How Packaging Design Can Make Boring Foods Exciting

Tesco, one of England’s largest grocery stores, has realized just how important it is to put design effort into their products.

The seafood aisle in the supermarket is rather unexciting and not only because of the smell. The packages are bland! Tesco wanted to increase the sales of their Saucy Fish Co. products and decided to make the packaging way more appealing. The decision totally paid off (literally and figuratively!)

Melting Photo Albums?

Debra Folz, a RISD MFA graduate created “The Whole Story,” a simple yet artsy photo album that is sculpted to look like the book is melting into the table/desk.

Let’s face it: how many times a year do you actually go out and buy a photo album for yourself? Ten years ago, the answer may have been several times, but now, the answer is probably zero. Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. are our modern day photo albums so what’s the point of buying one? For it’s design of course!

Board Game for Designers!

Have you ever tried to explain to a family member, a friend, or even a stranger what graphic design is? It’s an easy thing to show but how do you describe it? Worry no more thanks to The Pitch: The Game of Graphic Design. The board game is in the middle of development on Kickstarter and is gradually gaining widespread support and notice from the design community. It is a great idea and of course the physical design of the game is great.

Here is a description of the concept from the game’s creator, Fatimah Kabba:

“All great design begins with one thing: a great idea. This idea is the root of every well produced, beautiful, or savvy execution.Whether it’s the representation of a brand by understanding the audience, the consideration of a books content when creating a cover design, or the basis of a political campaign that goes on to influence millions. As designers we have the ability to influence a world that is more aware of and impacted by design than it realizes.”

Famous Artists' Color Palette

British artist Arthur Buxton has done one of the most ingenious things any art lover could do: discover the top five colors used by the world’s most famous painters and arrange those colors into pie charts for further analyzation. This is a beautiful set of charts that you can order as prints from Buxton’s website.

It seems that shades of green, brown, and yellow were the most popular color among these famous artists (besides! I know what colors I’m going to be using more from now on…

Minimalistic Infographics

Every weekday Fast Co. Design posts these amazing and though-provoking infographics. A lot of their posts relate to social causes, however they do provide readers with other topics like video games, technology, movies, etc.

The infographic for today is one that shouldn’t be missed: What if the world were a village of 100 people?

Toby Ng, a graphic designer from London, has created wonderful infographics answering the above question. This clever and creative idea provides us with a new perception about the world and the people we share it with.

Olympic Torch - London 2012

*Cue Olympics Theme Song*

The 2012 London Olympic Torch has arrived! A symbol of the months leading up to the opening ceremony, the Olympic Torch is a beautiful piece of work that should get more recognition for its design. This prototype torch for the 2012 summer games was created by Edward Barber and Jay Ogersby, two industrial designers from England.

The torch features 8,000 dots that represented the 8,000 people who will help carry the torch to its new home in London.

It is a well-crafted, simple, and elegant design that I’m sure will look great no matter where it is or who holds it!

Scroll Bookshelf

The Scroll Bookshelf is the perfect product for people like me, who have a ton of books, but barely any space to keep them (I lay mine against my window sill).

Shaped very much like the Torah, the Scroll Bookshelf is stretchable which is great for a growing or shrinking book collection. The two “scrolls” also contain pockets to keep your pens, pencils, scissors, etc.

Typographic Paintings

Ryo Shimizu, a Japanese artist, has created a 15 ft. x 41 ft. typographic painting of 2,500 words covering the entire wall. Shimizu created the typeface, a mixture of Roman and Chinese letters.

He calls it CNJPUS TEXT and says his purpose was to provide viewers with the feeling of “decoding cryptograms.”

Is This Designer Predicted the Death of Print?

Plenty of people think the death of print will be inevitable. So what better way to honor traditional reading than creating a candle that reproduces the smell of the New York Times?

Created by the late Tobias Wong, the candle supposedly has the aroma of one of the world’s most popular newspapers. Kind of a clever idea, but I’m a little skeptical. I would want to see (and smell!) it in action before I buy it.

Will the iPhone Replace the DSLR?

This is the real deal people. The iPhone SLR mount. Take any Nikon or Canon lens and mount it onto your iPhone 4 using the adapter and you can capture beautiful images as if you were using a DSLR.

I wouldn’t be surprised if within the next decade, things like this will replace modern cameras. Nikon and Canon better take this seriously.

Nendo Mouse Design

Nendo’s new mouse proves it: Japan is the supreme master of making everything look adorable.

The device, called the Oppopet (“oppo” means “tail” in Japanese), has a built-in USB piece that holds the USB connector for the mouse and also acts as the mouse’s “tail.”

I bet the majority of you looking at these photos will crack a smile!

Space Shuttle Early Concepts

From the drawing board to outer space.

In honor of the space shuttle program coming to an end, I thought it would be fitting to share several photos of the original space shuttle design concept as well as some of the earliest images of the first mission.

Now I’m looking forward to seeing and reading about the new program concepts. Vacation to Mars anyone?

The Mother of All Infographics

Behold! The mother of all infographics: The Infographic of Infographics! Try saying that 5 times fast.

My favorite statistic from this one is that 85% of all infographics use sans-serif typefaces. Helvetica anyone?

Playing Cards Design

It’s funny how all regular playing cards have a similar design. Why not apply more creativity?

That’s exactly what New Zealand-based design company Dashwood did. They created a deck of cards that fused their love for design and typography. I would rather use these than my typical, boring “magic” card set.

Apple Can Now Buy the United States of America

Apple is the most profitable phone maker in the world. This may not come as a surprise to some, as it was uncovered last week that Apple now has more cash than Uncle Sam. Last quarter, Apple’s sales made up a sliver— just 5.6% —of global handset sales, across all manufacturers. And yet, it took home some 66% of all profits. Incredible.

Cats + Design = Love

Because anything that connects design and cats is amazing.

3 Innovative Uses of Social Media

In April of 2011, Porsche took their Facebook fans to a whole new level. It would be too much to literally say thank you to each fan so they decided to say thank you by placing every single fan's name on a car. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/04/porsche-puts-its-facebook-fans-names-on-a-911-gt3/1

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"Mello Yello recently relaunched its brand under the campaign “They Call Me Mello Yello,” which circles around retro kitsch and a remake of Donovan’s 1966 hit song. The brand is utilizing social media, especially Facebook, to spread its message."

http://melloyello.com/

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Johnson's Baby Canada tripled its fan base in 3 weeks by holding a baby photo contest on it's Facebook page. Fun for all!

http://www.facebook.com/johnsonsbabycanada

Design Process

The (very condensed) process of design at one of the world’s most reputable design firms: Chermayeff & Geismar.

Design keeps us alive. It saves us from dying of boredom. It makes us think and it manifests our creative side.

http://youtu.be/B6IenOAv6sQ

Art of the Menu [Design]

“Bad design screams at you. Good design is silent” (quote via @HermanMiller).

The creators of UnderConsideration and Brand New have developed another genius design-blog called “Art of the Menu” which has to do with (you guessed it!) the design of restaurant menus.

This just reinforces the idea that design can make a huge difference in our lives. Have you ever been to a restaurant that has a illegible menu because of bad design? Next time you go to a restaurant, pay attention to the design of the menu.

My theory is this: 99% of the time we’re not conscious when we’re surrounded by something we deem good design. But, our subconscious is. We are more likely to study better, sleep better, and focus better when we’re in a room that connects to our ideas of good design. Who knows? Maybe if a restaurant menu is designed in such a creative way, we’ll recommend it and go there more.

Typography Evokes a Feeling

Typography evokes a feeling. It’s important that we understand it.

http://youtu.be/eKKDL6lekmA

Iconic Logo Designers

Check out this great resource for anyone interested in history, design, and the history of design! Iconic Logo Designers features a plethora of designers who changed the world of design. From the clever symbols of Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar to the simple and memorable motion graphics of Saul Bass, this website is a great read.

I’ve come across many designers who bypass the idea of learning about the field’s history. It is so important to understand the past of graphic design. It’s the only way we can learn about the future.

Happy Birthday Coke!

125 years of sugary, carbonated goodness. In honor of Coca-Cola’s 125th birthday, designer Peter Gregson created 6 new cans all reminiscent of the Coke advertisements from the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Happy birthday Coke!

Source: The Dieline

If you’re into design, you must read this book: Universal Principles of Design. It teaches you concepts of design that have more to do with the brain and how we perceive visuals rather than mere “design how-to’s.”

There is one section of this book that is quite fascinating and is worthwhile to share. It’s the idea of biophilia: a hypothesis that suggests there is an instinctive bond between human beings and nature.

This concept raises an interesting question: does nature make us focus better? Do we feel calmer when surrounded by fauna? Do we work better in a room that has a view of trees?

Studies have shown that this is the case; we perform better when surrounded by nature. Consider this idea in design. Maybe the use of foliage and other objects from nature would yield a better response.

Discovery Channel Minimalism

Minimalism at its finest.

Annual Reports Aren't Just About the Numbers

All (or at least, most!) large companies release an annual report for their employees. It’s important that these “financially-sacred” brochures/books are easy to read and are visually-pleasing. Rob Walker of Design Observer wrote a blog post regarding annual reports. He made note of a study that claims those companies which have well-designed annual reports are viewed as more valuable in the public’s eye. You can read the full post here. Yet another reason why design matters more than ever.

Name vs. Logo

“Does the brand name overpower the shape of the mark, or vice versa?”

Source: logodesignlove.com

Nike Air MAG

If you’ve seen Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox then surely you remember those awesome Nike sneakers that automatically wrapped around Marty’s ankle and just look so damn cool? Remember thinking how awesome it would be to actually have a pair? Well, now you can!

Nike unveiled their MAG shoes in August. 1,500 were up for auction on eBay. The only thing missing from the shoes is the electronic self-fastener. Nike did gain a patent for the idea in 2009 but has not developed the technology yet.