Michael Hallett

This is one of Michael Hallett's works in the same Volume 6 Edition 6 of Silvershotz magazine International Edition. I think Hallett is more contemporary in his composition material than Myles. Noel Myles seems to prefer a natural landscape for his compositions while Hallett appears to enjoy cityscapes and people. Both are incredibly gifted in their photography as well as their arrangement in the compositions.

Silvershotz

I picked up Volume 6 Edition 6 "International Edition" of Silvershotz magazine. I was struck by the image on the cover that is very much like the one I'm posting from inside. Noel Myles has many works in the magazine along with many by Michael Hallett. I'm not sure who came first, but they have both adopted an extremely intriguing style. I was very close to changing my entire CD design to incorporate this type of design.

Oliver Vernon - son of a Sculpter / Painter and a Dancer

Wow!  This is a wildly impressive piece as all his pieces are. He seems to specialize in abstract imaginative surreal magnificism. Vernon transferred from the University of Vermont to Parsons School of Design and graduated in '95. The text defines his work as "explosive, cascading mishmash of cyclones, Victorian Lace, cirrus clouds, tree roots, geometric shapes, Mandalic patterns and half-linear ideas. His compositions explore color, shape, dimension, harmony, balance, and rhythm. I found eight images done by Vernon in Volume 17 of New Contemporary Art 2010 - HI-FRUCTOSE MAGAZINE that I found in Borders.

Frank Peele - Photographer

 

Frank Peele is a Certified Professional Photographer in Redlands, CA specializing in commercial and fine art. He spent 30 years as a photographer in the NAVY and retired in 1988 as a Commander. This shot was found in the December 2010 issue of Shutterbug Magazine. I was intrigued by the form and the color palette. I really like the rustic feel of the composition. Quite honestly, I didn't know what the subject was until I read that it is a Pump Casting found in Joshua Tree National Park.

Nov 17th blog posting

Blair Bunting appeared with several of his images in the November 2010 Digital Photo Pro (p. 68) that I picked up at Borders. I just bought my first DSLR camera and I'm interested in creating good shots with it. Bunting uses very little except lighting to create his dramatic effects using the camera. He says he can't even use Photoshop at all. I like the composition of the road leading off into the distance with the ominous clouds above and somehow a gymnast is vaulting over the road. It is a fascinating composition with great lighting and drama within. I think it's amazing that there is even a shadow on the road of her, and this isn't Photoshop'd at all.

Book Trilogy Cover Design

After doing a book cover for a previous class, I keep a closer eye on cover design. I was immediately drawn to the split image motif shared by all three books. I found this in CMYK Magazine - October 2010 issue. The Carlos Castaneda Book Trilogy cover set was designed by Annabel Mangold. Melissa Kuperminc, Instructor; Photography by: Steph Goralnick, Claire Marie Vogel, & Jeremy Marshall.  Portfolio Center (Atlanta, GA)

"A book trilogy on Indian Shamanism. The focus here is on highlighting the realm where two polarized realities ellipse."

Creative Fonts

btw...This will be the 5th post for October. 5 weeks in the month. Incidentally, I received an email recently stating that this October of 2010 is very unique. It has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays. It happens only once every 823 years. I didn't do any research to confirm this email, but I thought it was interesting trivia.

I found this in Computer Arts Magazine - September 2010 isssue. I was intrigued by the fonts at first glance. They are actually of various animal and human form. The type alphabet named "We Are Animals" was conceptualized and illustrated by Pogo. It was a self-initiated project and was used in the fourth installment of the young boutique studio's own magazine, SOKO.

Skittles - I've always loved em'

When I saw this I thought it was actually clear parts of the wrapper showing the Skittles candy inside the package. I think that it is actually a creative print made to look that way though. I found this in CMYK Magazine - October 2010 Design Showcase. I also like the subtle striping on the end of the packaging that matches the color of the product flavor. Nicely done. I think it is a much cleaner package than the older Skittles packaging that I recall, and at the same time even more effective and attractive.

End of October Already

I found this self-promotion idea in Photo District News - October 2010. The piece took a second place award in the magazine for Self-Promotions. Jennifer Rocholl has been in business nine years. I am pretty certain that she is a photographer. This is the work of the first year of an ongoing, annual campaign and was designed by Jean-Marc Durviaux at Distinc.  The article states that she immediately had more website traffic and has received some very nice emails and calls from art buyers, art directors and photo editors complimenting the piece. The circular die-cut hole that is incorporated into the logo is reminiscent of a pinhole camera providing a glimpse of what's inside the promo jacket.

 

Self Promotion Design

The instant I saw this, I thought it was brilliant. I have been brainstorming ideas for business cards and self-promotion myself, so this really got my attention. I found this in the October 2010 edition of Print Magazine, p 71. the following is quoted from the magazine... Knock, Inc. is a Design and Advertising firm. Art Directors are Todd Paulson, and Sara Nelson. The Designer is Meenal Patel. Paulson says, "We work in 3-D spaces, so I thought, let's create a 3-D business card. The set also includes a letterhead that folds itself into an envelope, and when opened, the KNOCK logo appears as a 3-D wooden log at the top of the page. So not only does it look cool, it adds to the Earth-friendly feel of the brand by actually saving trees.

I was attracted of course to the pop-out business card, but also to the simple sans-serif text and the warm colors.

This wine is best with a good steak...

I found this in Communication Arts Design Annual 51 – September / October 2010, p.66

 

Carmen Wine print ad:

“The project began as a proactive idea, awaiting client approval,” said art director Juan Pablo Balencia. “The idea was born, in the middle of a supermarket, when we were looking for meat and wine, Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon was the chosen option for our weekend barbecue. When we saw the popular image of the cow with the cut lines showing the types of meat, it was easy to execute. The Barbecue was a success, and the main hero, voted for by most of the guests, was the wine. Carmen is a Chilean wine that is sold in Kazakhstan with a very good response. But there is not any communication to support sales, so we decided to develop it. As it is a simple idea, consumers like and easily understand the message.

Juan Pablo Valencia – Creative Director,

TBWA/Central Asia (Almaty, Kazakhstan), ad agency;

Pelao Rizzo, Santa Rita Winery, Client

In my opinion the ad is brilliant. And as article states, it would be extremely easy for consumers to understand the message. 

Employee Welcome Kit - I didn't know anyone did this anymore.

I found this in How Magazine – September 2010 – p. 60

Employee welcome kit. Design Firm / Client – Engine Company 1,

San Francisco;  www.enginecompanyone.com

CREATIVE TEAM:  Robin Eusebio, Jessica Bognar, Joel Bowers,
Pauby Widjaja, Nickie Thongton, Jessica Clement Von Rohr,
Eamon Gilmartin

I think that the style of the Employee welcome kit has a solid traditional look and feel. The dark brown color gives it a rugged, yet prestigious feel. The only question I would have is why they chose to use a san-serif font for the brochure materials, where the serif exists on the traditional logo of the t-shirt.

A backwards view

When I saw this in Communication Arts Design Annual 51 – September / October 2010, p. 74, I thought to myself…”Why didn’t I think of that?” It is brilliant! I love the play on reverse text. I have seen it before in wine bottles, but not to this extent. I have seen other bottles put “back label” type text on the inside of the label so that it is viewable from through the bottle. But this is the extreme version of the concept and excellently done. I love it!

Designer / Creative Director – Anthony De Leo

Design Firm – Voice (Adelaide, Australia)

Client – Back Label Wines

“The solution works on two levels, both of which play on the brand name. As a front label, Back Label appears backwards, however when the bottle is rotated and the label becomes a back label, the brand name appears correctly. As the wine is consumed, Back Label becomes clearer as the magnification decreases.”

Bear River Valley Cereals

The packaging design was found in Communication Arts (p. 75) July / August 2010 Photography Annual. The design is an excellent example of unity through repetition of shape. Also balance is created very symmetrically. I am personally attracted to the use of the complimentary earth-tone colors.

Naturopathica Product Packaging...3

I found this Naturopathica layout in Communication Arts (p. 73) July / August 2010 Photography Annual

All products, folders, letterheads, business cards etc are unified by the use of what appears to be herbs. They are all done in a silhouette look making them look even more similar even though they are different herbs or plants. Those plants are placed as silhouettes on white and / or pale steel blue background. The main presentation folder is very dark blue or black with the plant material done not as a silhouette, but as an image with minimal light that highlights only portions and edges of the plants. Unity is created by this theme. Generally balance is created with the product description text being left justified in the upper left while the image (silhouette) is in the lower right.

Naturopathica Product Packaging...2

Letterhead, stationery

Naturopathica Product Packaging

Letterhead, notes, business card, sales folder

First Post...

This first post is just a test post. I have done some research and found several very interesting samples of Exceptional Graphic Design. I'll be posting them very soon.