Past Project: Farmers Market Ads

This project was from my Photoshop class a couple of semesters ago. The objective was to create two ads for the Minneapolis Farmer's Market that would be posted on the side of the city bus and at the bus stop.

Judge a Book by its Cover

 All images from Penguin Books

I started thinking more about the book jacket asignment. Reading the forward to Pemguin 75..., it made me think of what the book cover actually is. Chris Ware put it rather well:

"Concomitantly, the book cover has evolved from a simple protective wrapper into something of a contemporary striptease between author and reader, both as a means of drawing attention to and selling the book, or amplifying and even extending the book itself into the reader's mind and fingertips."

How much do we rely on a book's cover when we are deciding to buy? I would say it depends and yes I know that's so vague. If this is an established class - say Pride and Prejudice - then cover art is less important in terms of selling. If this is a new work, then I would agree that a really cover cover design can be so enticing and pull the buyer right in.

Project: Farmer's Market

So this is what I have so far: thoughts?

Designer: Coralie Bickford-Smith

All images from www.cb-smith.com

Design Firm: The MVA

The company I work for is in the smelling business. It's kind of hard to explain so I will let you check it out for yourselves: http://www.fivesenses.com/.  Anyway, for a number of years we have been lucky enough to provide the nasty and distinctive smells for the Soap Factory's - an art gallery in Minneapolis - haunted basement. While there I noticed and picked up their very awesome looking show flyer. 

So yes, my post is now getting to the point.

From The MVA

Wanna buy some fonts?

From http://www.type.co.uk/



http://www.adobe.com/

http://www.chank.com/

http://www.fonts.com/

http://www.linotype.com/

http://www.1001fonts.com/

http://www.sudtipos.com/

www.suitcasetype.com/

Project: Book Jacket Design

The Project:

Design a series of three related (genre, style) dust jackets. We have an option of varying hardcover novel sizes.

I'm very excited for this project. I've always been drawn to book jackets, namely vintage ones.

From Design Related

From Found in Mom's Basement

I was at a used bookstore yesterday and fate was smiling at me because I found a used copy of Penguin 75 Designers, Authors, Commentary (the good, the bad...). Paging through it I think I may have found a calling. 

 

 

Past Project: Coffee House Ads

This was a 3 part series of ads we created for a coffee house of our choosing. I choose Nina's in St. Paul which is in walking distance from home.

Two things were standing out to me when I did research for these ads. The first was that Nina's had this great eclectic mix of old furniture that made it unlike any chain coffee house you ever visited. The second thing that stood out was that a healthy two thirds of the customers stayed for long periods of time and worked or read while they sipped their beverages. This wasn't an in and out sort of coffee house. I wanted to capture both of those feelings in these ads.

Project: Farmer's Market Campaign

The Project:

Create a series of marketing, promotional and packaging pieces for a business at a local farmer's market. Interview the owner to learn more about their business philosophy, the product, the customers and the competition.

I instantly think of honey producers and soap. Your standard veggie stand (here in Minnesota) doesn't have much in terms of an identity let alone a need for product packaging. I have visions of beautiful honey jars with elegant fonts and maybe a nod to rural simplicity. Or there is cheese. I like cheese.

Apparently she likes cheese too....Or she's plotting someone's death...

Some honey inspiration:

From Designer Liz Cox


From Designer Chad Landenberger



From Savannah Bee Company

Etsy

From Annajoyce

Helvetica

How does a font become so popular and a cultural (worldly?) icon that a documentary is made about it?

So where have you seen this font? How about:

3M

American Airlines

American Apparel

BMW

Jeep

Microsoft

Target

Toyota

Verizon Wireless

From Etsy Seller Afavorite

Helbotica T-Shirt from Chopshopstore

From Etsy Seller Plastique

Digital Collage

Online Collage by rwinter

Ever heard of Polyvore? It's a clever way for business to basically advertise their goods in a way that doesn't seem so obviously advertising. Still, it's virtual dress-up, Photoshop and fun all mixed into one!

RGB Baby

If you have ever needed a good source for RGB colors and their digits (hexadecimal codes) then this is the site for you:

Cloford.com

How to Design Fabric

Image from Burda Style

Check out this wonderful interview from Liesl Gibson on BurdaStyle.com. She explains her design process when creating a line of fabric. One day I would like to use my mad skills to create something that would actually be used to cloth someone. I justify my ever growing collection of fabric - especially rare vintage fabric - as a designer's resource. Maybe someday I could even do it as a business expense? Or maybe not.