Sad day for futura

My favorite font, Futura, created by Paul Renner in the 1920s, known for being the first font on the moon and VW's chosen typeface, until recently was Ikea's go to font. Now they have replace it in their 2010 catalogue with Veranda, a typeface designed for the screen in 1996. Ikea claims they did it to so that their catalogues would work with Asian languages and could be used on computers. But they have lost so much. Instead of being Ikea-great design and for an inexpensive price, their font reads cheap.

Before (left) and after (right). Ikea Catalog.
Image from NYTimes.com

Here is the NYT article and a link to the Typophile (aka type geeks) form discussing it. As an Ikea customer, it just makes me sad to see them change their advertising campaign to "we're even cheaper" from "functional design"...guess these are the times...

Radical Thinking Logo

Another day, another logo. My new project is for a political blog that will be launched later this month called RadicalThinking.org. It examines current events and while is admittedly left-wing, has the goal of objectively examining pros and cons of proposals and actions of both parties. In some ways Radical Thinking is a play on words since his writings are not really radical but rather common sense in that he's willing to make compromises for the greater good. Here are a couple of working examples.

I used this font, Caslon Antique, because it feel like it has a history to, a texture, as if it's personal but also its heavy weight makes the logo feel powerful and strong. The scales symbolize justice, such as the lady justice motif.
Above "Radical" is in a script font called Zapfino. I had hoped this would make an inter sting juxtaposition between radical's definition and its shape. I also found out that radical does not only mean extreme, but it can also mean arising from or going to the root or the source. Since this blog's aim is to be similar to the revolutionary war movements such as the Federalist Papers, which were forward thinking and "radical" thought this might be a nice similarity.

This third version best highlights the scales and bolds "radical" the best. This is my favorite logo so far because of its strong solid shape and rectangle. My only worry is that it may be hard to read at first? Do you read T-Radical? Or do you read the T as an illustration and then as a letter in thinking? Leave a comment, let me know.
This final version is the most iconic. I think it was a good exploration, but it may be too abstract. I am tempted now to remove the words and just add an "R" to make it more of a initialed logo...this probably wouldn't work for a blog logo since it's highly important to share the domain, not just the logo-type. If my client had a huge advertising budget, he could do it, but this is just a small scale operation.

Final OHS Logo

One Heart Source logo
digital (illustrator)

Ladies and gents it's finally done! After many hours in Illustrator moving letters a hair to the left, changing fonts and finishing the tree to make it look strong yet friendly...it's done! I was able to use both my teacher's/class's suggestions as well as my client. At first I was sad to see the curly "h" go, but sometimes we have to step leave a good idea to get to a great one. I'm happy to report that I received a 4 out of 4 on this assignment! No one gets a full 4 for 4. I'm seen amazing work get a 3.9/4...so I am very pleased my instructor liked it and feel OHS will also like it (I hope!).

Periodic Table of Typefaces + Game

Amazing. See if for yourself or get it printed on t-shirts and other merchandise.

And if you want to test your knowledge, try this type naming game...it's a bit addictive.

Gay Rights Poster Finished!

After eight weeks, I've finally finished my gay rights poster (and I'm so happy it's in the done pile!).

Gay is the new Black
type treatment for a 8.5"x11" poster

The hardest part of this logo was the overlapping of the script and preserving its legibility. I also changed the curl at the end of the "y" to mirror the "G". I placed this on a small poster, however, I had trouble posting the poster. I'll try again later.

Process Book
cover detail

Process books show the process of a work. They are great for potential employers who, while are interested in your final glossy portfolio of finished projects, also want to see how you work, your imagination and drawing skills.

Process Book
spine detail

I made my book using a saddle stitch spine with embroidery thread (that I've had since third grade..one point for the pack rat). The cover is made from a manila folder from Target. I noticed I really like working with my hands, verses the computer, making something tangible.

Process Book
cover page

This shot shows off the inside panel which has a fun retro pattern. You can also see some of the stitching on the spine.

Process Book
sample work page

I had pages and pages of sketches to sort through and scan in. Here is an example of some of the sketches that lead to my final product.

Gay is the new Black

So I need a little help. Below are three versions of a poster slogan for gay rights. My aim is to compare gay rights to civil rights movements in a way to motivate my generation to realize that just because they may not be effected directly--we're talking about equality here.

Version 1

The original sketch as it was done before we scanned it into Illustrator and made it digital. I like this one because the flourish on the "y" has a lot of 'breathing' room and therefore is accented.
If I kept this one I would align the lower case "w" in new with the stroke of the "k" in black so that they were part of the same imaginary line. I also moved the squirl on the "G" up above the "BLACK" so it didn't look like I was dotting part of the "L" as an "i".

Version 2

This one highlights the "G" in gay.I don't really like the "L" or the "CK"'s placement over the flourishes...what do you think? I want it to feel like gay is rising up out of black, however here it looks like black is on top of Gay. I do like that "gay" is more balanced on the work "BLACK" though.

Version 3

This is the same as version 2 except it has cutouts where the two words "gay" and "BLACK" overlap. I really like this one but am worried about legibility. To me it feels like "gay" is blurring out Black, as if it is a thing of the past, and Gay is taking it's black in terms of importance. Is it illegible? or is it worth doing to draw viewers in? Remember this will be on a 8.5x11 poster. I'll post layouts later...

Comments would be appreciated. Let me know what you think.

Book Club Website

After a much needed break, I'm back in design action. I'm two weeks into my summer courses at Art Center in Pasadena where I am taking Typography 1 (with Adele Bass a legend in type) and Motion Design where I'm learning to use After Effects and the design of graphics in motion (not actual motion pictures).

In my type class I'm working on rendering some lettering for a poster campaign. We were asked to pick a controversial topic and come up with a slogan. I chose "Gay is the new Black" to promote awareness of violations of constitutional rights against homosexual Americans by comparing gay rights to the African-American civil rights movement.

For my Motion Design class I'm working on a short animation about a 'personal space'. I chose to document YRL, a library on UCLA's campus, where I spent a lot of nights studying neuroscience. I hope to post the quick time movie when I'm finished with the assignment in a couple weeks.

From the freelance world I've finished a project for the book club Belles Femmes-Belles Letteres!

www.bellesbookclub.com

It's live however, we're still adding information, such as a 'belle' rating system for the books. Check them out. As they have been together since 1991, they have read over 200 books! Get your summer read ideas here.

On the school front, I'm preparing my portfolio and attacking essays to enroll in Spring '10 programs in graphic designs. So far I'm applying to Art Center and CCA. During the break I was able to visit CCA in SF and am happy to report that my portfolio was already approved! Now I just need to make it ArtCenter perfect and write some essays.

Have a creative day!