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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Influential Designer: David Carson

David Carson is an influential American graphic designer and is principal and chief designer of David Carson Design Inc.

Carson was born on September 8, 1952 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Carson and his family moved to New York City four years later. Since then he has traveled all around the world but has maintained New York as his base of operations. Carson now owns two studios; one in Del Mar, California and another in Zürich, Switzerland.

Carson has been considered "the father of grunge" after he developed his signature style, using "dirty" type and non-mainstream photographic techniques, during the late 80's.

He went on to become the art director for Transworld Skateboarding magazine but became more well known when he was hired to designing Ray Gun magazine, which had music and lifestyle as its subject. In this period, publications such as the New York Times (1994) and Newsweek (1996) featured Carson and increased his publicity greatly.

What interests me in his work is that he appeals to me, as I am a skater/beachy person and also my design style is similar to his; grungy, dirty, chaotic, random.
Though not all of his designs were chaotic, some of them were simple but kept the semi-messed up style that he has.

Design Styles: Digital



Design Styles: Post Modernism



"Dutch Design"

Designer: Gert Dumbar

Year: 1974















"CinemAfrica 2004"

Designer: Ralph Schraivogel

Year: 2004

Design Styles: Contemporary



"Lion with Legs in Air"

Designer: Hubert Hilscher

Year: 1970-78























"The Golem"

Designer: Mieczyslaw Gorowski

Year: 2003

Design Styles: Psychedelia


"Bob Dylan"

Designer: Milton Glaser

Year: 1966























"Funky Meters: FOX Theatre: Boulder Colorado"

Designer: Firehouse

Year: 2000

Design Styles: Swiss



"Zurcher Kunstler in der Kunsthalle Basel"

Designer: Hans Neuburg

Year: 1966















"Apple Swiss Poster"

Designer: Lex Drewinski

Year: 2002

Design Styles: Late Modern


"Rural Electrification Administration"

Designer: Lester Beall

Year: 1934

















"Late Modern Socialist Poster"

Designer: Danger-Dom

Year: 2008

Design Styles: American Kitsch


"Air France - Paris"

Designer: Jacques Nathan-Garamond

Year: 1950



















"Les Vapeurs ont 70 ans"

Designer: Raymond Savignac

Year: 1997

Design Styles: Art Deco


"Cordial Campari"

Designer: Marcello Nizzoli

Year: 1926
















"
Louis Vuitton Classic - Waddesdon"

Designer: Razzia

Year: 2004

Design Styles: Early Modern



"The New Turkey"

Painter: Fausto Zonaro


Year: 1908
















"Still Life with Artichoke"

Painter: Charlie Baird

Year: 2000

Design Styles: Art Nouveau



Door Detail

Designer: Eugene Gaillard

Year: 1862 - 1933


















Carved Walnut Etagere

Designer/Crafter: Erik Schjeide

Year: 1999

Monday, November 15, 2010

Design Styles: Arts & Crafts


"Artichoke" wallpaper

John Henry Dearle for William Morris & Co

1897














Chapel of St Joseph

Christopher Hobbs

2001

Design Styles: Victorian



Writing Cabinet with elaborate metal pulls and hinges

Designer: C. R. Ashbee

Manufacturer: The Guild of Handicraft

1899














Contemporary Victorian Wooden Sofa

Designer: Rajasthan Art

2005

Design Blog Review: Before & After | Design Talk

Design Talk is an design blog ran by John McWade with the aim to inspire, give tutorials, answer peoples questions about design and just make graphic design understandable, useful and even fun for everyone.

I like it because it very interesting to read and find things that I may have had been looking for. The blog is also a great source for tips & tricks and tutorials.

The blog interests me because I like digital design and aim to be a graphic designer myself, so this is a great site for me to find out things and also stay up to date with current trends.

Design Studio Website Review: Percept Brand Design


The design studios website I have chosen is Sydney based, Percept Brand Design.
I chose this website not only because they were apart of my Case Study but because I actually do like the design and layout of the website.

The thing that stands out the most is the big picture slideshow on the top half of the page. This is good because it shows off the different things that they can design. The slideshow gives a balance to the site because of the fair amount of text that is on the page.
The next thing I like about it is the simpleness of the navigation menu. It flows through the slideshow and is clearly organised into the sections on the website;
  • Portfolio - This breaks off into the different project areas they have done.
    • Branding
    • Corporate Identity
    • Brand Design
    • Corporate Design
    • Packaging Design
    • Website Design
    • Advertising
  • Company - This part is the main links on the website such as:
    • Home
    • Who We Are
    • Design Services
    • Employment
    • News
    • Request A Quote
    • Contact Details
Because Percept see graphic design as visual communication for commercial success they cover a wide range of design services;
  • Corporate Identity Design / Logo Design
  • Branding / Rebranding
  • Corporate Stationery / Printing
  • Design for Print / Visual Communications
  • Marketing Collateral Design / Advertising
  • Packaging Design / Brand Image Refresh
  • Website Design / Interactive Media
  • Electronic Direct Marketing / Email Newsletters
  • Website Hosting / Search Engine Optimisation
  • Content Management Systems / E-commerce
  • Company Naming / Brand Name Generation
  • Creative Concepts / Communications Strategy
  • Photography / Copywriting
  • Offset Print Production / Digital Printing
Percept treat every client they work with like they are their only client and they aim to deliver above their expectations on each project that they work on and quoted off their website, "Once your project enters our studio, it becomes our baby. Nothing at Percept goes out the door unless we are proud of it, so you can be sure that what we present is of the highest quality."

The percept team see themselves as a bunch of "everyday folk" who enjoy designing for good people. They do not reveal their full names but the names of the people in the Percept team are Lewis, Jane, Ash, Abi, Scott, Derick and Hayley.

Trade Magazine Review: Desktop Magazine


Desktop Magazine
The magazine I have chosen is Desktop Magazine, it is a magazine delves into the world of design, advertising and digital culture, connecting with thousands upon thousands of creative professionals and enthusiasts around the globe.
Its content pretty much covers all creative fields such as print, photography, animation, fashion, typography, packaging, digital media, web design, post-production, illustration, gaming design and more.

An article that caught my eye was in the March issue of 2010 called "Skate & Destroy". It is about an artist named Haroshi, and what Haroshi does is make artwork by recycling and using old skateboards. He had an exhibition called HARVEST which showcased some of the works he has done. The reason I like it so much is because I skate myself and seeing skateboarding merge with art was really pleasing.
Some of Haroshi's works:-



The reason I chose this magazine is because it is very popular but very interesting and helpful, also I am planning on going into the digital design industry, so this is a great magazine.

Links:

Art Exhibition Review: TEMPEST Exhibition


Because I didn't go to the Sydney Biennale I'm going to do my review on an exhibition at the Newcastle Region Art Gallery.

The exhibition was called TEMPEST, and included two Newcastle based artists; James Gleeson, Peter Gardiner and Surreal artist Andy Devine. The exhibition shows off the concept of Industrial landscapes or internal mindscapes? While also exploring the common ground between these three artists.

My favourite artist of the three is Peter Gardiner. His works were of the internal mindscapes. What I liked most about his work was his concept art style of painting, his use of vivid and strong colours in a dark and grungy environment made his art stand out to me more than the other two artists.


This is a work by Gardiner called "East"

Saturday, October 16, 2010

my own logo design

Okay, this is my final logo design for my visual i.d.

Im still wondering which colour scheme i should go... hmm?

Comment and help me out?

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Book Review: Street Art - The Spray Files

Street Art: The Spray Files - Louis Bou

Louis Bou's book is an excellent, handsomely printed overview of the international Street Art scene, attempting to provide helpful genres of classification for the myriad of types of representations to be found in cities around the world. From Stencils to Stickers to City Textures, the book lovingly documents each style with chapters filled with beautifully laid-out photos of prime examples of each. Louis Bou, a Barcelona-based graphic designer by trade, is not only the author of the book, he also took all of the photographs inside and did all of the design and layout work for the tome as well.

From Banksy, the artist who famously hung one of his pieces in London's Tate gallery, to Milan's unsettling Microbo and the Japanese-culture-influenced work of Barcelona's Btoy, the reader is treated to hundreds of exquisite examples from dozens of artists. Bou is clearly a gifted photographer with a great feel for the environments where the art is created. The reader is spirited from the streets of Bilbao to the alleys of Paris to the sidewalks of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean to see the various pieces.

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is a creative process which most often involves a client and a designer. It is undertaken in order to send out a specific message or messages to a targeted audience. The term "graphic design" can also refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines that focus on visual communication and presentation.

The field as a whole is also often referred to as Visual Communication or Communication Design. Various methods are used to create and combine words, symbols, and images to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. A graphic designer may use typography, visual arts and page layout techniques to produce the final result. Graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated.