Saturday, 27 March 2010
Friday, 26 March 2010
Alphabattle
Back in February saw the first submission date for Alphabattle 2.0, with many people sending in their custom letters using different mediums. It's not actually a battle, though - it's just a place for us typography geeks to show our own stuff, inspire, and be inspired.
So far there have been some awesome entries and I can only assume it'll get better as we get through the alphabet. Check it out here to see what people have been sending in, and for details on submitting your own.
My own entries so far:
You can also fave them over here at Letter Playground if you like them!
So far there have been some awesome entries and I can only assume it'll get better as we get through the alphabet. Check it out here to see what people have been sending in, and for details on submitting your own.
My own entries so far:
You can also fave them over here at Letter Playground if you like them!
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Weekend Work..
A quiet one this weekend, which gave me time to do a few bits of work!
I've seen a few posts around lately about 3D typography and it's had me itching to give it a try. Unfortunately for me, it's something I've never done, so I took to google to find out a few tips on software etc, and ended up following the basics on a tutorial on using the 3D side of CS4.
I had no plans to make anything of use, I just wanted to see what I could come up with, and for a first attempt, I'm pretty pleased!
It's given me a bit of a push to think up something creative which includes a bit of 3D type, so I'll be hoping to start planning something soonish (when I get some time!)
Another piece I've been working on lately - A friend bought me a moleskine for my birthday a few months back, I've wanted one for a while (mostly out of curiosity, I'd never used/known anyone that'd used one but I'd read good things about them!) and he bought me it to encourage me to work more on freehand drawing. So I set myself the task of trying to fill it up as and when I can with illustrations.
When I was doing print outs for my contextual studies book a few weeks ago, I came across a couple of paintings which I quite liked.
The first was "A Night at Saint Jean-de-Luz" by Man Ray:
I decided to "rework" the piece in my own style. It was enjoyable, and took me a couple of weeks to finish due to only being able to do a small amount each day, but I'm really pleased with how it looks.
I'm not sure whether to work on this digitally or not, but for now it's an extra something for the book. As for the second piece I liked.. I'll post it when I've finished my version!
I've seen a few posts around lately about 3D typography and it's had me itching to give it a try. Unfortunately for me, it's something I've never done, so I took to google to find out a few tips on software etc, and ended up following the basics on a tutorial on using the 3D side of CS4.
I had no plans to make anything of use, I just wanted to see what I could come up with, and for a first attempt, I'm pretty pleased!
It's given me a bit of a push to think up something creative which includes a bit of 3D type, so I'll be hoping to start planning something soonish (when I get some time!)
Another piece I've been working on lately - A friend bought me a moleskine for my birthday a few months back, I've wanted one for a while (mostly out of curiosity, I'd never used/known anyone that'd used one but I'd read good things about them!) and he bought me it to encourage me to work more on freehand drawing. So I set myself the task of trying to fill it up as and when I can with illustrations.
When I was doing print outs for my contextual studies book a few weeks ago, I came across a couple of paintings which I quite liked.
The first was "A Night at Saint Jean-de-Luz" by Man Ray:
I decided to "rework" the piece in my own style. It was enjoyable, and took me a couple of weeks to finish due to only being able to do a small amount each day, but I'm really pleased with how it looks.
I'm not sure whether to work on this digitally or not, but for now it's an extra something for the book. As for the second piece I liked.. I'll post it when I've finished my version!
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Blue Branding
Before christmas we got our first taste of branding, which I wrongly decided I hated from the start. It took a while to get into but I was happy enough at the end of it (See Joose images in a previous blog entry)
The first half of the term gave us our next branding project which seemed to cover the whole subject - we were paired for research, we had to do our own customer research and although I usually hate that side of things it helped alot when it came to the final design side of things.
We were given a colour - Blue - and told to do as much research into it as possible. From this, we had to decide on a company which would be named Blue - we picked airline (because Blue represents trust and reliability, you need to have trust in an airline!)
I finally got this finished today, but I'm not 100% happy with it. I had an image in my mind of how I wanted it to look, and although it does pretty much, I think I expected myself to be able to produce something professional looking that you'd expect to see in use. Putting too much pressure on myself only leads to being let down when the outcome isn't how I expected! But I think I've done well for someone at the stage I'm at.
So, back to the branding! The unique selling point for my airline was that we are UK based, providing executive flights between all major UK airports. We were aiming to sell to business within the country.
I wanted to incorporate the Union Jack (cliché!) into the logo and after deciding on the logo I would go with, I thought it fitted fairly well.
The first half of the term gave us our next branding project which seemed to cover the whole subject - we were paired for research, we had to do our own customer research and although I usually hate that side of things it helped alot when it came to the final design side of things.
We were given a colour - Blue - and told to do as much research into it as possible. From this, we had to decide on a company which would be named Blue - we picked airline (because Blue represents trust and reliability, you need to have trust in an airline!)
I finally got this finished today, but I'm not 100% happy with it. I had an image in my mind of how I wanted it to look, and although it does pretty much, I think I expected myself to be able to produce something professional looking that you'd expect to see in use. Putting too much pressure on myself only leads to being let down when the outcome isn't how I expected! But I think I've done well for someone at the stage I'm at.
So, back to the branding! The unique selling point for my airline was that we are UK based, providing executive flights between all major UK airports. We were aiming to sell to business within the country.
I wanted to incorporate the Union Jack (cliché!) into the logo and after deciding on the logo I would go with, I thought it fitted fairly well.
Final logos
I liked the idea of the "B" being part of the company identity - so there wasn't always a need for the whole company name to be used. Particularly for this type of company where the brand would be put onto airplanes - the "B" would fit better on the tail of the plane than the whole logo.
Business Card.
Front
Back
Compliment Slip.
Letter Head.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Once I Caught A Fish Alive..
My first type print! I love the effect of hand drawn fonts so decided to make my own print.
All completely hand drawn - then scanned and redrawn in Illustrator.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Helvetica v Comic Sans
BATTLE OF THE FONTS
Helvetica V Comic Sans
Helvetica V Comic Sans
Helvetica is a Sans Serif font which was designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger. The font was originally named Neue Haas Grotesque, it was then renamed Helvetica in 1960 (Latin for “Swiss”). Helvetica was designed with the intention of competing with Akzidenz-Grotesk in the Swiss market. The aim was to create a simple font which could be used in many ways.
Comic Sans is a Script typeface designed in 1994 by typographer Vincent Connare. The font was originally designed to imitate comic book lettering which was only intended to be used within MS Bob. Connare drew inspiration for the font from two comic books he had in his office – “The Dark Knight Returns”, and “Watchmen”.
Helvetica soon became one of the world’s most popular fonts thanks to its clean lines and slick designs; it was a font that could be used for almost anything. It became the choice font for many leading brands, including American Airlines, Staples, Jeep, Nestle, Post-it, Tupperware, and Evian, to name a few.
Comic Sans was not designed for formal documents or logo designs. It was eventually included in Microsoft 3D Movie Maker, used in the pop up windows and help section. Later, it was also included with Windows 95 Plus! Pack, and then became a standard font for the OEM version of Windows 95, before becoming one of the default fonts for Microsoft Publisher and Internet Explorer. Comic Sans was ideal for design for children or designs relating to comics, which is where it is still best used now.
Comic Sans was soon seen to be used inappropriately in business or professional work, and was beginning to appear almost everywhere. This spurred on two graphic designers from Indianapolis to start the “Ban Comic Sans” motion in 1999, after an employer insisted they use Comic Sans in a children’s museum exhibition.
While Comic Sans has never been popular amongst designers, the font has been used on several products, including Beanie Babies, in The Sims video games, and the 2004 Canada Day 25 cent collector coin. However, the typeface has become more known for its inappropriate uses around the world, from address labels from the Passport Office, to grave markers, writing on commemorative benches, and government job applications
While Helvetica was never as hated as Comic Sans, the popularity of the font soon brought the downsides – because of the widespread use, the font soon became an anonymous, generic looking font. Many people who had once embraced Helvetica soon came to spurn it. Whilst the hate campaign against Comic Sans shows no signs of slowing down, the demise of Helvetica is nowhere in sight; some have even gone so far to call it the official typeface of the 20th century.
Comic Sans is a Script typeface designed in 1994 by typographer Vincent Connare. The font was originally designed to imitate comic book lettering which was only intended to be used within MS Bob. Connare drew inspiration for the font from two comic books he had in his office – “The Dark Knight Returns”, and “Watchmen”.
Helvetica soon became one of the world’s most popular fonts thanks to its clean lines and slick designs; it was a font that could be used for almost anything. It became the choice font for many leading brands, including American Airlines, Staples, Jeep, Nestle, Post-it, Tupperware, and Evian, to name a few.
Comic Sans was not designed for formal documents or logo designs. It was eventually included in Microsoft 3D Movie Maker, used in the pop up windows and help section. Later, it was also included with Windows 95 Plus! Pack, and then became a standard font for the OEM version of Windows 95, before becoming one of the default fonts for Microsoft Publisher and Internet Explorer. Comic Sans was ideal for design for children or designs relating to comics, which is where it is still best used now.
Comic Sans was soon seen to be used inappropriately in business or professional work, and was beginning to appear almost everywhere. This spurred on two graphic designers from Indianapolis to start the “Ban Comic Sans” motion in 1999, after an employer insisted they use Comic Sans in a children’s museum exhibition.
While Comic Sans has never been popular amongst designers, the font has been used on several products, including Beanie Babies, in The Sims video games, and the 2004 Canada Day 25 cent collector coin. However, the typeface has become more known for its inappropriate uses around the world, from address labels from the Passport Office, to grave markers, writing on commemorative benches, and government job applications
While Helvetica was never as hated as Comic Sans, the popularity of the font soon brought the downsides – because of the widespread use, the font soon became an anonymous, generic looking font. Many people who had once embraced Helvetica soon came to spurn it. Whilst the hate campaign against Comic Sans shows no signs of slowing down, the demise of Helvetica is nowhere in sight; some have even gone so far to call it the official typeface of the 20th century.
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