On November 19th, The Identity Guys (TIG) visited the University of Houston College of Technology to present at their International Graphic Arts Education Association (IGAEA) meeting. Their website can be found at www.igaea.org.
TIG spoke on Opportunities in Graphic Communications in relevance to Branding. The objective was to support IGAEA - UH Chapter by educating students via professional experience to promote them to pursue successful aspects of the industry.
Not talking about any statistics in particular, but a general consent would agree that music piracy began a very long time. I ran across an article on A Little History on Music Piracy, and it got me to think what has the Internet done to help fight this problem. Not to dispute who is right or who is wrong, but to find an alternative for music lovers.
I came across Pandora sometime back and loved the idea of free music streaming from my browser or my Blackberry. The idea is to be able to listen to your favorite artists and similar music related to that genre. As I researched more into this, I found that there are many sites on the world wide web which cater to this audience in need. Each site was evaluated for it’s usability and design for the end user.
One of the most well-known music streaming site, Pandora uses Flash to implement the layout and functionality of their radio streams. Choose an artist and Pandora will do the rest for you by playing similar artists in that genre of music.
The Pandora website has a clean blue, silver, and greys color scheme and uses advertisements in it's web page by implementing different ads which show to the right of the player screen. At a song change, the ad changes to another. Very clean integration of the ad, as it catches the user's eye and at the same time, keeps it away from it's main purpose. You can make as many different radio stations as you like by simply entering your favorite artist.
Cool Globes is a non-profit organization aimed at raising awareness for global warming and to inspire solutions for a community. “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” is an event taking place from October 8th, 2009 - December 31st, 2009 at Discovery Green in Houston. Matt Binns is the sculptor behind the globes, which were then handed down to the participants to be used as a canvas. Each globe is five feet in diameter, seven-and-one-half feet tall and weighs 2,300 pounds. Because we are all about design in all forms of media, we decided to check out some amazing work done on these globes.
What makes a Quentin Tarantino film stand out? Exactly what is his signature? Some could argue it’s his funky and notable tunes he features on his soundtracks, or the out-of-order editing of his films. Even Tarantino’s dialogue is recognized as being edgy, relatable, and intelligent.
His first release Reservoir Dogs showed that he wasn’t afraid to mix and match the storyline. He brought the audience through the story and the evolution of the characters and then back tracked later in the movie to fill us in on who was really who. Only Quentin Tarantino could film an entire movie about a bank robbery and never show a character robbing a bank!
Since this was one of his first main, individual projects, his budget was tight for advertising. He sent the film to festival contests and quickly became widely recognized for his unique film.
It’s that time of the year again! Halloween with it’s dark and delightfully scary attitude is the season that I wait for. I love the horror genre probably more than many people would like to include in their collection of a first preference. Growing up, I remember watching some awesome movies which made me stay up for nights looking around my dark room for a scare. As a designer, I love seeing scary movie websites. Aside from the work, it is important to understand the implementation of a site with a purpose to engage the viewer through design. Showcased here are some works of some incredible people.
The Saw movies franchise has taken the horror genre by its creepy games and challenges presented to each victim. John Kramer as Jigsaw played by Tobin Bell, the devious mastermind behind the gruesome deaths, has proved to be one of the most twisted characters that has blessed the horror movie scene.
The Flash website is comprised of backgrounds which look like they were taken straight from the horror house of which Jigsaw operates. As you click on the top navigation, the transition effect shows clips from the movie and lands in another room. Play the various games and see if you can survive in time. Very good implementation of grunge design and interactivity.
When taking a look at a company, the first piece of article which differentiates them from the rest is their logo. Now we have surely seen many different logos in our lifetime. For example, the oil and gas industry is comprised of such companies as Shell, Chevron, Valero, and many others. As we recall each company, the imagery which is embedded in our minds is majorly the logo. What goes into the thought process when creating a logo? This article will try to unravel some questions and answers relating to branding the identity of a company via logo design.
There are many questions which come to mind when we get into the process of designing a logo. For example, lets say we have a client who owns a flower shop and needs to brand their company. Design of their logo is their main concern and they want to be able to stand out from their competitors. As a designer, some questions which I would like to ask the client:
Who is the target or majority audience?
What differentiates the business from it’s competitors?
What is the companies mission or thinking ahead, vision?
Are there any major colors or images they would like to use to portray their company?
Is there anything unique behind their name?
Can the design incorporate a play on their business name?
This starts the creative process of trying to understand and conceptualize the logo. From here we step into the realm of design.
I remember as a kid going to Wal-Mart with my mom and as soon as we would walk-in, I would dash to the electronics section. And yes, I always did end up trying to either play or wait for the kid to get off the controller because he had no skills. Either way, Wal-Mart has left a memory with something anyone can relate to if they have ever stepped foot into the place. I remember the Wal-Mart logo, all capitalized and blue and bold with the star in the middle. The sans-serif stood clear enough for any person of age to distinguish. Recently though, Wal-Mart rebranded their logo. In this article, I will discuss the logo execution of Wal-Mart.
Wish you could be a super hero? So do we my friend. What probably is the closest we all have came to that is maybe through a comic book. From DC to Marvel, there is always a super hero that one of us can relate to or get excited about. Maybe it’s the supernatural powers that Superman possesses, or the uncanny agility and intellect that a caped crusader has the knowledge of (ahem ahem Batman). Whatever the case may be, there is super hero for all of us.
The 2009 JMV Comic Book Show featured local comic book artists, writers, as well as small press publishers. The venue was held in Houston, TX by JMV Entertainment. The Identity Guys were on the scene ready to check out the vast collection of comic books and memorabilia.
James Vaughn, the man behind the event organization
The JMV Comic Book Show is a division of JMV Entertainment, a Texas-based collectibles show promoter. They hold a comic book show every year in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. James Vaughn, the event manager greeted us at the door. What lies ahead is our experience with some enthusiasts of the genre.
So looking at blogging sites, it’s usually the first thing you want: an avatar. An avatar is your icon with a dose of your own personality. These can be anything from an image to a photograph. Simple enough to understand. Now what is a gravatar? It’s pretty much a “globally recognized avatar” as stated by gravatar.com. What this means is that your gravatar which you create using the gravatar.com service will carry from one site to another. How this is implemented is by the blog checking the email address against the Gravatar service. Once a user submits a comment using their email address, if an avatar is setup from gravatar.com it will be displayed. So let’s go about setting one up for you!
Go to gravatar.com and at the top left mouse over “
It seems like an easy enough answer for some people. You need a website done so why does it matter if you pay $500 versus $5,000. Well if the designer is professional enough you will know why they charge what they charge. I will be discussing some ideas and differences in this article about the cost of a website and what to look out for.
Let’s start with the $500 website. Now it’s no secret that you can buy a template from any of the websites there are around the web. I myself as a designer even noticed this and honestly thought to myself “If we could buy templates then why is there a degree that teaches me how to make a website template?” Confusing to many designers I’m sure. Then I took another look at the template selling websites and this is what I found interesting:
If you notice the templates are pretty good designs and I do wonder where that designer is who is making some great designs and selling it as “regular price” and “buyout price.” The regular price means that as many people who want to pay the regular price for that template can buy that template. Which means I can pay a regular price for a template but then someone else can as well and get the same exact design. But then there is the buy out price which stated by Template Monster is the price if you solely want to buy the design and they will take it out of their website so that no one else can get that same design. I honestly wonder how many times a certain template has been downloaded. Maybe run into the same exact designed website somewhere one day.