proclaimed his dream after being awarded the TED Prize and $100,000. "I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age.”, and so came this photo series that is now a manifestation of his wish.

To learn more about the disease, James Nachtwey, and what you can do to help, visit http://xdrtb.org and help spread the story.

Another Poster For Peace

I've been busy with the holidays here hanging out with family and playing Brady bunch with the lot, and especially not looking forward to going back to my student status as of tomorrow (in the form of conceptual work to kick start a new assignment).. So yeah, believe it or not, the blog wasn’t something I was planning to update.

However, I believe in the content of this post so much that it’s something I feel I have to blog about now, holidays or not. After all, it’s freakin’ peace. ☺ And it also happens to be strongly related to one of my major visual communication design genres - Print! (ta da!)

Anotherposterforpeace.org is "a group of citizens committed to elevating the level of public engagement in the peace movement through design. Our goal is to help create a grassroots "anti-campaign" to counter the brilliant marketing the U.S. administration is currently running to promote its war agenda.” (direct quote, click here for more). You can share posters for peace, or download them - all copyright free and really at no cost besides printing. There’s a lot of visual communication magic happening in those posters and I invite anyone interested in poster design to have a look at the different approaches. All very subtle yet powerful. As a designer, this was a great reminder that a campaign poster (and any good poster in general) has wit in terms of being very focused on the message (no extra doo dahs and studenty froo froo in an attempt at creativity) and saying so much with just the right type/amount of visual language. Every poster is so distinct that it’s quite a good study of poster design in general. (You can also download mini versions as postcards)

As usual here are some I’ve picked, very randomly as looking around it’s quite hard to judge a group as ‘the best’. There’s such a variety, I’d definitely say it’s worth the jump, so go have a look and spread the word if it means something to you too. :)

Physicist Turned.. Digital Artist?

Even I didn't see that coming, as I always assumed the right-brained (a.k.a physics challenged.. am I off base here?) would be the ones ending up in that category. But yeah, who knew!

I’ve been looking at UK based design/illustrator Nik Ainley’s work and there is really sooo much to look at. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it and would shamelessly link to every single image on his portfolio (Shiny Binary v2.1, go dig in) because I just happen to like all of them, except that whoring off his work might not be such a great idea no?

Ainley taught himself Photoshop during his spare time studying for his degree in physics, and has since then shifted to designing full time after his major success. Goes to show that with determination you can do anything, After Effects here I come. ☺

Enjoy some of my picks… If you like what you see (and I’m sure you do), don’t deny yourself the opportunity to check his full portfolio at Shiny Binary v2.1.

We Been Featured, Yo..

Yep, you heard right. And even if you probably don’t care as much as I do, you should know that this here blog has earned it’s first feature on the blogosphere in a recommendation☺ see, you’re not wasting your time over here at all.

Check it out on Angelopudus for party’s sake :)