Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

22/05/2013

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

Being a sucker for a bit of retro, I couldn’t resist dragging Rob along to The Neon Museum in downtown Las Vegas while we were there! I’d read about the museum in the Evening Standard last year and knew we had to make a detour to see the old abandoned neon signs which now reside in their very own boneyard on the outskirts of town.

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

I really enjoyed walking around the iconic signs and hearing about their history! For me though, the best bit was seeing all the different types of typography used in each sign. Some were made up of hand written/script style fonts, while others used very blocky western style letters. They even mixed font styles up in an attempt to lure customers into the casino’s on the strip.

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

The Neon Museum, Las Vegas

The museum exhibits lights from as far back as the 50′s and houses around 150 historic signs. Unfortunately, most of the signs are beyond repair, propped up against one another in a collage of colour and corroding metal. The good news is that in 2008, a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard was designated a National Scenic Byway and you can now see icons lights such as Binion’s Horseshoe, the Silver Slipper, Society Cleaners and Lucky Cuss Motel which have all been restored to their former glory!

Posted by Tina Webster 22/05/2013

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06/05/2013

10 Maori inspired logo designs

Whilst in New Zealand I became rather fond of the beautiful Maoir carvings and works of art surrounding us as we traveled the north and south islands. It made me think to myself, humm I wonder if there are any Maori inspired logo designs out there? Low and behold there are lots! Here are 10 of my favourite brand designs from the web!

Evolve logo design

Evolve New Zeland

Air New Zealand

Air New Zeland

ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC Cricket Wold Cup 2015

Tohu

Tohu

NZ Maori Tourism Council

NZ Maori Tourism Council

Te Kakano

Te Kakano

Paddle Republic

Paddle Republic

iJada

iJada

Tohu

Tohu Wines

Maori Exotic Deli

Maori Exotic Deli

Posted by Tina Webster 06/05/2013

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02/04/2013

Street art in Melbourne’s arcades and lanes

I didn’t realise before heading to Melbourne that it’s known for being one of the worlds great street art capitals. It was only when I started wandering around the lanes and arcades in the city that I soon realised how much of it there really is!

The ever changing urban spaces around Federation Square, Little Bourke Street and Flinders Lane are a mass of colour and artistic expression. We saw images of Ganesh, zombies, 1940′s pin ups and even Bart Simpson all on the same street!

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Not all the street art is spray painted either. We say posters, stencils, hand painted signage and murals! It was really great to see such a variety of artistic styles in one space. Here are a few images I took whilst there.

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Street art in Melbourne's arcades and lanes

Posted by Tina Webster 02/04/2013

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10/03/2013

Jessica Hische – Moonrise Kingdom lettering

Jessica Hische - Moonrise Kingdom typography

I came across Jessica Hische’s work whilst looking for cool examples of responsive website design. Luckily for me she not only has a great site, but some very beautiful lettering and illustration work.

I didn’t realise the term “Lettering” means the illustrations of letters, words, and phrases. It was only after reading Jessica’s FAQ section that I was enlightened by the difference between lettering and font design.

Jessica Hische - Moonrise Kingdom typography

Anywho, while browsing, I checked out Jessica’s portfolio and found that she created the film titles for Wes Anderson’s newest movie, Moonrise Kingdom.

I’m a bit of a Wes Anderson fan (recently investing in the The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore on DVD here in Oz) so I was thrilled to see her work featured in his latest screenplay. Here’s some examples of her lettering in the film:

Jessica Hische - Moonrise Kingdom typography

Jessica Hische - Moonrise Kingdom typography

Jessica Hische - Moonrise Kingdom typography

The font has an Edwardian feel and I love the curly flicks at the start and end of each letter/word. It fits perferctly with Wes’s style of film making and i’ll be keeping an eye out for it when I get my hands on the DVD!

Jessica Hische - Moonrise Kingdom typography

(All images take from Jessica Hische’s website)

Posted by Tina Webster 10/03/2013

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02/03/2013

McCann’s – Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

I was clicking around the internet, as you do, and came across this really cool ad campaign by McCann.

Commissioned by Metro Trains, the message behind the ad is to warn people of the dangers of crossing train tracks here in Australia. The online music video and series of print ads feature these pleasant mannered characters dying in dumb ways!

Watch the video below and listen to it’s catchy tune!

Just 24 hours of after the ad came out, the “Dumb Way To Die” song had reached number 10 on iTunes. It’s now one of Australia’s fastest growing viral campaigns with over 40 million views and counting!

Have a gander at their humorous and rather macabre print ads below!

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

McCann's - Dumb Ways to Die ad campaign for Metro Trains

It just shows you that public announcement safety messages don’t have to be all “proper” and drab to grab your attention!

(All images taken from the McCann website)

Posted by Tina Webster 02/03/2013

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20/01/2013

ING Direct Australia ads and illustrations

I was watching the telly box a few days ago and I spotted a rather cool animated advert for ING DIRECT Australia. I really love the illustration style used and the bold graphics work well with ING DIRECTS brand.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a YouTube clip of the ad I saw, but I did find this little beauty about PayWave here in Australia.

Digging around on the tinterweb I also spotted some print work in the same illustrative style. All images are taken from ING DIRECT Australia Facebook fan page.

ING DIRECT Australia ad

ING DIRECT Australia ad

ING DIRECT Australia ad

ING DIRECT Australia ad

They’ve also incorporated the illustrations into sections of their site related to savings. Very nice ING DIRECT!

ING DIRECT - Savings Maximiser website

ING DIRECT - Savings Maximiser website

Posted by Tina Webster 20/01/2013

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29/12/2012

My favourite illustrated websites of 2012

Games We Played website

On this site, I love how each letter of the alphabet represents different games played in Singapore. If you move your mouse over each letter it begins to animate. Check out the slight noise affect applied to each animation. It reminds me of Terrestrial television back in the day!

Games We Played

 

Evo Energy website

This site is full of environmental statisitics presented in a cool and interactive way. Roll your mouse over elements and data is revealed to the viewer. It’s a great use of illustration and infograhics in a website.

Evo Energy

 

These Are Things website

If you scroll up or down on this site our two designers (Jen and Omar) get placed in different environments related to the work they love doing. It’s a very nice idea and you can’t help but look at every part of the page. As well as having a smashing website they create some pretty nifty maps and infographics where they strive to simplify complex data.

These Are Things

 

Well Done Team GB website

Here’s a clever site that celebrates our athletes achievements at the 2012 games. I really like the characterisations of Mo Farah, Chris Hoy and other sporting personalities.

Well Done Team GB

 

Impress a Penguin website

This site has a great bit of storytelling going on. Click though each slide and you’ll see what I mean. It’s a fantastic idea and really makes you want to engage with the site.

Impress a Penguin

Impress a Penguin

Impress a Penguin

 

WWF Food Story website

Here’s another really good example of how interactive infograohics can be used in website design. By sliding the bar from left to right you can see the impact we are having on the environment when it comes to food production.

WWF Food Story

 

Adopt a Yeti website

Adopting a Yeti sounded pretty impressive! So when I had a look at the site and saw the fantastic illustration and colour scheme I knew I was onto a winner. Clicking the “Adopt your own Yeti” button takes you to a PDF download where you can cut and paste your own Yeti together. You’re then encouraged to take pictures and post them on the site for the rest of the Yeti adopting community to see!

Adopt a Yeti

 

Nobal Design blog

I love the work of Glen Noble and I was very pleased to discover his blog recently. I love the way he’s used cassette tapes, iPhones and photographs to signify the type of post he’s writing about. For instance, when he has a great piece of music that he wants to share it appears as a sound file that you can physically play in a cassette tape. It’s the same if he shares a video, it appears in the screen of an iPhone. Very clever!

Nobal Design

Posted by Tina Webster 29/12/2012

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21/10/2012

She-Tea Illustrations

Being from Yorkshire, I can’t resist a good cup of tea. So when I saw these cool She-Tea packaging designs and illustrations down in Margaret River (Australia), I had to blog about them.

She-Tea

She-Tea is the brain child of Jodie Fergusson-Batte and Vanessa Carslake, good friends and Directors of their company, based in Victoria, Australia. Jodie and Vanessa wanted to build a product and brand that reflected their passions in life. After a lot of hard work and popping their heads together, She-Tea was born.

The company produce beautiful customised tea blends and packaging that reflect the different personalities we take on in life. They have tea for “Happy Hippies”, “Booze Hound’s”, “Warrior’s “and even bitch’s with their “Bitch is Back” blend.

“With a passion for tea, art and life, our mission is to put a smirk on your face no matter what kind of trouble you’ve found yourself in!”

She-Tea

She-Tea

The illustrations used on the packaging have been created by Jodie and often relate to women’s journey. They also have tea blends for the men and kids in your life with their “He-Tea” and “She-Tea Junior” blends.

She-Tea

She-Tea

Check out their website for more details about their “artfully crafted teas”.

Posted by Tina Webster 21/10/2012

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23/09/2012

Epic Espresso branding

Epic Espresso branding

As some of you may know, I’m now living in Perth, Western Australia where I’ve taken a job as a Digital Media Designer for a company specialising in online safety training. I’m enjoying it very much and I’m sure I’ll be writing a post soon on our travel blog!

Well, just around the corner from our office is a great little espresso bar called “Epic Espresso“. Not only do they brew the best coffee I’ve ever tasted, but I’ve also fallen in love with their branding design!

Epic Espresso branding

I really like the rich brown and orange colours they’ve chosen which gives a rather luxurious feel to all their print material. The script typeface and clever use of icon, which I think looks like spilt milk, adds to the high-end feel the company wants to achieve with their “espresso preparation and perfection”.

Epic Espresso branding

The”spilt milk” icon can be repeated and is used as a great surface pattern on all their cups and stationary. I’m always spot coffee from Epic Espresso, owing to their original coffee cup design.

Epic Espresso branding

Posted by Tina Webster 23/09/2012

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