This is a pair of magazine covers i did some time ago as part of my studies. One for New Scientist magazine, the other for DG magazines annual student design competition.

Above are some entries from fellow students of the same year, you can see more entries at the DG design network website.

Donaldson’s Jewellers located in Coughs Harbour specializes in engagement and dress rings, as part of a revamp to their business John & Cheryl recently contacted me to design a new logo and business card for them.

Previously their business card consisted of a photo of maroon silk cloth cloth with no real logo to speak of. Since John and Cheryl specialise in rings it was decided this had to feature in their new logo design.

The final logo design selected is the silhouette of 3 rings as shown above. Unfortunately the true result can’t be seen on screen, though the business card is printed in Pantone metallic gold 871 against a black background with a matte varnish for a silky, elegant look and feel. Some alternate ideas were…

What are your thoughts?

Do you feel this logo design is effective? Would you have done anything differently? Your comments are always appreciated.

In this half hour interview by Miggs B, legendary logo designer Paul Rand gives us a little insight into his philosophy on graphic design and the importance of the industry. We’re also shown a fraction of the development of some of his most iconic logo designs such as the ABC, IBM and Westinghouse marks.

Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.

Paul of course past away in late 1996, yet he still remains a strong influence in modern graphic design. Visit Pauls website and see more of his great work.

“Spec” is short for work done on a speculative basis. Work done without compensation, for the client’s speculation. Imagine these scenarios:

• You visit a restaurant and tell the waiter “I don’t know what I want, but I’ll know it when I taste it. Bring me half a dozen dishes and I’ll pay for the one I liked.”
• You take your car to the mechanic and say “my car needs 4 new tires but I only have enough money for 2, I need you to throw in the other 2.
• You ask a painter to paint your house for free, but you promise to add the fee onto the next time you need your house painted.
• on and on the list goes…

Obviously you would never ask any of the above questions, even more obvious is that the answer from any of the above service provides would be no. These kind of requests are almost exclusive to the graphic design industry for some reason, despite design being a business like any other.

Design requires time, equipment and most importantly skill and knowledge, for what reasons other than these do you approach a designer?

Remember…

You hire a builder not because he can stack bricks, but because he has the knowledge to build a structurally sound house. The same applies to design.

This is a short documentary on the widely (overly) used font comic sans by Sam and Anita over at Vimeo.

In 1995 designer Vincent Connare was shocked to see the font Times New Roman used in a cartoon speech bubble. Knowing he could design a more appropriate font, Connare turned to his comic books for inspiration, shortly thereafter Comic Sans was born.

Comic Sans spread like wildfire. Nearly 7 years after Connare created Comic Sans, the font was everywhere!

Any shes not kidding, you’ve no doubt seen Comic Sans used in just about every possible scenario. The film obviously pokes some fun at the font but is also a honest and impartial look into how bad, if at all, the font really is.

Now if your still looking to jump on the anti Comic Sans bandwagon, head over to http://www.bancomicsans.com “The source for anti-comic sans propaganda.”