Journal Entry #13: Books.

Recently, within our Typography class, we were given the assignment of redesigning a book of our choosing. We had to redesign the cover, the TOC page, dedication page, etc. It was a complete overhaul. I chose Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman, and found my final design concept mediocre at best. It was harder than one would assume to not lose steam and direction when you've been staring at the same page of text for 5 hours. It was difficult to pick a theme that would roll through out the entirety of the book, and stay consistent and engaging. That being said, I stumbled across some examples of really great book covers and have compiled a few to talk about.







I know that most of these are very image based, however where there is type, the text/image interaction is effective and strong. I think that the Benjamin Button one is my favorite as I love the very ornate type set against the simple, black image.

Journal Entry #12: This is Awesome. (this will be an ongoing list)

In my many type observation journals that I have compiled in my career as a VC minor, I have run across some really awesome things and uses of text and typefaces. I would like to compile a bunch of them for you to see a bit of what I look for in type usage. When a designer is given free reign in the concept of a design (usually for a project that is NOT for a client, as that never happens in the real world) I like to see the direction it can go. I like to see a designer's sense of humor, or their twist of an old concept. That being said, and without further adieu, here are some of the goodies...



OK, this is effing hilarious. I know that the mustache trend is dying off, or maybe not, and it has picked up more speed and sleaziness than Magnum PI could ever hope for, but I had never seen it done like this. I love that the designer took all the open braces from each different typeface and made them into a mustache. The reason why I love it is because each one is so seperately expressive. I raraely use open braces and never took note of how different each one is. I feel that this really shows this.



I think these posters are funny. I know that 3d posters can get pretty annoying and give the sense that they're trying too hard, but I think these ones are funny. When the Take Two design contest was going on at school, I noticed that some entry for "No Country for Old Men" I believe it was, had a hole blasted through it, and I thought that it was really interesting. Obviously, it would be difficult to produce in a large scale production run, but for the one off, I though that it was really interesting. The type on these posters are minimal, but get the point across.

Journal Entry #11: Jedi Type is Hard to Do.

So, for my upcoming graduation, I decided to make my own invitations. Seeing as how it has taken me a cool 9 years, I decided to emulate the "Long, Long, time ago on a distant planet..." rolling credits from the first Star Wars films. It ended up being tedious, and decided against the final product and went in an entirely different direction, but in the process I realized my ineptitude of generating type. There are some really awful "Jedi" fonts out there, and I found most of them and tried using all of them. The biggest pain in the ass, from what I could gather, is that no type is set to naturally just flow together. There will always be breaks and stuff, which the designer will pain stakingly have to touch up using the pen tool. (trust me on this one...ugh)

However, I found these 4 examples of someone (with much more skill than myself) using really great, hand generated type for their Star Wars references.







I love how clean and simple the text is and the left side justification is really awesome as well. I think that it balances out the design very well.

Journal Entry #10: Where the Hell am I?

I once had a friend tell me that when they were finished with their VC degree that they would like to go into wayfinding graphics. I seriously scoffed and thought that they were crazy. Who wants to design the next Helvetica man? But when I started thinking about it more, and more, I started to ask myself, who doesn't?

Wayfinding signs are something that are incredibly important in our society at large, and especially so with the faster and busier our lives are becoming. I picked three examples to talk about to express my opinion on the matter.



I think this one is really a great approach to the age old question of "How are we going to organize this info in a way that makes sense, and is still interesting?" I love all the use of arrows and easy Helvetica man-style images and such. I feel as though the whole design is very clean and easy to understand. Regardless what language you speak, images are cross cultural and easier to understand.





Now, I chose the next 2 to talk about because they are in parking garages. Nothing is more nauseating and frustrating than trying to make people understand how a parking garage functions. It's a scary place. Typically underground, undersized, dark, and confusing as hell, it sounds like a PERFECT situation to place wayfinding navigation...right? I really like the second one's approach to the simple "entry" of the garage. I like the opacity of the sans serif letters and their primary coloring. It's happy, cheery, and makes me want to go in the garage. It sets the mood for the driver and gets them in the right state of mind.

The first is a little crazier, and though I really like it, I don't know that it's necessarily very effective. Personally, I love design, and if I'm driving around in a garage, I will be more likely to stare at the walla than look out for where I'm driving, much less for a parking spot. I like it, don't get me wrong, it's busy and interactive, but it may be a tad too much. The coloring is simple enough, but, no, I think it's confusing.

Journal Entry #9: My Friend Matt

My friend Matt Taylor is an amazing illustrator living in Brighton, U.K. From time to time bands have been lucky enough to have his artwork featured on their gig posters. The following are a few that he has produced...



I really like the illustration on this one, and I like how he interacted with the colors of the type, as well as the image, however, I'm not crazy with the overtly ornate text on top. When I think of rain, I think of something organic and flowing; natural. The word "skybox" makes me think of a symphony, and structure. I probably would have chosen something more hand drawn.



Now, I think that the old tattoo style that he chose to go towards in this one works very well with the illustration as well as the theme. I enjoy the hand lettered type that he created for the script, and thinks that the whole piece works well together.



I believe that the type in this one is most true to how a lot of his other work looks and feels. It is rare that he uses a serifed or slab serif typeface, and this clean, sans serif look works very well with the design without taking away from the illustration.

If you would like to check out more, please see matttaylor.co.uk.

Journal Entry #8: Clif Bar Re-design by Eric Ellis

I was poking around and found this amazing redesign for a CLIF bar done by Eric Ellis out of Chicago. The reason why I chose it is because it is so different from what the original concept was. This is what the original logo looked like (left) with the redesign on the right.



I feel as though this re-design was so important because outdoor companies rarely understand the odea of keeping up with the times as far as logo's or over all feel is concerned. The brand identity of CLIF leaves much to be desired, even if their product is consistently great. So, with Ellis' help, these were the new ideas for the re-design...







My favorite is the "Well Traveled" one with all of the stamps and such on the wrapper. I know that it's busy and such but it looks so much different than anything that is currently out there. It's wonderful. and it's inexclusive. It doesnt make me feel like I HAVE to be outside to be munching on a Clif bar. It says "look at me...im cooler than the other jocky nutrition bars out there." It laughs at itself a little bit, and I can appreciate that.