Japanese Logoland

Recently, I have been deep deep in logo land, trying to simplify ideas down to its “essence”. So when a friend passed this along to me, I was inspired and a little bit relieved. When I create logos, I immediately shy away from using the first letter(s) in the name as the mark. I want something more, something more metaphorical I guess.

Which leads me to this post. When a friend sent me this, I was stoked. These Japanese town logos use hiragana and katakana characters to create interesting and solid marks that are extremely unique. They range from super simple to almost puzzle-like, rigid to fluid, however all of them are super accessible and solid. They are modern heraldry, crests that symbolize a community. I would love to design a series of these for towns in the US and replace something like whats below, ugggg. Is that really our logo? Or is it this?

Check out the whole collection here.

Papercraft: Design and Art with Paper

Gestalten will be putting out a new book, featuring artists and designers who use paper as a medium for their creations. Recently, the design community has seen an influx of papercraft creations among young designers, who seem to be tapping into their elementary school days, using brightly colored paper, glue, scissors and folding to create forms and compositions. Ah-ha! But its not as easy as it looks. Some designers are really pushing the process far beyond art class. Check out the trailer for the book here. Sorry, Gestalten has some hoops to jump through as far as embedding video goes. Enjoy!

The Geography of Design

Here at Highlighter, we are obsessed with process. We are always interested in learning how designers and artists arrive at their final product, and often times the process stories and materials are more interesting than the final product. However, that is not the case in this situation. Here Paula Scher talks about how she found herself making “maps” and the limitations that created the idea. Again, another example of restrictions creating awesomeness.

Art Show Post Card Design

Promotional post card design for a local art show that didn’t end up seeing the light of day.

“Visionary Futurist” Interview

If you have any interest in Sci-Fi movies or illustration, Syd Mead needs no introduction. During his 50 year career , he has been the visionary for movies such as Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, Short Circuit, Time Cop, Strange Days, Mission to Mars, 2010 Odyssey and many others. This uber interesting and recent interview dives into Syd Mead’s process, influences, and predictions about the future of technology. And get this, he still works on a Mac G4! Check out the interview here.

One of the secrets of his design is that his ideas are always on the edge of our reality. They are futuristic but recognizable for what they are. His concepts would actually function smoothly within some future technological world. They are always designed with a wider focus on time and culture they belong to. Everything Syd designs has meaning and reason. There is no room for l’art pour l’art style in his work, everything has a purpose. Many designers have huge artistic talents, but no one can match the technical and engineering expertise, and the whole logic behind the lighting and composition that complement the artistic skills of Syd Mead.

GOOD and Prius Achieve Balance

GOOD magazine and Toyota Prius have teamed up on a project called “Road Map to Harmony” that begins to answer how we achieve balance in a world that needs improvement in so many different areas. I received this fold out poster from GOOD the other day and I was superbly impressed. The illustration style is bright and inviting while the info graphics are clear, simple and accessible. We all know that GOOD magazine has a knack for info graphics, but I became really excited  when a friend sent me an online, interactive version of the map. It is informative, friendly and visually sweet. Check it out and play here.

Stefan Kanchev

Recently, I have been obsessed with graphic design that uses simple shapes and bright colors, so naturally Stefan Kanchev’s energetic and stunning work caught my eye immediately. During his outstanding career, he created boatloads of logos, stamps, labels, packaging and television graphics. I highly suggest you take the time to check them out here, you wont be sorry for long.