Retired Baseball Logo Showcase
10 Beautiful Antique Toy Ads
3 Fresh Web Design Ideas
INTERVIEW - The Flatstock Whisperer

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

How To Properly Archive Your Design Work

Archiving my past projects is something that I did not do well. It all somehow ends up in a box that I shove somewhere — and when I need it, I pray that it’s still in presentable shape. That’s quite pathetic on my part. However, I’ve changed my ways due to lack of space and anybody who has the same issues can learn from my recent archiving adventures. Here’s a simple five step guide to archiving your work reliably and efficiently:

Old Boxes
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A Designer’s Guide to Copyright

I think most designers can stand to know more about copyright and how it pertains to their work. Here’s a quick practical guide written just for designers with information from AIGA’s Design and Business page, U.S. Copyright Office Website and my first-hand experiences as a freelance designer, advertising agency production mule, in-house and design firm employee.

Copyright Traffic Illustration
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50 Beautiful Gig Posters (Flatstock) For Your Inspiration

For those of us who ~heart~ music and art — gig posters are sometimes more beautiful than any Mona Lisa or Picasso painting. It’s the combination of your favorite band with unbridled creative originality that usually does us in. “Flatstock” (as it’s called in the industry) is most often small run/limited edition silk screen art work to promote a musical gig. The designers/studios these days gather up at an event and sell prints (such as at the SXSW or Pitchfork Music Festival for instance). Here is a sampling of 50 from some of the best studios around:

Clinton Reno

Clinton Reno
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Demystifying the Use of Service Agreements

One of the most popular questions designers ask are concerning payment and client relations pertaining to that subject. A few popular scenarios that may sound familiar:

  • “I completed 75% of the project but my client hasn’t paid the down payment yet!”
  • “My clients changed their minds and refuses to pay until the project has been completed!”
  • “The client claims the project was unsuccessful and refuses to pay!”
  • “My client is converting my print brochure into a website and other collateral!”

The Way To Great Client Relations
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10 Smashingly Dapper Brewery Websites

Drunk designer that I often am, beer coasters really catch my eye sometimes. Which got me thinking of how effectively breweries are marketing themselves online. To my surprise, virtually all of the beer companies I know of and wandered through in my research are very competent. There are some that offer exceptional examples either aesthetically, being innovative or in its overall presentation.

Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn Brewery Website Screen Shot
I admit some favoritism, but the overall experience and energy of the website was executed very well.
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20 Astonishingly Intricate International Metro Maps

Born and raised in Brooklyn, I grew up on the orange lines of the NYC MTA. I used to stare deeply into the huge maps at each station waiting for my train to show up and have always been in awe of how much detail is in each square inch. Here are some of the most beautiful metro/transit maps from around the world.

(I tried to focus on the most simplified “quick-view” versions meant for scanning on stations rather than intricate street combo versions. These versions have their own unique challenges like — readability, that I felt made them especially designerly.)

Japan

Japan Metro MapClick to Enlarge
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Comparing Websites of Rival Companies

I was deciding between two places to eat today and had both websites side by side in browser tabs. I could have gone either way in terms of what I wanted to eat but the convenience factor of finding the location and/or being persuaded along the way of data finding made all the difference. As usability theories predict, I patronized the company that didn’t waste my time. So I thought applying that same exercise to major rivals in the business world would be interesting.

This is NOT a in-depth design review of the websites. Judging based on usability, creativity and overall impression based actual task performance on the websites — I choose a “victor”.

Adidas vs. Nike

Adidas Website Screen Shot
Nike Website Screen Shot
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Salty! — Morton Salt’s Umbrella Girls

Beautiful Illustration + Mod Feel = I’m in Love.


Morton Salt Girl - Preset Day Close Up
One of the most famous examples of a brand’s identity being forever tied with a illustration is Morton Salt’s Umbrella Girl. They adopted it originally in 1914 because of their tag line; “When it Rains, It Pours“. For those of you who don’t know, the table salt we use today has a chemical in it that keeps it from clumping. Back in the day before they pioneered that solution, salt used to clump up all the time. That’s where Morton Salt came in with this innovative idea and clever marketing scheme.
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3 Beautiful Retro Photographic Manuals

When I used to live in NYC, I used to visit the Strands near Union Square all the time just to flip through old books. They just have a certain easy flair to them that just makes sense no matter what the subject matter is. From the old-school science fiction illustrations to the out-of-date typography, they all have a certain flavor that the computer age pretty much ended. Here are some old photographic manuals I came across that I took some photos of. The covers feature some great examples of sans-serif typography and wonderful textbook-like interior diagrams:

Build Your Own Home Darkroom
Wonderful, beautiful Helvetica… My precious…
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Comparing Product Colors

What is the color of stuff these days? What do companies do with color offerings when in competition with each other? Do they strive for uniqueness or is it better to not stray too far from the pack? Let’s take a informal look at some popular consumer products and see if we can learn anything from how they approach color. At the very least, it’s fun to pull the palette colors into a set and view it in a disassociated way (like Adidas for example).

iPod Nano vs. Microsoft Zune

Ipod Color Swatches
Zune Color Swatches
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