Bodoni Poster

I love this Bodoni poster by Jonny Holmes, Paul Oakley, and Nigel Bents. It's so wonderfully typographic and I like how it focuses on a great typeface.

 

Yet at the same time I like how patterns are incorporated into the design. They highlight the type while providing an interesting design feature.

 

And the print process is always fun to see: printing techniques fascinate me!

 

Do you like this poster too?

HT: Grain Edit

A Delightful Blog

I recently came across Oh Hello Friend, a blog that is just lovely! I love how pretty and well designed the site is, as well as the joy and artistic style of the posts. And most of all, I've appreciate the way that Danni freely shares her faith in Jesus on her blog.

I'd definitely recommend checking it out, and also look at Danni's lovely shops. Links below!

links:

oh hello friend blog

the wanderlust shop (for pretty little things)

you are loved shop (for jewelry)

reverie market (for clothing)

Sojourn Music CD Package

I'm back to posting at least a little—perhaps not every day, but some! Thanks for being patient with me.

I saw the package for Sojourn Music's Christmas album on FPO, and I actually recognized the band! Wow. I love the packaging for this album, and I was excited to see such well designed packaging on a design blog for a Christian group's CD.

Isn't this cool?

I love the colors, the vintage Victorian looking typography, the patterns, and especially that gorgeous, sparkly, letterpress cover. I think this is really a most excellent set of album packaging.

What do you think of it?

Quiet Time

I've had a million things to do lately, so blogging is going to have to take a back burner for the next few days. I will be back soon! And in the meantime, scroll down and check out the new "friends + inspiration" links and browse those while you wait.

Strength

So glad that God gives enough strength for today.

And that because of Him, tomorrow is a bright hope.

[download]

Etsy Fun

A few delightful things I've come across on Etsy lately. See more in my favorites list.

pillow from regan's brain

bookends from orange door vintage

hi stickers from sparrow's nest script

vintage red phone from soviet vintage

silk scarf from pretty penny designs

boho necklace from bluebird lab

hairpins from ethereal flowers

wood art from art glamour sligo

Which do you like best of these Etsy finds?

Type Love: Sofia Pro

I found the font Sofia Pro in the April edition of Rising Stars, MyFonts' newsletter. It's always such a fun surprise in my inbox!

Sofia is a lovely, circular sans serif font. It reminds me a little of Avant Garde. I love how clean it is, and the different weights all look great.

What do you think of this typeface?

Weekend Links 4/13

+ conversation pieces pillow

From Felt & Wire Shop.
I like this pillow! It's a simple, crisp design and a fun idea.

+ leather wall shelf

From Onitiva on Etsy.

These shelves are so cool! I never would've thought of looking for a shelf made of leather, but I love the idea.

+ nella headband

From Anthropologie.
I like this headband!

+ curl book ends

From Hammer It Out on Etsy.

I really like the rustic yet minimal style to these.

+ sapporo satin skirt

From Anthropologie.

This is a fun color!

Identity: Centraal Museum

I saw the identity for Centraal Museum recently, and I like the concept and the execution a lot. It definitely plays off the concept of "central," and the logo has a crisp, clear look.

The different color dots give it a fun, youthful style, and I like the way the bold, capital type stands out.

The signage is very creative! I love how completely this museum applied their new identity.

What do you think of this logo and its application?

HT: Brand New

Yellow and Gray Invitations

I love yellow and gray, so this invitation set I saw on FPO definitely caught my eye. I love the shade of yellow that's used and the way the colors are used with lots of white. It makes for a very delicate, cheerful look.

The fabric banner is so cute! I love that three-dimensional touch. I really like the typography, too. It's a nice list, modern serif font. Those things seem to be a bit of an unusual combination in a typeface.

The cursive font is great, too. It's interesting to me that they actually have four fonts going on in this invitation set (serif font above, capital sans serif font, cursive font, and ampersand font)—I hadn't noticed that before.

The patterns and the messages on the thank you notes are really cute.

What do you think of these invitations?

Type + Dashes

One of my favorite graphic design items I've come across lately is the branding for You Stockholm, a hair salon. What do I love about this? Two things: type + dashes.

That funky but fancy serif typeface is just lovely. The perfect mix of modern and formal. I love the way it's paired with black, red, tan, and white for the identity.

And the use of dashes is so lovely and creative. I must confess I don't understand why there's no space before "something" on the gift card holder and there is a space before "we're" on the sign, but the basic idea of using dashes as a design element is so wonderful! Dashes are such beautiful symbols, and I love it when they're given proper attention.

Again, more dashes. Lovely, right?

I also think the layout of the hair salon and how the identity is applied to everything is really great. There's that great typography and those lovely dashes again—on the floor and on the cart!

They even have a typewriter. Can you believe that? And those gift bags on the counter are pretty fun. This is the kind of place I would walk into and ask if I could take some of their paper products because I love the design so much!

What do you think? Do you like the type and dashes too?

HT: Design Work Life

Artist Spotlight: Ragnar Freyr

Ragnar Freyr is a graphic design from Iceland whose work I found through AisleOne. I like the way he has his site laid out. It has unlimited scrolling, so you scroll down to what you think is the end of his portfolio and then more things load! It's really fun.

His work is strong, too. Lots of his items are really good illustrations of clean, crisp design and good use of sans type. This magazine cover for FIT 2010 is nice. The typography is interesting: I'm not sure what style it would be classified as since it seems to be a mix of serif, sans serif, and typewriter/display. And of course I like magazine layouts in general, so it's fun for me to see what different people do with them.

I really like Ragnar's Christmas packaging for Yule. The color scheme is great, and both the design and the type have such a wonderfully modern, Scandinavian feel to them. I'd like to hang one of these on my tree. The typography is great, too—it kind of reminds me of Ikea.

His designs for Project Patterson are really fun. I love the yellow, and the folded newspaper presentation is really cool!

I like this Pyro poster, too. I like red and white together, and this red-orange shade is a favorite of mine. There's also something about simple sans serif type and white on a color that I really like.

Ragnar's logo for Createmake, a blog he runs, is great, too. I like the way he uses serif typography in a simple, minimal way. Usually I associate sans serif typefaces with minimalism, but it doesn't always have to be that way.

The CD packaging for Missa Pacis is very nice, too. I love the bright color scheme and the simple design, and it's always fun to look at different takes on album packaging since they're another one of my favorite print items.

But I think Ragnar's branding for Notknot might be my very favorite of his projects (which is why I saved it for last!). The type, the shapes, and the hand-printed, textured look are all wonderful.

Do you have a favorite of Ragnar Freyr's projects that I've featured? I hope you like his work as much as I do.