Shapes Series: The Honorable Mentions

I've already talked about basic shapes: triangles, circles, and rectangles & squares. But there are tons more shapes to be found, and this final post in my series will focus on those shapes: all the extras, the "other shapes"...the honorable mentions who didn't make the cut to have their very own post. This post will be organized differently than my other ones; instead of going through different information and examples about the shape, I'm going to take a few honorable mention shapes and have a short section on each one.

First up...

So what are hexagons? They're six-sided polygons, related to octagons and pentagons and decagons and the like - and actually, they're related to triangles, too. They're an interesting shape by themselves, but I really like the way you can arrange them to make neat patterns. Here are two examples of neat hexagon patterns from Etsy.

Holiday cards from desTroy.

Pillow cover from Be Still.

I love both of these patterns! The overlapping, thin lined pattern on the card is really creative. It looks a little chaotic, but in a fun way that is still orderly. The pillow pattern is great, too! I love the "nested" octagons and how it looks like a modern interpretation of a honeycomb pattern. The white on navy is a great color combination, too.

Let's move on to another shape, now. How about...

I honestly don't know much about how the shape of a heart came to be. The heart (as in the organ) doesn't look much like a typical heart shape to me, but I guess that's where it came from anyway. Regardless, this shape is probably one with the biggest plethora of feelings and cultural traditions behind it. You don't give people squares for a holiday, but you give hearts for Valentines' day. See what I mean?

Hearts are also shapes that can take many different forms. The basic shape stays the same and stays recognizable, but the level of curving, the height vs. width, etc. all change.

And yet, hearts are a really fun shape. They have a traditionally more personal, homey time of feeling than most other shapes. But they can still be applied in numerous different ways to achieve different styles. This hand-printed poster from Summersville on Etsy has a more homespun, comfortable feeling to it. I really like it and I can tell how much work went into it...

find here.

And I also like this heart cup and saucer from Three Potato Four. It's sold already - too bad! It actually goes really well with the print - similar colors and feeling.

find here.

But hearts can also take a more modern, simple look to them. I'm sure that there are many things that demonstrate a more minimalistic approach to the shape of a heart in design, but the one that comes to my mind is the famous I Heart NY motif.

This design has been on t-shirts for a very long time, and it's a piece of design that seems truly enduring. And it's centered around a heart!

Next up...

Diamonds are kind of like squares and rectangles, but flipped around and adjusted a little bit. Diamonds are also a precious gem, as I'm sure you knew. But as a shape, they are really nice - simple but a little more detailed than more basic shapes, and great for patterns.

I noticed several fun diamond patterned items on Anthropologie, so I thought I would share them. Take a look at these diamond Anthropologie finds!

1. Precious Feast Placemat | 2. Sage Advice Tote | 3. Dutch Wax Ottoman | 4. Beaded Geometry Bag

I love the fun, interesting patterns that the Anthropologie designers made with a simple shape like a diamond!

One more shape before I go...and this time I'll include a logo review! Let's talk about...

Stars. Like hearts, they have social associations. Stars are what we see in the sky. Kids get star stickers on their homework when they do a good job. And we call someone a "star" when they're famous or talented.

In design, stars are usually used just like they are. I guess it's possible to make a pattern out of stars, but I don't recall seeing that very much if at all - certainly not as much as a diamond or circle pattern. One star-shaped thing that I like is starfish. I think I have a dried up one somewhere that I bought at a seashell shop. But anyway, back to the point. I found these starfish earrings that I think are a great example of a simple application of the star shape in design:

Find this on Etsy right here.

Aren't those pretty? They're very simply elegant. And they make me really excited to go the beach...

But stars have other applications, too, and they can be used in logos. The logo I'm going to show you is for Coinstar, a division of a company that owns both Coinstar and Redbox. Coinstar is a machine that turns your loose change into cash. You might've seen one at a grocery store before. Coinstar's main logo, for the company that owns both Coinstar and Redbox, has not been redesigned, but they recently came up with a new logo for the Coinstar end of things. You can read more on Brand New, but here's what the logo looks like:

The old logo (see it on Brand New) had a very obvious star shape incorporated into it, but this logo has a less obvious star that is made out of circles (coins). I think this logo is much more modern and updated, and the typography is somewhat similar to the font on the Redbox logo, which is good because it brings continuity between the two sub-companies' logos.

But as for the star icon, I actually really like it. It's creative and not ordinary by any means. It still vaguely resembles a star, but it's also an example of a designer tweaking a basic shape to better fit the needs of the company. What do you all think of the Coinstar logo?

That's all the shapes I have for today, but I haven't forgotten about today's special thing!

Keep in mind that this has nothing exactly to do with shapes - I just thought it would be fun. Three people chosen at random from the comments on this post will receive...

Their favorite word hand-drawn by me using my Wacom tablet! 

It could be your name, a word that you like, anything. I got the idea from a neat blog, Gitz. And you only have to make one comment - your comment will count for both this special thing and the overall Amazon giveaway. If you are chosen, you will have to email me and tell me your favorite word, and I'll send you a PNG file with your word hand drawn by me. I will announce the winners of this giveaway, and Tuesday's circle poster contest thing along with the results of the Amazon.com contest.

It's been great writing these posts for you all, and I surely hope you enjoyed shapes week! Don't forget to comment today to be entered in the Amazon.com giveaway.

Have a fabulous day and come back tomorrow after noon for the results!