Favorite Website of the Month

This is gonna be a quick post. I'm constantly searching through the inter webs for the next badass design website. Below is my favorite website pick of the month.

ART OF MENU

http://www.underconsideration.com/artofthemenu/

This website is bursting with layout/typography ideas on many different formats of menus. My only question I have after looking over all of these menus is "How did those lucky bastards end up with such little text to deal with? Did they beg the owner to shorten their menu?" Maybe these designers don't take Cheesecake Factory style menus like some sadistic designers do.

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BONUS SITE!

Hand Lettering by Sean Wes

http://seanwes.com

Talk about a beast with the micron. Sean McCabe is the envy of every t-shirt and logo designer. He hand draws his text then manipulates it so well in the digital realm with such precision you won't believe he drew it by hand.

Planet Fitness's New "Gymtimidation" Comercials

I'm always a fan of companies that try to differentiate themselves from whats already on the market, but after browsing Youtube and coming across Planet Fitness's new commercials I wasn't impressed. Planet Fitness is a gym infamous for having a "judgement-free zone" and a lunk alarm that goes off if you grunt or drop weights.

In an attempt to kick off 2013 new years resolutions, Planet Fitness has came out with a collection of attention grabbing ads of "ex-gym members" who openly hate being around people who work out regularly and can't help but show strangers their bodies in the locker room. Each ad is carrying the slogan "No Gymtimidation".

Here is the ad below. Give it a watch and give your feedback in the comments:

These commercials did not make me feel any more motivated to work out at Planet Fitness by essentially making fun of people who work out at gyms regularly. Isn't that the type of people you want to attract to a gym? Regulars? I suppose Planet Fitness is looking for the target audience of  temporary gym members.  People who are only going to work out for 1-3 months and attracted to the cheap $10/month membership. They even serve free pizza the first Monday of every month, they also have a bagel day on Tuesdays, and hand out tootsie rolls regularly at the gym. They are targeting an audience that desires to be sexy/healthy, but are secretly jealous of said people and paint little fantasies in their heads of these gym regulars being pricks.

Sounds like they are preying upon the insecurities of gym-wannabes in the ad choices and pampering them with the comfort foods to keep them coming back for more. Effective, but lame.


I'm not Gymtimidated...

Felicia Santos

Seasonally Updating a Facebook Fanpage

I can't believe its been since March 2012 that I've updated this blog. I feel as if I've failed my hoards of loyal followers. Or maybe thats how I'd like to imagine it, so that I'll continue writing on this blog. 

Having not touched this blog in months, I was surprised to see that I somehow amassed 2,700 views. Obviously some people care to check my work out and that makes me feel as if I should put in the time to add more of my pieces/graphic tips to this blog. Without further a due here are some of my latest works: 

Facebook Winter Imagery Update for Essencia Spa

Above you can see that I've made the Facebook fanpage for Essencia Salon Spa & Boutique. To give the page a holiday atmosphere, I gave every element a red tone. If you are a business owner I would suggest making this changes quarterly to keep your page looking fresh and most importantly alive!

Seasonal Update Checklist

1. Profile Picture: Give the profile picture seasonal elements like snowflakes, leaves, or flowers. Try to use a color that you can use in all elements of the Facebook header. 




2. Tabs: Be sure to give those tabs a seasonal touch as well. I personally like to use some type of design element that goes across every block like a ribbon (in this case its the patterned background)

3. Cover Photo: This is a perfect opportunity to show off your products/services through  the season. Don't have the right tools/money to create and customized cover photo? I'd suggest finding a high resolution stock photo off a website royalty-free stock photography site like istockphoto.com or shutterstock.com. Be sure to use keywords like "winter"and "hair".

Bonus! Changing your cover photo will appear higher on your customer's Facebook feeds, thats a great opportunity to show latest product, event, or service images.

Absolut Greyhound Commercial

TBWA/Chiat/Day has created a new commercial for their Absolut Voldka by teaming up with the electric-house band called Swedish House Mafia. Never have I seen a commercial that was so intense that I wanted to see more of it. This music video is suspenseful, so only watch if you've got 3 minutes to get Absolut-ly taken away!








Credits
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day
CCO: Mark Figliulo
Client: Absolut
Global Creative Director: Sue Anderson
Creative Director: Hoj Jomehri
Art Director: Hoj Jomehri; Jin Park
Writer: Sue Anderson
Head Of Production: Robert Valdes
Senior Producer: Jennifer McKenzie
Producer: Nalina Baratz
Prod. Co.: RSA
Director: Carl Erik Rinsch
Exec. Producer: Marjie Abrahams
Line Producer: Betsy Blakemore
DOP: Claudio Miranda
Production Design: Paul Martin
1st Assistant Director: Michael Salven
Editorial: Lost Planet
Editor: Bruce Herrman
Exec. Producer: Krystn Wagenberg
Assistant Editor: Eli Beck-Gifford
Assistant Editor: Jacks Genaga
Assistant Editor: Al Lacorazza
Producer: Marcia Wigley
EFX: Home Studio
Telecine: CO3
Audio Mix: Heard City; Philip Loeb
Sound Design: Richard Devine

Source: http://www.thecomplexmedia.com/blog

Self Portrait

Created in Photoshop CS5
Tablet: Wacom Intuos4

Sharing Icons

Above are some sharing icons I created a couple of years ago for my own personal purposes and for different company websites. Its always best to try to personalize icons, instead of picking the generic icons provided by search engines.

Digital Inspiration Library

I recommend that every artist set up a place to put there ideas/inspiration. It can be a tack board, pasting up pictures in a sketch book, or a digital library. I personally don't like a heaping mess of images on my desktop, but if being in a swamp of images works for you, by all means, keep at it. I chose a digital library because of how easy it is to access at all times. Website of choice was tumblr.com.

Tumblr is a great tool to lay out your images in a beautiful way. You can also add captions and links to the sources (makes it easier to find in the future). You can also upload video, audio, or just plain quotes.

Here is my Tumblr page where I keep all of my sources of constant inspiration.
http://citrusgirl.tumblr.com/

How to Develop Your Visual Library

Here is a great video I found that will be helpful for all types of designers. Feng Zhu from FZD School of Design talks about how a student can build up their "Visual Library", so when it comes time to draw they have the most potential resources.

Finding inspiration in everyday objects

There is one key rule that every artist should recognize. There is no such thing as a good color only good color relationships. So when I'm out and about and I see something that catches my eyes I try to memorize the colors because they demand my attention. Eventually, I have this big beautiful collection of color palettes to call upon for use in later projects.

Places to look for color relationships:

1. Nature: Nature can have some of the most beautiful relationships, but be aware that its not only the plants color that is beautiful, but what surrounds the plant as well.

2.Everyday Objects: This is a little more difficult. Not everything that was created by man has beautiful/appropriate color relationships. I would take examples from things you found striking. Something that caught you attention for an extended period of time.

3. Palettes Online: There are many websites that have palettes available for use for any user. Kuler.adobe.com is a website I would recommend because of the flexibility of the search engine. You get to see what the world imagines when they picture words like "macaroni" or "jealousy". These types of applications help a graphic designer get in touch with people and how they relate color to their reality.

Stocking up on Papers

I drove down to Woburn last Thursday, hunting for one specific type of paper I needed for one of my projects for a client. My trip was well worth the drive. While at the Ris Paper Company sampling department, they gave me more than what I was looking for. They gave me the pinacles of their collection. Some of the most beautiful paper samples i've seen, along with beautiful die cuts, metallic foils, special folding, and so many other goodies.

It was so inspiring to just touch the paper and see the potential that it has.

I would recommend that every graphic designer head out to their local Paper Distributor to see what available. Even if they can't ever see them using paper that costs $2 a sheet... go out and see whats out there!

Above was the paper I was hunting for its called Spekletone by the French Paper Co.
I found a couple others as well like Environment Papers from Neenah Papers, but the French Paper Co. was the closest.


On another note, unless you are planning on printing for a large project don't go and try to find smaller than 250 sheets for any of these companies. Most of these specialty papers will only distribute to retailers and they won't brake their 250 count cartons.

So after hours and hours of research, I finally discovered a distributor that does break cartons and provides smaller quantities of specialty papers. The company is called Glodan and their website is http://www.paperpurchase.com/Glodan2/.

Be warned though, if you are buying smaller than 100 sheets of paper you may be charged about $8.

Wendy Bates Front Demo

This was one of my potential designs for my client's handout for her private massage business.

Wendy Bates Massage Menu

One of my clients wanted to create a simple handout for her massage therapy business. I decided to print it on a speckled paper. I think it looks almost like a recycled paper.

I felt like the bamboo was a nice touch because bamboo has a very organic and calming feel when you are in its presence. My client also practices martial arts and Tai Chi; she appreciates the Asian decor.

Essencia: Summer Beauty Blast Flyer

Essencia: Front, Back, and Employee Business Card

Front of card

Back of Card

Employee Business Card

Essencia Prom Flyer

Essencia Spa wanted me to create a flyer for some special prom goers. Overall I like the simplicity of it, but I think in the future I'm going to experiment with more textures and eccentric backgrounds.

Simple Flash Photo Gallery

I created this flash photo gallery from some shots that I took at Essencia Spa and Salon in Amesbury, MA. It can be seen here

Enjoy!

Mother's Day Essencia Flyer

Its almost mother's day and everyone should take their mother out somewhere special.

No need to think anymore. I have the solution for you! Essencia will be offering two pampering packages at a major discount.

Call in and reserve you spot today!
Essencia Spa and Salon
(978)388-4772

Polarity Therapy Business Cards (IN PROGRESS)

Card samples created for Equilibrium Healing Arts. I played with the pen tool for the first time creating the background for the first card. I repeated and flipping a shape. Its amazing what can be done with making a simple squiggly line.

Old Logo Designs

Here are some really old logo designs I dug up from maybe 4-5 years ago. It was for a company called Total Technology. They still look pretty decent and I may some day use them again for another project.

Taste of Essencia Flyer

Stand up flyer for Essencia Spa and Salon
Played around with font characteristics to draw attention in a circular direction.