comic sans and graphic designers
Posted on | May 14, 2012 | No Comments
Chocolat is a text editor software/app for Mac and recently it offers, as many other softwares companies do, a free trial of the software before users buy its app. Cleverly and playing just a little bit on the Graphic Designer's vanity… Chocolat offer the app to be used after the trail is over, HOWEVER, it will display everything in Comic Sans, gutted!
Comic sans was designed by Vincent Connare originally to imitate comic book writing and was released by Microsoft in 1994. All sounds good, but, comic sans is undoubtably one of the most hated fonts in the majority of graphic designers font folder (if it hasn't been purposely eradicated already) and there are many reasons for this. In my own opinion, Comic sans represents amateurish design where maybe someone has made a poster to sell their bike or to notify the public about a lost pet or in fact, anything where any 'non designer' has just chosen what they think is a simple and suitable font or favorite font for their purpose, but of course it usually is not the right font… but hey, who cares, i mean if everyone knew which font to chose and when to use it, Graphic designers would have very little purpose other than spending their time pointing out such insignificant concerns. The only time when one should be worried about the use of comic sans is when a professional Graphic designer has used it in a Corporate Identity for a professional business or something that requires even the slightest degree of seriousness as opposed to a t-shirt that Bobby the clown would wear while performing his hilarious act to a group of 3 year olds at a birthday party.
A guide to the use of comic sans. It is pretty funny but there are some nice examples of comic sans posters albeit they are examples where the font is actually being used as the subject at hand. Smashing magazine has already got a list of examples and you can see them here.
Cameron Chapman wrote an article about the history of comic sans here and also researched a little deeper into the subject so you can find out all you want about it there. I just think the image above is a lovely tongue in cheek hint at the vanity of some graphic designers. Have a look at the following video, the whole story there…it is worth the watching as there are some fanatics out there.
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Tags: comic sans > comic sans abuse > comic sans font > comic sans hate > graphic design > graphic designer > graphic designers > vincent connare
design sustainability and eco packaging design
Posted on | April 27, 2012 | No Comments
Help Remedies packaging design It is made from 100% recyclable and biodegradable materials.
We all think we are very environmentally friendly and are always on the look out for new ways to improve our lives through the most up-to-date environmentally friendly innovations. We want to have a greener business and all know that ‘sustainable is good’, we also know that if our clients can see that our company is environmentally considerate they will buy our products. As they say, every little helps and by buying into your eco friendly business and products your customers are not only purchasing the products themselves but rather a piece of mind. Being aware of your carbon footprint is important however it is not always the cheapest option, in fact… it is rarely the cheapest option, it can take more time, require more accurate research, cost more for production and in turn less profitable but then of course it can also work entirely in the other direction. With more and more people showing interest in their carbon footprint and sustainability there is more and more desire for a cleaner product a product that was created with the welfare of our planet in mind.
So, as a graphic designer that until recently was just offering a service, the most I can do to be eco friendly in my day to day business apart from watching my own carbon footprint, is to encourage my clients to use the more environmentally friendly materials for their printed matter, less plastics in their packaging, less energy in their production overall design sustainability etc etc. My office runs on natural energy, I have recently taken a step back towards the handmade, through sketching with pen and paper rather than the mouse, using recycled paper in my printers, using tree free 100% cotton paper for my letterpress print jobs (where possible) buying second hand inks for the letterpress rather than new inks (soya inks are supposed to be the more eco friendly alternative but I have read a few negative reports about howthe way they are produced is far from eco. So I see it by using rubber based inks which I managed to find on ebay I am not creating any more waste and in turn being more sustainable) Although printing is one of the ways a graphic designer can make a difference, packaging is also a very big issue and one that design has a lot to do with. One of the most eco friendly packagings in our history is the egg carton introduced in the 1930's, Its design has not really changed that much. It is functional, inexpensive to produce and of course protective to a certain extent. Here is a note I found with regard to carton packaging…
Carton packaging is the most eco-friendly claims study
Cartons are the most environmentally friendly form of packaging cutting carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel consumption by up to 60 per cent compared with other forms of packaging, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.
full report can be read here
Eco-friendly solution was to use embossing and to the right the techno vacuum pack
A Green Pack is the way forward, packaging which reduces the environmental impact and ecological footprint and at the same time must meet the functional and economic needs of the present without compromising the future. With this in mind I have selected a number of interesting packaging designs where great design meets ecologically friendly and sustainable functionality.
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Everything is 100% natural… sugarcane bagasse pulp paper, coated with sugarcane lignin and printed with vegetable-based inks
once again packaging using sugarcane pulp paper and vegetable-based inks
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Previous use and a second life for this coconut shell. Fuegos Luxury Cigars
extra virgin olive oil packaging
Pasta Garofalo, new eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging by Angelini Design
Chris Chapman’s Roll-Out Vegetable Patch. A cardboard step-by-step gardening system for growing your own vegetables.
Green packaging for Nooka Glue-less. Simple dye cuts making a feature of an otherwise plain carton.
Tags: a graphic designer > carbon footprint > carton > eco friendly > environmentally friendly > graphic design > graphic designer > green pack > more eco > packaging design > packaging designs > packaging world > the letterpress
Art Cologne – International Art Fair
Posted on | April 19, 2012 | No Comments
Just a short note to let you know what is happening here in Cologne at the moment. The Art Cologne Fair is currently underway and will run for 5 days (last day 22nd April) it was established in 1967 as Kölner Kunstmarkt (Cologne Art Market/Fair) and it is regarded the world's oldest art fair of its kind. This year the ART COLOGNE FAIR will be a cooperation of two independent Fairs, namely the Art Cologne Fair and the NADA Cologne Fair.
Approximately 200 International galleries will showcase Classic Modern, Post War and Contemporary Art in Hall 11 of the Cologne exhibition Centre. The NEW CONTEMPORARIES section will spotlight cutting edge works.
If you fancy going to the Fair then tickets are still available here.
Some Featured Galleries – These are the galleries and artists featured but the Images shown may not be on display at the event.
Stephan Balkenhol from Galerie Forsblom
Vlado Martek from AANANT & ZOO
Alex Olson / Alan Reid at Lisa Cooley
Tags: a graphic designer > art cologne > art cologne fair > cologne exhibition centre > contemporary art > galerie forsblom vlado martek > graphic design > graphic designer > graphic designers > international galleries > kölner kunstmarkt > nada cologne > new art dealers alliance
Beautiful Packaging
Posted on | April 12, 2012 | 1 Comment
The following pictures of beautiful packaging examples may not be the most recent package designs, but they are however, some of the best packaging designs for food and drinks or at least in my opinion. As usual a simple approach, clear colours and message are what makes these stand out from the rest. Surprisingly, the majority of this lot of designs don't even have photographs of the product as we so commonly see in food packaging design. Not a bad thing though, as we all know the images of the beautiful pre-packed meals which are displayed on the box are usually far from an accurate representation of the contents.
Food & Drinks Packaging
My favourite and often award-winning food and drink packaging designs were and still are from the supermarket chain Waitrose in the UK. They allways pushed the boat out for their packaging and it was always grabbing your attention and yet at the same time, simple and pleasing to the eye. Design companies that worked in the past on the Waitrose packaging included Lewis Moberly, Turner Duckworth, Bhavesh Chauhan, Swissmiss, Studio 176 to name but a few.
In 2005 Lewis Moberly created this new packaging for Waitrose for a re-launch of its rage of specialist pre-packed cheese and the resluts are simple, sophisticated and appetizing. The packaging is of course still modern today. Lewis Moberly are also responsible for the following Waitrose herbs packaging and a few others featured here.
The Waitrose Fresh Herbs Packaging Design won the Bronze Award in the EDAwards 2009 Packaging Design
I love the tongue in cheek go at starbucks
Jamie Oliver's food packaging is also a big hit with simple and yet striking hand made effect labels etc. The Packaging Design of champagne glasses and salt & pepper pots etc. here are by Pearlfisher
Tags: beautiful packaging > bhavesh chauhan > creative graphic designer > environmental choice > food packaging > food packaging design > lewis moberly > package design inspiration > Package Designer > package designs > packaging design > packaging designs > what is packaging design
Top Guerilla Marketing Examples & Media billboards
Posted on | April 11, 2012 | 1 Comment
Creative Guerilla Marketing Examples are everywhere and this post they are in the form of Media Billboards. Billboards have become much more exciting in the last 10 years and there are certainly some brilliant campaigns out there which are catching our attention and causing us to have a chuckle, stare in momentary disbelief and of course just to appreciate the ideas. My favourite ads are those that hardly need the logo to be included such as the Guinness billbord on the bottom, I was actually surprised the logo was included on the banner, as the normal marketing/branding rules do not apply when using gorilla marketing.
problems downloading? cpould just as easily worked for the following campaign 
problems downloading? this one is not for toilet paper but rather a laxative
really clever one for miele's vacuum cleaner
same idea for 2 different energy companys and executed differently: They both work but i prefer the Eslom electricity example.
gruesome fun with a handful of sliced pigeons lying on the ground below the 'giant razor blade'
more examples of guerilla marketing from earlier posts here
Tags: advertising campaigns > creative guerilla marketing examples > guerilla marketing > guerilla marketing examples > ideas for ads > marketing guerrilla > media billboards > viral advertising
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- When it is perfectly OK to use Comic Sans fb.me/1kioDPRxn 5 days ago
- Chocolat FREE playing with graphic designers vanity. Comic Sans indeed, you rotters! tinyurl.com/cylpfjp 5 days ago
