Make Something Cool Everyday
If there is anyone reading who went to art school, chances are you were given some type of assignment that challenged your ability to solve one problem in as many unique ways as you could come up with. I remember a book binding teacher who gave us an overnight assignment to create a book showing [...]
Clothbound Penguin Classics
Penguin Classics has created a series of clothbound novels, designed by Illustrator Coralie Bickford-Smith. Each book in the series is a true work of art, and is bound in an elegant colored bookcloth and stamped with a one-color foil stamp of a pattern inspired by the work within. Penguin is already on it’s second series [...]
Font Hour Freebie Friday
Thanks everyone for the great Font Hour submissions! We had a lot of fun looking through them all. Results will be in on Monday! Until then, enjoy a Font Hour themed Freebie! 1024×768 (standard) 1680×1050 (widescreen)
Fine Art, Handmade Gifts & Unusual Objects
MICA’s Art Market is here! The MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) Art Market is a venue for the sale of original artwork and handcrafted pieces created by more then 250 students, faculty, staff and alumni. The event, which lasts for four days, is a perfect opportunity for holiday shoppers and helps to provide funding [...]
Nonsek Machine
Like cool t-shirts? Nonsek Machine is a fun and interactive way to create your own custom one-of-a-kind t-shirts based on art from popular artists and designers, such as Jesse Ledoux, Aesthetic Apparatus, Art Chantry, and more. Load an artist’s channel, select your shirt color, and then create your own re-mixes of their illustrations! This is [...]
1 of 1500
“1 0f 1500″ is a 10-Year retrospective book highlighting the collaboration between JDK (Jager Di Paola Kemp) Design, Higher Ground, and the Iskra Print Collective. It showcases over 120 silk-screened music posters and features comments by the designers and the bands themselves. The cover is silkscreened and hand-numbered out of 1500 copies (hence the title [...]
Michael Bierut: 5 Secrets to Problem Solving
How does the designer solve a problem? Michael Bierut of Pentagam says that he doesn’t consider himself creative but he is someone who people come to for solutions to problems. He works out these problems in his notebooks, which are filled not with paintings, or cartoons but problem notes, requirements and free-flowing ideas. After 86 notebooks [...]
Stages 09: Design for Cause
STAGES is a global art exhibition to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer. It is a partnership between Lance Armstrong and Nike, and all of the work in the show is available for purchase with proceeds directly benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation. STAGES features work by Shepard Fairey, Damien Hirst, Ed Ruscha, [...]
Freebie Friday: Fallpaper ’09
The leaves are starting to fall, and now is the time of the year for apple picking, cider, pumpkins, and cool Orange Element desktop wallpaper! Click a link below for a downloadable image of the Fallpaper ’09 desktop wallpaper: 1024×768 (best for standard) 1680×1050 (best for widescreen) And for last year’s Fallpaper, see this post. [...]
The Mobbies: Maryland’s Outstanding Blogs
Head on over to the Baltimore Sun’s website and check out The Mobbies–our blog has been nominated by The Baltimore Sun for one of Maryland’s Outstanding Blogs (Business & Technology)! Help us climb the ranks and maybe even give us your vote for Best Overall blog. The more “hits” the better! And of course, thanks [...]
Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009
If you happen to be in Chicago today, make sure to stop by the Hotel Sax and check out Aartrijk Brand Camp 2009! We designed the identity, program, promotional materials, signage and more for the event. And, our very own Aaron Moore is giving a talk on making an impact with your website through design, [...]
New Work: Seeds of Genius
Hot off the press! We just received the new company overview brochure for Seeds of Genius. The woman-owned IT solutions company, based in Columbia, MD, approached us with the goal to create an informative brochure that captured their human side. In a sea of acronyms, their name alone stands out among IT companies. But how do [...]
Preserving More Than a Mark
Happy Friday once again. This morning our good friend and talented designer, Beth Brady, passed on a link to the World Trade Center Logo Preservation Project. It is unlikely for any of us to forget that one day eight years ago, just ask the next person you see and chances are they can recount the [...]
The Maryland Film Festival : Inspired Magazine
The Maryland Film Festival has just been featured by Inspired Magazine as having one of the 33 most inspirational Twitter backgrounds (@MdFilmFestival). Thanks Inspired! Be sure to keep an eye out for all of the other materials we have designed for the Festival around town…building banners, posters, bus shelters, stickers, and yard signs have been [...]
Strathmore Paper Redesign
Strathmore Paper has just undergone a brand refresh by Pentagram and illustrator Marian Bantjes. Their task was to reinterpret Strathmore’s “thistle” symbol and apply it across all of their materials. Marian Bantjes, known for her highly-detailed calligraphic illustration style, applied her design to a pattern that appears all over Strathmore’s new paper reams. Elegant and striking [...]
Kid-tested, Designer-approved.
Keep your eye on the shelves at your local Target and other food stores–General Mills is introducing retro-themed cereal boxes! Among the re-designed cereals are favorites such as: Kix, Golden Grahams, Cheerios, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Wheaties, and more. I am a big fan of vintage food packaging, and I am really glad to see General [...]
Pentagram: Marks
Marks is Pentagram’s latest book, and is meant to be a companion to their Black Book, which was only released to Pentagram’s friends and clients. Marks features 400 logos Pentagram has designed over the years, dating back to 1962. If this is anything like the Black Book (which we were fortunate enough to win in a contest), [...]
Design Connects
I was in Dumbo, Brooklyn a few months back and saw an amazing limited edition print by Susanne Cerha of Silo Design. I recently circled back to the website and wanted to share what I found. Silo and JRVisuals have created a public interactive art project. It’s a lot of fun for type geeks and [...]
Orange Element HOW Giveaway Part 2!
UPDATE: We’ve now contacted the 5 winners of our poster contest–thanks for your support! It’s time for Part 2 of our 2009 HOW International Design Awards giveaway! This time, we’re doing things a little differently. To give more people a chance at winning a poster (shown below), all you have to do is post a comment [...]
Orange Element Receives Two HOW Awards!
UPDATE: We’ve contacted the 5 winners of our wrapping paper contest, but keep an eye on the blog for a poster giveaway in the coming days! Thanks for your support… Aaron was thumbing through How Magazine’s 2009 International Design Annual this morning, and noticed some familiar work! Two of our favorite self-promotional pieces won merit awards, [...]
I Can Read Movies!
Check out these cool retro book designs by Spacesick. Inspired by 60′s book covers, these designs are based on fictitious novelizations of classic films and movies. Some are more believable as actual books, and some are a bit unexpected–Space Jam and Ernest? Either way, the attention to detail and quality of illustration in these pieces is outstanding. [...]
Paula Scher: Serious Play
Paula Scher of Pentagram is one of the Industry’s most respected designers, and has been designing innovative identities, packaging, publications, and environmental graphics for over three decades. She has worked for everyone under the sun, including countless high-profile companies and organizations, CBS records, and non-profits. Recently, she spoke at the Maryland Institute College of Art [...]
We are the Champions
Post-Superbowl day usually leads to one topic (excluding the clothing malfunction year): COMMERCIALS. So tell us what you think. We’re waiting on your feedback–loves, hates, indifference–we’ll post the leading contender later in the week. In the meantime, here is a little Steeler logo knowledge for ya. As most of you know, Pittsburgh is known as [...]
Design Your Own Snowboards
It’s cold here today in Baltimore. And when it starts turning cold, the folks here in the shop start thinking about snowboarding. So today I wanted to share with you a snowboard maker that has a pretty cool Web site where you can download a template and literally design your own custom snowboard. With Prophet [...]
