Woot!

AIGA holds its' annual Design Show in which very talented designers and firms submit very beautiful printed pieces such as posters. packaging, books, among branding and website design. I decided to give it a go and submit by Gothic Novel book covers. To my happy surprise I was one of the winners!

My very talented classmate and friend, Jackie, also won for her awesome Burly Bread packaging!

Ikea

My office/sewing room is once again in disrepair and in some bad need of pretty storage. So where does one find cheap yet stylish options? Ikea of course! I ended up buying two candy-apple red Helmer drawer carts. Two episodes of Glee later one of them was done.

While in the store I also took a gander at all the beautifully designed objects.

Dee & Lala

Gorgeous Letterpress cards, clocks and more from Dee & Lala

Info Graphics

Nonsensical

 

 Cute

 

 Type - oriented

 

Beautiful

Awesome

Web Design

Webdesignerdepot.com put together a really helpful article on retro web design. The information translates to the print end of design as well.

Office Fun

From Knock Knock

Think storage for paperclips and other tiny things....

 

 

From Anthropologie.com

Design Books: Girly Graphics

The authors of the book, Girly Graphics, wanted a collection of works that showcased advertising that marketed to women.  The collection is broken up into themes:  "Glamorous & Gorgeous," "Sweet & Fresh," "Cute & Lovely," and "Romantic & Fairytale."Can you decide which is what?

 

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?

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

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. 

 

 

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!