Design Topics
Will we be seeing geometric packaging hitting the shelves in the near future? If it's up to the imagination of students Dzmitry Samal and Petar Pavlov maybe we will. These Buckminster Fuller-esque packaging structures mark a distinct departure for Doritos and Coca-Cola.
Clearly these multi-faceted structures may pose challenges to implement. And of course the increased costs and environmental impact would need to be factored in. Do you think we'll be seeing more of this come to market in the food and beverage packaging? Maybe in another industry?
What are your thoughts?
POSTED ON Friday, October 23, 2009
FILE UNDER: Business, Design, Ideas
The folks at LogoLounge have selected our work for inclusion in their prestigious Master Library Collection, and we're both honored and stoked to say the least. The award and recognition is for our logo & brand identity for Half Badger Records. The email said:
"Your work has been selected for inclusion in a remarkable new LogoLounge project, 'Animals and Mythology', in the new Master Library series…"
the messsage continued... "What is the Master Library series? Like our existing (and continuing) LogoLounge book series, the new Master Library books will bring you exemplary logo design work from creatives around the world. Our first book in the series, Initials and Crests, is at the publisher as we write and promises to be a new best selling series from Rockport in the model of LogoLounge.
Unlike our original series, though, each book in the Master Library series will focus on a very specific logo design category, to wit:
Initials and Crests
Animals and Mythology
Typography
People
Shapes and Symbols
Nature and Food
Arts and Culture
We hope to include your work in the the Master Library series, Animals and Mythology."
The Master Collection will be published by Rockport and should be released in July 2010. Amazon already has it available for pre-order.
POSTED ON Thursday, October 15, 2009
FILE UNDER: Design, News & Notable, Projects, Recognition, Studiofluid
I'd like to welcome Clara and Katarina, the Design in Transit duo, to Los Angeles, California and the US of A.
These two adventurous ladies are here from Germany, taking a tour of the west coast and hoping to gain graphic design experience in the process. About a month ago, they emailed from Germany to set up a time to come by and get a tour of Studiofluid on their arrival in L.A.
So far we've collaborated on an advertising campaign, shared a few meals together, and I've pointed some cool design highlights to check out in Los Angeles. Next week I think we're going together to check out the Echo Park Time Travel Mart for some packaging and general design awesomeness inspiration.
I've also introduced the DIT ladies to a few other design firms in the area that might be interesting for them to visit. If you're in Los Angeles, San Francisco or maybe even Portland and you want to collaborate with Design in Transit, they'd love to hear from you. To invite them out for some good American beer or just say hello, you can get in touch at: designintransit @ hotmail dot de — and tell them Studiofluid sent ya.
POSTED ON Monday, October 12, 2009
FILE UNDER: Community, Design, Friends, Ideas, News & Notable
The design work we've been doing for the Pasadena Symphony is starting to pop up throughout Los Angeles. Right now, the Metro Rail Gold Line that connects Union Station to Sierra Madre is running the "Take Your Ears Out for the Evening" ad campaign, announcing the 2009-2010 Symphony Classics.
Photo courtesy of Tim Harwick.
POSTED ON Monday, October 5, 2009
FILE UNDER: Community, Design, News & Notable, Projects
We're happy to announce that Studiofluid is working closely with the Pasadena Symphony and POPS on a massive re-branding effort. We're helping them with a new identity system for their various orchestras, stationery and print collateral, the 2010 season brochure, and a completely redesigned web site.
Here's a sneak peak of the progress we've been making on the branding and web site. Stay tuned for the results, which will make a splash in September!
UPDATE: Check out more of the project in the work section, and visit the new pasadenasymphony-pops.org.
POSTED ON Friday, August 28, 2009
FILE UNDER: Business, Design, News & Notable, Projects, Studiofluid
Today our DDC poster arrived, packed in a handsome, sturdy tube complete with a shipping label crafted with care.
The 24x39" poster is crammed with over 1000 logos / experiments / and inside jokes created by master craftsman Aaron Draplin. The extra effort oozes from this one, complete with two additional pages for navigation and explanation, and some other goodies thrown in to boot.
Don't go buying one of these unless you're prepared for the inexplicable pull that will have you cross-referencing the location key and liner notes, hovering over this poster for the better part of your day.
POSTED ON Wednesday, June 24, 2009
FILE UNDER: Design, Friends
I was recently contacted by Sabrina Vega to be a part of her online / book project. The image above is my postcard submission to her project, which is this:
“A couple of years ago in 2006 , right after I graduated from Texas State University, I had the idea to collect my name, Sabrina in every shape and form I could think of…”
Working on my submission was a rewarding experience—in particular getting my hands dirty with a soft pencil to fill in the background.
I was honored to be included among some high profile contributors such as Milton Glaser, Stafan Sagmeister, and Gary Baseman. I think my favorite is done by Kim Robertson, who created an anagram our of Sabrina's first and last names, turning it into "A Bar in Vegas."
Thanks Sabrina, and good luck with your book!
POSTED ON Thursday, June 18, 2009
FILE UNDER: Community, Design, Friends, Ideas, News & Notable, Projects
April 27th. Yes, today is the day we've been waiting for.
A wonderful day dedicated to celebrate the profession of graphic and communication design. And by celebrating, I mean that we're putting the finishing touches on some client work and drafting some new proposals.
Unfortunately I see no mention of it in our AIGA Los Angeles chapter.
And today is the 15th anniversary. Who knew? Now we do.
POSTED ON Monday, April 27, 2009
FILE UNDER: Community, Design, Ideas
It's been a flurry of activity around here. I just finished renovating my live/work space and my new office looks great and functions even better. I'm looking at a photo shoot soon so I can post some here.
Our clients are great folks. I'm continually amazed and blessed by high caliber people that I get to partner with on a daily basis. Currently we're working on:
Identity and Retail Packaging for a healthy snack food company. Can't say a whole lot about that one now, but we're stoked about everything is coming together.
Branding and Website for the Pasadena Wine Festival which will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden this fall. Our site will handle ticket sales and event sponsorship. All ticket sales from the event benefit the Pasadena Symphony.
Branding and Website for a remodeling company. We're helping the owner connect with his clearly defined target audience in Southern California. His website includes a content management system (CMS) and will clearly communicate their commitment to quality, community focus, and will encourage visitors to get in touch for a free estimate.
And a few more are in the pipeline, but it's a bit too early to say...
POSTED ON Thursday, April 16, 2009
FILE UNDER: Business, Community, Design, News & Notable, Projects, Studiofluid
At Startup Weekend Los Angeles, my team developed "Yummyware" in less than 48 hours from concept to working prototype. Our inspiration came from the real-world frustrations of one of our team members who works for Hotcakes Bakes, a bakery here in Los Angeles.
Yummyware is a simple, internal software solution for Bakeries that streamlines custom orders, while keeping things organized from production through delivery.
ABOVE: Yummyware branding and customized login screen.
ABOVE: Daily view shows projects to be completed and employee messages.
ABOVE: All orders available at a glance by week.
ABOVE: Order form tailored by each bakery, and helps capture detailed information with custom orders.
We developed Yummyware for Hotcakes Bakes as the prototype customer, with the ability to scale the product and sell it as a monthly subscription service to Bakeries and other confectioneries in need of simple customized management help. (Just get in touch if you would like to license the product).
I worked with a team of 6 entrepreneurs to push out a working version during our weekend. I led the software architecture, user interface, visual design, product naming and logo design. My teammates built the database, implemented the HTML/CSS, proposed a business and marketing plan, led the pitch presentation and made valuable contributions to the UI and product as a whole. Many thanks again to teammates Talya, Tracey, Madeline, Craig and Joel. You guys rock!
Like Hotcakes Bakes, it is all too common for entrepreneurs possess a unique skill or product, while being unable to convert it into a successful business—failing to consistently deliver a quality product at a profit. By implementing a reliable, repeatable, streamlined system (like Yummyware) a skilled artisan/craftperson/hobbyist can make the leap to thriving business owner.
If a simple, customized solution sounds like something that could benefit your small business, get it touch. We'd love to hear from you and help you become profitable.
POSTED ON Tuesday, March 3, 2009
FILE UNDER: Business, Community, Design, Ideas, Technology
What do you get when you combine a room full of entrepreneurs with the challenge to launch web-based service or product in 48 hours?
The answer is Startup Weekend, of course. And a whole lot of fun.
On the weekend of February 27th-March 1st, I gathered with over 50 other entrepreneurs with backgrounds including user interface, graphic design, programming, pr, and business development for the second Startup Weekend Los Angeles. Of the initial 20+ pitches presented on Friday night, we broke off into teams of 5-9 people based on what seemed interesting. Over the course of the weekend, seven teams designed and built working sites, each with varying degrees of completion.
The creativity and results were impressive, to say the least.
- Blocksnap: Upload and experience views on the neighborhood level.
- CheapChews: Receive coupons and notifications for local restaurants.
- Fill in the Geek: Connecting comic buyers with comic sellers.
- Sponsor Hub: A place for sponsors and non-profits find each other.
- Yummyware: Simple bakery management software.
- Share my Spot: You park here while I am not.
- Craigee: A decision making tool for Craigslist.
SWLA was rewarding a rewarding experience unto itself, even if the projects never saw the light of day. But, in fact, they're out there live on the web and it will be interesting to see if any gain long-term traction. You can read more about my team's project: Yummyware, the simple bakery management software.
A huge thanks to host Jerome from Blankspaces, and the event sponsors who provided an amazing spread of food and tech support.
POSTED ON Monday, March 2, 2009
FILE UNDER: Business, Design, Ideas, News & Notable
When launching a new product or service, there is a strong temptation to just jump in and arrive at branding decisions based on your assumptions.
And while that may be a quick and cheap way to get up and running, it might also be one of the most costly decisions you'll ever make—when you discover your assumptions were wrong and you need to retool your brand from the ground up (assuming your company is still around).
Right now Studiofluid is working with a Food and Beverage company looking to break into the saturated Snack Food category. We've been spending time in supermarkets performing design research and have put together a market analysis to help our client with the following:
- Understand the Context and how Snacks are displayed
- Study Market Leaders and Competing Brands
- Discover Packaging Trends
- Find Clichés and Points of Market Over-saturation
- Identify Opportunities for Differentiation
(more...)
POSTED ON Friday, February 13, 2009
FILE UNDER: Business, Design, Ideas, News & Notable, Research, Studiofluid
Chris Jordan’s amazing visualizations of some sobering American statistics: The number of plastic bags used in the US every five seconds, office paper used every five minutes, amount spent every hour for the war in Iraq… Wow.
POSTED ON Friday, November 28, 2008
FILE UNDER: Design
If you’re sick of the trendy eco-movement, (i.e. supposed eco-sensibility of useless products), be encouraged that we’re in the ’spike’ which will be followed by by a ‘dip’ and then solid acceptance over time.
(Thanks, Alissa).
POSTED ON Sunday, February 10, 2008
FILE UNDER: Design, Sustainability
