A Designer's Eye: Starbuck Campaign

Just in time for the season, Starbucks has rolled out their latest campaign for their holiday drinks. I saw these at work ('cause we "Proudly Serve Starbucks Coffee" and therefore have to advertise for them...) and just had to grab a picture of them. The composition is excellent and the contrast in colors make them stand together as a campaign, but apart enough to stand on their own. Enjoy!

Show & Tell: Collection - Pint Glasses

Since we didn't have an assigned Show & Tell for this week, I decided to show another one of my collections: My Pint Glass Collection. I started collecting them about five or six years ago and started by picking them up in places that I visited. As I got older, I joined a few beer clubs and received glasses for participating, while some of the others I received as gifts. Pictured below are some of my favorites from my collection.

These are some of my "Toon Tumblers" which are pint glasses that are sold exclusively at certain comic book conventions and other comic events. (Left to Right: Captain America - Heroes Con in 2006; Superman - New York Comic-Con 2009; Ghost Rider - New York Comic-Con 2007; and Hot Stuff - The Harvey Awards Banquet, Baltimore Comic-Con in 2007).

These glasses I've picked up from various clubs or received as gifts (Left to Right: Pint Club - DuClaw's Beer Club; Omega Epsilon - 15 Year Anniversary of my fraternity; Wolaver's - gift from a organic microbrewery; Wharf Rat - Pratt Street Ale House Beer Club).

These are some of the glasses that I've picked up during my travels (Left to Right: Jekyll and Hyde Club - New York, NY; Joe's Crab Shack - Charlotte, NC; Flyers - Philadelphia, PA; Hard Rock Amusement Park, Myrtle Beach, NC).

A Designer's Eye: Great Tastes Bag Design

I happen to see this bag while I was out and about yesterday and the design really caught my attention. It was a tote bag that featured simple line art designs that really captured the essence of what the bag was advertising.

Under each image was a word that was supposed to be associated with the image. This is where my only complaint in the design comes. Under the image of a wine glass is the word "Wine", which make perfect sense, while the other two images seem out of place with their word. I associate the image of the fork more with "Food" and the image of the skillet more with "Cooking". Were I the art director, I would have just switched the last two images to keep with the symmetry created by the words below.

Aside from that, the design is great. I love the choice of colors which really utilize the color of the bag into the design without seeming forced. The design works well enough that I could see it being used on many different marketing items (i.e. postcards, t-shirts, magnets, etc.).

A Designer's Eye: Street Art

While walking back to class from lunch last week, I happened to see these two pieces of "Street Art" right outside the building. Although they are not the most detailed examples of graffiti that I've ever seen, the fact that they have been done on a busy street and seem to have been done quickly does not diminish their appeal. What do you all think?

Show & Tell: Narative Product

For this week's Show & Tell, I chose Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic. The Cranberry Lambic is a seasonal beer that is only offered in the Samuel Adams Holiday Pack and is one of my favorite beers. It doesn't have a lot of narrative to it, but does feature a brief explanation of what's in it, as well as a suggested food pairing. Below is a part of that narrative:

Our version of a traditional Belgian lambic is brewed with the juice of native American cranberries, a unique top-fermenting yeast and a touch of maple syrup. This is a special brew for the holidays. Cheers! -Jim Koch

I'll save the food pairing for class tomorrow, but I found this to be a nice touch to very good beer.

A Designer's Eye: Recoloring Photos

Today, I spent a considerable amount of time looking for another image for my documentary that had been retouched like that ones I'm currently using. Although I was unable to find one that had already been done, I did find one that worked with the caption I added. So, I decided to hit the trusty internet to find a tutorial on how to make my image look like the others.

Thanks to Google, I was able to find this tutorial (link below) that really got the job done and I wanted to share it with you all. The tutorial was found on a site called Photoshop Support and it was easy to follow and very helpful. Hope you find it useful as well.


http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jf/hand-colouring-a-black-and-white-photo/hand-colouring-a-black-and-white-photo.html

A Designer's Eye: Pama Advertisement

I found this ad in the October issue of InStyle magazine and was really impressed with the simple layout: a martini glass sitting atop a pomegranate with very little copy and the bottle of Pama Liqueur sitting next to it. The really cool part of the ad is the background. The ad has a silver background and behind the martini glass is a pomegranate tree that appears/disappears based on the angle you are looking at the page.

I don't think this scan does the ad justice, so I'll try and remember to bring it to class with me this week.

Review: Dave Tieff - The Art of Peace

One of my all-time favorite bands is a group by the name of Laughing Colors (LC). A local band from the Baltimore area, LC formed in 1991 and in their 14-years together, they produced 9 albums and sold more than 50,000 CDs before breaking up in 2004. When LC's former lead singer, Dave Tieff, announced that he was releasing a second solo album and giving it away for free, I just had to check it out.

Inspired by the birth of his son and deeply moved by passing of his father, Dave rededicated his career and his music to a higher purpose. The Art of Peace is a collection of songs that are meant to inspire and encourage the message that "we are all uniquely created to serve the Earth and each other."

The album is free for download and all proceeds from donations are being given to charities that are close to Dave's heart: Amnesty International; the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence; the Brazil Hope Foundation; and the Arbor Day Foundation. His goal is to raise $1 million dollars by December 31, 2009. The album can be downloaded and information on making a donation can be found at www.davetieff.com.

Also, for those who may be interested in checking out Laughing Colors, they will be playing a reunion show on November 21, 2008 at the Recher Theatre in Towson at 8 pm.

Show & Tell: Narrative Element

For this week's Show & Tell, I chose another of my favorite books to share with the class. This one is by the legendary creator and visual storyteller, Will Eisner. The book is called Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative and it focuses on the fundamental elements of storytelling for a visual medium (such as comics). As this class is called Words & Images, after all, I thought that it was a perfect example of how to use both elements effectively to tell a story.

Some of the topics discussed within the book include: images as narrative tools; how to tell different kinds of stories; the history of storytelling; and the writing process: written vs. graphic. As I said, this is one of my favorite books because it not only talks about how to tell a story as a comic, but through visual means in general. Since we have critique this week for our documentaries, I thought it might help those struggling with their story, as I was. I definitely referred back to this book once or twice this week as I worked to finish up my Comp.

Anyway, I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in storytelling, in whatever form that may be.

Prolific Prose: The Creative Block

After class on Saturday, I got to thinking about some the books Amy shared with us and remembered one that have sitting on my computer desk at home. It has becomes so much of a second nature for me to refer to it, that I really don't even think about it, but I wanted to share it with you all.

The book is called Creative Block and it is the follow up to one called Writers Block. Both books are by Lou Harry and each is literally a block—a perfect 3x3x3 cube—with tons of ideas for getting the creative juices flowing. 500 ideas, in fact. The book's tag line reads "500 Ideas to Ignite you Imagination" and includes things to trigger you to think differently.

Some ideas include:

"Much is said about the first kiss. What about the last?"
"Remember the photo that came with the picture from you purchased? Invent a history for that person or those people."
"Spark Word: Abandoned"
"Go to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls."

Those are just a few examples of the ideas within the book. I typically will turn to a page randomly when I'm in need of inspiration and think about the task/idea being presented. I find that it clears my mind a little and allows me to refocus on what I'm working on.

Show & Tell: Interesting Typography

For my Show & Tell for this week, I decided to stick with the comic theme and go with examples of comic titles. Each is a great example of how typography can add "character" to design work. Click on the image to see a larger version.

A Designer's Eye: Comic Lettering, Pt. 2 - Bad Lettering

In my last post, I showed some examples of some really great comic lettering (both in word balloons/caption box and in sound effects). Much like the soundtrack to a film, when comic lettering is done well the reader doesn't even notice the word balloons as separate from the art. But, when it is done poorly, it sticks out like a sore thumb and really detracts from the readers experience.

Below are two such examples. The first is from the third issue of Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion. This page is some overrun with sound effects, that the reader can even enjoy the painted panels of art. It draws the eye away from the sequential art and leaves it hanging in dead space. The second example is from an issue of NASCAR Heroes. The lettering in this panel is just all over the place and different colors used for each effect really clashes with the artwork.

A Designer's Eye: Comic Lettering, Pt. 1

Since this week's Show & Tell is to bring examples of Interesting Typography, I thought that I'd focus my other two posts from this week on some of my favorite typography: Comic Book Lettering.

I do a lot of freelance lettering, so I'm always looking to established creators' works to help improve my own lettering skills. Here are some examples of really great lettering. Some are interesting word balloons/caption boxes and others are sound effects.