Beautiful Beach

I just got back from a vacation, and I thought I would share a couple of pretty pictures of things I saw.  It sure was nice to be at the beach in the winter!

Two Music Albums

Hey everyone!  I know I've posted lists of favorite songs lately, but today I wanted to talk about two entire music albums I've been encouraged by lately: Holding Nothing Back by Tim Hughes and The Saving One by Starfield.

Here are links to buy each CD on Amazon, first of all: Holding Nothing Back and The Saving One.

Both of these albums are so encouraging.  I have really enjoyed these albums and the rich, truthful songs that are on the recordings.  I love the way these songs keep pointing me back to God.  Here are four songs I like in particular from each CD, with links to Grooveshark.

Holding Nothing Back | Tim Hughes

1. Holding Nothing Back
2. Clinging to the Cross (feat. Brooke Fraser)
3. Living for Your Glory
4. Take the World

The Saving One | Starfield

1. The Saving One
2. Rediscover You
3. Absolutely
4. Overwhelm

I hope you enjoy these CD's as much as I do... buy them if you'd like, or listen on Grooveshark.  I think you'll be encouraged!  What are your favorite albums these days?

A Favorite Etsy Shop

I recently discovered the Etsy shop The Fancy Lamb.

The subtitle is "reinvented vintage goods," and I think the things this shop sells are so cool!  There are some re-purposed vintage items, like vintage book journals, and some really funky retro antiques, too.  And the shop header design (above) is very well done as well.  I really like it.

Here are a couple items I like in particular from The Fancy Lamb.  First, one cool vintage book journal.

 Isn't this such a great idea?  There are also several listings for creating your own vintage book journal (you get to pick which book you want your journal to be made from).  Here is one such listing.  I really like the "Adventures in Literature" one and "Familiar Quotations."

And then there are some cool vintage supplies in this shop, like these packages of book pages.  How fun.

I also like these packages of vintage treasures.  The label is good, too.  Very simple but vintage - it fits with the items it's labeling!

Please check out all the other neat things at The Fancy Lamb.  I really like the shop and I think you will, too.

Photo Tip and a Book

I've been enjoying using the Curves tool in Photoshop CS5, and I've been trying out the "auto" curves button.  It will automatically fix things in your photo like color balance, brightness, and contrast.  It doesn't always give the desired effect, but sometimes it works brilliantly.  On this photo of the book Saving Leonardo, all I did was crop it and hit the auto curves button.  What a difference!

Before | After

So here's a photo-editing tip for you: try auto editing features.  It's not an automatic recipe for a great edit, but sometimes it works wonders, especially on photos that have major lighting problems like the one of my book did.

And by the way, Saving Leonardo is a good book.  I haven't finished it yet, but I've been interested by the comments Nancy Pearcey, the author makes on worldview, history of art and culture, etc.  It's a very "heady" read - it makes you think.  But in a good way.  If you're looking for a good read on worldview, I recommend it.

Friday Finds: Lego Brick Jewelry

I know these fun building toys have been gracing my blog frequently lately, but really, jewelry designed to look like Lego bricks?  How cool is that?  Find these pendants here.

2011 Scrapbooking Plan

I thought I'd give you a little peek into my scrapbooking plan for this year.  I will continue making 12x12 layouts, but I'm also using a kit called Project Life to document and journal the daily happenings.  You can get this year's Project Life products here.  I'm actually not using any of those products, although they look great, because I bought last year's Project Life kit... well, last year, and didn't finish the project.  I had been trying to take a picture every day, and that just felt too burdensome for last year.  So this year, I'm doing something different.  I'm using the album...

And the page protectors and journaling cards and all that...

...but I'm not taking a picture every day. I'm just trying to put as much "stuff" from each week in the album as I can. Sometimes that's pictures, but other times it's memorabilia or quotes or just a pretty piece of scrapbooking paper.  I'm adding in a few more of my own supplies, too, as I go.  I keep this little tote with all my Project Life stuff, which helps keep it all in one place.

And then I just keep a running list of pictures I want to get printed.  I'm hoping to finish this project, and have an album done by the end of 2011.  But it's not always going to look like the way I just explained it... there are going to busier times this year where it might be harder to keep up with it, and that's okay.  I'm not counting on every week being the same.  But I like this project so far - it's a fun way to record memories and also recount God's faithfulness.  Here's part of one page... I like incorporating lots of things besides photos.

I haven't actually printed any photos for my book yet, but I plan to do that soon!  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the journaling part and adding in stuff.

The Bird and the Plum

My friend Jalynn and I have been doing a collaborative photography project called The Bird and the Plum.  It's been great fun to do something with my friend and it's caused me to have to think more creatively about photography.  Here are a few of our recent diptychs.  If you want to see more, please check it out here!

Jalynn's pictures are on the left and mine are on the right.

Menu Project

While the blog has been all abuzz with many other design-related and not design-related things lately, I have been working on a couple of design projects here and there, one of them being a menu planning sheet for a friend.  Her last name is Crow, so she came up with the clever name "Crow's Nest Kitchen" for the menu plan.

The goal of this project was to do something fun and happy-looking that would be a tool for meal planning.  She wanted a crow incorporated in the design, and purple was a suggested color, so I added in some orange and ran with it.

I think it turned out happy and whimsical, and I'm happy that my friend is pleased with the design!  It was a really fun project for me.  What do you all think of the design?  I'd love to know your thoughts!

P.S. The menu is up on my Tumblr portfolio.

Lego Logo: Follow Up

Hi everyone.  So I just wanted to let you know that, even though I don't reply to every comment you all make on my blog, I read all of them and I love them.  Today I wanted to highlight a few great comments in particular that were made about my Lego post..  Several of you blog readers had great thoughts about the design of the logos, and I wanted to take the time to highlight two in particular, and I also wanted the chance to respond to the comments myself.

First, I think we all need another look at the Lego logo.

Sarah said about the Lego logo...
I actually don't care for the design of the Lego logo (:P). One thing I was thinking about the type (this is my weak graphic design self coming out) is that it's all puffy and rounded, while the actual Lego blocks are very straight and clear cut, if you know what I mean. :D Not sure if that matters that much. :P

I would definitely not call that a comment from a weak graphic design self! :)  Great, though, Sarah.  I hadn't considered the fact that the type doesn't mimic the design of Lego bricks.  You have a very good point that straight type may have been more appropriate, and I agree.  The trick would be to find a straight typeface that still looks playful and kid-like, but it could probably be done...it will be interesting to see where the Lego logo goes in the future...maybe they'll incorporate a straighter font!

Chichi said about the Lego logo...
I love that logo too! very cool! one thing is the "G" looks really weird, not sure why yet :P

Interesting how Sarah and Chichi had such different reactions!  Chichi, I took a second look at the "G" in the Lego logo, and I think I know what you mean about it looking weird.  To me at least, it feels like both ends of the G are a little too curled in.  Usually, G's tend to be a little less spiral-looking.  Maybe that's it?

Any further thoughts on the Lego logo?  This has been a fun one to discuss, so I'd love to hear more comments if you have any!

He Cares for You

I saw this quote on the blog Steadfast Love, and I thought I would post it because it is such an encouragement to remember how much God cares for us.  We really can cast all our cares on Him.

"Casting all your care upon Him–for He cares for you!" 1 Peter 5:7

Our cares must be cast upon our God, or they will prove a burden too heavy for us–they will depress, bewilder, and make us wretched!

WHO is it that cares for us? It is the Lord Almighty–the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy! It is He whom the angels obey, the seraphim adore, and all creation glorifies!

It is the Lord–who is so great, that we have no adequate conception of His greatness!
It is He who is so good–that it is impossible fully to set forth His goodness!
It is He who is so glorious–that no sinner can see His face and live!
It is He who created all things with His Word!
It is He who governs all things by His wisdom!
It is He who upholds all things by His power!
It is He whose resources are infinite!
It is He whose compassion is exquisite!
It is He whose patience is without limit!

But though He is so exalted, so happy, and so unspeakably great–He cares for you!

He cares for you–as base as you are.
He cares for you–as sinful as you are.
He cares for you–as depressed and discouraged as you are.
HE cares for YOU!

May I pass through the present world under the impression, "I am the object of God’s tender, perfect and ceaseless care!"

-James Smith

Rambling

Usually my posts have a clear topic, something specific I want to say or show you all.  But today I just want to ramble about a few things.

I really like these patchwork embroidery hoop things I saw on Etsy.  Aren't they fun, with all the cool colors and patterns?  I'm thinking it might be fun to try something like this sometime..

And recently I took pictures of a neat vintage lettering guide I have.  I love the colors and the typography in this... ahh.  Here is the cover.  Isn't it so fun and retro?

I love the rainbow stripes.  And inside are all sorts of great lettering ideas, which means some great typography.  Here is one cursive page that I just love.  This typeface is so elegant, and a little old fashioned, too.

I think the little arrows showing you how to make letters like that add a really charming touch.  It reminds me of the font Operating Instructions.  Here's what it looks like...

And you can download it right here!

But anyway, back to my vintage lettering guide.  Here are a couple more images of the inside pages.  This one is a nice blackletter type font...

And this loopy, grade-school looking one is very cute.  It definitely has that retro feeling to it.

And here's the inside cover.  Even the typography there is cool!

And I love that little bit of info. about being a letter-er (if that's a word): "For steady employment, few occupations offer the opportunities enjoyed by poster artists who are able to do good lettering at a commercial speed."  My, how things have changed... now there really isn't any such thing as someone who does lettering for posters!  It's all computerized.

To complete this post full of randomness, I want to tell you about one more thing...a game that I played and really liked.

It's called Luck of the Draw.

I like it because you can just have fun doodling pictures with friends.  And you don't have to be a great artist to win.  Basically, each person draws something that has been pre-determined by a subject card, and then all the players vote to award category prizes to the best drawing in particular categories... the ones mentioned in the picture are "Neatest" and "Most Likely to End Up Hanging on a Refrigerator."  Fun stuff.

Well, that's all for today!  I hope you were not too confused by the many different topics in this post. :)

Friday Finds: Nifty Paper Packs

I love these paper packs from Three Potato Four.  They are so amazingly neat!  And every single one is different.  Get them here.

Special Day, Special Song

Surrender All by Sovereign Grace Music | Listen | Buy

Narnia

I saw the newest Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader when it came out, and I really liked it.  It was such a good movie, and I was very impressed with lots of things - the storyline, the characterization, the effects.  It was very well done.  Here are some interesting comments I found on Justin Taylor's blog on the movie as compared to the other, previous movies.

First, I want to show you the logo for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  It's a variation on the classic Narnia logo.

I love the typography of the "Narnia" text.  The way it all intertwines is excellent and well-executed, and I think the style of the type looks extremely Narnian - a little mystical and a lot royal.  The 3-D text of the logo is actually a nice effect.  It seems to mirror the fact that the movie was shown in 3D.  However, I'm not crazy about the drop shadows.  In logo design, I think drop shadows tend to be just another effect, and I think that, in this logo, it would be better if they were made smaller and less obvious or even eliminated completely.

The "Narnia" text also seems to be tilted backwards a little bit, so that the perspective you see is not straight on, but from slightly below.  I'm not a huge fan of the way this varies the type.  Personally, I think it would have been better straight on - but I do commend the graphic designer behind this for thinking outside of the box and trying something different.  I guess I'm just more of a traditionalist when it comes to type angle.

The graphic design of the movie and the posters, etc. was quite good, too.  Here's one poster for the movie.

I love all the wonderful detail in this poster.  It's fabulous!  I love how, even though it's pretty jam-packed with pictures and graphics, it's pleasantly packed and not super overstimulating.  And there actually is some white space (blank space) down at the bottom on the "deck" of the ship.

I also want to point out just how great the photo merging is.  It's seamless and it makes sense.  None of the combinations or transitions between photos of characters look awkward or are arranged in a confusing, unrealistic way.

I really like the way Aslan is in the forefront of the poster, because Aslan really is the central character in the Narnia stories.

So, what are your thoughts about the graphic design elements of this movie, or about the movie itself if you saw it?

Lego

I was a Lego fanatic when I was little.  And in all honesty, I still like building with Legos (shhh...it's true, though).  Really, these toys are so neat!  I especially like the more classic, town-like items like these.

But the cool thing about Legos is that you don't have to have a fancy set to have fun.  You can just grab a pile of bricks and build away.  Legos, like Playmobil, are wonderful for creative play.

The logo of Lego (I like the way that sounds... Lego logo) is really neat!  I like it in particular because of its color.  Red!

One thing I like about this logo is the way typography is the focus.  I love typography so much, so it's really fun to see a logo that makes typography such a main element.  The font is good - it's casual and comfortable, but a little, well... techno-geeky, if you know what I mean.  That fits Legos exactly.  They're fun and happy, but people who are/were really into Legos, like myself, can get kind of nerdy about them.  And I think this typography covers that side of Lego as well.

Honestly, I feel that this font is slightly outdated.  It does a good job of representing the feeling of Lego, but it is obvious from looking at the Logo that it's fairly old.  I think that might be a signal that this logo isn't one of those "forever" logos.  That's not necessarily bad - companies redesign their logos all the time.  I'm wondering if, somewhere along the line in the future, Lego will choose to do that.

However, there are more things that I like a lot about the logo.  I mentioned the color, but I want to talk more about the color combination.  The yellow and red are extremely bright, which to some degree reflects the age of the logo, I think.  Probably, if it were any old logo being designed today, I think that the tones would have been a little more muted.  But I kind of like the brightness.  It's different and bold.  I think the colors are excellent, too, because they match the colors of the Lego bricks.  This is important, and it makes the logo compliment the products very well.

Also, the borders around the text really make the "Lego" word pop out.  That was a good technique for making the contrast of the logo quite excellent.

What's your opinion on the Lego logo?  I'd love to know!

Oh, and by the way, this is my 200th post!

Good Places to Get Freebies

I have some freebies on my site, and I like being able to give away things to you that I've designed!  But there are tons of really fun freebies on the internet for lots of things, whether you're into graphic design, photography, or just like to find cool things to print out.  So today, I thought I'd give you links and descriptions of some of my favorite freebie places.

How About Orange | Jessica of How About Orange posts lots of links to neat freebies she finds around the web, and sometimes she makes her own to share.  You can find all of those posts in one place right here!  A few I like in particular are this Printable Calling Card and this set of Patterned Desktops.

The CoffeeShop | The main thing offered by CoffeeShop is actions for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  I love using many of the actions from this site on my photos.  There are also some other photo and design-related items.  You can find all the actions and presets right here, and all the other stuff right here and also right here.

Fuzzimo | This website has some really neat graphics that can be downloaded for personal use.  I haven't downloaded any myself, but I've browsed around and definitely found some neat stuff!

Pugly Pixel | I've mentioned this blog before, but the freebies are excellent!  I really like them.  You can find them all in once spot right here.

Kevin and Amanda | This site has two sections with great free fonts!  Amanda continually makes new handwriting fonts, and there are some other fonts there, too.  You can find them all right here.

And as one more quick note, check out this post on Skip to My Lou for lots of great 2011 free calendars!

I hope you enjoy these few freebies sites!  Do you all have any places in particular that you like to get freebies?

Ad Analysis

I had to do an ad analysis for a school assignment, and it was right up my alley. I love this kind of thing.  I thought I would post it here because it's really quite similar to the stuff I like to write on my blog about design analysis!  The categories were taken from a textbook, and each category in the textbook had specific questions and things to consider.  The information underneath each heading are my responses to the questions asked in the textbook.  Feel free to read if this is something you are interested.  Or you can just skim the headings if you want to get a general feel for what I did.

The ad I chose was for a Tamron camera lens, and here it is.

About the Creators/Authors
The creators of this ad are clearly representatives from the Tamron company, and their goal is naturally to get people to buy their lenses. They seem to be striving for an almost awed response from their would-be customers, going on the professional look of the ad. In addition, they want to appeal to a wide variety of audiences (both serious professionals and more laid back photographers) because of the mix of professionalism and fun in the ad (at the bottom of the page, the second paragraph of white text in the blue box takes on a more carefree tone). The creator(s) of the ad seem to take the visuals of the ad seriously, especially the placement of the photos. They took great care to make the photos take up a large percentage of the page.

About the Medium
Words and images are used in this ad. The images are photos as well as graphic design elements such as the logo, an insignia for an award the company has earned, and graphics symbolizing various features of the camera lens. The message and effectiveness of the ad would be very much compromised if not nonexistent if it weren’t for the visual aspects of the ad. No one would really want to buy a camera lens without seeing what it looked like and what types of pictures it takes. So the images and even the graphic elements have a huge impact on the usefulness of the ad. Even such things as color blocks and fonts say a lot about the product – they are very sleek and professional-looking, which is the image the company probably wants to put forward about the lens.

About Viewers/Readers
The ad assumes that most of the readers have some experience with photography, even SLR photography, and know enough to realize that a wide zoom range, especially with no motion blur, is a very desirable thing. However, they do provide information about why this type of thing would be useful, which seems to say that they are essentially “dumbing down” the ad so that amateurs who may not have experience in the professional photography industry would still understand and be interested in purchasing the lens. The pictures given as examples will probably have a big impact on the readers and their reactions to the ad – they are equally crisp and clear, even though one was taken at a much greater level of zoom. The sheer quality of the photos is a selling tool – if the creators can convince customers that the lens will help them take great pictures like that, there just might be some people buying this lens.

About Content and Purpose
The ad is definitely designed to sell something, and I think it tries to appeal to the desire for two things, 1) to be great at something and 2) to do something easily. The ad explains or alludes to the fact that this lens will help you take great pictures, causing you to be a more skilled photographer, and it also says how handy this lens will be because it will allow you to zoom so much. Thus, readers can be convinced almost instantaneously that this product will save them effort and make them great.

About Design
My eye is drawn first to the “Zoomed. Not Shaken.” text in the top left. This is a good choice on the part of the designer because the eye tends to read from left to right anyway, and because the statement itself is a little cryptic and makes you want to keep reading the ad so that you can understand what exactly it means. The de-emphasized, gray text on the right is also a significant part of the design. It just gives the specs of the lens, and turns the focus away from what exactly the product is and onto what it does and why you need it. I think that was a conscious design and marketing choice. The pictures are placed in such a way that they also attract the viewer’s attention, and I think that’s on purpose, as well. Color is also used purposefully in the ad – the colors in the design are the same as the colors in the photos, making everything blend and flow cohesively. This also enhances the professional look of the ad. One other focal point in the ad is the picture of the lens. The way it is placed and the way it looks against the white background makes it really stick out, which is important because it’s the actual product the ad is trying to sell.

Now, what do you all think of this ad?  What components of it have what effects?  Do you have any other thoughts or opinions?  I'd love to hear.

P.S. I started playing around with headers and stuff yesterday... and one thing led to another and I ended up re-designing a lot of things on my blog.  What do you all think of the new look?  Also, I've changed my portfolio link to a Tumblr page as opposed to a page on my blog.  I thought a 2-page grid format might be more practical than the long list I had before.  You can check out my new portfolio page here, or you can click the "portfolio" tab up top.  I'm going to try Tumblr out for awhile and see if I like it... I might end up going back to a normal page after awhile, but I wanted to give something else a try.

Playmobil

What kid wouldn't love these things?  I mean really, don't they look like so much fun?

 

Playmobil certainly has a good thing going with all these fun toys.  You've got to hand it to them - they know how to make some wonderful children's playthings and also how to encourage imaginative play.  Today, I wanted to take a look at Playmobil's logo, and tell you a bit about it and how it works together with the rest of the company to become a tool for publicizing the wonderful toys that Playmobil makes.

First, we have to take a look at the logo.  Here it is.

I definitely approve of the color!  Turquoise (as you know) is a favorite of mine, and I think the bright, fun tone is perfect for a children's toy brand.  So that's one thing I like about it.

I want to tell you a few things I don't like about it first, to get those out of the way.  The first thing I'm not so big on is the smiling person icon.  It does look somewhat like a Playmobil person (see above pictures of products), but it is rather rudimentary in the way it's drawn.  The main thing that bothers me is the hair.  It's too jagged and inconsistent.  It looks like it was quickly drawn but not really refined.  It also seems a little strange to me to put such an icon behind text.  It makes it feel like one thing superimposed on another thing, not two things working together in a cohesive brand identity.

The other thing I don't like is the dot on the "I."  First of all, it's not even a dot!  But what concerns me more than the shape is the fact that it's cut off so abruptly at the  top.  I can understand that was probably done to make the "I" parallel with the "B" and the "L," but in my opinion, it could have been done in a less drastic way, for instance, the edges of the top of the dot could have been rounded to match the rest of the typography.

However, besides that, I love the typography of this logo.  The font is so cheerful looking, and that's a main characteristic of Playmobil as a company from my experience.  I see a few little "things" about some of the letters that aren't quite perfect, but it very well could be a reflection on the image I found to use and not on the logo design.  And these things don't seem to have a huge effect on the overall image of the logo.

And now a follow-up to the weird, jagged hair icon - I've noticed that it's not used very much in practice on the Playmobil website and products.  Actually, I was quite surprised to find that crazy-haired guy showing up so much on Google image searches.  I think that, most of the time, Playmobil just sticks to the well done wordmark (see their website and also the watermark-like text on the example photos above).  I think this is a brilliant decision.

The one other little thing I don't like (had to add this on here) is the fact that the "registered" symbol is on top of the "Playmobil" text.  I understand that there needs to be some sort of copyright-type symbol, but in my opinion, it would have been better placed outside of the confines of the logo.  It seems to interrupt the flow that is present in the excellent typography.

But overall, even with this minor technical qualms I have with the Playmobil logo, I'm thrilled with the overall feeling it emits, and sometimes that's the most important part of a logo to begin with.  I think it's especially true with logos for children's items.  Kids aren't going to notice that the dot on the "I" cuts off too abruptly or that the guy's hair is a little too roughly drawn - they're going to be drawn to the product, and the logo for Playmobil really does represent the product in feeling.

What do you think of the logo?  I'd love to know!  Keep your eye out, because in a few days, I will have another toy-related graphic design post.

Friday Finds: Pretty Print

I really like this print from Jen Skelly on Etsy.  You can get it right here.

Design Links

Today, I thought I'd link you up to some interesting articles about design on other parts of the web.  These are articles that make me think and look at design in a critical way, which is fun!  I hope you enjoy them.

An interesting article I saw recently was this one called Colour and Branding on David Airey's blog.  It's an interesting take on brand identities.  I had definitely never considered looking at them through their colors alone, and it was fascinating!

Here's an intriguing article called Minimalist effect in the maximalist market about packaging design.  I love packaging design, so this post was definitely interesting to me. I found myself waffling between all three options for various packaging designs.  I still haven't decided where I fall on the minimalist spectrum.

And then there's the Greatest Design Tip Ever from Andrew Kelsall's blog.  There are some interesting discussions in the comments section, too.

Then, here are a few more posts that talk about neat logos and design items (four links in that sentence).

Have a great day, and I hope you check out some of these neat articles!

Kuler Love

I love colors.  And I love Adobe Kuler and the combinations of colors I find there.  So I thought I'd share a few with you!

Here's one I found recently called Metropolitan.  I love the clean, modern feeling to it, and the red of course.

This one, called Mountain Skylight, is really neat, too.  It looks like a cozy mountain retreat.  I love those green and turquoise tones in particular - so yummy!

And I think Color Freak is a new favorite theme of mine.  I love the retro, 1970's look to it.  It would be so fun for something like product packaging.

Fields of Frost is another very nice one.  It has a slightly springy feeling amidst the very wintry look of it.  I like it.  It's so fresh and light, something that seems like it would go well with a room with lots of big, bright windows in it.  Can you imagine that?

For my final theme, I'd like to show you one that I added to my favorites on Kuler a little while back.  It's called Phoebe, and I really like the fun, hip colors.

Which of these is your favorite?  What do they look like to you or remind you of?