Winter Wine Wedding – Invite Inspiration

My last blog was about the colour palette for Sarah’s wedding, which I hadn’t known had given her a mini bride heart attack when I said the colours would define the rest of the wedding…whoops! Sorry Sarah! But it all worked out, we have a colour palette and now it’s time for something to be drawn in those colours.

We first turned our attention to some invites the Bride and Groom had seen online and were attracted to. It was my job to pull out of them what they actually liked about each invite. “I dunno, it’s just nice” doesn’t cut it for me–Nor would I settle for the word “pretty”.

I love how the text block is offset to one side, the spouses to be loved that it was this was a ski pass themed invite without being too over the top with the theme. They were also attracted to the typography of the date.

These three were selected for their fun cursive typefaces, nothing over the top and illegible, just nice and curvy!

This beautiful wedding set was chosen for the shared love of purple, as well as the use of the wine glass stain.

And finally, if I wasn’t around I think the bride and groom would be totally happy with this wedding set. The illustration style, type set into a defined block and simple colour palette work wonderful together–and it doesn’t hurt it’s a mountain theme as well! Now my challenge is to come up with something that will blow this one out of the water–or off the mountain!

Winter Wine Wedding – Colours

My best friend is getting married in Sun Peaks next year and we’re busy racking our minds trying to come up with a way to combine her wine theme with the mountain. A wine theme–now that’s my kind of wedding! Even better I get paid in wine to design her invites!

So the big question is how to design an invite that has snow, mountains, and wine elements that is cohesive. Ice wine, frozen grapes, après ski; these are the images that came to mind. So let’s start with a colour scheme. The bride is set on a dark purple for the bridesmaids’ dresses so that’s the main colour. Now for some colours that will bring the winter wine theme together with the purple. To help inspire some frozen colour ideas I found a great ice wine picture and pulled some cool colours from there. The result is a winter colour palette that has wine coloured undertones and a champagne colour that was taken from the sash on the bride’s gown.

Now with the hard part figured out we turn to the actual invites. Hmmmm, on second thought maybe the colour scheme was the easy part…

Loving the Baby Bump

Friends of mine just had a baby boy so I’ve been scouring my new favourite website Pinterest for DIY baby shower gifts. Following this cute Ready To Pop Picture I was taken to the Bump Smitten Blog of baby shower inspirations. What’s better than a baby shower? A themed baby shower! And while there are many themes, this Milkaholic party really appealed to my graphic designer side. Not only is it totally DIY but there is typography and packaging involved! So what’s better than a themed baby shower? A themed baby shower with amazing signage, typography, and packaging!

I am always drawn to mixed types, and the typeface of the milk party “logo” is incorporated well in other areas along with some cursive.

The milk theme is represented a few times with the cow print but is also present in a newer and less country way with the polka dots and even stripes. The black and while lends itself well to either sex, the blue could easily be pink or even yellow or green if you didn’t know the sex yet.

Having some fun by playing with the notions of the ever-present alcohol at parties is tastefully done at this party where the mom (and maybe some other young party guests) would definitely not be drinking.

Find other great baby shower themes at http://www.bumpsmitten.com/.

 

The Bitter Chocolatier

What can I say about Miguel Molina a recent grad from Capilano University in Vancouver, amazingly clean and simple packaging with clever copy to boot! I love mixing script type with sans serif text to add some texture, but have always thought mixing with serif would be too much. I have been proven wrong here, this mixture of types is very classy. Keeping the rest of the design simple to enhance the look of the type was a great choice, I’m very partial to white space if it is used correctly.

The container itself is attractive with the clear glass revealing the goodies inside as well as large cork stoppers for added texture.

Echoing the label shape inside the label is a great way to strengthen the concept and keep everything uniform.

And then there’s the sassy “Bitter Stories”. What an appropriate medium to place the stories with, aren’t you going to wish this was a real product next time  you need a chocolate pick-me-up? I know I am…

The Cheeky dot Com

I read a controversial article in the paper today and had to do some investigating myself. Two cheeky Vancouver men have caused an uproar over their suitcase stickers. Designed to bring a smile and help travellers find their suitcase on the baggage carousel, these stickers and anyone who uses them could be prosecuted with “the full force of the law” for “violating Section 11 of the Canadian Aviation Security Regulations”.

{If you are easily offended, stop reading}

Ok so lets take a step back and explain what the stickers depict; torn luggage revealing packages of cocaine, wads of US money, sex toys, and a bound flight attendent. While I find these stickers funny, I do see their offensive nature. However, banning offensice nature from airports is a bit big-brother to me. I see rude bumper stickers all the time and they’re not being pulled over becuase I might have a child in my backseat who could see it. T-shirts, posters, bumper stickers, music–they can all be rude and offensive to some poeople but that doesn’t mean the intent of them is anything other than amusement.

If I have a T-shirt saying “crack is for plumbers” should I be searched at the airport for falsely declaring I am carrying an illegal substance? Do I now make the airline unsafe for other passengers? Do you really think an actual smuggler or terrorist is going to advertise themselves like that?

And yes, I think the stickers are funny but I also think they are offensive. So of the best jokes you hate to laugh at right? I wouldn’t put the stickers on my luggage but I don’t think if you do you should be treated any differently.

Very cheeky, and very funny here are a few more  ideas from Colin Hart that mock convention and challenge pointlessness.

Famous Marks to mark your pages:

Mr Potato Head’s unfortunate brother, Mr Baked Potato Head who was actually wrapped in tin foil and baked at 400 degrees for 40 minutes:

Rocking Chair Cushions:

To see more cheekiness, check out www.thecheeky.com

Playland Lets it Out

Playland has always had great advertising thanks to Rethink Canada, a local Vancouver Design Firm.

I really like the simplicity in this year’s Let It Out campaign. Weather it’s a small leak or a bellowing horn, these faces are screaming for Playland. I first noticed them on the skytrain and they really jumped out at me because there is so much going on at each skytrain station that it’s hard to focus. All the people, colours, movement. The black figure on a solid coloured background really grabbed my attention and I tried to pay attention at each station to see the whole campaign.

The 2009 ads used the organs of the rider in everyday objects that mimicked how your insides felt after a Playland ride. I like the concept but the muted colours while consistent with feeling motion sick, don’t convey the fun part of the ride. Brightly coloured backgrounds would have said “Ya, you might get sick, but you’ll have a lot of fun doing it!”

The 2007 ads were cute and creepy at the same time. Fun and stomach losing–just like some of the playland rides. The cute stuffies that you can win posed in front of the iconic Playland rides with their guts spilled in front of them get the point across while saving the viewers lunch-spoiling until they get there.

The turtle looks a bit off. The rest of the stuffies look like they had a good time before losing it, the turtle just looks sad. It might be the lack of tongue sticking out to make it playful, but I think it’s just the way his eyes are.

The 2006 ads were the most creative. Taking everyday objects that mimic the feeling that one has while on the rides. I think the boomerang and the slingshot are cop outs, they aren’t exactly everyday objects and they already have that sense of a ride or a game in them naturally. The egg beaters and the fire alarm however, have a great Playland feeling to them but were never looked at as fun or exhilarating before.

In 2002 the Playland ads stood out because of their lack of colour. This was a great concept, you don’t need colour to recognize the Playland rides but then you notice this little blue icon. Clever. And as always, funny and gross.

Check out more of Rethink Canada’s great ads at www.rethinkcanada.com

Gorgeous!

This is possibly the most beautiful business card I have seen. The hand rendered type designed by Jessica Hische is all connected with curls and swirls that are so light they add but don’t distract from the beauty of the letters themselves. The vibrant yellow really stands out and grabs your attention as well. Love Love Love!

And of course the photos are a great way to showcase not only the graphic design work but the photography the cards are advertising as well.

Kate’s website is under construction but check out her blog for amazing wedding photography and candids. I love how casual the photos seems all while the couples are oozing romance. http://www.katemurphyphotography.com/blog/

Check out Jessica’s website too at http://jessicahische.com for some really great typography.

Logo Test

During my research of famous circle logos I discover a logo test for freelance graphic designers. I’m ashamed to say that I only knew 4 easily. After a lot of thinking a got a few more but I thought I’d be better than that. Can you do better?

After accidentally finding this logo test I searched out and found a whole bunch of different branding tests. I started doing better once I got into the “logo mindset”! I also found it interesting that some letters I knew what kind of business they were in but didn’t know the company name or I knew I knew that one letter from somewhere but it just wasn’t coming off the tip of my tongue!

P.S. The answers are in comment form at http://robcubbon.com/freelance-graphic-designers-picture-quiz-4-%E2%80%93-spot-the-logo

Restricting Circles

I was told a story today about how putting a circle around a logo is the worst thing that could happen to a logo. The reasoning told to me was that a circle was limiting; restricting. restricting the growth of the company and the people in it, restricting thoughts, actions, and even time as a circle can be seen as repeating itself. This seemed to make sense to me for a while so I wanted to google it.

The first thing I found was about a million circle logos on a google image search. So then I thought, was is the meaning of a circle? And while there are some negative meanings including under achieving, being unfocused, or running in circles most meanings were more positive. Circles can mean perfection, infinity, completion, wholeness, unity, life, and the sun. A circle can also represent the womb, the goddess and the feminine power. These last three meanings are very interesting to me because of the large amount of companies that are represented by a circular logo. This is especially interesting if the companies have been around for a long time. Now there’s nothing wrong with girl power but I wonder if the “old boy’s network” that used to run the business world knew they were branding themselves that way.

Whatever the reason people use circles in their logos they seem to be everywhere, representing every kind of company.

The Best Worst Business Cards

I have a business card collection. Everytime I go anywhere I grab one, even if I just ran into the store to use their bathroom I have to pick up a card. I’m not exactly sure why. I like to critique them, mock them, and pin the original ones up above my computer. Mostly they sit in a drawer in my desk specifically reserved for business cards waiting until I decide what I’m going to do with them.

This past week I hit the Business Card Jackpot! I was part of a crew that drove around industrial parks handing out invites to a Grand Opening. We traded invitational postcards for business cards to be entered in a draw for all sorts of goodies.

We got all different sorts of business cards as most people were eager to hand them over for a chance to win a trip to Vegas.  Some were too eager, as in here is a business card for every employee in the company. Like I need 17 business cards for one company. Others couldn’t find or just didn’t have business cards and had other ways to give us their company info so that they got in the draw. Some people gave us flyer and brochures with their info and some people were more creative…

If you can’t tell, this one was a sticky note with a company name and address stamped on.

This guy said his business cards were just printing and then proceeded to use the stinkiest marker to write this business card up. This “card” stunk up our vehicle for the next 1/2 hour until it diluted a bit.

Some people did have actual business card but maybe they were older- so they had cost-effective ways to change the info or add some extra info to a business card.

The front of that last business card was average. The back however, had this mission statement stamped onto it. Hhmmm last minute add on?

At least that set of business cards was in good condition. Ok yes, there were scribbles and stamps but the cards were newish. But this next one has no excuse…

Dirty edges, dog-eared and crinkled. Thanks for the card bud.

Then we’ve got some pet peeves.

Photography on a business card. Even if you are a photographer there is no reason to squish a photo onto a 2″ x 3.5″ piece of paper. That’s what websites are for.

Maps. Please refer to note above about pictures on a small surface. Again: That’s what the internet is for. You can google map the address that was on the front, or better yet punch it into your GPS.

Now they weren’t all bad. A lot of them were average or even had nice typography. They weren’t notable, but they served their purpose. There were however, 3 cards of note. 3 whole cards out of 200+.

It’s definitely the simplicity that attracts me, but I also enjoyed the materials they were printed on and the embossing. Plus, a vertical orientation is usually more engaging than a horizontal one.

The embossing on this card was so perfect it actually looked like a think square was glued onto the front of the card.