Here's a bold, interesting use of color and silhouettes from the folks at Turner Classic Movies — TCM.com.
The site was used to promote the summer movie lineup...
One component of the site is a set of trading cards...
The illustrator is Michael Schwab. We took a look at his work back in 2006...
Another site that exhibits some of the same dynamics...
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Tutorials are useful but watching a professional illustrator use the tools to produce a real project, front-to-back, is infinitely more valuable.
Dan Kuhlken and Nathan Goldman of DKNG Studios have been kind enough to reveal their process for creating a series of eight posters (to date) using Adobe Illustrator.
Watch closely and you see how difficult "simple" is.
Example 1: Portlandia "Mixology" poster...
Example 2: Phish (Blossom Music Center) poster...
Example 3: The Black Keys poster...
The Black Keys poster process...
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I point you to Structural Graphics because I think they are "jolt thinkers". Jolt thinking is the opposite of formula thinking. It challenges you to examine your mission, strategy, and execution of a project. How? By answering three basic questions. What is the purpose? Why is it done the way it's done? And how can I do it most effectively?
Structural Graphics defines its staff as, "Experts at providing sensory-stimulating, emotionally engaging print materials". They dream up and produce all types of paper structures for use as everything from countertop displays and promotional packaging to presentation aids and brochure-substitutes. Looking at their track record and client list, it appears they are a leader in the field.
You might use them as a source, but more than that, next time you sit staring at a blank sheet of paper, these examples might get you thinking less about two-dimensions and more about potential.
A catalog of design ideas (exclusive)...
A listing of product ideas by category...
Once a week they publish a solution of the week via YouTube...
Structural Graphics' YouTube channel...
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Okay, before you look at these images by photographer Carl Kleiner, imagine if a retailer asked you to make > THIS < interesting and exciting. How would you do it?
Carl Kleiner shows how there is a seemingly unlimited number of ways to do a thing. He has mastered a way of composing and diagraming his subjects using shape, color, and composition.
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At the risk of stating the obvious, I want to use this post as a reminder to you (and me) about our real job is as graphic designers — we are salespeople.
Ugh — SALESpeople — sounds crass doesn't it? It shouldn't. The goal of what we do is a sale isn't it? And that's certainly an honorable outcome don't you think? We are, after all, directly responsible for helping our client's sell their products, services, and ideas which, in addition to putting food on our own tables, builds businesses and creates jobs for others.
What got me thinking about the similarities between the graphic designer and the salesperson is a message from a sales expert I know who invited me to read a few articles he recently contributed to a magazine. Patrick Morin is an expert in the act of selling person-to-person, but his articles reminded me how much of what he talks about also applies to the sales approach I create for my client's print materials and websites.
For example, his article about a cold-call message sparked an idea for making a similar pitch in print. I thought of ways to use some of the same selling points, similarly personalize the message, and craft my call to action in much the same way he did person-to-person.
Two simple questions: When was the last time you sat in on one of your client's sales appointments, listened to their phone calls, or talked to their sales team? And, how can you translate the approaches they have been successful using person-to-person to your work in print and online?
Here's one of Patrick Morin's articles about selling: The best cold call ever...
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If there's such a thing as a type expert's expert, Paul Shaw is it. Shaw has researched and written about the history of graphic design — with a focus on typography, lettering and calligraphy — for thirty-plus years.
To get you started, here are a couple of his articles from the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) website and links to his book and website.
The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway...
Lettering Grows in Brooklyn...
About Paul Shore's book, Helvetica and the New York City Subway System
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I wish illustration was as easy as Dan Page makes it look. In his body of work you'll find visual metaphors, symbols, and puns — all of which are executed within the constraints of his lucid, diagrammatic style.
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Startup Weekend is a weekend-long, 54-hour, hands-on experience for designers, developers, and aspiring entrepreneurs — a forum for sharing ideas, forming teams, developing products, and launching startups.
The organization's web FAQ says that all business ideas are eligible but that approximately 95% of all ideas are mobile- or web-focused, and given the short time-frame, it is recommended that even non-tech ideas focus on tech-related deliverables such as mobile apps and websites.
The program, started in 2007, now operates as a 501(c)3 non-profit and is funded, in large part, by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world's largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship.
Thanks to my friend Owen Zanzal for pointing us to this very interesting resource. If you're in or around Virginia, there will be a Startup Weekend event held in Charlottesville March 23-25 and I am told they are in need of more designers.
It could be your chance to come out and get something started.
First, a brief introduction...
The Startup Weekend website...
An article about the program from TechCrunch...
Startup Weekend's page of Resources for transforming an idea into a reality (quickly)...
The Startup Weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia takes place March 23-25...
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's website...
WillItBeYou.com is a website launched by the Kauffman Foundation to promote entrepreneurship...
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Enough said.
Nice looking home page and interface idea...
Smith names the late Philip Harrison Hays as a mentor...
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I was drawn in because this website looks interesting. I dug deep because it is interesting.
What more could you ask? The folks at Specimen Products make great products. They and ALSO (their design studio) tell their story with thoughtful copy. They've taken the time to craft a mountain of information-rich illustrations. And they have wrapped it all in quirky, deceptively humble design.
This website that is firing on all cylinders, you could do it different, but you'd be hard-pressed to do it better. Hats off to Matt Lamothe, Julia Rothman, and Jenny Volvovski of ALSO.
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Would it be useful to you, as a designer, to be a fly on the wall of Facebook headquarters and to hear what the leadership believes are its strengths and vulnerabilities? Wouldn't it be educational to know all about the current platform and hear about the products and services Mark Zuckerberg and his team are planning for the future?
This is a close as we may get — absolutely fascinating stuff: The Facebook Form S-1 Registration Statement as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Thanks to my friend Bruce Schneider for pointing us to it.
The Facebook Form S-1 Registration Statement...
"Risk Factors" talks about the potential risks and uncertainties of the business model...
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If not, you might be surprised to know that many folks believe he, his colleagues, and the institution of Stanford University in Santa Clara Valley, California created the very seedbed of the Technological Renaissance known as Silicon Valley.
Is renaissance too big a word to describe it? Not when you consider the fact that this one small part of the planet produced (in large part) the transistor, microprocessors, personal computers, genetic engineering, and the protocols which would become the standard for Internet communication between computers.
And much, much more.
I point you to this because, until I spent some time reading about it, I did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the what happened here in the last 50 years.
A capsule history of Stanford and The Rise of Silicon Valley...
From the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, a list of achievements...
An interview with Frederick Emmons Terman...
Another Silicon Valley father, William Bradford Shockley Jr....
A goldmine of interesting insights...
Interviews with and about the inventors...
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Gene Gable is curating a virtual museum of design, typography, and related ephemera over at CreativePro.com under the title of Scanning Around With Gene.
He certainly has the credentials. At various times he has been the head Publish magazine, the publisher of The Seybold Report, and a member of the Ziff-Davis executive team which was responsible for major business events such as Comdex.
If you don't yet know him and his eye for interesting, you're in for a treat.
Three examples of his column: The Dead Letterhead Department...
When Halftones Were an Art Form...
An introduction to the author by way of his website...
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