This & That 5/31

Just a few fun things today...like weekend links but not on the weekend!

+ calligraphy necklaces

From Brevity via Swiss Miss.
The custom lettering on these is really cool.

+ sevens up shirt

From Ugmonk.
I love this shirt from Ugmonk's new overlap series.

+ leather wedge keychain

From Baggu via Design*Sponge.
Baggu has lots of neat items, and these little keychain pouches are pretty cool!

+ heavyweight tape dispenser

From Black + Blum via Swiss Miss.
This is really cool looking. But $50 for a tape dispenser?

Alpha

I was at Best Buy today, and while I was looking at a bunch of camera boxes, I also noticed that the Sony Alpha logo is really one excellent mark. Canon and Nikon may be the big shots when it comes to cameras, but from a branding perspective, Sony is definitely holding its own with its Alpha camera line. Here's the logo:

Isn't this well done? I love the smoothness of the shape and also how recognizable it is. The lower case Greek letter alpha, at least in U.S. society, isn't all that common to see, so I think it was a good move on Sony's part to use it as the main brand mark for their camera line.

The color is good, too. An alpha is uncommon enough, but an orange alpha? Now that's something that you'll probably remember.

And that's one of the main things a logo should do: create a memorable image in the viewer's mind. The goal is that whenever you see this orange alpha, you'd know that it stands for Sony Alpha cameras. Will you remember that? If so, this just might be a really great logo.

Yeah, I Like This

This hanging sculpture made of drinking straws is pretty incredible. It's by Farmgroup, a "multi-disciplinrary design studio" in Bangkok, Thailand. I love the bright colors and the creativity of the materials. 3D design is something that interests me, and I love seeing wildly creative examples of it.

And this sculpture is typography-based too, so you know that makes it a winner in my book. What do you think of it?

HT: ShareSomeCandy

Better Than Helvetica?

You know how much I love Helvetica. But maybe, just maybe I found a font that's even better. Through AisleOne, I found Neue Haas Grotesk, a newly improved digitized version of the original Helvetica font (which was first called Neue Haas Grotesk) designed in the 1950s.

According to this site, the digital version of Helvetica has some little quirks to it. It's not quite "just so." Neue Haas Grotesk, the updated digital version, got rid of these things for an even better Helvetica than we've had access to before.

Even I probably couldn't tell the difference between Helvetica and Neue Haas Grotesk if I saw a page of each at a glance, but the differences are important even though they're subtle. And those little differences can be what separates good design from great design. I certainly don't have $616 lying around to buy this font. But it's simply beautiful type all right.

If I didn't have you convinced that I'm a crazy type nerd, I probably do now. What do you think of this font, though? Do you think it's ridiculous to improve a digital version of a font from the 1950s, or does it make sense?

Weekend Links 5/20

+ grid wall

Via Swiss Miss.
I find so many fun things on Swiss Miss. This grid wall is no exception; I would totally do this in my house one day.

+ doily wedding invitations

From Dawn Correspondence on Etsy.
I love this idea! It would be fun for a party as well as a wedding.

+ hold on tight shelf

From Dwell by Colleen Whitely via Swiss Miss.
This is very cool looking and a helpful concept, too. A book end built right into the shelf!

+ diy felt bookmarks

From How About Orange.
This is a really good idea!

+ bedroom in a box

Via Swiss Miss.
What an interesting idea! It's very creative. I can't decide if I'd want this in my house or not. Maybe.

Invitation Roundup

Every now and then I like to post a couple of nice wedding invitations. The room for creativity is pretty neat to watch, and I love looking at all the different designs, typography, and printing styles.

Kristen and Loren's invitation is very cool. It's definitely not the traditional, swirly calligraphy wedding invitation! The consistency across all the pieces is nice, and I really like monogram logo (especially the way it looks as a stamp on the envelope).

 

 

I love the kraft envelopes, as well as the string and heavy duty clip—what a fun and unexpected touch! HT: FPO

Camellia and Kevin's invitations (designed by Bless) have the same style of envelopes as the previous example, but the overall look is quite different. The style is more whimsical, but the simple color scheme (green, white, and kraft) still gives the package a minimal, eye-catching look. I really like this.

 

To me at least, this invitation evidences an unusual combination of calmness and minimalism, whimsy and contrast. HT: Design Work Life

Summer and Seth's invitations (by Casebolt Design) are also pretty unusual. They're totally custom illustrated with a woodsy scene. If the last invitation is whimsical and modern, this one is hardcore whimsical. I like the colors, though—they're bright, but they still look outdoorsy.

 

 

I think my favorite parts of this invitation have got to be the baker's twine and the wood buttons, though. So fun! HT: Design Work Life

What do you think of these invitations? Do you have a favorite?

Page 1: Great Expectations

I love Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, so this project from GraphicDesign& definitely caught my eye. It's a collection of various designers' typographic interpretations of the first page of the book.

Even the cover is interesting; I love the colors.

 

And the pages themselves look fascinating. I'd love to flip through the hard copy of this book and see them all.

 

I'd love to know what you think! And check out GraphicDesign& to see more pictures.

HT: AisleOne (Note: I wouldn't recommend reading the comments on the post.)

Weekend Links 5/13

I know that it's Sunday and not Friday, but it is still the weekend, so I'll share some weekend links.

+ helvettaca

Via Swiss Miss.
This made me laugh. Read the story behind it. 

 + pantone toothbrushes

From Drake Hotel General Store via Swiss Miss.
No explanation needed. I just want one.

+ paint chip table runners

From Leif via Design*Sponge.
These are so lovely. I like the font that's used on them—it's a little unusual for paint chips, but it looks really nice.

+ dog names for graphic designers

Via Swiss Miss.
I don't plan on owning a dog, but if I ever did, I would probably name it Pantone.

+ vibro

From MyFonts via Design Work Life.
This is a fun font!

Goodbye Helvetica Project

Dominique Falla, who I featured recently in my artist spotlight series, did a cool project. She used Helvetica [almost] exclusively for an entire year, and to finish up that time, she did a series of art pieces entitled "Goodbye Helvetica." These are so creative and really represent "out of the box" graphic design with unusual materials, like light and chalk.

Here are a few pictures of her projects. For more photos and descriptions of the pieces, check out GoodbyeHelvetica.com.

Do you like the Goodbye Helvetica project?

Here's What I'm Thinking

It seems like you all prefer posts every few days, so that's what I'll do most of the time! It also gives me to more flexibility during times when I'm really busy, and when I'm not really busy, I'll have time to make the less frequent posts better!

I may still do a daily series or something every once and a while, but for now, posts will be every couple days.

Kelli Marie Stationery

I really like this stationery that Kelli Marie, a graphic designer and illustrator, designed for herself. It may be black and white, but that definitely doesn't make it boring. Look at all this fun typography and illustration!

One thing I really appreciate about this design is how the typefaces, although several different and contrasting ones are used, go together well and don't appear too busy. That's hard to achieve, but Kelli did a good job with it.

HT: Design Work Life

P.S. Don't forget to let me know what you think of daily vs. occasional posts.

Okay, Folks...

Recently, I haven't been doing posts every day. It wasn't a conscious decision; I just got insanely busy and couldn't manage to do one every day! But it got me to thinking about how I want to do my blog scheduling, and I want your input, too. I'd love to know what you think, so please be honest!

Which do you like better: posts every day or posts every few days?

Artist Spotlight: Dominique Falla

What Dominique Falla does with typography and fibers/thread is amazing, and the most stunning thing to me is her Relax & Unwind piece:

This is just amazing. I wish I had the typographic skills, eye for color, and sheer patience to do something like this. The detail is obviously the most striking part, but I also love the way the type itself is excellently designed, and the way the rainbow gradually fades from one color to the other.

I also really like these three quilt squares Dominique did:

 

 

I love the way the delicate sewing makes an eye-catching, creative, layered look. These are so happy!

What do you think of Dominique's work?