Great "I Love Lucy" DVD art!

As soon as I saw these at Target I loved them. The artworks remind me of the art of Roy Lichtenstein. With the blown up picture below, one can really see the half-tone dots in the images. The artworks fit the time period perfectly and the set is consistent. I love choices that the artist made for the illustrations, as each is representative of a scene from a specific episode from the show. Alyssa and I really enjoy watching "I Love Lucy" so this set would be perfect!

  

 

Check out my soundcloud song!

I am an avid chiptune composer! That means I write music that sounds like old video games. Check out my music! :) Hopefully you will visit my Soundcloud page to check out all of my music, but for now, here is my latest song called "That Stage You Like To Play."


If you would like to see the program I make music with in action, take a look here!

Grip Limited Website

Grip Limited is a really strange website with many scrollable columns. Initially the website is overwhelming, but when you see it on your screen, I believe that is is beautifully done. The typography of the website reminds me of a western sign, which I enjoy a lot. When you drag your mouse to the left the screen moves to a new set of columns. Sometimes you will get a column with videos and pictures! Redeeming qualities of the website include being able to collapse each column by clicking on the headers, and having access to the site map by clicking the header's middle button.  I love the color palette of the website. My favorite part of the website is its iconography. The icon-like pictures are very slick. The stacked type is very vintage, but with the sans serif fonts and color choices, the website maintains a very modern look.

Initially I was overwhelmed by Grip Limited, but as I kept looking I was immersed in a beautiful website.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.griplimited.com/#

The Heads of State Design Website

I discovered recently a really amazing website that is quite vintage, with hints of art deco and constructivism. The website itself is very simplistic yet well designed. The art on the website is phenomenal! The works of art hit a balance between new and old. One of my favorite series from the website is a collection of art deco styled travel posters.

One can really see the beauty in the simplicity of these posters. In a way, this series is quite a lot like the work of A. M. Cassandre, an artist during the art deco movement. This period featured simplistic shape and bold color. One can clearly see these elements in the posters. I would have to say that this style is my favorite. Out of the four posters my favorite is the Miami poster. I really enjoy how the buildings transparently overlap. It adds an interesting effect to the style. Each travel poster seems to fit well together, however the text elements and color are completely different, and yet they fall together perfectly.

I highly reccomend this web site, as it provided me with a great deal of inspiration!

Visit: The Heads of State

Jaipur Avenue Chai Tea

The very first thing that stands out to me are the colors of these amazing chai tea packages. I believe that the colors are very vintage and striking. Minimalistic in nature, I love the added touch of the Victorian frames around certain words. The analogous colors work well together throughout each design. One of my favorite elements of this work is the small circular shapes beneath that encompass all of the colors that are used in the packaging series. To me this chai tea is very sophisticated. My favorite color combination is the mustard and brown ginger chai tea package. Overall I think the series is very successful design wise. If this was on the shelf at a local store I would definitely buy it!

Classic Character, Modern Packaging

Peter Rabbit Organics is a very interesting product due to its unique packaging. I have always been interested in the food that comes in pouches. I think its kind of cool becuase its like the packages that astronauts would eat food from. Even though its a little funny, the idea seems more economically friendly in many ways than putting the food in boxes and then in plastic containers. I absolutely loved Peter Rabbit as a little kid and if I were still a kid I would be eating this! The overall design is bright and inviting with the cute little guy, Peter Rabbit, on the front along with the pictures of the fruit contained in the pouch. I love the simplicity of the design, It shows very clearly what is in the pouch with the flavor being written across the white area. I think that this is the first thing I notice, the flavor, which is good. Even though the typography and the visual style is quite modern, I love the classic character that they chose to represent as their logo. This is obviously a kid's snack, but I think the design is somewhat more sophisticated that an average kids snack. Since Peter rabbit is older than most kids would remember, I think this could be nostalgic for adults or young adults that remember the character. The initial enticing thing about the snack is its colors that are bright and friendly. I believe that the design is successful and fits its target audiences well.

The Steampunk Bible

One of my personal favorite fiction generes, Steampunk, appeared in one of the coolest forms, a book! Combining the beauty of the victorian style and the simplicity of a limited color pallete, this book entitled "The Steampunk Bible," succeeds in catching ones attention. The design of the book is very ornate featuring a variety of ornamental elements such as plants, pictures and frames. If this book was shelved among other books, it would be easily identifiable due to its vintage qualities. The book design itself is intentionally distressed looking to give the feeling of an old book. To me, not only for its beautiful design, the book caught my attention for its subject matter, Steampunk. Steampunk is a very interesting form of science fiction that takes place in the Victorian era, featuring a hyper advancement in the power of steam and pneumatic power. Imagine if every electronic device we use today was replaced with some form of mechanical steam powered engine and then visually featured some sort of Victorian ornateness. Then it would be Steampunk. Over the top would best describe anything having to do with Steampunk and I believe that this book fits that mold well.

New Domino's Pizza box design

 

A while back I posted about the Domino's Pizza graphic designs, and recently they have updated their box designs. I have to say that I love their design even more now than I did before. With all of the vintage aspects still present, such as the stacked type, the ornaments, and the fonts, I find that the addition of the radial layout is quite stunning. I think it is a much more effective layout than before, as it keeps the text in better order. It was quite clever and sensible to make the design round, as it is the shape of their product as well. While there is a lot of information present on the box, the clearly visible sections make it easy to read. In dividing the sections, the design makes great use of the ornaments and lines. I very much enjoyed the previous design, however, when compared to the new one, I find that the new design is much more readable than the previous. Even though the text runs upside down, it is fun for the viewer to turn the box to read the information giving them more of an experience when reading. There is an overall sense of quality to the design with its detailed illustrations, font choices and ribbon shapes. I love that Domino's returned to their original domino logo with just the domino.

I really respect Domino's Pizza for stepping up their design presence in the past year. They have made some really great, effective designs, and I can't wait to see what they will do with their vintage style next!

J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner

 

I chose this cleaner because it reminded me of a project I created for a chili cook-off which included a vintage/victorian theme. This bottle stood out from the rest due to its Victorian style. The ornaments surrounding the text are very evocative of the period and so is the stacked type. During the Victorian period much of the typography included ornamental elements similar to ones that exist on the cleaner. I really enjoy the simplicity of the layout on the bottle and the curved part on the top of the label adds a certain quality to the design. The background is very ornate, as it reminds me of a detailed mirror or picture frame. Grounded in typography, the design succeeds with its use of complimentary font faces. The mix of slab serif with sans serif, as well as a script font work well together. Overall the design stood out from the other modern looking cleaners surrounding it.

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day

I don't usually notice the designs on cleaners and chemicals that much, but the Mrs. Meyer's Clean day series was so different from the others that I couldn't help but notice. My first reaction to this interestingly designed brand was, "Are these really cleaning supplies?" One of the most unique features of the bottle designs are the color of the bottles and the color of the labels. Both of these features set a vintage mood for the brand. The neutral color of the bottle has a unique matte look to it making it vastly different from the other shiny synthetic looking cleaners. To me the bottles' matte texture makes them seem much higher quality. The colors of the label are somewhat muted giving a vintage feel. Even the name itself is kind of a retro touch.

Looking at a closeup of the bottle one can see that the font choice for the bottle is very reminiscent of retro signage with curved letters and small ornamental elements like the star for the apostrophe. I think that the choice of an analogous font color to the background was a great choice. The watermark of the woman behind the main body text reminds me of a neon sign that would accompany the title text if it were on an old retro sign.

Among all of the bottles that make up the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day brand, my favorite is the laundry detergent. I chose this one as my favorite for a few reasons; one, the layout of the information on this particular bottle works the best, and I love the addition of the detachable card and the measuring spoon. There is a nice sense of hierarchy to the information on this bottle with certain words and numbers being called out.

Overall, the Mrs. Meyers Clean Day brand stuck out to me among the other cleaners as very successful and vintage inspired. I would definitely buy this brand in the future!

BlaBla Interactive Art

Interesting in its presentation and sound, this interactive piece of art may be one of my favorite digital artworks. It is hardly worth explaining what happens during play, as it is too strange to try to explain. However, the graphic style appears primitive in the best sense of the word. Much of the presentation is made up of cut paper elements and traditional drawing. I can say that it was one of the most interesting experiences I have taken part in. If you wish to try it out go here.

Lost Type Website

Not only is Lost Type well designed, but it is also one of the most amazing font sources I have ever seen. I find everything about this website beautiful. The style reminds me of art deco and the colors work perfectly with it. Every font available at this source shares the same level of quality as the website. If you want to see this amazing website for yourself go here.

Robot Toy

Reminicent of retro sci-fi, this amazing toy was a diamond at the Air and Space Museum in DC! I absolutely love vintage robots so I have a lot of admiration for this piece. The best part of the toy is that it winds up and walks. The only thing that would make it better is if it lit up as well.

Moustaches Anyone?

I discovered this funny toy in Books A Million. I've always wanted an epic moustache.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

When Alyssa and I were scouting around in the Hagerstown Mall, we decided to go to the Books A Million. This was one of the first books that caught my eye. I really enjoy its modular presentation and the over all graphic style. First looking at the book, I noticed that it reminded me of a poster from Russia during the Constructivist movement. Although the modular format breaks away from the dynamic angles of Constructivism, the overall look matches. The large "Chabon" at the bottom center is striking in its resemblance to the fonts of the Russian posters. The bold color choices and simple shapes are quite reminiscent of the movement as well. The book centers around two boys who write comic books during the Golden Age of comic books in the 1930's. The design of the book gives off a comic book vibe. It sounds like a very interesting read and I absolutely love the art style. Maybe I will have to go back and get the book!

Domino's Pizza Packaging

What's better than to review one of my favorite establishments, Domino's? I love the style of the designs on the Domino's Pizza packaging. No corner is left blank on these boxes! One can see the amount of variety on the packaging, as it makes use of an assortment of fonts. The design is modular in nature, as each section focuses on a specific subject. This style reminds me of the western "pin-up posters." In the past, "pin-up" style was favored in towns of the west where artists had little experience in advertizing. In order to capture the attention of a passerby, the artist would fill the poster with as much information, images, colors and fonts as possible. Many of these quickly made posters would be slapped up on street corners or on the sides of buildings. One can see the link between Domino's current focus on "artisan" breads to the past through their design. Looking back to the western towns where many small artisan shops existed, many "pin-up" style designs would have been prevalent. I think their design choice for the packaging is successful.