Eve Group

This is a poster for the Eve Group Co., Ltd. This has a very dynamic layout because the big tree is off center and the type is on it's side. I think the quality of the illustration on the tree is very good. The red and black color scheme is nice. The designer did a great job with the negative space on this poster. I think it is advertising a sale, but I'm not sure how the tree relates to a sale. I found this in the Type Directors Club Annual 28.

Fresh Diaogue

This is a poster for the American Institute of Graphic Arts. It definitely looks like water for the letters, but I'm not sure if it is real water or computer generated water. I like this design because it has good placement, and it is creative. The small words are hard to read, but it still looks awesome. This is in the 28th TDC Annual.

Les Annees Trente

When I first saw this I thought it reminded me of early modern and art deco designs, and then as I read about it, I found out that it is a poster for a series of exhibitions and a film festival about the 1930's. That is the same time as those styles, so I think the retro idea makes it a good design. The typeface is Bifur and Revisiting Type.This image is from Cool Type 2wo.

Masquerade

This poster was in the 28th TDC Annual. It is a poster for Downtown Arts District Association. I like all of the vivid and bright colors, and the way they are grouped as warm on the bottom and cool on the top. This has really good balance, because of the mask in the center. It goes to a man on one side and a woman on the other. The way the colors/feathers intertwine is great. This poster is very eye-catching, and the designer did a good job with the hand lettering.

Metropole

This is the logo for the Metropole Restaurant. The font is an altered form of Bifur, which is a font that was designed by A.M. Cassandre. I think this is interesting because of the way the letters are made out of flat color and geometric shapes. It reminds me of the Early Modern style and Art Deco style. I found this in the Cool Type 2wo book.

Go Your Own Way

This post has four versions of a poster that encourages people to attend Tynemouth College and North Tyneside College. It tells you to "Go Your Own Way" at either college because they have over 600 courses to choose from. I really like the clever pictures on each poster, because in each one the subject matter has one subject that is different. The banana one has a peel that is dancing in front of the other bananas, and the fish one has a fish with an oxygen tank on. The designs are good because the composition is split in half, and the type has an understandable hierarchy. The colors are bright and get your attention. I found this in a book titled, Design Basics.

Bernhardt Furniture

These are two different ads for the same company to put emphasis on their furniture. Each one is a really good illustration with type that accentuates the feel of the furniture. In the top one they used a sometimes ornate serif typeface and squished it all together to create the comfortable feel of the couch. In the bottom one an Art Nouveau typeface was used because that is the style of the bench. I really like what the words say for each piece of furniture.I located these in the book Advertising.

Abraham Lincoln

I found this in a book titled Graphic Design That Works. When I came across this design it immediately looked familiar. It is a promotional brochure for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Foundation. I have actually been to the museum, which is in Springfield, twice. I am obsessed with the A.Lincoln signature that the designers use everywhere. This brochure was sent out before the building of the library and museum to try and raise money to build it. What is interesting to me is that the design elements in this are also used in everything else they do. This surprises me because they had to plan all this out before they even built the facility.
P.S. If you have not been to this museum, I highly recommend you go because it is a great experience.

Lancome

This is an advertisement for lancome mascara. I think it is an amazingly clever design. The bar code is lifting off at the end just like your eyelashes would if you used this mascara. When I first saw it I did not see that it was a bar code, I just saw it as lashes. This has a very balanced composition because the main focus is the center and the logo and the mascara tube are opposite each other. I found this in a graphic design book called, Advertising.

3M Logo

I chose to post this evolution of the 3M logo because it is graphic design, yet it shows the history behind it. It is interesting to look at how the logo has changed over time, and to also associate it with the graphic styles of that time. The current logo is the red 3M. I am surprised to find out that the logo has not changed since 1977. That's 32 years. The designer did a great job if this logo has lasted that long with people recognizing it all the time. I really like how simplified it is, compared to the first one in 1906. I found this in a book, Graphic Design That Works. Also, if you click on each image you can see the full size version and see the details.

Birthday Party Invites

These 3 images are invitations to the 38th, 39th, and 40th birthday parties of Steven R. Gilmore, who actually is the designer of them. Each design has the same information, yet each design is different. I really like the different color schemes for each invite, and I like how there is a different theme for each one. The "SRG" in the middle one is a custom lettering that looks like a normal letter at the bottom, but has curvy details in the top half, which is very unique. I found this in a book called, Cool Type 2wo.

Learjet NBAA Invitation

This invitation design was inspired by the architecture of the Art deco style. it has the vertical lines and also the cut-outs to make it emphasize height. I like this piece because it has the Art deco feel to it but it wasn't made back then. I located this in The Art of Design.

RayGun

In the book, Cool Type 2wo, I located this image of Ray Gun stationary. The typeface is Helvetica. It has a envelope, letterhead, and notepad pictured. My favorite part of the design is how it says the actual word of what it is at the top of the jumbled words, like 'letterhead'. Also the jumbled words have a purpose because they say the address and things that are important.

Domus

These books are titled Domus 1928-1999 vol. I-XII. Domus is an influential architecture and design journal that identifies the style of certain times, like art deco, pop, and late modern. This image is a designer's reproduction of the original Domus.

I think the design is retro because each book cover is designed to look like art from that time but the actual design was made only a couple years ago. I was attracted to this because of all the bright colors, and how each spine lines up to showcase the metalic 'Domus' as if it were a puzzle. This was found in the Graphis Design Annual 2008 on pages 30, 31.

Kunstler Helfen Kunstlern

This poster is about people helping people, so the designer has lifesavers coming off the ship. This design was inspired by one of A.M. Cassandre's designs. This is an updated look of that design because it has clean, contemporary lines. I was interested in this piece because of the color scheme. This was in The Art of Design.

Boudin Bakery

This is a poster for a bakery that has been around for 150 years. It has a Victorian style to it because of the symmetry and cloth banners. The part that caught my eye is the wheat because of the detail and the placement. This was found in The Art of Design.

Dallas Society of Visual communications

This is a promotional poster for their national student show and conference. I think it is neat because the roots of the tree are the various tools artists need to do their work (like a computer mouse). I found this in PRINT magazine's Dec. 08 issue. I believe it was designed recently, so the style is probably contemporary or digital.

San Francisco Boys Chorus

This is a poster for a chorus. The gradation is what attracted me to this piece. It has a vibrant color scheme and curvy lines. This has an airbrush look to it, which reminds me of A.M. Cassandre. I found this in The Art of Design.

Providence Homes Identity

This is stationary for a small company that manges the construction of custom-made, multi-million-dollar estates. The designer was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright. It has a minimalist quality to it. The typeface was slightly altered for a more custom feel. I really like the way it all has a centered alignment. It looks clean and sophisticated. This design was in The Art of Design.