Promax print

Thought I'd finally throw up some creative the I did this past year for Promax Nutrition. A fun project with lots of moving parts.

Kofie One

Quite taken by this very talented street artist Kofie One. His creative choices regarding color and graphic elements are quite nice. I'd like to acquire a piece very, very soon. You can see all the wonderfulness here.

Virgin America

San Francisco's very own Eleven has created a tasty micro site to persuade travelers to switch from their current airline to Virgin America. Entering your travel miles into a calculator provides you with a dynamic series of infographics highlighting among other things; the various hours you've wasted, pretzels you've choked down, type of mystery stains you've sat on and seconds of WiFi you could have enjoyed.

The site also will help you craft a "Dear John" letter to help you break up with your current airline and a "Twin tested" page that showcases 3 sets of twins and their experience of having one twin travel Virgin and another traveling a competitor. The design and concept is really well done and actually a clever way to promote the tone and voice of Virgin, the brand. Two thumbs up!

Hero Series No 1. John Jay

I have been a huge fan of John Jay, Wieden and Kennedy's, Executive Creative Director for quite some time. A designer, taste-maker, visionary, incubator, instigator and mentor - with a supernatural instinct for creating beauty and what lies just beyond the public's perception of Now.


A few decades ago, John was working in New York as Bloomingdale's creative director and was tapped by Dan Wieden to bring his eye for elegance and grace to campaigns they were working on for Nike. Dan's idea of bringing in someone outside of the advertising industry to creatively drive Nike's visual language was nothing short brilliance. John's passion and drive was evident from the start and he has been inspiring and informing W+K's creativity culture internally and externally ever since.


Taking his vision and experience globally, he expanded W+K into Tokyo in 1998 and Shanghai in 2003. The Tokyo studio, W+K Tokyo Labs, in particular, has become a hotbed of experimentation and has been a key factor in spreading the hip-hop aesthetic into Asia. He now divides his time between those two offices and his base in Portland, where he plays a quiet role in the emergence of the city's exciting arts, design and music scenes.

Recently he was names as one of Fast Company's Top 100 Most Creative People in Business 2011. A video of his creative philosophy can be seen here.

I recently came across The Donut Project's "Good Fucking Design Advice" website which actually brought a smile to my face and is actually quite accurate in terms of stating (boldly) what it takes to be a good (fucking) designer. One can absorb such profane pearls such as "A computer is a Lite-Brite for bad fucking ideas", "Find fucking inspiration everywhere" and the always brilliant "Stay up all fucking night". If you are so inclined, you can even pick up a poster suitable for framing.

As an instructor, I have often repeated these design rules over and over again (on rare occasions eliminating the profanity) but, for my money the best design advice would have to be Bruce Mau's Manifesto which can be viewed here. Know it. Learn it. Live it, Baby.

Eat Big Fish

Last year I had the pleasure to work with Mark Bardon while working at Eleven Inc on a creative initiative for Rosemount Wines. Mark is one of the brilliant partners at a strategy agency called Eat Big Fish and their whole mission is to promote Challenger thinking and behavior to give companies a creative edge. EBF will consult with you and your company to craft strategy and a action plan to make it all come together - or you can dial up on of their workshops and work it internally. I really enjoyed the experience and got a first hand opportunity to see EBF in action.

More than ever, clients are demanding a clear pathway to higher ground and looking for a solid strategic game plan that has teeth and a brain. EBF's site contains lot's of great thinking and case studies and even has an iphone app for inspiration on the go.

F Bombs Away!

So, this is how the F Bomb wine label with the Tavis Coburn goodness illustration turned out. Quite pleased with the results and hope that it's a big hit on the shelves.

Love Gun

Tonight's little project is refining a Napa Valley sparkling wine label titled "Love Gun". A fun execution that takes the fight to the shelf with a dramatic black and white execution.

Love Typography Study

Couldn't sleep last night, so this is the result. Part one of a little type execution simply called "Love". I'm thinking of doing a poster series based on this type of exploration. Hm.

Chicago Marathon 2011 Poster

I have a brother in Chicago who is insane enough to pull this run off annually and someday I would love to accompany him on the exercise in pain management.

This year artist and art director, Brandon Knowlden, has created a series of posters to give to whomever donates to the American Liver Foundation. Knowlden is actually giving something to those willing to sponsor his race, and those who donate will get their choice of one of three pretty awesome personalized prints representing training for the marathon, running the marathon and finishing the marathon. Knowlden’s training sessions are broken into short, medium and long runs, and interested parties will sponsor $30, $40 and $50 for these runs respectively, with all proceeds going to the American Liver Foundation. Each print will come with the sponsor’s name and the distance and the average speed Knowlden ran. The posters are actually pretty cool and it's a clever way to really get the donations boosted. If interested, donate to Knowlden’s run here.

The Lullaby

Love this video of Joe Fenton creating brilliance called "The Lullaby" on Vimeo. Check it.

Mission Critical

Here is a little typography project that I have secretly been working on. I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you...

Baubauhaus

Just came across this cool design inspiration blog, Baubauhaus, curated by two guys from Romania, Stefan Lucut & Andrei Don who put a little different spin on what's thrown up there. A nice selection of photos, typographic executions, posters, illustrations and the like. Hours of viewing pleasure!

MovingBrands

A branding agency that I have loved for a while, MovingBrands hails from the UK and in my book, "get's it". They have a fresh and forward angle on branding and the work reflects their deep appreciation for strategy and positioning. Each case study starts with a tasty set of sketches and brainstorming sessions, drawing you into the process and showcasing the engineering that goes into the creation of an identity. In a world that seems increasingly resistant to high design and just goes straight for functionality (i.e. Facebook, Google, Seattle's Best Coffee...) , MB fights back with dynamic, inventive, sophisticated, smart work. Well done, mates. Well done.

Leah Giberson

As summer winds down, I can't help but be whimsically drawn to the artistic visual splendor created by Leah Giberson. Her work is bright, colorful and beautifully crafted as it transports you to some quite moment that makes you feel as if you are the last one at the beach. infinitely more optimistic than Edward Hopper and leaning closer to Thiebaud. Prints of Leah's paintings can be had for a song at Etsy.

Nice work from across the pond by designer/art director Patrick Fry. He has a great feel for clean, evocative design and really handles type well. I also enjoy the fact that his work seems to be able to traverse a wide distance yet, always in his roundhouse of aesthetics. Patrick's tasty identity work is also very telling with regards to his illustrative talents. One thing that I've also noticed with a lot of leading designers is that they are not afraid to create a tasty Zine to showcase the work. It's nice idea when executed well.

Diet Cokeness!

Coca Cola recently turned to SF's Turner Duckworth for a Diet Coke package refresh that solidly delivers a punch on the grocery shelf as well as on the chin of it's competitor's. Earlier in the year, DC became America's leading soft drink and this package communicates the brand's confidence and position as the logo is wrapped around the can and only gives you a partial glimpse of the brand's name. While Pepsi continue's to slide after last years Arnell Group debacle, Coke continue's to embrace it's visual heritage and cultural position with attitude.

Cafe Zoetrope

Recently I was riding on a Muni bus marveling at the incredible beauty that lives in every corner of San Francisco and I was thinking that I should have a nice point and shoot camera like a Leica M8 (sliver please) to capture these visual opportunities as they present themselves every 5 seconds in SF. I don't have a Leica, but I do have an iPhone4 and I took a picture of Cafe Zoetrope as we paused for 5 seconds at a stoplight. The interior lights of the bus created these great diagonals that made the shot so graphically interesting. No special effects or Photoshop. Just Apple.

Getting Ugly

Just a few preliminary looks at a Coyote Ugly whiskey label I have currently underway. Fun brand so, it should be a fairly edgy, fun label. Cheers

Once in a great while, you see something that actually kicks your heart into high gear and you get excited about what you do and why you do it - it's like falling in love all over again and I really love this.

At a time when we have an entire generation of brilliant, creative, intelligent post graduates sleeping in their parents basement because of a dismal job market and lack of opportunities, comes a group of young upstarts with a fresh idea. Freakers.

What is Freakers? It's basically a new approach to to a beer cozy and they are raising money on Kickstarter to get the whole thing rolling. Is this something that needed to be rethought? Is this a product I really need? Can't tell you and I don't care. All I know is that this is something that is cleverly promoted by a group in North Carolina and with their kooky ex-coffee barista pitchman, Zack (think of a scruffy Willy Wonka on a Jolt cola and Vente latte high...) delivers with an irreverence that perfectly matches the product and the desired demographic they are speaking to. It's all there.

Was the birth of this the result of some large agency on Madison avenue and a giant bag of money? No, this was simply a creative collective that wanted to start something unique, different and not expected. By utilizing everything within reach: humor, music, great design, a hard work ethic, a "give back" cause mentality, beautifully shot videos, charisma, social networking and a little bit of voodoo, they are creating a tribal following to a product that has yet to even hit the market. If these guys can make a sock with the end cut off desirable and cool, it makes one ponder with regards to what would happen if other companies started telling stories that actually made you pay attention and care. Old Navy? VW? Sony Playstation? Coke? Travelocity? Farmers Insurance? The results are fantastic and I wish them the best of luck.

Old Tyme Typography

Hey Kids! Gather round the fireplace and I'll tell you a story... In a past not too long ago before computers, Typography (with a capital "T") was actually hand crafted by artisans that created a exciting, living, breathing communication that leapt off of the page. Stamps, bank documents, deeds, stock certificates, packaging and advertising were all adorned with beautifully constructed typographical works of art that made that particular document special and something of importance. You dig? Be prepared to be amazed here!

Always Beautiful

Big Spaceship (one of my fav dig shops) was tasked with creating a unique experience using the new beta release of Microsoft's IE9 that took full advantage if IE's browser features and functionality and push the limits of what’s possible. "Always Beautiful" – is an interactive experience that uses the history of the web as a personal paintbrush.

Drawing inspiration from the ever-evolving trends of the Web and setting them against a soundtrack from recording artist Ming, users generate a completely unique piece of artwork from a library of Web-inspired graphic assets we created. IE9’s unique use of the user's graphics processor allowed for hundreds of assets on the screen at once with no drop in performance. And with native browser support of HTML5 standards and SVG, the creation could be be generated based on real-time user input and output at any size.

The result? A beautiful piece of work created by Big Spaceship that's rich in detail and uniquely beautiful.

New MIT Media logo

The logo designed by The Green Eyl, captures a look and feel for the Media Lab, but instead of being a just static image, the logo is actually a conceptual and dynamic algorithm. The design is a simple set of rules defining a grid overcast by three overlapping shapes; designer Richard The explains below:

The new visual identity of the MIT Media Lab is inspired by the community it comprises: Highly creative people from all kinds of backgrounds come together, inspire each other and collaboratively develop a vision of the future.

This unique offering of the MIT Media Lab is reflected in the logo design. Each of the three shapes stands for one individual’s contribution, the resulting shape represents the outcome of this process: A constant redefinition of what media and technology means today.

The Media Lab has outgrown this notion of traditional media, with researchers working in areas ranging from human computer interaction to neurobiology or nanotechnology. Whatever ‘media’ means, it has been and will be defined at this place, in the next 5, 10, 20 years. The algorithmic logo is an effort to capture this dynamism.

A nice way to colorfully and artfully communicate the essence of what the entity is conceptually.

Jordan (maybe)

Depending upon wether you are a part of Nike's legal office, I may (or may not) have been deeply involved with a Jordan rebranding dream assignment that may (or may not) have taken up 5 months of my life last summer. I did (maybe) have an extensive showcase of all the thinking and creative executions of the rebranding, but some members of Nike may (or may not) have politely asked me to take the work down off of my site or Charles Barkley may (or may not) have to come to my house and pull my lungs out through my nostrils...

Here is some work that may (or may not) have something to do with the project. Thank you.

Zombies on the Street

From the dawn of man, every tribe has had a very distinct and aggressive graphic style alerting all in the vicinity that they were a group that meant business and not to be trifled with.

When designing the new Triathlete Zombies cycling uniform, I kept thinking about how to utilize the bold logo and incorporate some additional graphic elements to help support the mark and make some noise on the road. Above is where we ended up and fact that they have already sold out of them means that there are going to be a lot of TZ tribe members standing out in the crowded LA streets.

The Photographer That Wasn't There

Once upon a time, there was a single woman named Vivian Maier, who for 50 years was a nanny for households in the greater Chicago area and in her free time traversed the city with a camera and was able to stop time and create amazing stolen moments with the snap of a button. Photographers like Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand all come to mind when viewing the work and Vivian's images easily hold up when held up through the lens of these contemporaries.

The source of these images is truly the remarkable thing and I am sure will someday be coming to a theater near you. Vivian, a loner, was a strong willed individual who (from what has been uncovered from her life’s history) never formally studied photography and was only working from that place in the artist’s heart that knows without a doubt, she must produce. Shooting year after year, creating thousands and thousands of images and undeveloped rolls of film – never entered a contest, had a show, or had any audience to speak of.

Undiscovered, she died recently at the age of 83 and the only reason her work was discovered was due to a 26 year old real estate agent who bought a box of her negatives at a public storage auction. Luckily for all of us, his jaw dropped and he has devoted his life to collecting and curating her life’s work. You can view a video telling the whole story here.

Simply beautiful.

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Pentagram Goodness

One of the design world’s most respected firms, Pentagram, has recently given it’s website a much needed update with a easy nav system and a clean experience. It’s now easier than ever to bask in the warm glow of greatness including work from Michael Beirut, Paula Scher, DJ Stout and a host of other visual communication heros with more accolades than you can shake a big stick at.
Awesome.