Colombia – Modern Architecture

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Every time we create something we make use of a process, this can be from making a car up to milking a cow. All the things we do are according to the process we’ve learned, this does not make it the same for every body. Different personality’s have equal different processes, especially when it comes to something creative.

So one of the things we had to do for school the past year was to discover your graphic design process, write down how it is and then make something nice to show how you work.

After I made my text draft of how I think my process should be and checked it against the way I really work, the hard part started, how to make a nice display of this process. Looking around the internet gave me a lot of different options on how to display a process, but non of them are original or new. To prevent me from copying something, I came up with the idea of making an info graphic style of display

A good idea, great actually but a huge challenge as this is my first info graphic ever, so again I had a look at all this wonderful examples on the net and I came up with this info graphic. It basically consist of 4 main parts that are all connected together.

The legend.

The process integration against design completion.

The design process against the amount of stress.

The Design process in Circles.

Process, A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result

— Wikipedia

Every color represents a different step, the size op the circle represents the amount of work and the overlapping of the circles indicate how the different steps are connected to each other.

I can write down my process but it;s better for you to look at the info graphic and see if you understand what my process is, the verdict so far is that 80% get it, so not to bad I think.

Click on the below image for the large view.

New school assignment: Redesign a logo

After looking around in the neighborhood trying to find a logo I didn’t like it was hard to make a choice. It was not allowed to take redesign a logo from the store around the corner and they advised not to take a logo of a big company because that will make things more difficult. Well difficult is what I like because it makes you work harder and then you learn more and that’s the purpose of this exercise.

I was having trouble to find something that was worth redesigning till I came across a logo that I see at least one a week, and made the daring decision to use this log and redesign it.

The Schiphol logo was designed by Peter Wagner in 1978 and symbolizes a runway and the path of a plane taking off. The colors resemble the Dutch flag but the red is replaced for orange because that is the color of the royal Dutch family. The logo was redesigned by FHV BBDO in 1998.

Although this logo has a long history I did take the challenge to try to make something new

So the investigation started, the first thing I wanted to do something about was the name Schiphol. Yes it is know around the world and the people who know the name Schiphol also know it is the Airport of Amsterdam. The other fact is that a lot of people have trouble pronouncing this word, so Schiphol will have to go, I will not be using the word Schiphol in my new logo design.

After some word sketching a started to make some scribbles of my thoughts, and I ended up with triangle line designs that are overlapping in a way. Second thought was to try to makes something with the airport code letters (AMS) and I did try some designing on that but not to my satisfaction. The ultimate airport geek thing, longitude and latitude numbers with AMS or Amsterdam airport.

Some of them had the little thing I was looking for but is was not totally satisfied with the results, I needed to start digging up more thoughts. What is typical Amsterdam airport ?
That was the question I needed to ask myself, if I can answer this I probably will solve the issues of finding something nice. (at least for me)

One day walking around on the airport looking for specific things it suddenly hit me. We have a space problem in this country and this is also affecting the airport. Amsterdam airport is growing every year and they need to extend, more traffic equals more runways.
The first five runways that are relative close to the main gate are scattered around, not really organized from a static point of few. And after they created runway 6 this is what is looks like.

This distribution or runaways is so typical for Amsterdam airport I answered my question of what is special about this airport. I need to do something with these runway lines, so I hit my sketch book and came up with to variations. One it the lines as they are the real runways and one is the lines but curved.

Okay that line part was done, although I still had to decide the version I was going to use. After talking about it with school mates I couldn’t decide yet, so I changed my attention to typography.
This needs to be clear and easy to read (small and large) modern and timeless, first thoughts on this, Helvetica. But after making up a list of a lot of different options I decided to go for FF DIN

Now with this done it was time to think about color, I did a fast test on different colors to use as you can see below but I did make up my mind about that fast that I will have to be a red en blue, to stick a bit with the Dutch colors

Now the difficult task to make up my mind about the shape and position of the typography, I made this fast sheet and send it out to a lot of people asking there thoughts about what they like.

The first round was a tie between 4 and 9 but then with darker blue. With that I mind I did a second round with some adjustments and this is the final New logo of Amsterdam Airport.

This “series” I’m going to start with sites/blogs I visit on regular basis for information , inspiration, tips and tricks for general design.
In a later post I will make a list specif on Logo Design, Typography, Packaging, Twitter friends and what ever else I will think of, any ideas are more then welcome.

So I hope you enjoy the sites, I think the are really great !

AisleOne is an inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism.

Anamorphosis Kate Andrews is founder of Anamorphosis. “The image, first distorted and unrecognizable, takes on its natural proportions only when viewed from a certain point”

Brand New is a division of UnderConsideration, and it happens to be our most popular division of all the divisions. Its sole purpose is to chronicle and provide opinions on corporate and brand identity work, focusing mostly on identity design and a modest amount of packaging. We cover redesigns and new designs. Nothing more, nothing less, what you see is what you get.

Creativebits

Designflavr is a moderated art and design showcase built upon user submissions.

Design is Kinky is bringing you design and art goodness from Sydney, Australia since 1998!

Designnotes is published in New York by multidisciplinary designer, writer and educator Michael Surtees. Michael tries to explore people’s daily experiences and observations with design

Dexigner

Fuel Your Creativity Most people find that true creativity isn’t a constant presence in their lives, no matter how much you fool yourself into thinking that. We’d like to introduce you to Fuel Your Creativity. This gem is the place to turn to when you’re having one of your “I’m-going-to-implode-if-I-don’t-get-an-idea-soon” moments. Don’t lie. You know you have them.

Laughing Lion Design is Jennifer Farley. I am a design lover, founder of Laughing Lion Design. As well as designing for clients I also train people to use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and hold design workshops fo design newbies. My blog is mostly about design and Photoshop. You’ll find over 100 Photoshop tutorials on the site which I hope you find useful.

MyInkBlog is the creation of Andrew Houle and is designed to be a resource for designers. It is my hope that this site equips you with the tools & inspiration to help you get things accomplished. Many of us in the field of design are self-taught, and would not have the knowledge we’ve accumulated if it weren’t for the kindness of others who have helped us along the way. This is my best attempt to give back some of what has been given to me..

Quipsologies are intended to revolve around design but be broadly-themed. Creativity, art, architecture, branding, business, music, movies, museums, books and the such are fair game

septmbrindstry New heights of elitist design snobbery.

Swissmiss is a design blog and studio run by Tina Roth Eisenberg, a ‘swiss designer gone NYC’. Contact me if you have a design project, a link suggestion or just want to say hello..

Things To Look At

YouTheDesigner is a graphic design, marketing and branding blog that features tips, inspiration, tutorials and resources for creative professionals. YouTheDesigner is part of the UPrinting.com Network.

So finally some time to show the result of the 2 fonts project from school. I was pleased with the fact I got an A for this little piece of work , so that’s pretty nice.

After I glued both papers together the folding started, it actually turned out pretty nice and after stapling (yes I know that’s not a thing to use but I was in a hurry) it together, cutting it clean this is the result.

Fun thing about it is that you get very nice and unexpected results that lead to surprising combinations of pages. To design this is pretty hard to do, I think it was a nice lesson to learn what folding can do, give it a try it is fun.

Part one can be found here.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

Second part of My new books (part 1 is here.)

1,000 Type Treatments: From Script to Serif, Letterforms Used to Perfection

The ability to wield typography is one of those things that is a clear indication of a talented designer. Being able to craft type well and thoughtfully takes a deep understanding of the inherent complexities and a keen eye for the minute and subtle details. This book contains a collection of 1,000 instances of thoughtful type usage along with credits that note what fonts were used in the design. Like its predecessor, 1,000 Graphic Elements, the photography in this book focuses in on the typography so readers can get an up-close look at the work.
1,000 Type Treatments showcases an array of fonts in a catalog-like format, making it easy for the working designer to practically shop for ideas. The book is organized by style so if a designer has a traditional, elegant, or edgy piece, they can go directly to that section of the book, where they will find a wide collection of fresh ideas in the style they are seeking.
Also included is a directory of font foundries and suppliers, providing busy designers with a quick reference guide to where they can find the fonts that pique their interest.

The Big Book of Layouts

A collection of the latest layout designs and ideas for amateur and professional graphic designers.
Organized so as to encourage creativity, serendipitous discovery, and inspiration, THE BIG BOOK OF LAYOUTS includes techniques that can be used to enhance any layout. It provides insights into the elements that make layouts effective. It covers a range of styles, from traditional to cutting edge, that were selected to help designers think more creatively and be more productive.
With more than 750 outstanding layouts featured in a robust visual gallery with detailed descriptive information, this book provides a thorough look at what goes into an effective layout design.

Design: Intelligence Made Visible

Design is all around us, it is impossible to avoid. Everything that surrounds us has been designed – from the paperclip and the iPod, to our homes and the way we live. “Design: Intelligence Made Visible” is epic, opinionated, comprehensive in scope and forms the definitive statement on design for this century. Written by Stephen Bayley, one of the world’s best known commentators on modern culture and Terence Conran, one of the world’s leading designers and arbiters of taste, this book pays tribute to the leading names, movements, materials and processes such as furniture, fashion, cars, graphics, products, signs and symbols. The book combines essential facts with authoritative opinions – everything, as the industrial designer Raymond Loewy once said, from a lipstick to a steamship – but brought right up to date. A series of essays begin by introducing how design has its place in modern cultural history including Terence Conran’s definition of design. The main section of the book comprises an A-Z of iconic people, products and processes from 20th century to the present day with biographies of leading designers from past and present, as well as corporate histories, product appraisals, and witty accounts of relevant management, cultural and social theories. A major appendix has Bayley and Conran assessing the up and coming designers of today and finally a chapter on branding concludes with a provocative methodology to assess brand value. Beautifully designed and beautifully written, “Design: Intelligence Made Visible” is simply the indispensable guide to the contents of the modern world.

Experimental Formats 2

Experimental Formats 2 collects together innovative books, brochures, and catalogs featuring the most diverse ideas used in publications of every description. Today, printed matter needs to work harder than ever before. In the ever-increasing struggle to command consumers’ attention, adding value has become the weapon of choice, and in this battle alternative formats, folding, binding, and printing methods will bring you success. The book examines every aspect of designing the printed form, from single page to commercial package. Case studies of professional work celebrate the healthy tradition for experimentation in this field, showcasing projects that stand out on their physical merits alone.

Looking at proportions, formats, materials, printing, folding, and binding, Experimental Formats 2 offers designers an awe-inspiring selection of inspirational new ideas for practical application. It also explores exciting material innovations such as tear-proof “plastic” paper and PVC, gelling agents, luminescent inks, concertina folds, single-screw and press-stud binding.The eye-catching publications in this book range from lavish, big-budget productions to small-run, two-color leaflets. All have one thing in common—they push boundaries and show a different way of thinking, without losing sight of the client’s wishes.

LogoLounge 3

Now in a new “mini” edition, this third volume in the best-selling LogoLounge series provides 2,000 totally new logos from designers worldwide. This book, like the previous titles in the series, is compiled in association with LogoLounge.com, the largest database of logo designs in the world. The first portion of the book features high-profile projects from nine top designers and firms, including Lippincott, FutureBrand, Wolff Olins, Turner Duckworth, Werner Design Werks, Carbone Smolan, Desgrippes Gobé, and Michael Osborne Design. The second part of the book contains 2,000 logos organized by category (typography, people, mythology, nature, sports, etc.), as well as many shorter articles on projects by Miles Newlyn, Haley Johnson Design, and Cato Purnell.

Typeface: Classic Typography for Contemporary Design

If there is one experience that any graphic designer can relate to, it’s the quest for the perfect typeface. The right typeface communicates the visual essence of the content while enhancing the impact of the overall design. The dozens of type samplers available are often more confusing than helpful, offering hundreds of choices but little guidance. Typeface: Classic Typography for Contemporary Design is a unique sourcebook featuring sixty classic typefaces that continue to resonate with today’s most influential graphic designers. The book is organized using typographic classifications such as sans serif, serif, display, script, and dingbats. Each typeface is presented in detail, including its origin, main characteristics, and uses. The main character set of each type specimen is accompanied by typesheet style examples including technical specifications and non-Latin characters.

In addition, Typeface includes a unique feature certain to delight designers: a choice of similar typefaces is given for each font, so that alternatives can be easily compared, taking the stress out of tracking down typefaces. Characteristics such as vertically stressed oblique serifs or abrupt contrasts are highlighted and easily cross-referenced, allowing designers to make educated type choices without having to trawl through the seemingly endless pages of type vendor libraries. Accompanying the main character sets and typesheets are examples of the typefaces in use. Leading practitioners such as Pentagram, karlssonwilker inc., and Why Not Associates provide a working context for each typeface, making Typeface both a fully functional sourcebook and an inspirational showcase of international typographic design.

What is the story behind the logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, that was the question of the day.

So I did a brief investigation, because I had no idea. This is what I found so far.

The structure

The design is a representation of an Inukshuk (a stone landmark) used by Canada’s Inuit people.
You can find the Inukshuk in all the north region spreading form Alaska to Greenland.

The Inukshuk was the base idea for the Olympic logo

— Erik

The native people used Inukshuk as a point of reference, a marker for hunting grounds, or as a food cache , for more information check this wikipedia page

The World Expo of 1986 was in Vancouver and at the Northwest Territories pavilion there was a Inukshuk, that has been sold and now you can see it in English Bay. This Inukshuk was the base idea for the Olympic logo

The colors
The different colors represent different regions of the country: the green and blues symbolize coastal forests, mountain ranges and islands. The red represents Canada’s Maple Leaf and the yellow depicts the brilliant sunrises.

The 2010 Winter Olympics logo, named Ilanaaq the Inukshuk.

The last few weeks I’ve been buying some new books for inspiration and reference. The majority of you probably already have some of them but maybe you don’t. I think these books are really helpful for every designer and it’s great and a lot of fun reading them.

Grid Systems

Although grid systems are the foundation for almost all typographic design, they are often associated with rigid, formulaic solutions. However, the belief that all great design is nonetheless based on grid systems (even if only subverted ones) suggests that few designers truly understand the complexities and potential riches of grid composition. In her best-selling “Geometry of Design,” Elam shows how proportion, symmetry, and other geometrical systems underlie many of the visual relationships that make for good design. Now, Elam brings the same keen eye and clear explanations to bear on the most prevalent, and maybe least understood, system of visual organization: the grid. Filled with extensive research and more than 100 informative examples from the Bauhaus to Nike ads, “Grid Systems” provides a rich, easy-to-understand overview and demonstrates a step-by-step approach to typographic composition. It suggests design strategies that transcend simple function and reductionist recipes to allow grids to become a means of truly dynamic communication. Any designer, educator, or student will benefit greatly from this elegant slim book, chock-a-block full of colorful examples, helpful vellum overlays, and Elam’s insightful analysis.

Typographic Systems

Typographic organization has always been a complex system in that there are so many elements at play, such as hierarchy, order of reading, legibility, and contrast. In “Typographic Systems,” Kim Elam, author of our bestselling books, “Geometry of Design” and “Grid Systems,” explores eight major structural frameworks beyond the grid including random, radial, modular, and bilateral systems. By taking the reader through exercises, student work, and professional examples, Elam offers a broad range of design solutions. Once essential visual organization systems are understood the designer can fluidly organize words or images within a structure, combination of structures, or a variation of a structure. With clarity and substance, each system from the structured axis to the nonhierarchical radial array is explained and explored so that the reader comes away with a better understanding of these intricate complex arrangements. “Typographic Systems” is the seventh title in our bestselling Design Briefs series, which has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide.

Logo

The logo bible, this book provides graphic designers with an indispensable reference source for contemporary logo design. More than 1300 logos are grouped according to their focal form, symbol, and graphic associations into 75 categories such as crosses, stars, crowns, animals, people, handwritten, illustrative type, etc. To emphasize the visual form of the logos, they are shown predominantly in black and white.

By sorting a vast, international array of current logotypes ranging from those of small, design-led businesses to global brands the book offers design consultancies a ready resource to draw on in the research phase of identity projects. Logos are also indexed alphabetically by name of company/designer and by industrial sector, making it easy to piece together a picture of the state of the identity art in any client’s marketplace.

Los Logos 4

Los Logos 4 is the latest addition to Gestalten s line of books on contemporary
logo design. This compendium provides an authoritative overview of current
developments and advances in logo design, one of the most prestigious of creative
disciplines which represent the essential visual identity of brands, companies
and their philosophies.
At over 500 pages, Los Logos 4 is the largest volume to date, showcasing
a collection of contemporary logo design by bourgeoning design talent and
once again offering an essential resource for all designers. This state-of-the-art
visual encyclopaedia provides a quality selection of over 5,000 examples of stylistic
approaches by designers from around the globe. Fully indexed and structured
thematically, the book draws connections between the applications and
the fields for which they were intended.
Los Logos 4 is the perfect companion to the Logos series and an unparalleled
publication on contemporary logo design. The series has proved to be a precursor
to styles and trends in logo design and highlighted the increased relevance and
importance of the logo in the 21st Century.

Logo Design Love

There are a lot of books out there that show collections of logos. But David Airey’s “Logo Design Love” is something different: it’s a guide for designers (and clients) who want to understand what this mysterious business is all about. Written in reader-friendly, concise language, with a minimum of designer jargon, Airey gives a surprisingly clear explanation of the process, using a wide assortment of real-life examples to support his points. Anyone involved in creating visual identities, or wanting to learn how to go about it, will find this book invaluable. – Tom Geismar, Chermayeff & Geismar

In Logo Design Love, Irish graphic designer David Airey brings the best parts of his wildly popular blog of the same name to the printed page. Just as in the blog, David fills each page of this simple, modern-looking book with gorgeous logos and real world anecdotes that illustrate best practices for designing brand identity systems that last.

David not only shares his experiences working with clients, including sketches and final results of his successful designs, but uses the work of many well-known designers to explain why well-crafted brand identity systems are important, how to create iconic logos, and how to best work with clients to achieve success as a designer. Contributors include Gerard Huerta, who designed the logos for Time magazine and Waldenbooks; Lindon Leader, who created the current FedEx brand identity system as well as the CIGNA logo; and many more.

Vignelli From A to Z

This superbly presented volume is a treasure trove of the thoughts of internationally acclaimed designers Lella and Massimo Vignelli. For the past ten years, Massimo Vignelli has taught a summer course at the School of Design and Architecture at Harvard on subjects that were initially alphabetised for convenience, but now form the basis of this unprecedented and highly entertaining publication. Beginning with the intriguing ‘A for Ambiguity’, it continues through the alphabet, describing their approach to subjects as diverse as book design, discipline, furniture, garment design, interior design and lighting, newspapers, packaging and typography; each subject is discussed in detail and accompanied by numerous illustrations that complement the text. It offers a rare insight into the minds of two exceptional modernist designers.

When I was in the US in January one day we decided to go shopping in Carolina Premium Outlets Raleigh-Durham. Yes, we did buy a lot of things but the thing that got my attention was all the different typefaces used for the stores and decided to take some shots and share them, so this is the first part.

Lucky Brand Jeans.

Easy Spirit.

Koret.

Liz Claiborne.

Maternity.

Crocs.

Book Cellar.

Gymboree Outlet.

Striderite Keds Sperry.

Jockey.

Take a A2 size paper and draw/sketch two fonts. On serif and one sans-serif.
Choose whatever font you like and make a nice presentation where you can see the difference between the two chosen fonts. So that’s what I started with.

Fonts:
Adobe Caslon Pro (Download at Lynotype)
FF Din Next (Download at Lynotype)

Now I can start to write a lot about both fonts, history use and differences between them, but there are already a lot of poeple who did that, so here you can find more information about Adobe Caslon Pro and here you can find more information about FF DIN , Yes both are on wikipedia and it gives a great overview, but if you like the fonts just Google on them, there is some great stuff to read, especially about FF DIN, did you know Adidas uses it ?

Adobe Caslon Pro vs FF DIN Next.

— Erik

So here are my fist sketches the I made last week, and so far so good. Next time I will show them when they are finished. The bad thing is that we have to glue both papers together and fold it into a book. To bad though, but I’m very curious about the results when that’s done.

1. Overview

2. Detail.

3. Detail.

4. Detail