You know I’m falling over these Issey Miyake Pleats Please sushi ads:
I think the images (and the word mark) all speak for themselves – simple and well executed. Creative by Taku Satoh Design Office.
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From the category archives:
Design
Yay! Progress feels awesome. Emma and and I have finally gotten around to making some decisions on a colour palette. The new CFS colours are: purple, orange, fuschia, green, limoncello and blue!
These are the pastels we talked about earlier – fresh summery colours. We’re retaining the orange I’ve used in every CFS ‘design’ so far.
This is where the word mark and the signature triangle pattern is at now:
The pattern started off as very clean, but over time has become quite distressed – reminding me of screen-printed canvas.
As you can see, we’re developing a series of icons to go on the regular content – so far we have a ‘Photographic Evidence’, a ‘CFS Loves’ and one for all the travels I will be making (hah!), – that’s the icon with the wee sailboat. I’m still trying to come up with a few other symbols – for the occasional Dress Codes and guest contributors – any ideas?
SITE LAYOUT
This is the structure we’re currently playing around with. There are so many questions to answer! What are the essential elements of a blog, how do you navigate, width of sidebars… wait, how many sidebars?
Which brings us to the first (very messy) draft:
Everything is still being tweaked – from the typography to headers and footers; but thanks to Em’s hard work, something wonderful is starting to take shape….
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Oh hell yeah. Transforming 2GB USB drives – choose from Tigatron or Ravage. Bask in the awesomeness:
Available from the Big Bad Toy Store [via Pulp]
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While I’ve been in Melbourne stalking the streets for vintage and eating like spoiled child (mm, mini cupcakes for dinner); darling Emma has been curled up in front of her laptop, slaving over a hot design. This is where we get into the creative part!
I’ve always joked that an alternative name for CFS could be “coolshitamberlikes.com”. So as core part of the Code For Something identity, Emma is developing a wordmark – we feel that creating a logo with a more pictorial element could tie the site to one particular direction in in the future (and y’know we like all sorts of rad stuff).
A wordmark is a type of logo, a ‘text only/typographic treatment of the brand name used for simple and memorable identification.
PLAYING
After our initial boards and discussion, Emma came back to me with a design exploration:
I liked the way the letters linked up, and the softness of the big curves. There were a few things that weren’t gelling with me straight away, but I had to remember these were just rough drafts! “Normally, it’s unusual to show work half done” says Emma, “But we are collaborators, so I feel it best to work together.”
DEVELOPING
Developing the bits I loved further, Emma wanted to make the letterforms a) more aesthetically pleasing and b) ownable!
“With this one I’m working on the geometric edge, to work with the to-be-designed patterning. It is quite rigid but the pastel colours will soften it!”
REFINING
After a little more work, this is a sneaky peek of where the wordmark is right now (draft only, insists the perfectionist designer!):
I loooooove it, don’t you? The first time I saw it I squealed.
NEXT STEPS
From here, Emma will tighten up the typography until she’s 110% happy; then develop a few extensions of this mark. For example, how will CFS Loves be executed? She’ll also get her hands dirty with a colour palette (she has a good idea of what she wants to use, but will define further) and a signature pattern. While there is a lot of work to do, it’s starting to feel real, and I’m really energised about the site.
If you have any burning questions about this project or design in general, please fire away! We’ve both been immersed in design for more than 5 years and love to nerdily natter away about it.
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To be honest, while I’ve been writing Code For Something for a over a year now, my focus has been purely on content. It’s a very uninspiring design history, and I’ve put little effort into it.
That’s where the lovely Emma comes in! We are working via email, having face to face discussions and participating in the occasional bout of shoe shopping.
My brief: to develop an identity for Code For Something (both for the web and is flexible enough to fit with other projects in the future) that is distinctive, feels cool and works with the content. Layout options will also be explored.
THE BACKGROUND
We kicked the project off by having a look at Code For Something’s previous and current incarnations:
Left. CFS v1.5 – veryplaintxt theme with a little bit of flair injected through the repetition of the button device.
Right. CFS v2.0 – Thesis theme. The header features hand written type, while the rest of the site is mostly text, set in Georgia.
Emma reviewed the current look and feel of my site, commenting: “Somehow the type doesn’t quite fit the content you are attracted to and therefore have images of on your page.” She said it felt disconnected, but on the bright side, it was an opportunity to vamp it up once more - “One can never have enough makeovers!”
DEVELOPING A DIRECTION
To start with, Emma sent me a wee task:
“Compile a moodboard: of your key images online + what you like + anything random you are attracted to. Then I’ll have a crystal clear idea of your aesthetic and I can whip up something tasty!”
A moodboard is a collection of imagery that designers use as inspiration before starting design work. A moodboard can include: images of designs we like, photographs of similar products, packaging examples, illustrations, colours, textures and descriptive words.
I got to work and eventually sent Emma a page jammed with shiny pretty things I’d picked up trawling around the internet:
Little did I know there was some sense to be made of my madness! From my board Emma deduced that I liked:
- Grids and type: Germanic, sanserif, strong and concise.
- Colours: Wide range, fresh, aqua-turquoise-pink-blue-purple-oranges. Never primary colours, and never full strength. Think pastels who’ve seen a little sun.
- Overall: Functional, with little moments of fun. A look that lets the content shine.
(As a little bit of entertainment, and because I really want this identity to be a reflection of my personal style, we cross-referenced these conclusions with the outfit I was wearing. My favourite Crystal Castles t-shirt, violet Uniqlo skinny jeans, safari ankle boots; accessorised with white Ray Ban specs and a grey scarf printed with an over sized hounds tooth pattern. It’s reality – I really do like hard geometric edges with soft colours.)
REVERSE BRIEF
Based on the information at hand and moodboard, Emma sent me back 3 pages with comments as a reverse brief.
A reverse brief comes from your design partner, and can take the form of a written statement, a moodboard or rough sketches, to confirm the design direction and offer initial thoughts on the design problem.
Page 1. Samples of cool geometric patterns. Could become little sign-off motifs, house headings, create a header etc.
Page 2. “I think to contrast the sanserif type that would be predominant, something really considered would work for the logo. I love the ‘g’. We could create a CFS emblem using those 3 letters, as well as an extended Code For Something.”
Page 3. Colour examples, as mentioned above. Plus cool gradients.
These boards were spot on, and I completely agreed with Emma’s emblem suggestion. I also really liked the flexible idea of geometric shapes – they could extend to web elements such as favicons, dividers and sign offs. What a champ!
NEXT STEPS
Phew. After all that important up front stuff, Emma is heading off into her bat cave for a bit to make some magic happen – and develop a colour palette. She will then show me the results of her alchemy for feedback – I can’t wait to see it! Another thing I’m looking forward to in the near future: Emma will be sharing some design tips. Hurrah!
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Currently I’m working with a designer to remodel this blog from top to toe – which is thrilling step to take in a little blog’s life.
Why work with a designer? To put it simply, they make things not only look better (whether that’s more professional, fresher or friendlier) – but they make things work better. Logically, if things both look and work better, you’ll be able to deliver your message even more clearly… and that’s the aim of the game!
Of course, it can be a scary prospect to work with a designer if you don’t know the various stages or aren’t too sure of the lingo. While I work with designers every day (they’re a beautiful breed) – I realise many people haven’t had the same joy.
That’s why over the next few weeks I’ll be taking this opportunity to take you step by step through the design process and give you an insight as to what it’s like to work with a graphic designer – from a client’s point of view.
MEET THE DESIGNER
I’ll be working with my friend, and frequent collaborator, Emma Kaniuk. She has a particularly genius approach to typography, publication design and small identities.
Aside from being an awesome designer, Emma is an accomplished foodie and frequent globetrotter!
Stay tuned as we take this beast on and give it a fresh new look.
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Here’s some more sweet Korean stationery for you all to lust over. Millimeter/Milligram aka MM-MG makes cards, card holders, bags, pen and other lifestyle accessories, all with quirky, sunny messages.
There are a lot of products to choose from on the site (and ooh yes, they ship internationally, but I managed to narrow it down to a few favourites:
- Sticker sets – salp them on your laptop, your notebooks, your nose… the colour wheels are awesome!
- Matryoshka cards – write a darling note – they’re for all occasions, including Christmas.
- Business card holders – a smart secretary in your pocket? Well okay then – as long as it’s got a happy cup and a sun on it.
As they say: “We create the good quality of product, which has beautiful stories”. It’s everyday sunshine!
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While browsing at my local magazine store recently, I came across these lovely notebooks from o-check (from what I gather, they are a Korean design house):
Cloth bound journals with nice porous pages for your inky thoughts. You can buy these journals and a whole range of delicious stationery from their (poetically named) online store – and spring. Blank pages full of promise – perfect for fresh starts, new seasons.
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… I see a crazed reflective surface. Like this cloud chair designed by Richard Hutten. Tana – colleague, total style inspiration and trouble maker is moving to Berlin. I’m suffering from that heady mix of jealousy and best wishes.
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I know I’ve expressed my adoration of Google’s logos before but this one is so cool it deserves a spotlight:
Happy Birthday Samuel Morse, aka Mr. Morse Code! Yay. Communicating with morse is almost as neat as signalling with flag sephamore, but not quite.
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Antoinette-Fleur is the French illustrator behind these vivid fashion pieces. Executed in a sketchy style with an electro palette, they are the embodiment of the word eye candy. After going through her entire portfolio, I actually want some of the pieces… especially the eye wear.
Penmanship at its prettiest!
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GEORGIA is a font designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter. It was made for Apple Computer and bundled with System 7.1 in 1993. It was intended to replace New York (designed by Susan Kare in 1984). Along with Hoefler Text, it is one of the fonts in common usage with text figures numerals.
Isn’t Georgia a lovely typeface? CFS is nearly 1 – getting on a bit in blog terms… so I thought a mini-facelift was in order. Change of theme, fonts and updating my links!
I’ll be chipping away at it over the next few weeks. Please let me know if anything goes haywire with the new theme or any suggestions you may have. The advantage of freshening up ‘your life’ via a blog rather than plastic surgery? People will never tell you if your eyebrow gets a life of its own…
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Shuāngxǐ or Double Happy is a “Chinese ornamental design commonly used as a decoration”. It is composed of two characters meaning joy, compressed into a ligature. You’ll commonly find this character slapped all over wedding paraphernalia. Double Happiness is also a brand of cheap cigarettes here – smokers rejoice.
However, the application I really like is this clever local twist on the common western expression of “hearting” an object, a person, a place:
Take that, New York! This shot is from outside Produc-T; a Shanghainese clothing brand with a shop in Taikang Lu. They design t-shirts with a contemporary take on Chinese icons. Think tees plastered with ironic noodle/Mao imagery and cute totes to stuff cash in. There is an I 囍 SH version available of course.
Hm, it’s been a good week, and despite the bumpy language barriers, I’m starting to think I heart Shanghai.
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Mark Magazine is an architecture journal that profiles interesting projects from around the world; think Spain to New Zealand* and everywhere in between. For example, you’ll find articles on the Europark II shopping centre in Salzburg, an Osaka chapel and Elquidomos, a gorgeous astronomic resort in Chile…
(*I was flipping through one and, much to my surprise & delight, found the last place I lived “at home” with my family – the Beaumont Quarter apartment complex.)
Their design treatment is pretty fresh – bold colours, full bleed images and well laid out discussions. It’s the total package; I recommend it to anyone looking for inspiration and a good read. You can pick up a copy at the Mark Magazine website, where they do have a news section, but I really stress the beauty of the print edition.
There is also a coffee table book version with several magazines in one perfect bound volume - tangible collectors editions for the win!
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