Swiss/International Poster

Swiss/International Poster

Late Modern Poster

Late Modern Poster

(click to enlarge)

Early Modern Poster

Early Modern Poster

(click to enlarge)

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi

His influences

• Gaudi was influenced by the political group and Catalan Movement

• Nature was an inspiration to Gaudi to stop the industrialization of spain.

He influenced

• Gaudí himself inspired the architect Godey, designer of the Space-Time Towers which are based on the Sagrada Família

• The Alan Parsons Project released Gaudi, an album based on the life of Antoni Gaudí, in 1987

Characteristics

• Gaudi belonged to the modernist style/Art Nouveau and was famous for his individuality and highly unique designs

• Gaudi was also a devout catholic and started to only do non-secular buildings.

Clever Wrapping paper

The MX Cover

The MX is a daily newspaper that is distributed to commuters in Sydney, Brisbane and melbourne. It is a popular newspaper that features the latest in travel, celebrity glamour and gossip, entertainment & Music and current affairs.

The featured design below is a cover for this particular edition.

It's function is to advertise ebay this christmas.

The design is particularly clever and unusual for the newspaper format. At first all you can see in the green backgrounded starry illustration and the ebay logo. You then read the text above which says "This year ebay is doing everything they can to help you save this christmas, even on the wrapping" you then realise that the ad is meant to be cut (see scissors in middle picture) out and used for wrapping paper. The illustration also stretches across the back cover as seen in the last picture, with special deals in the area on the back where to master head would be on the front.

Words to describe design: Witty, trendy, innovative, energetic, fun and playful.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

His Influences

• One of Wrights first jobs was at Alder & Sullivan and was an apprentice for Louis Sullivan, who he referred to as his dear master

• Wright was influenced heavily with the materials that surrounded him. If a place where he built a house that had lots of cedar around it then the house would consist of mostly cedar materials. Wright was seen as being an organic architect because of this.

• Wright also dealt japanese prints and made a lot of money from them, it is possible that these influenced his designs.

• Wright was influenced by his his favorite composer Ludwig van Beethoven

• Write was also influenced by the increase in technology for the glassmaking

• Wright learnt and worked in a fazing in and out of different Movements including Victorian, Arts and crafts, Art Nouveau and Art Deco but more than likely was influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement with the way he used organic and local materials.

He Influenced

• Wright is recognized by the American Institute of Architects in 1991 as the greatest American Architect of all time, so in that regard he would influence most of America's and the Worlds Architecture.

• Wright claimed that all his fellow students just followed him and copied is work

Characteristics

• His houses and buildings featured extended low buildings with shallow, sloping roofs, clean sky lines, suppressed chimneys, overhangs and terraces, using unfinished materials

Room for improvement

The SmartSaver is a Value coupon magazine/newspaper. It is usually around the 18 page mark and is full of coupons for health and beauty, home services, food and other misc. coupons. It comes out in 8 different areas in sydney with each edition coming out every three weeks.

The coupon are are seen on their website and can be printed their

It's function is to offer discounted prices to its readers

It is a design that is around me a lot because I do casual graphic design work for them.

I was compelled to blog about the SmartSaver because the design is, on the most part, ineffective and predictable. The industry word for this kind of design is a 'dog's breakfast'. To explain, it's easier to do it in point form:

As single adverts some may be slightly effective and usually get the job done but as an over all design there are many problems.

• There is minimal hierarchy and almost no flow between ads and within them.

• There is no contrast or dynamic. In almost all cases SmartSaver uses colour to draw attention and neglects dynamics in texture, tone, shape, direction and scale.

• No differentiating style between adverts.

• No anchor points and readers find it difficult to find an ad

• Extreme over use of drop shadows, exclamation marks and starburts

The smaller to ad the worse it seems. The only thing that brings in the design in, is the ones people do for them like, Subway and Hungry Jacks etc. also their logo is quiet simple and straight to the point which is good.

The give the graphic artist 20 mins to create a 1 unit ad because they claim that any longer is to expensive, however to me it's more logical to make a product that is easy and comfortable for its consumers to read and effectively convey a message about a business so in turn the businesses that advertise with SmartSaver will have more customers therefore getting more money and then more likely to pay and stay with SmartSaver and mention it to their friends.

SmartSaver is a successful business esp. during the recession, but I see a lot more potential in the way it communicate to it's readers and a lot more potential to make money.

The design is slightly aggressive and orderly (in the sense that it has a structure)

The new Woolworths logo is an identity for the the major grocery store. It replaced the old one which was just the word Woolworths with red and green strips on either side.

It's function is to create a long standing mood and appearance of the store as a reliable, fresh food place. It would also call its customers to become loyal and attached to an establishment with a face rather than a faceless corporate enterprise.

It is seen at all their store, staff uniforms and Woolworths petrol station.

The design is slightly controversial for two reasons. Firstly Apple Computers tried to sue Woolworths for having an identity to close to their own. See here for link http://newtech.aurum3.com/images/apple-woolworths-logo.jpg.

Secondly the graphic has a gradient of two green tones. Most designers would say this is a noob effect that is too trendy, but because Woolworths is so well established and they have a large online presence they seem to get away with it.

They sue two different type faces. The 'Woolworths' is in a new light san serif type face which re-enforces freshness and crispness. The 'fresh food people' is in a very pleasing subtly rounded san serif. It is organic and again re-enforces the freshness of the produce available. The f's are also the same shape as the leaf on top of the apple.

What attracted to me the most is the 'fresh food people font... I wish I had it.

Words to describe the logo can include:

• Fresh

• Innovative

City Rail Logo

The CityRail logo is a identity for the Railway company.

It seems to be two arrows pointing in opposite directions, one blue the other yellow. The arrows are also blurred to give a feeling of motion.

It is seen on all trains in NSW that aren't country link trains. It is also seen on all of the train stations and CityRail Uniforms. 

The fonts used is a mix of serif and san-serif fonts. The C y and a are san-serif while the other letters are serif. 

The design is pretty stock standard although the use of a gradient in a logo is usually seen as unprofessional.

The reason I used this logo is because it is something visible to me everyday and something that I always think about how I could redesign a better one. Adjectives that could describe the logo are: orderly, serious, established and slightly aggressive and energetic.

The replaced version

Now replaced by the new and questionably sexier pepsi logo the pepsi can shown here (left) is now off the shelves and out of our minds.
The old can proudly exclaimed is half century old logo with pride, usually on a hot summer night accompanied with a fatty pizza and the T.V. or in the hands of extreme dare devils looking for that extra kick for their next big stunt.

The design was simple and and possibly had nothing to do with caramelized soda water or drinking or any sort, but it possibly promotes more of a relaxed life style with its curvy, easy on the eyes logo.

What ever the case, old school pepsi max drinking is no more. The new logo can be seen here. 

http://www.bevreview.com/wp-content/image_pepsilogochange1.gif