Guilherme Dultra Villar Identity

I saw this identity on FPO and thought it was simply wonderful. The color combination, use of white space, clean & simple style, and especially the concept behind it all just make me think "wow."

Guilherme Dultra Villar created his identity by spelling out his first name phonetically. This is a memorable, unusual concept that works just right with his name. Somehow I don't think "care-ree" would work quite as well as a branding strategy.

But for Guilherme, it works phenomenally. And in addition to the concept, the design aspect of this collection of materials is simply wonderful. The high contrast between the gray and yellow is marvelous (and you have probably gathered that I love gray and yellow). I also love how "bare bones" this design looks. It's simple but not boring; sometimes, less is more, and that is certainly the case here.

This design just works. It does the job in a memorable, beautiful way. What do you think?

Sketchbook: Typography Doodles

These are just some little typographic doodles I did with some of the lines from a favorite hymn. I liked playing with different styles of type and the positioning of the words.

The blackletter style for "ponder anew" and some of the other words was something I hadn't done much of before. It was fun to try something new.

There is plenty of room for improvement in the quality of the lines and the consistency of the different styles of type, but it was a fun experiment since I love typography!

What do you all think? I'd love to hear your comments—positive ones and constructive criticism.

700 / This Is Life

This is my 700th post. And this post also marks a new season for this blog and for me. A week ago, I started college as an art major. I love that I get to learn about art (and eventually graphic design!) in school!

So it just seemed appropriate that in my 700th post, I should post my first college art project. The goal of this project was to create four progressions of lines from simple to complex.

As you can see, each column starts with a different type of line, and the designs get more detailed in each row. My favorite column is the third one; I like how the design rotates from square to square.

Also, I noticed that the shapes kind of look like the word "RISE." That was totally unintentional, but I thought it was cool!

I'd love your thoughts on this project! What do you think of it?

Design Tip: Never Use Black

I saw this link, with the title above, on Swiss Miss, and I was intrigued. Never use black in design? What's that supposed to mean? Is that even possible?

But when I read Ian Storm Taylor's article on this topic, I began to get it. The black he's saying not to use is pure, stark black. He explains that blacks with color hues mixed in are more natural in design and actually more realistic. Who knew?

This idea of avoiding pure black had never occurred. Actually, I've always tried to use pure black and grays that are straight black and white because I thought they were cleaner and brighter. I'll definitely have to consider adding some color to my blacks and grays.

The Beach

I got to spend this past week at the beach, and I loved it. It's one of my favorite places to be.

House Industries Catalog

Several months ago, I came across House Industries and their free catalogs. It looked cool, so I signed up. Time passed, and I kind of forgot about it. But then one day, I got this in the mail.

It's a type catalog. And it's so cool. This was free? I'd almost pay for it.

I love the fun, vintage colors and all the wonderful typefaces featured in this catalog.

I'd highly recommend signing up for House Industries' free catalog. And guess what? They give you free fonts, too.

Bill Brown: The Camera Collection

I found Bill Brown's Camera Collection on ShareSomeCandy, and I really like this project. I always find it interesting to observe designers' "side projects," and this is one very creative one. Bill did 100 pixelated illustrations of cameras and equipment and offers them online for download under a Creative Commons license.

I really love looking at all the different styles of cameras, and the pixelated effect gives them a distinct look. Here are a few I like:

To see more of Bill's project, visit his Camera Collection page. I am not familiar with his other work, so I'm not necessarily recommending it, but I know that the camera collection is pretty cool!

Do you have a favorite of Bill's illustrations?