Valentina Lucia Palladino

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myedol:

Rap Quotes by Jay Shells

This awesome project plots various locations in New York city that are mentioned by rappers in songs. Jay Shells places these street signs at the exact locations mentioned by the rapper and inadvertently creates a hip hop scavenger hunt that I’d love to take part in. I really hope these signs are never removed because it’s really interesting to know that when you stand below one of these signs, you’re standing at a point that has had a part to play in the evolution of hip hop culture. I’ve embedded a video below where Jay Shells gives more insight into the project.

Artists: | Twitter | Website | [via: Laughing Squid]

Watch:

Creative Cluster

I come across designers, studios, and firms all the time that make my jaw drop with love, lust, and envy. As someone who is a “self-taught” designer (as in, I don’t have a degree in design or art), looking at, analyzing, and admiring other people’s work has been one of the most fun and most educational aspects of teaching myself design. More often then not these creatives don’t get the attention they deserve, so I’m gathering them here with this regular roundup of educational inspiration. Enjoy!

Gabriele Wilson Design

Gabriele Wilson/ New York, NY/ graphic design

Most of Gabriele Wilson’s studio work embodies a super modern personality or a super vintage personality. The studio’s identity for Buttermilk Channel Restaurant (see Choice Work below) exudes old school charm with watercolor map illustrations and serif typography. But the rebranding of Jason shampoo products uses a pastel, welcoming color scheme and san serif typography to bring the old packaging up to speed, while staying true to the product’s original roots.

Choice Work: Buttermilk Channel Restaurant identity

Cedric Hohnstadt Illustration, LLC

Cedric Hohnstadt/ Bloomington, MN/ illustration

I just love Cedric’s playful illustration and the characters that are produced by it. I’ve always been partial to VeggieTales, and it’s interesting how he shows us his illustrations that eventually became products.

Choice Work: VeggieTales costume

Manual Creative

San Francisco, CA/ graphic design & art direction

Manual’s portfolio is as diverse as it’s client list, showing off expertise in typography, photography, and color. Besides the Choice Work that I’m in love with (our road signs are ugly and I wish these were the new ones!), I also love the identity for Loveland Aleworks, which uses custom typography to bring the brewery to life.

Choice Work: redesign of the US road signage system for Icon Magazine

Jefferson Cheng Design & Illustration

Jefferson Cheng/ San Francisco, CA/ illustration & design

Here’s a strong exmaple of modern, almost Swiss design in certain ways, and great use of color. One or two of Jefferson Cheng’s pieces break that mold, and it’s interesting to see how they do that, since the majority of his work has a distinct personality.

Choice Work: Wedding invitation

Francesco Muzzi

Florence, Italy/ graphic design

If you’ve worked for IL-Intelligence in Lifestyle’s design department, chances are I will automatically love you and envy you on so many levels. Francesco Muzzi is no exception, AND his work has been featured in Wired Italia - so the previous sentiment goes double for it. The Choice Work infographic for issue 08.09 is one of the best infographics I’ve ever seen.

Choice Work: infographics for Wired Italia

Above photos, first to last: Gabriele Wilson Design, Cedric Hohnstadt Illustration, LLC, Manual Creative, Jefferson Cheng Design & Illustration, Francesco Muzzi

Amorphous Dairy Masses Transform into Adorable, Edible Monsters

Last week I brought you Happy Pills from m Barcelona, and now I bring you another adorable m Barcelona creation—eyescream and friends. This ice cream is imported from Taiwan and looks real weird, to say the least. To brand the shop, m Barcelona decided to play with its food and call it eyescream, taking candy eyes and sticking it on the funky-looking treat. Instead of it looking like a strange mass, now it looks like a kind-of-cute-monstrous mass of something. The branding for the store takes the cute monsters and simplifies the shapes a bit, keeping the eyes. I love the pastel color scheme and the simple yet elegant typography, and I can easily see how they could expand the branding and create plush toys from the eyescream and friends monsters. Basically, if this branding/identity doesn’t make you smile (or want to try Taiwanese ice cream), you’re a killer of joy.

via Mocoloco.

city-of-vultures:

“Punk bird”

Robert Farkas (Hungary) via Curioos

Mail on Saturday—früute

Product: früute cookies
Designer: Ferroconcrete
Country: United States
Früute believes in adventurous cookies that pair interesting flavors into light, airy treats. The new packaging definitely reflects this with clear, crips storage bags with inspiring cookie sayings on them; minimalist gift cards that use the geometric shapes of the cookies as art; and clean boxes that use nature elements like sky and stone patterns to evoke a sense of airiness and natural quality. It’s upscale without being pretentious—in fact, it’s downright adorable. And that sayings on the bags are even philosophical—”If at first you don’t succeed, have a cookie.” #lifelessonsrightthere
see the full redesign at Ferroconcrete.

via The Dieline.

Mail on Saturday is a weekly post devoted to examining, dissecting, and ogling at the wonders of the packaging design world.

Happy Pills—The Meds That Make You Wish You Were An Addict

My first reaction upon seeing Happy Pills was, “What?” and my reaction once understanding what they are was, “Why don’t we have this in the US?” Developed by the Spanish design firm m Barcelona, Happy Pills is a candy store that, if nothing, gets user experience right on the nose. When you go into the store, you choose what size “prescription” you want, fill up the bottle with all the candy you want, and then they seal it with a tamper-proof cap and put the label you want on it. Apparently the candy isn’t even anything special (your usual gummies and dime-store suckers), but it’s the experience, the packaging, the process, and the sheer irony of the store that no doubt keeps attracting tourists and locals alike.

via Mocoloco.

Lovely Corporate Identities and Photoshop Advice from Noupe

Noupe recently posted a roundup for 44 corporate identities that are all visually stunning. The post also gives some Photoshop rules that can help you make identities liek those, so be sure to check it out for inspiration and tips. These are my three favorites of the bunch, enjoy!

Cape Horn yacht services: A subdued nautical that charms with its quietness. I love the sparingly used washed-out photos, the bold iconography, and the specific shade of blue they use, which almost looks like a brighter denim.

HÉROES–Encuentro nacional de jóvenes: Fun and colorful, evokes Amazon-esque exotic qualities without being alienating. I love how the designers stuck with three very distinct colors and let black and white do the rest. Wonderful, almost revolutionist/anarchist illustration.

Gelatalia: Iconic images paired with bold colors and typography. It doesn’t bother itself with being too fancy, because really all you need to know is that it’s ice cream (gelato) from Italy. Who would have thought creating a gelato brand identity would be such a no-brainer?

My article about Sound-forms.

PSFK’s article about Sound-forms.

vaguelyspecific:

Menu design for L’Epicerie by Drach P. Claude

Control Group Designs Interactive Touchscreen Kiosks for NYC Subway System

From the minds that bought us the reinvention of New York City’s payphones comes a new plan to better connection commuters and tourists with the city every day. Control Group has teamed up with NYC’s MTA to install 90 touchscreen kiosks across the city to create a beta network to deliver important transportation information, like delays, outages, directions, and maps. Of course, ads will also be screened over the kiosks, but over time new interactive content could be as well, like a game of Jeopardy you can play while waiting for your next train. Wi-Fi opens up a world of possibilities for the service, but New Yorkers and visitors will likely get the most out of the real-time transportation information. I remember my first experience with the NYC subway system, and it had been preceded by people telling me how complicated and confusing it was. I didn’t think it was as bad as everyone made it out to be, but it certainly can be a kerfuffle of confusion for people who are completely new to the city or foreigners. I have no doubt that these interactive maps will help people navigate the city immensely.

Now, I’m biased towards anything and everything NYC—I’m the first to admit it and #iaintevenmad, but it’s projects like these that make me think my bias just might be warranted. Of course, NYC has its issues like any other big metropolis does, but if I know anything about the city and its people is that we will help each other out and we like to be connected. That’s reason we can justify having these kinds of networking structures all over the city—because it doesn’t seem to be in everyone’s best interest to limit information like city directions to only those with a mobile device. Control Group partner Colin O’Donnell said it best to FastCoDesign, “NYC serves people of all abilities, physical and financial,” O’Donnell says. “Even though as much as 60% of the population has a mobile phone, it’s really not fair to have that as a requirement to navigating the city.”

via FastCoDesign.

Creative Cluster

I come across designers, studios, and firms all the time that make my jaw drop with love, lust, and envy. As someone who is a “self-taught” designer (as in, I don’t have a degree in design or art), looking at, analyzing, and admiring other people’s work has been one of the most fun and most educational aspects of teaching myself design. More often then not these creatives don’t get the attention they deserve, so I’m gathering them here with this regular roundup of educational inspiration. Enjoy!

Analogue

Leeds, United Kingdom/ graphic design

Analogue has created everything from annual reports to custom figurine artwork for toys (see the Choice Work), and all of its work has a certain amount of playfulness that keeps each project approachable. I love the use of color and bold, yet careful typography that’s usually front and center of each piece.

Choice Work: Icons for the Custom Toy Show

Salih Kucukaga Design Studio

Salih Kucukaga/ Istanbul, Turkey/ design & branding

There’s a level of iconography in all of Salih Kucukaga’s work, which is probably what drew me to it in the first place. He does a really good job of using typography and minimalism to capture the essence of brands and identities. I also love how his designs translate to so many other things, not just packaging, but automobiles, apparel, and signage.

Choice Work: Static Coffee identity and packaging

Snakebite Inc.

North Chelmsford, MA/ graphic design & packaging

Judging by name alone, you’d think Snakebite Inc. has a lot of tough-looking designs, but the exact opposite is true. It’s work is clean, friendly, and classic, and in the case of its pacakaging, it always uses the essence of the product as a main influence when executing a design.

Choice Work: packaging design for various clients

I Shot Him

San Francisco, CA/ illustration and interactive design

Not only do they take lovely, textured graphic design and translate it beautifully to animation, but they also have one of the coolest studio names ever. I Shot Him grounds most of its work in caricature-like illustration, expressive typography, and what seems to be a lot of Photoshop/Illustrator brushing effects. And that’s great, I love that because it almost makes you feel like you can reach out and touch the designs, adding another dimention to each work.

Choice Work: Mexican Drug Cartel informational graphic/animation design in collaboration with Visual.ly

Rejane Dal Bello

Rejane Dal Bello/ London/ illustration & graphic design

Dal Bello mixes her Rio de Janeiro roots with Swiss elements to product striking work. Bold shapes, simple typography, and lovely photography make her work kind of a hodge-podge of styles, but the results are fantastic.

Choice Work: visual identity proposal for 500 Year Anniversary Jheronimus Bosch

Above photos, first to last: Analogue, Salih Kucukaga Design Studio, Snakebite Inc., I Shot Him, Rejane Dal Bello

Solving Problems with Play—the Sagmeister & Walsh Way

The level of creativity and intimacy achieve in Sagmeister & Walsh projects is nearly unparalleled by any other studio or designer. In the video above, Jessica Walsh talks about her design style, the inner workings of Sagmeister & Walsh, and how much time and effort goes into just one of the studio’s projects.

via PSFK.

thisisdisplay:

This little-known cover design for the Italian magazine La Pubblicità (L’Ufficio Moderno, Rivista Mensile, Ottobre 1935-XIII) is one of Schawinsky’s most remarkable, not only for its design qualities but for its ability to reinforce his important role in disseminating modernist ideas throughout Europe and beyond. 

The son of a Polish-Jew, Xanti Schawinsky (Born Switzerland, 1904–1979) enrolled as an early student of the Bauhaus in 1924, before moving to Milan, Italy in 1933 where he collaborated with Antonio Boggeri’s newly opened Studio Boggeri, arguably the most important design studio in pre/post war Italy. Three years later, Schawinsky left for the United States where he teamed up with Josef Albers to teach at Black Mountain College.

Theatrical and expressive, this cover design explodes off the page with its exaggerated scale, experimental halftone printing, abstract shape, layering and unique color combination. The black angular, sans-serif text perfectly placed over the smiling face vibrates the page, creating both depth and motion to the design. Schawinsky pays homage to his Bauhaus roots with a photo of two youthful and energetic Bauhaus students taken by his friend and Bauhaus jazz band member T. Lux Feininger. Full of joy, this lively design is as optimistic and spontaneous as Schawinsky himself, maybe how he felt when he arrived in Italy or perhaps the idea that youth will transform modern society. This issue includes a feature article written by Schawinsky aptly titled Pubblicità funzionale.

*Bottom photo by T. Lux Feininger (1910–2011), Untitled (with Georg Hartmann and Miriam Manuckiam), 1928. (Source: Baisers Volés)

aprilmayparker:

terrysdiary:

Carmelo Anthony shot by Me for WSJ Magazine… out now!

Hi, Melo

vignellidesign:

Our update to the 1985 chart on trends and movements, bringing it into the digital era. (For Metropolis Mag)

Mail on Saturday—4yourBABY

Product: 4yourBABY bath and skin care line

Designer: Fontos Graphic Design Studio

Country: Hungary

I love how the packaging is reminiscent of those toy, wooden boxes with the geometric blocks you had to correctly place in their similarly-shaped holes. Very playful, simple, and inviting. I wouldn’t be surprised if a child wanted to play with these containers as if they were toy blocks. I also love the color scheme - each color almost has a wooden hue to it, being a little more muted and adding weight to the packaging. I sense the beginning of a new tagline, because this project made me say…

“Fuck, that’s clever.”

via We and the Color.

London Underground Parte Deux—Poster Art of the Tube

This year celebrates the 150th birthday of the London Underground, and Englishmen across all disciplines are commemorating the transportation system in special ways. Earlier this week I posted about Creative Review’s special tribute issue to the Underground, and now we have an art exhibit showing all different poster designs for the Tube over the years. The first Underground poster was commissioned in 1908, and since then the subway system has become known for the interesting art that embodies it, not to mention the clever and clean design of its map by Harry Beck. The exhibit “Poster Art 150 – London Underground’s Greatest Designs” runs from the middle of February 2013 to late October 2013, so if you’re in London it’s definitely something you don’t want to pass up.

via Visual News.

Ball Jar Rebranding Breathes New Life Into Classic Container

This wonderful Behance project shows step-by-step how one group wanted to bring the classic Ball Jars back from the dead. They are in some ways making a comeback, as the project shows, in DIY projects and canning, but the project wanted to show people how versatile the jars could be. For me, Ball Jars are elegantly shaped blank canvases. They’re very rustic and have an old-school charm about them, which makes them an easy to way to up the presentation of something, like a gift or a centerpiece, without having to spend extra time and money on something extravagant. I would argue that Ball Jars could be used in nearly any kind of decor or design aesthetic, if done the right way. They’re also functional - my friends and I have had drinks out of Ball Jars, and it’s a nice change to a regular glass. Wash them out after drinking from them, and you could use them in a totally different project - and there in lies their beauty. The rebranding is lovely, tapping into Ball Jar’s classic appeal while emphasizing its modern usage and new spontaneity with hand-drawn typography. With this new look and a little help from open-minded users, Ball Jar will be revitalized and here to stay.

Puddin’ Don’t Want You to Laugh at Him, but You Will—And He Forgives You

This little nugget of joy is Puddin’. He’s the brainchild of creative director Jake Barlow and has been around for some time. Puddin’ don’t have all of his parts, so he don’t do many things. BUT you can see all the things Puddin’ don’t and Puddin’ do, and after you do, just try telling me you didn’t smile. Or laugh hysterically. Try it, I dare you. If you’re anything like me, you’ll laugh and say “aww” at this pug and all the things he attempts (and fails) to do. And if you can’t get enough of Puddin’ online, Barlow also came out with a Puddin’ book called Puddin’ Don’t Fetch (Among Other Things) so you enjoy Puddin’ even more! Thank you, Jake Barlow, for your lovely illustrations and making an adorably sad puppy we can know and love.

See more work on Jake’s website.