I find the most effective packing and branding to be simple, straight-forward imagery and typefaces. Similarly, in industrial design and engineering, it is the elegant solution that is often the best option. The work of Vancouver’s TACN Studio (a.k.a. Talia Cohen) lives up to that maxim. The one-line, one-circle whales on the Jonah Whale Vodka are so effortless and graceful that they almost disappear into the vodka itself, yet are distinct enough an image to identify the product as a stand-out one.
Using various shades of brown to denote the attributes of the coffee blends is, once again, so straight-forward that there really is no other, better option. The branding for the Killer Russian Vodka, however, is much more bold and suggestive with its presence, but does not seem frivolous.
Manchester-based Music has just completed the rebranding of Chester Zoo. The new brand identity centres on a bespoke handdrawn typeface and logotype, created in collaboration with illustrator Adam Hayes. Music also worked with copywriter Mike Reed to develop a distinctive and playful tone of voice for the brand…
This is Chester Zoo’s new logo, which exists in two forms, seen above and below
The new Chester Zoo type family contains four weights to increase flexibility of usage:
And, to maintain the illusion of brand literature being written by hand, there are a number of contextual alternates built in to the typeface…
There are also a number of alternate characters available in each weight of the Chester Zoo typeface which have suitably animal-themed decorations:
As befitting any rigorous branding programme, Music has created a colour palatte
And there are also a number of stand alone animal illustrations, all created by Hayes, that can be used as and where necessary – such as the new map of the Zoo:
“The new brand centres on a personality and voice rooted in the work of those who make Chester Zoo what it is, encompassing their passion, integrity and knowledge,” says Music’s Anthony Smith who worked on the project with Craig Oldham. “Add to this the license for creative expression in how the font works and is applied – and the zoo has the means ot make a powerful impact and really stand out in a competitive sector,” he continues, “by telling their story in a very natural and genuine way.”
Music has created a wide range of the zoo’s new marketing materials, as well as its site map and signage – plus the identity for The Act for Wildlife campaign that the zoo has also just launched (the homepage of actforwildlife.org.uk shown below). Music is now working with Chester Zoo on updating its website, incorporating the new look.
Boston has a little secret. Well, until it became a very well-known and respected secret. Oliver Mak, Jay Gordon, and Dan Natola founded Bodega as a haven for sneaker freaks and streetwear aficionados. But what’s so secret about Bodega?
It’s hidden behind a Snapple vending machine in the back of a storefront selling laundry detergent, slightly expired food, and other neighborhood necessities.
Bodega’s storefront, complete with Snapple vending machine door
What’s hidden behind that secret door
Two years ago the trio opened up the Fourthwall Project right behind Fenway Park as a venue for showcasing local and international artists. The exhibit “Human Powered Works” opened last Friday with a DJ spinning and the free Pabst Blue Ribbon flowing. “Human Powered Works” featured artists from diverse backgrounds, including a MIT Media Lab shop worker, a vinyl toy maker and muralist, and a bicycle street gang member.
In anticipation of the opening of the new Marimekko Flagship store in New York City, illustrator Aino-Maija Metsola drew inspiration from the everyday lives of New Yorkers to create a bold and playful facade, marking the space. The Finnish company is celebrating their 60th year and their bold prints and fun textiles, 60 years later, still feel fresh and fashion-forward.
For her piece, Metsola was inspired by culturally adapting Marimekko prints and colors arriving in the lives of New Yorkers. She drew reference from the Flatiron District and the artwork depicts an atmosphere of everyday life in New York with parks, birds, squirrels, people, magnolias, milk shakes and blossoming cherry trees. Vibrant and cheerful, the purpose of the artwork falls in line with Marimekko’s mission to bring happiness and joy to one’s every day. Marimekko’s goal was to maintain and respect the integrity of the beautiful area while lifting the spirits of those in the neighborhood.
The new 4000 sq ft flagship store housed in the Toy Building on 5th Avenue and Broadway, will showcase the entire range of Marimekko products—homewares, tableware, textiles and fashion—while highlighting new collections and print palettes. We’re looking forward to seeing all the classic and new color ways for their signature Unikko poppy print! Check out the inspiration video and a sneak peek of the fall collection after the jump and watch the installation as it goes live! The Marimekko flagship store opens in New York City October 2011.
Fans of Stefan Bucher’s Daily Monster series will be delighted to hear that he has created an app, which allows users to create their own monsters…
The Daily Monster series began after Bucher set himself a task to draw a monster a day for 100 days. He filmed each drawing, and over the course of the project taught himself to animate the monsters. The first film is shown below, to view the others visit dailymonster.com.
Each monster begins with Bucher blowing ink across the page, so appropriately enough this is how the Monster Maker app starts too, as the images below demonstrate.
You can then draw on the image and add eyes, arms and legs etc via the ‘parts’ tab.
Here’s a monster I made earlier. Her name is Doris. Hello Doris.
If your monster-making should go awry, there is also the option to get an instant monster by pressing a big red button.
The app allows you to save any monsters you make, and also place your monsters into photographs. These can be new photos taken with your phone or iPad, or you can choose a photo from your library and put a monster into that.
The Daily Monster Monster Maker app is available for the iPhone, iTouch or iPad and is 69p or 99c. Download it from the iTunes store here.
CR in Print
Don’t miss out – there’s nothing like CR in print. Our August Summer Reading issue contains our pick of some of our favourite writing on advertising, illustration and graphic design as well as a profile of Marion Deuchars plus pieces on the Vorticists, Total Design, LA Noire and much more.
If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year hereand save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine and get Monograph.
The Watermead Park Climate Trail in Leicester opens on August 13, featuring vibrant signage by Newenglish Design and Creed Design Associates made, appropriately, from recycled and reclaimed materials
The 500 metre Climate Trail runs through a section of the city’s Watermead Park. The aim is to inform visitors about issues relating to climate change and the environment while they enjoy their walk. Newenglish and Creed created a series of 3-metre tall ‘gabions’ (the wire baskets filled with stones used in construction) filled with food cans, plastic bottles and old electrical appliances to carry information alongside totems made from recycled wood as well as a 2.5-metre-long arrow (shown top) to begin the walk.
Carl Bebbington from Newenglish Design says: “It was really important that we practiced what we preached so we used recycled materials in the constructions that we got from the city’s rubbish dumps.”
NB Studio has designed a tiny, credit card sized annual report for the British Heart Foundation. The booklet, entitled With You All The Way, takes travel as a central theme and contains stories of various journeys of BHF supporters. And at just 10 x 6cm, it fits neatly into a travel card wallet..
“Our supporters told us they wanted something shorter than the A5 booklet we produced last year,” explains Louise Kyme, design manager at the British Heart Foundation, “so when NB Studio suggested using a travel card holder it posed a fantastic challenge for us to boil down our achievements to their absolute essence.”
As well as the booklet, the annual review also exists online where stories are told via a Googlemap of the UK.
“Just about everyone carries a travel card wallet in their back pocket or handbag,” says NB’s Nick Finney, “and millions use Googlemaps to get around, so when we started thinking about the theme of travel and journeys, they seemed like a great fit.”
Copywriter Nick Asbury and photographer Roy Mehta were commissioned to create text and imagery for the booklet while NB Studio got to work on a series of graphics taking British road signage as a visual cue. NB Studio also created seven versions of an eight-page ‘wraparound’ leaflet that folds neatly round the main booklet so supporters can see at a glance what the BHF has done in their area.
The online concept of showing review stories via pinpoints on a Googlemap (screengrabs, above and below) was designed by NB Studio and built by agency Unified to take the journey theme digital and show the scope of the BHF’s activity across the UK.
The above image caught my eye when visiting Elle interior sweden's blog. This is what shops in the fifties must have looked like and it is fun seeing this Mad-Men style coming back to us. The image is of a Confectionery in Stockholm named Pärlans.
At Pärlans it's all about toffees in the classic way, more than seven kinds, lemon, vanilla, cream…The store was founded by Lisa J. Ericson and everyone who works here got to know each other through interest in the thirties and forties – School's golden age – and the dancing lindy hop.
Graphic designer Clara von Zweigbergk made the beautiful handwritten logo. And when visiting her website I couldn't help noticing the Themis Trio mobile which I had seen before… yes from Artecnica… you like them too?
A great meal—at an equally great restaurant—can be a holistic sensory experience. Tasty food is imperative, yes, but the ambiance, service, and décor have to support it well. All come together to (hopefully) create a satisfying part of your day, and the menu plays a key role, kicking off expectations of enjoyment (or not). Whether a menu is scrawled on a chalkboard each day or filed away into a leather-bound behemoth book, many restaurants take this notion very seriously. And designers tend to notice these things, whether done well (or not).
It’s a new appreciation of the myriad graphic expressions of food. Each menu is presented with thorough images, both as it exists in the restaurant, and as the flat, digital files. Designers are recognized (Pentagram, Mucca), the menu and restaurant get a little blurb, and of course there’s room for commentary.
London-based design agency GBH has designed the livery and graphics for sports brand Puma‘s 70 foot yacht which will compete in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. The boat, called the Mar Mostro (Monster of the Sea), sports giant red octopus tentacles on its hull and sail, and an enormous, watery Puma (dubbed the Aqua Cat) appears to be leaping up from the waves at the bow…
“We wanted to create a livery that represents the non-stop battle between the team and the elements, but to do that in a fun way,” says Mark Bonner, creative director at GBH, of the livery of the boat and its enormous 100 foot tall sails.
“Back in 2008, for Puma’s boat Il Mostro (The Monster), we designed the boat as if it was a giant shoe in the water,” he continues. “This time, its been very much the other way round. Every element of the livery’s design is made up from either the monster’s red tentacles or with illustrated waves of water. Our aim was to create an interplay that really comes alive in photography when the boat’s design connects with the real waterline of the sea, especially at high speed.”
“This project is about Puma getting a wider audience interested in sailing,” continues Bonner. “More than that, its about getting people in the water, having fun, enjoying the ocean and understanding the environmental plight the ocean faces. The idea with getting involved in a round-the-world boat race (it used to be called the Whitbread) is to prove Puma’s sailing gear in the most testing of conditions.”
Phil Bold, senior designer at GBH who also worked on the project explains that Puma has a big collection of footwear and apparel that will be put to the test by the crew on the boat, as well as being available to the public. “There’s a massive grip story in this range of products and the boat design has been taken right through into a pretty futuristic set of shoe designs, the soles of which also resemble the sucker pads on octopus tentacles.”
As well as a showcase for its latest sailing clobber, Puma is also using its inclusion in the yacht race to communicate a message of sustainability, to kids. GBH has created a children’s character called Marmo – yes, Marmo is a red octopus. He appears on various Puma kids products…
And Marmo also exists in a team mascot kind of way too:
To further aid the sustainability message, Puma has teamed up with paddleboarding star Laird Hamilton.”He’s going to be involved in an initiative where he’ll work with the team’s navigator to seek out the biggest waves and may even paddleboard one of the legs of the race, from Lorient in France to Galway, Ireland,” explains Bonner. “The custom made carbon fibre paddleboard he’ll use has been designed by us to look like a mini version of the boat. There will be a version available for the public to buy too.”
Regarding the design of the boat, Bonner reveals that the medium in which the livery was applied had to be considered very carefully. “Weight is crucially important, so it was decided very early on that the less the livery weighed, the better. In the end, after testing two panels, it was decided that the carbon fibre boat would be painted by hand rather than apply vinyl graphics. This turned out to be a massively intense process, it took 600 hours to airbrush paint the livery onto the hull.” The sound is a little on the quiet side in this short film – but it gives an idea of the work involved airbrushing the artwork onto the hull:
“The most amazing thing about this job,” says Bonner, “is the scale of the thing. It’s been over a year’s work for us in total, and now the crew has a ten month battle with the elements which starts in Alicante in October.”
GBH has also just designed an outdoor print campaign to promote Puma’s involvement in the round-the-world race. The posters will run as 6, 48 and 96 sheet posters in the five stop-over port cities the boat will stop at during the race.
For more information about the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012, visit volvooceanrace.com
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
Bodega’s storefront, complete with Snapple vending machine door
What’s hidden behind that secret door
