I saw this commercial for htc cell phones with their new You campaign and immediately loved it. It reaches a wide variety of people because it acknowledges universal day-to-day feelings and actions.

Halloween costume

I want to be this! Kat just showed me this awesome Lichtenstein girl costume. It looks like she just stepped out of one of his paintings! Check out the process here. It doesn't actually mention Lichtenstein; it just says the inspiration is a comic book character, but I think that it has clear ties with Lichtenstein's Head with Blue Shadow (1965).

Design Quote of the Day

"Good ideas turn into good designs fairly quickly. If you catch yourself fiddling too much with colors, borders, and treatments to bring a design together, chances are the problem lies somewhere deeper."

-Ryan Singer

For more design quotes, visit Quotes on Design.

I'm going to see Art & Copy tonight. I'm so excited!

ART & COPY Trailer from ART & COPY on Vimeo.

This is a short animation by 34 year old Donato Sansone. He uses an entire room filled with flipbooks to animate in a crossword-like movement. Pretty crazy. It's like a cross between the stop-motion videos and traditional animation flip books.

VIDEOGIOCO by Donato Sansone from Enrico Ascoli - Sound Design on Vimeo.

I want these! Decals on Etsy: Jailhouse Rock and Elvis portrait.

Phil Hale

Phil Hale is a painter in London whose work I found and absolutely love. I like the way he handles color and his ragged style brushwork. His subject matter can be a bit disturbing, on the edge of frightening, with his use of color, close up figures, or just plain oddity of form. I didn't put the creepiest paintings on here.

Piano Stairs

It's raining, it's pouring

In recognition of yet another rainy day this week, I thought I'd post some Gregory Thielker. I totally thought about doing this over the summer- painting rain and outside as it looks from behind the glass of a car- and then I found that this guy has already done it! They're amazing paintings that I really enjoy.



Suspension. 2008. Oil on canvas.




Low Road. 2006. Oil on canvas.



Coming to a Complete Stop. 2008. Oil on canvas.



Cash Only. 2006. Oil on canvas.



Vortex. 2008. Oil on canvas.


This rain is making me feel rather lethargic. I can't seem to get what I want done, and there's plenty to do.

Ladies and gentleman... Milton Glaser.

I enjoyed listening to Milton talk about drawing, specifically what he had to say about how it connects with life, art school, and THE COMPUTER.

MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.

For those that don't know, Milton Glaser is one of the most famous Graphic Designers of our time. He is most remembered for the Bob Dylan poster and the "I Love NY" logo. Here is a great interview conducted by designboom with Glaser. I found this question/answer relevant to myself and other students:

"any advice for the young ?

it's a tough business,
you have to be amazingly consistent and persistent.
you have to work like hell.
you cannot become an excellent practioneer without
constantly working hard all your life. it is not an easy way
to earn your money. you have to be well trained and you
have not to be narrow to references, because everybody
else is doing that at the same time. the richness of
understanding comes from the deep historical,
philosophical idea."

Good packaging design 2

Here are a few examples of packaging that are beautifully designed. Typically good packaging sites are The Dieline and Lovely Package. See more here at Packaging of the World.





















































































Alcohol packaging can be done in so many different ways, and I would say that it holds the best packaging out of any other general products. It's just so beautiful to look at. I wish I could buy so many bottles just for the packaging.


























































Anwar Pack (from Atlanta, GA) designed this nice grooming kit for men. He wanted to "design something that was traditional and nostalgic, but at the same time contemporary enough to appeal to a more youthful audience."























Check out this site for old vintage packaging. I get excited about kitsch design, and sometimes it can stand out on a shelf compared to everything else with modern and contemporary design. It also holds a certain attractive nostalgia.






































Andy Mangold designed this suave repackaging of the classic Monopoly Game by Parker Bros. This is my favorite board game, and I'm glad to see it treated right.




















































This is the cd packaging for the debut album of ALB, a French electro/folk/pop band. It is modeled after a portable 45 record player (the Univox Mange-Disque).


























































"Oh Shit Kits" are designed by Eric Hollings. I like it because it grabs attention, was designed in a simple clear way, and it includes random objects that may be needed for an "auto debacle", the "walk of shame", or "office problems".



























Designed by Werner Design Werks, this gorgeous aluminum bottle is an energy drink that features a graphic that glows under blacklight. Who wouldn't want to take this to a rave?

Good packaging design

Here's a few examples of design that have great function or concept behind the use of the product:



















The "Toothbrush Buddy" is a container for your toothbrush that will keep it in a sterilizing solution, away from harmful things in the air that may come in contact with it.











































Designed by Knoend, the "Lite2Go" is a lamp that can be assembled quickly and even includes the packaging as the lamp shade. It comes with a light bulb inside, and can be used on tabletops or hung from the ceiling.











































The "Hangerpak" was designed by Steve Haslip from Wivelsfield Green, England. It can be used to ship shirts bought online, so a hanger can be included. It is an efficient way to use resources.







































"Familjen" (The Family) is a fictitious brand of beer, designed by Anders Jönsson (from Sweden!). It is a box meant to contain six various types of beer, "one taste for every member in the family". It's made for easy opening and carrying.









































Designed by Petar Pavlov, this is a new way to rethink Doritos packaging. It has an interesting shape and is designed to close after using by folding the box a certain way. It makes more sense to me that chips would be kept in a box, rather than a bag where they could be more easily crushed.

Crazy midterm time

So I've been away for awhile. Want to see why?

Graphic Design: book cover project.

I chose to design a series for Faber & Faber film books based on movies in their collection about drugs (Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, Traffic, and Requiem for a Dream). It was difficult to come up with a good concept because these movies are very different from eahother. When I'd think of a concept, 9 times out of 10, it wouldn't work because it wouldn't quite fit ALL the films.

My process carried me to start illustrating different significant objects from each movie. I thought I could either photograph this one object or draw it and have lots of negative space and just the title. I started sketching things like a Big Kahuna burger for Pulp Fiction, a toilet for Trainspotting, but when I drew a syringe for Trainspotting, that lead to thinking of the various drugs represented in each movie and how I could illustrate those combined with negative space in an interesting, simple way. I had considered this earlier in the process, but not quite in this way. I also had given much thought to how drugs are used, the people that use them, and how their addiction grows. I wanted to represent the drugs as this one object that they keep focusing on and can't avoid. A character that starts using drugs isn't necessarily a bad person. They seem to have good intentions and somehow get trapped in an addiction that drags them down a path they didn't foresee.

I chose to design the object simply, with two bright colors, lots of negative space, and a clean, modern feel. I wanted the front to seem innocent and non-threatening, almost enticing and fun. This gives hint to how someone may approach drugs for the first time, as a harmless fling or recreational fun. Then, the back contrasts this same object with the real-life version, the sharp reality. I packaged them in a box that is wrapped like a kilo/brick of cocaine, spray painting the name of the series ("movies on drugs") and the Faber & Faber logo on the sides. I like how the grungy look of the box contrasts with the minimalist white books.

























































































I feel like this was the first project I really got into and loved. I've liked a few in the past, but this one was just different. It was so great at the end to have the results on nicely printed paper wrapped around the book. It's the first project that I feel like I've made something I would like.

Painting has also been keeping me equally busy. I had to have 2 done before critique yesterday. Maybe I can post pics of those later.

Demetrius May

I like these beautiful screenprints and paintings by Demetrius May. His art has a touch of retro nostalgia combined with use of bright colors and halftones. Since I love Roy Lichtenstein, Demetrius' work is pretty sweet. He's from Los Angeles, CA.