Cool Package Design - Hooks

Over at The Die Line I found another cool product, this time we have hooks that were repackaged by Essem Design

Here we have a cool triangular product packaging and sleek design. They have small cutouts to denote the amount of hooks that are being purchased and come in two colors.

If anyone hasn't yet caught on, I like the packages with only two colors.

Tron!

So I don't know who else is excited about the new Tron: Legacy movie coming out tomorrow, but here are some posters fount at OMG Posters!.

Completed by Alamo Drafthouse in association with Sideshow Collectibles, these posters are now for sale at the paltry sum of $40 at Mondotees.com.

The one on the left is for the original Tron movie, while the one on the right is from Tron: Legacy, interesting concept, and it is father and son next to each other.

Cool color choices, get there now and get one before they sell out.

Also, all music is done by Daft Punk. I don't know if that interests anyone else, but... Daft Punk!

  

Big Ten Reveals New Logo

With the addition of a 12th team to the Big Ten College Football Conference, the division decided to add a new design to the group.

Designed by Pentegram Designs, the "I" and "G" are incorporated to look like the number 10.  They decided to leave out the hidden number for the amount of teams as the old logo had.

The old logo worked in the number "11" to show the number of teams in the conference, but the new one decided to go in another direction.

Divided into two conferences, the "Leaders" which includes Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State, and Wisconsin. The "Legends" conference will include Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern.

I personally loved the look of the old logo and the way they incorporated the "11" into the design but the new one may have its benefits as well.

Cool Packaging

So since we did the packaging project, I have become obsessed with The Die Line. It shows inventive ways people package products and interesting labels people use.

They recently posted a spaghetti packaging that is inventive and reminds me of our one classmates project.

There are six individual servings in this product, each in a triangular box, when combined they form these hexagonal products.

These were actually done by a college student, the project was to redesign the packaging for a hard to package object, the choices were spaghetti, marbles, a single rose, or custard powder.

This is an inventive and fun way to package spaghetti and hopefully it gets implemented so I don't have to deal with an entire box of spaghetti every time I want some.

Show and Tell, Package Redesign

In my infinite search for the perfect show and tell item, I happened upon this.  The door stopper.

It is a humanized door stopper, this poor little guy looks like his foot is caught under a door for the image.

It is a humorous way to stop a door, and perfect at that.  This little guy shows his pain in getting his foot stuck under the door, one foot is pushing to free himself as his two hands hold the foot in pain.  Humorous and purposeful, the perfect christmas gift.

The Color Of The Year

So for all those Pantone fans out there. Apparently Pantone picks a color that they project to be the most popular for the next year, and this year it is... Honeysuckle!

So for the next year this reddish-pink color will be the color to design with for EVERYTHING.

Last year the choice was turquoise which, in hindsight, was very popular indeed.

So for all those out there looking for design color help, honeysuckle may have the answer for you!

Full article can be found here.

Book Cover - The Interrogative Mood

Here is a book jacket that I found interesting.

On the top is the cover, the bottom shows the full jacket.

The stand-alone cover without words is pretty interesting, while the rest is kind of word heavy. The color palate stays the same throughout, black and light red. The cover shows a person squeezing the question mark, standing for the interrogation technique taught throughout the book.

Movie Time! Part Two.

Ooooh, check the title, a part two! I wonder how many possible parts we may be getting out of this ordeal? Three? Twelve? Probably just this one.

So the last video did not reach the requirements for a blog show and tell post so I figured I would go above and beyond and show the greatest short movie in the history of movies.

Excited?

Pumped?

You Should Be.

Click Here to Make Your Brain Explode!

So the above link is for Tim Burton's short movie Vincent, a movie where a young boy wishes to be more like is idol, Vincent Price.  I figure it is relevant since my movie project is about Mr. Burton; and aside from his amazing art career, I recently found out that he has also made a few movies! So enjoy watching claymation at its finest, you earned it.

Movie Time! Part One

So here I am, the night before class as usual, a bottle of wine deep and two projects to go.

So we now interrupt the regularly scheduled homework for blog updates.

A few years back a small car company by the name of BMW decided to hire the best directors and get some of the hottest stars of the time and make high profile short movies that were approximately six minutes too long to be considered a commercial. I have no idea where these aired, but they are readily available all over the internet.  Here is one by the great Guy Ritchie featuring his wife of the time Madonna as well as Clive Owen. Click Here!

I guess this one is alright, I was going to show you the other ones but I am hoping to drag another blog post or two out of them.  If you are too impatient, feel free to search "BMW commercial" something will pop up.

They are great shorts that barely even relate to the fact that Clive Owen is driving a BMW.
And I know we are not supposed to post commercials so I will post something else shortly.

P.S. Sorry for the rambling. Alcohol.

Coffee Cups!

So the website ClickForArt released a series of coffee cups to deal with all moods.

For the happy people out there we have the Blossom, a beautiful print of a blue flower on the side of a cup as well as a saucer to go along with it.  Next, for the sadder or more metal people out there, we have a Day of the Dead style womens face and a matching saucer to go along with it. Lastly, there is the ambivalent, a HONEYSUCKLE (read last post) flower that can go either way.

This is a cool group that may not really go together, but individually they are beautiful.

Good Infographic

And here is the good one.

Well it is somewhat depressing to see four years of hard earned money split up in such a manner, but the information comes across quite well.  Plenty of different facts, each portion of the pie graph breaks off into other sections.

The graphics are nice and the colors are a good choice.

Overall, nice infographic.

Bad Infographic

So here is my bad infographic. It is pretty informational, but it only shares one fact over the whole page.

Vegetables and Fruits receive such a small amount of subsidies that they cost more to produce than meat and dairy would.  The whole purpose of this infographic is to demonstrate this one fact.  While the information is shocking - they could have added costs of one versus the other, or something related to the topic.

Cool Book Cover

So I happened upon this book cover today and wanted to share it.

It is for what I can only imagine is a very boring book, but the cover is well done, colorful but mostly white. The paint style texture is a nice addition, it appears to be an old book but I am fairly sure it was just released, I can't find the article I found it from, but the design is nice nonetheless

My First Train Ride!

This previous weekend I went on my first train ride, and soon following was my second train ride.  What was the reason behind this trip and why is it worth blogging about?

Well first off, it was a momentous occasion for myself riding the train for the first time. And also because I went to see Rain, the Broadway show tribute to the Beatles.

This is worth blogging about because while there I noticed some great designs from the Beatles Era and wanted to post some psychedelic 60s designs.

I know the drug fueled music age may have died out and the design style along with it, but I'm sure a resurgence of overly colorful images is just around the corner.

Wawa runs a Hoagie Fest commercial with a similar feel to these posters, and maybe that is all we will see any time soon.

OMG Its A Poster!

So my brother turned me on to this website OMGPosters.com, and if I weren't already broke I would have to invest in some awesome artwork.  Most of the posters are collaborative works by an artist and a designer with amazing end results. Here are some pieces.

 

 I hate centered text and for some reason it will not let me switch to left align so I will keep this short and sweet.

These are only a few of the many examples they have on the site, all available for sale.  I chose the Rosie the Riveter card because we have been talking about her a lot in my other class.  Circa Survive has a bunch of cool posters on the site for their upcoming tour, which isn't surprising considering how art heavy their cd covers normally are.

The styles vary but almost all of the posters are extremely cool and I would love one for my room. 

Packaging With a Story

I try not to draw from the same well too much, so this is only the second and hopefully last time I use beer this semester.

This beer bottle label is fun and interesting to read.  Some of the phrases used on the bottle include:
"What is this rancid shit?"
"Sweet Jesus!"
"Where the hell are my pants?"
"12 Fl. Oz. Of Fuck Yeah"
"Extra Alcohol!"

A new story is told in every line.
How many times have you had a "rancid" beer? Seldomly.
How many times have people lost their pants drunk? Too Many.
How many times have you wished for extra alcohol in your beer? Every Time.

It tells the story of what can happen when you drink it in a light and playful manner.

Packaging, Probably No Story

Canned Cider! I need to get in on this, how much more exciting can you get than a can of cider?  The packaging here is pretty brilliant.  Starting with the use of color to denote individual flavors, the choice in typeface, and most importantly, the emoticon that is winking.

The story may not be told here, but the packaging is excellent.

Definitely No Good At Kinko's... And After.

I decided to add upon my previous message of not being any good at kinkos (or not kinko-ing well).

Earlier I spoke of a phone call in which they said they could not mount my poster on black foam board, I was fine with this and carried on my day merrily.  This is the rising action of my story... keep reading for more!

I decided on the Kinkos in Columbia because my girlfriend lives there and it just so happened to be our 5 year anniversary.  So my aforementioned yet unnamed girlfriend and I  finished dinner and arrived at Kinkos around 6:30 (and if you read my last post, you will know that they promised to finish my project by 6. So I should be fine.)  After around fifteen minutes listening to the broken English of the Kinkos employee arguing with the broken English of an angry employee, another employee decided that she should help me.

I let her know that I submitted my project the night before and she goes back and finds it, my poster, magazine, postcard, all of it.  End of story right? Wrong.  She decided that somehow in my specific instructions of not wanting my project mounted on white board that she would do exactly that.  Here is the conversation.

Me - "Oh great! Thank you for my... wait, why is this mounted on white poster board?"

Her - "The instructions say that you wanted it mounted"

"Well, I said I can't have it mounted on white board"

"The instructions are right here and they say you asked for this"

She pulls out a piece of paper that they typed up.  Indeed someone had written that it was to be mounted, but it was not my orders

"I can't turn that in mounted on white board, is there any way that you can print me up another one?"

"I can print up another one but it will cost you extra" (She says this in a way that lets me know that my request is completely detrimental to the important work that she is doing)

"Whatever. That's fine."

"Okay, have a seat it'll be right out."

At this point I take a seat at a table they have set up to the side with my girlfriend, and watch as the aforementioned angry customer argues over the shade of red on his papers.  All the while the customers two young children run rampant in the store.

Around ten minutes later I see that my project is sitting freshly printed out.  Sitting is not the accurate term I guess. Laying?  Either way, it is not getting any closer to being in my possession.  I look over, the lady is sitting at her computer clicking away.  The sitting and clicking and laying all continue for another twenty minutes or so before she notices my anxious pacing back and forth throughout the store and decides it is time to let me have my project, I had been punished enough.

I receive my project, drop my girlfriend off around 8 and head home.  The end yet again?  Possibly, but mounting projects is an adventure in and of itself.



So I arrive home around 8:30 to the post-pregame apocalypse that is my apartment.  Roommates are nowhere to be seen, but our house is strewn with whiskey bottles, empty glasses, etc.

I mount my projects in the kitchen because the granite counter tops are much easier to cut large stuff on than my measly desk.  I cut out my magazine ad, my postcards and I am working on the black mounting board when I notice that my magazine and postcards are sitting in some liquid left behind on the counters.  On a normal occasion, I print up multiple copies of each piece, but today of course I only had the one copy of each.

I make a mad dash for the soaking wet pieces of work, and upon grabbing them begin waving around frantically trying to dry them out.

Luckily, card stock is extremely resilient and after a few minutes of waving, the pieces settle back to almost their original shape.

Yet another adventure in the world of Graphic Design.  Stay tuned for the next installment.

Twilight, Eat Your Heart Out

  

So here it is, the greatest story ever told.  I was just contacted by Dreamworks for the rights to the movie, but I think that I'll hold out for Pixar.  Maybe it will work better as a novel though.

Narrative in Art

Almost all artwork has a story to tell, and some stories are told through one intimate scene right at the climax of the story.  For example, Caravaggio told a whole story in his painting The Conversion of Saint Paul.

This painting is shown right at the moment Saint Paul finds his faith in God.  I may be a little rusty on my art history, but I believe that Saint Paul was a tax collector at this point in his life.  He was on his way to Damascus when he was kicked off of his horse and saw a blinding light where he changed his ways and became an apostle.  Enough elements of that story are shown, the blinding light, Paul falling off his horse, the look of peace on his face.  The narrative has been shown through one scene.

A Narrative Brought To You By College Humor

So I was looking through all my favorite magazines, and decided a narrative works  much better in this form.  So here is Elephant Larry Presents:  Minesweeper - The Movie.  I gave up on embedding after my last awful attempt, so click the link to see the movie.

This is the movie trailer for an imaginary movie, but the trailer is pretty great nonetheless.

The best part has to be the yellow smiley faced guy. Creepy? Yes. Jaundiced? Yes. Hilarious? Heck Yes.
I assume this is a narrative because it follows a story line specifically, the only reason I would say it isn't is because there is no narrator, just the individual characters engaged in dialogue which tell the story.

So in conclusion, watch the movie for a laugh.  Possible Narrative.

I'm beginning to think I'm not good at kinko's

So to clarify, by saying I'm not good at Kinko's I do not mean that I become evil there, I just mean I am not good at the act of Kinko's - or Kinko-ing as it should be called.  Every time I go there it becomes an ordeal trying to get a project finished in time. So here is this weeks story. 

After work yesterday I frantically tried to finish my project so that I could email it in before closing hours at FedEx Office.  That did not happen.

Around 10 I finished and sent my project in, specifically requesting to be called as soon as they know when it will be done.  Since FedEx Office opens at either 7 or 9 I expected a call by eleven letting me know when I could get my project.

The reason I ask to be reached is because last week they did not finish until 9 o'clock.  Closing time.  They told me to pick up my project at the exact moment the freaking store closes.  At least on the phone I can barter with them for a better time, like 8:55, 6:00.  

So around one o'clock friday afternoon I still had not received a phone call from FedEx and I decided to take matters into my own hands and call them.  The store locator couldn't have the phone number, that would be too easy.  So I googled around until I found a website with their number that appeared legit, and I called the store.

"Hello"

"Hi, my name is Rich and I placed an order last night and I was wondering.."

"One minute"

Approximately 10 minutes pass

"Hello how can I help you?"

"Hi there, my name is Rich and I placed an order last night.  When will that order be finished?"

"We wanted to reach you but your email said you could not be reached by phone."

I ponder this, since I left my phone number in the email twice with specific instructions to call me for any and all problems, and they had not emailed me back either.

"Oh, okay... so whats up with my project?"

"We just received it a little while ago, we cannot mount your project on black foam board even if you bring the board in, everything else you sent is fine." 

 "That's cool, when do you think it will be done?"

"One moment."

After what was definitely longer than the normal length of a moment, someone picked up

"FedEx Office how may I help you?"

"I, um... we talked?  My order?" (I was taken by surprise by this nonchalant introduction halfway through our conversation, normally I am a much better conversationalist) 

"Oh right, I saw the blinking dot and decided to pick up.  That other lady is not here right now."

"Oh, when do you think my order will be ready?" 

"Well you asked for it to be ready by six, so we will have it ready by six."

"Thanks, bye"

I share this because it took half an hour to hear what I could have been told immediately.  This is not the reason I am bad at Kinko-ing, just by this point I should be better at it.

I don't know why  I felt the need to share this story, maybe because we all have our own printing disaster story to tell.  This honestly isn't even the worst I have had it, but I need a blog post so maybe I will regale you with the horror stories from Kinko's later on.

For Movie Project

So this blog that Marie showed us called HyperboleandaHalf showed a video that seems exactly like what we are supposed to do in class, so here it is.
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EYM-B9jAflM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EYM-B9jAflM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
And Just in case I have no idea how to embed videos, and I'm pretty sure I do not. Here is the link
Its a video that just uses still images with no words narrated over the top, just subtext. Hilarity ensues, and the viewer can relate to every time they tried to pet a cat.  The main message this video leaves us with is this - Cats are Evil, always.

Punctuation Changes Everything

So I was reading through some internet comics and happened upon this one from explosm.net. It relates to our class so I figured I'd post it.  Now my only question is, why is she talking to cats and dogs? Or I guess more accurately shouldn't it be, It's raining CAT and dogs! Since there is only one cat she is talking to. I guess I'm reading too much into a comic of a stick figure, but thats just me.

Cool Posters for Dexter

So for the new season of Dexter, a graphic designer put out a series of posters.  They are all pretty cool and illustrative.  The color scheme is amazing and all the different symbols go well together.  I am a big fan of Dexter, I no longer get showtime but I used to love the show.  I think these posters encompass an entire season with each one, like the first season and the ice truck killer, the second with the marriage, etc.

The full article can be found here

New Painting

A friend in class asked me to throw this up so here it is. (Sorry about the poor quality, I didn't have the proper lighting so this is the best I could do with the glare.) So back in my previous life, I was a painter. Since college I had not even lifted a paint brush until about one month ago. With nothing in particular to paint I decided to go with zombies, I went out and bought a little 8"x12" canvas and tried out painting. Unfortunately I forgot the rule of fat over thin when it comes to oil paint and this painting is slowly dripping itself into nothingness, in some places you can see the colors running down already.
So all in all, I wish I could paint more but with time restraints that is out of the question, maybe after the semester.

show and tell project

As hard as it was to find a show and tell that asked the audience to do something excluding visiting a website, I present you this awful advert from the economist. From the globe with its grainy green oceans to the cracking brown land with no purpose - this ad is awful. It tries to convince you to submit an idea to save the economy but is nothing more than a cheesy ad. The hierarchy is fine, the title and callout are largest, but the rest falls short. Thoughts?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

Inno Calendar

While cruising the internet for cool things, I found this Inno Calendar.  This calendar is pretty cool, it can be reorganized for over twenty different looks.  The customizability is pretty cool but I would hate having to rearrange at the end of every month because it looks like the boards have built in months written on them.

Ray Ban Rare Print

 

So I keep finding these different examples, I never realized how big this campaign really was. Here are three more that are completely awesome. 

Last weeks campaigns

 

 

So here are some more of the ray ban rare prints that I showed in class, pretty cool stuff, they mimic the designs shown on the inside or out of the glasses 

Introducing... The Sarcmark

A new character has been added.  It is the sarcmark, it is a symbol meant to show people that a sentence is sarcastic.  I cannot show you this character because it costs more money than I would like to spend, but here is the link. Click Here

Design Critique

So I'm unsure on what to do to make this piece better so I'm leaving this up to the class. Thanks in advance for your input

Viral Marketing - Nationwide

Paint Accident - Click
We talked about different ads that showcase a design concept.  This is a novel idea where Nationwide invented a fake paint company and placed their billboards above a parking lot.  In one of the billboards the paint can had spilled over and covered some cars in the lot.  Beside the two paint ads was a third for nationwide for car insurance.  It is a brilliant combination of advertisements and mixed media that works and created a buzz for the company.
 This billboard became a viral sensation and I love it.

Funny Typography Article

Since we talked about typography in class and received that pamphlet discussing the topic, I decided it would be a good time to post an article I like about it.
Fonts - Cracked

It goes through all the popular fonts and what the intended meaning is, as well as what is meant by the designer. It is interesting and funny, as most Cracked articles are.

verbal definition

This advert shows coffee combinations in cool little graphic circles. It is sleek and it works, but the pictures would not work without the words that describe the flavors. Great simple side bar for an article.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

visual definition

Still without internet I continue to post thanks to the science of cell phones. This is my example of visual definition. An ad for jif is shown as just a peanut. Beautifully simple. The lack of information is what makes it succeed

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

Definition Example

Last year before the droid phone was released they went through an ad campaign defining the droid through how it is unlike the iPhone.
Click here for video

Good Writing Sample

I liked this writing piece because it points out foods that break the norms of cooking and shows exceptional examples of each. Like the raw chicken dish offered in new York.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Bad Food Photo

This is my first time posting via phone so if it turns out awful let me know. For bad food photography I chose this picture because I feel that the crisp edges of the cheese overlapping what appears to be a blurry image of eggs is not appetizing. I had to be extra picky because food network magazine has some great food pictures but the contrast of crisp to blurry here did not work for me.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

MoMA's new Acquisition

While it may not be extremely new, this past march the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the "@" symbol.  Now the symbol has been added to the permanent collection.
 This marks the first time that MoMA has added a piece of typography as well as the first free acquisition they have made.
The full article can be found here.

here.

Ray Lewis's Old Spice Commercial

My new blog felt all lonely so I decided I need to write another little blurb.

Ray Lewis recently aired in a commercial for Old Spice, watch here:

This isn't as good as the "I'm on a horse" Old Spice ad, and while I love seeing one of our Ravens get national exposure, the advert falls short.  Ray does great, but this commercial feels more forced for oddity's sake than previous ads.  Old Spice has a nice campaign strategy but I feel they went a step too far into the strange with this one.

First Post

First post ever! Shameless self promotion... click the link - RichFleury.com