read more: election day special

While nervously awaiting the results of this year's Presidential election, various Senate and House races plus the 15+ propositions I got the opportunity to vote for here in California, I'm exploring the New York Times election coverage. They consulted designer Todd Oldham to talk ballot design. There's a great video, too. 

"Most of us don’t think about ballot design until we’re in the voting booth and asking ourselves which oval to fill in or which box to check so that our candidates actually get our support....The confusion is understandable. In American elections, ballots are rarely designed by professional designers. And not surprisingly, form follows dysfunction."
- Ballot Design with Todd Oldham, The New York Times

recommended reading: logo life

On my bookshelf wish list is Logo Life by BIS publishers which chronicles the evolution of 100 of the most recognizable logos. Many of the logos today are  modernized and simplified version of an early logo. The Texaxo logo is great example. The "T" within a star has been part of their logo 1909. The typeface for the T has been consistent since 1963. Over the course of a few transitions, an inversion of colors and removal of surrounding text and images has lead to the recognizable logo today.

harry potter love

One reason I shared few Christmas projects is that projects I did make this season were very personal and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. For my younger sister, I made a set of Harry Potter quote posters. We are both big fans of the books (and lesser fans of the movies, though one of these quotes is actually from the movie. It's a good quote, though.)

I used the same font as the books and left the posters in black and white, to look most similiar to the books.  It's been a while since I've played around on illustrator or any Adobe CS products, but since making these I've done a few more projects that I'll be slowly sharing.

You can download the posters as pdfs here, posters are 11x17 prints. I'm sharing them freely, so feel free to use them in any non-commercial use.

Occupy Design creates visual language for the 99%

I'm on an impromptu last minute trip to DC. The minute I walked onto the familiar reddish tile of the Metro Station at National, I felt at ease. Like many of my trips after I moved elsewhere, I'm here for a semi-work reason but also spending time with friends and this time, with family. I likely won't get to post again this week, but since Occupy Oakland is weighing on my mind while I'm across the country, I wanted to share the work of Occupy Design.  Infographics and visuals can be incredibly impactful, particularly in breaking down numbers and complex comparisons.

From their website:
This is one of the first social movements in history able to produce high-quality imagery using digital graphic design tools, and distribute them instantaneously anywhere in the world using file-sharing and social media. We aim to provide a universal visual toolset for the Occupy movement which crosses language barriers and brings a strong visual identity to the movement. It’s also one of the first social movements with broad access to open data – which, if communicated correctly, makes it much more difficult for those who should be held accountable to hide from facts.

Because the movement is so diverse, the mainstream media has characterized it at various points as “directionless” and “lacking a message”. We believe that regardless of background or politics, 99% of the nation can truly agree upon the injustice demonstrated by a clear communication of facts and statistics in a well-designed way – and that bringing these facts to the street via physical infographic signs will help bolster the communication of occupations’ messaging. 

See more from Occupy Design in their slideshow:

green patriots posters

According to the editors, "the inspiration came first from WPA (Works Progress Administration) and World War II posters. During the war the United States was able to mobilize industry and its citizens with breathtaking speed. Factories were overhauled and consumption habits were transformed. Conservation (in the form of rationing) became a patriotic act. Strong, graphically compelling posters played a crucial role in the success of this campaign. In these posters, taking action was presented as vital for the good of the nation, and those who were willing to sacrifice were portrayed as dynamic American heroes. This is just what we need today." The images immediately struck me as Americana, so of course I fell in love.

I love the images created for this book, though strongly disagree with statements that seem to have no backing in reality, such as "Younger people, who are the real stakeholders given that they will inherit an environment on the verge of collapse, are weirdly apathetic, hedonistic, and cynical. Less affluent people, who are the most likely to feel the impacts of climate change—crashing economies and starvation—can’t find enough head-space for these concerns in a world overcrowded with anxieties."

It seems the authors believe this to be true because that's what they feel they've experienced, but there is little to actually show that either young people are apathetic or that those most impacted don't understand what they are faced with.

There is, however, a need for us to redefine both the struggle and threat of climate change, and to offer positive imagery for our future and appreciate that the editors "generally sought posters that convey urgency and/or optimism (in a word: strength.)"




Originally found at ReNest. Information and images at Artbook.com.

sic semper tyrannis

50 and 50 is a collective, curated projected that invited fifty designers from different states to illustrate their state's motto. A new piece is posted weekly. Below are my two home states- North Carolina, where I was born and returned to in middle school and Virginia, where I grew up and now currently reside.

[accurate for the good ol' boys currently running the state]

[reminds me of IKEA instructions, but I never knew the motto before and like it]

links: 50 and 50
Virginia Designer/ on twitter
North Carolina Designer