TYPOGRAPHY [Designer Research contd]

I've been working on some typographic creations for my project and when I remembered seeing Tim Marrs' 'typography' tab I thought I'd update here with some of his work...

His style, again, is still hand-rendered (which I love!) and gives his work his usual sketchy personality:

I think the typeface he has created is perfect for this book because the text itself appers confused and muddled - it's sketchy edges and rough shapes, also unmatching letters, give the words an unnerved quality. This, of course, reflects the distressed nature of the novel. Furthermore, the colours of the typography have been well thought out and kept simple - black and white - allowing the image of the dog to become the main focus of the page.

IMAGES: http://www.timmarrs.co.uk/

Designer Study: Tim Marrs

Tim Marrs is a British graphic illustrator, commonly recognized for his work with Nike. He studied at Central St Martins, leading art school, and has since produced work for international brands such as Pepsimax, KFC and Radio Times.

It didn't take much for me to fall in love with his graphic style... I took one look at his website and that was it - just look at this background!

I really love his ability to seamlessly merge typography with his hand-rendered images - he selects typefaces carefully to compliment the style of his illustration, as well as combining some computer-generated shapes. This is a style I've always loved - especially this montage of urban images with colours that work really well together.



This image is one he produced for Top Gear Magazine including some really nice photography. I particularly like the vivid colours and the abstract representation of the car's past exploding from the back of the car. I actually find it somewhat difficult to take my eyes off this one - I can't put into words how much I love it!



This image was printed in the music section of The Guardian, April 2007
Really I just love how well this image fits together; he always manages to give his work a simple feel while not leaving empty-feeling space! I like all the little textures he uses here and there to make his work look complete and to personalise his style.

Album cover for Appeal To Reason by Rise Against - an American punk rock band.
I love the slightly chaotic layout as I think it portrays the mood and feelings of the band itself, being punk rock! But my favorite part ever is the little silhouette of a foetus whose umbillical chord runs into an electrical plug - mostly because the idea is so genius but also because, after a little research, I think it represents what the band is about really well! And all the subtle parts... so small but equally so important and well thought out!

IMAGES: http://www.timmarrs.co.uk/

Packaging Research





from: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/1/31/delhaize-soup.html



 I've chosen to analyse some soup packaging I found on www.thedieline.com a while ago, and collected it because I loved the idea so much! It's a design created by Lavierna & Cienfuego Design, Spain, earlier this year. 

"The brief was to bring to life the principle ingredient, preferably through the use of photo-realistic images, with something that adds a touch of good humor before serving. The romantic image of the waiter's hands gives positive connotations of good service and quality." 

This design really stood out for me because of its' creative and imagintive use of the combination of the waiter's hand in its stereotypical stance (in black and white as not to detract from the main ingredient of the image and adding uniform to the range or products), adding class, and the enlarged ingredients to clearly state the flavour of the soup (as well as emphasising the high natural vegetable content with a lovely touch of humour). This over a muted background, in coordinating colours dependant on each soup's flavour, is really effective in creating a style that looks elegant and high quality. Furthermore the simple typeface, in a matching colour to the waiter's jacket sleeve, is a really nice way to bring the packaging together as a whole image. These concepts, accompanied by the form of the packaging itself (an on-the-go style cup) suggest this design is aimed at an adult, possibly business-end audience.

A few more of their designs that I found fun and interesting...

I really loved this piece for it's creative use of a cork to represent certain famous Australian attributes - it says Australia and it says wine... Australian wine, genius!

Really simple graphics - but just such a cute, smart idea to make the design feel more natural.

IMAGES: http://lavernia-cienfuegos.com/

The Benefit-s of Having a Great Friend [Graphics Geek-Out]

In my last post, I expressed my love for the vintage graphic style of the make up brand Benefit. I've been collecting images from their campaigns for a while now; and when my friend gave me the packaging from a product of theirs she had bought the other day, I thought I might as well update my research into their work...

The packaging she's given me is from their concealer Fake Up which, again, is a really smart and cute idea! And what I really love about Benefit is the way their advertising campaigns feed into the style of the packaging for their products - notice the subtle swirly pattern running through the background of both the above and below image (in different colours to suit the mood of each piece, clever ay?!) :

I loved this advert when I saw it! I thought the purple tweed was a really classy way of depicting a traditional detective-style image - and the magnifying glass works perfectly too. It's placed right in the centre where it can attract all attention to the product name Fake Up. And, as usual, the captions are just brilliant; THE GREAT HYDRATING CONCEALER COVERUP - The Curious Case of Hydrating Crease Control. Here they've used an ingenious play on the word coverup, since it's a concealer - don't you just love it?!

I really love this concept of leaving behind an imperfect world - and is there even a more perfect way to depict this than your very own foundation space shuttle to Lift off to Complexion Perfection?! Complete with a 70s glamour style model to complete the look -
LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!

Really loving the colour combination (black and white featuring a strong orange; to create that 50s gangster feel) and that stereotypical typeface. And there's so much more I could say!