grain edit posted a post about another poster (person) who posted about the travel posters (wall art) of daphne padden, a british illustrator and designer. in the 50's and 60's, padden created posters for Royal Blue Coach Services (a UK bus company) which make up the majority of the collection shown. the rest of padden's posters are just as whimsical.
and you can see the collection here.
we pick paper. we pick the best (or at least advise the best) number of pages, where to print, inks, varnishes, and sometimes say - "hey, you know, you should just do this online."
and considering that we have that much control over even just one little brochure - some say, designers have more influence in environmental impact than your average politician.
if you're one of those that doesn't believe it (still fuming over the whole bush vs kerry, bush vs gore, bush vs common sense debaucle?)
design can change will not only give you a better outlook or some environmental optimism - it will give you plenty of clues as how to use your design powers for the good of the earth.
you can sign the pledge, find resources and refer your clients to this site if they want green design that you just can't give to them. it might not be instant change, but it's a very well kerned step in the green direction.
so why these logo blogs, why designboom, and why suddenly three posts in one day? well - it was a search for some fine logo inspiration and google was super nice to me. or - google wanted to sabotage my productivity for the day.
nonetheless. awesomeness abounds on designboom. from designer aerobics (for designers to learn a lesson or two...) to design history articles (or three...) to interviews and of course, pretty pictures to goo and gah over... it's another bookmark for your toolbar when you need some inspiration or a kick in the pants.
here's a nice site dedicated to, wait for it...
wait for it...
...logos.
it's a blog called logo design love. the name pretty much speaks for itself.
i wonder if they have a sister site, like "logo design hate". because though design love can be pretty inspirational, i'm sure "design hate" could make you feel a lot better about yourself as a designer on those days you feel your creative is a little "not so fresh".
everyone wants to do a logo - but even though, to the world, it seems like the simplest piece of a company's visual system - it's probably the most complicated of undertakings. there's no illustrator button or key command that you can push to "create a mark that will identify the company's entire persona, stand out and last forever and look equally as good on a letterhead as it would on a website."
there are many sucky logos and many great designers that have done them. you see them all around. that's why we worship the designers that have mastered them. david airey writes a nice post on some of the best notable logo designers. not like we didn't know who they were anyway - but getting a refresher on what's really awesome can't do anything but inspire us to do better.
in no way is this new - but in most ways, it's super cool.
typetester is a site where you can play with font, leading, tracking, color, word spacing and decoration (and more), click on "get code" and get the css code for your website.
it's like a typographer's web dream.
is it gets people thinking, talking and acting. it also engages people to speak up. or in this case, design/illustrate their opinions. see more posters from artists against the war at the society of illustrators site. it's a pop-up type window to view - so my link is not a direct link. you'll have to go under "quick links" in the lower left side to view all the posters.
but hey - it's worth clicking twice to get to it.
speak up posted an article about a great find found on the obama campaign's website. i'm not going to post my views on who should be the next president, but i'm really liking the multiple-audience-identification here and the smart design. i think it'd be interesting seeing who people would vote for based on the candidate's logo. might be something to investigate.
another cool site i found this morning is the postsecret blog. post secret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. the collector of secrets, frank warren, also has a new book out called a lifetime of secrets which reveals the hidden thoughts and fears of our fellow humanity between its hard bound covers.
this is better than confession — except i'd trade 3 hail mary's for the off chance my sister finds the site and finds out her favorite shirt's been hanging in my closet for the last 5 years.
