If Hick’s Law, Ockham’s Razor, and Chunking elude you, but you’re interested in understanding the basics of design, there’s only one book to own.
Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, is a joy to have nearby. Organized alphabetically and categorically, the book guides you with words, photographs and illustrations that [...]
One of the strongest branding symbols for companies and organizations is color. It makes speaks to us, makes us feel, helps form perceptions. This free online tool at Color Blender is extremely handy for selecting and matching colors when building websites — or creating a new brand. Match, email, save in .EPS, .ACT, RGB or HTML. Try random. Or [...]
I just happened to see an ad for alli during a morning news program this week. The logo immediately made me think another prominent one that features the same primary colors. I thought of online search, not weight loss. Here are this week’s logos that seem too coincidental.
Font with serif in red, blue, yellow, green. Double [...]
Once upon a time, all you needed was a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers to block the sun and look cool. Audrey Hepburn wore them in the 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Cary Grant wore an early version of Wayfarers in North by Northwest. Others photographed in the iconic sunglasses include Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, James [...]
Whose website is best? Hillary or Barack? It’s important. This presidential election cycle is more interesting than any previous one, having been shaped by the web and the online marketing of candidates. It will be studied by strategists long after November, along with analyses of competing campaigns’ tactics on advertising, press, door-to-door-get-out-the-vote, direct mail, phone banks, debates, and continuous PR.
Set [...]
If you don’t subscribe to Smashing Magazine RSS feed, I recommend it. I’m not a designer, but appreciate seeing fresh material. Here’s a link to 45 excellent blog designs that Smashing featured a few days ago. Beautiful.
The website provides tips, how-to section, fonts, graphics and tutorials. I need to learn HTML to start customizing my [...]
It’s hard enough trying to differentiate on a store shelf.
Sometimes it’s difficult online, too.
I immediately thought of this brand of baking soda when finding this organic breakfast cereal. Two very different consumer products. Two very similar designs. One in the U.S. One in the U.K.
Separated at birth.
Can you think of others?
photo: meirion matthias on flickr
The most powerful creative image I’ve seen all week is this Unicef ad from Sweden. Notice, perfect amount of copy.
Headline: Bad Water Kills More Children than War
Body: Support the “One Drop of Water” Project. SMS 72 900 to donate 50 SEK. www.unicef.se
So that’s one compelling image, one fundraising call to action through texting, and one URL. Great design meets mobile handsets [...]
Ever endured bad PowerPoint? You know, the kind that drives companies to institute a 3-slide rule for events with dozens of presenters?
Next time you’re presenting, don’t expose your audience to death by PowerPoint. Strive for great images that move the story along. Instead of cramming 10 bullets on each slide, sprinkle in only necessary words (seriously, take out as many as you can).
Sound [...]
After voting Tuesday, I just couldn’t help snapping this quick cellphone picture (sorry for the composition and low resolution). Turns out, it has a few parallels to Senator Hilary Clinton’s California primary victory:
She won the Latino vote by an overwhelming margin
She won the Asian vote by a substantial amount, too
Polling signs in my San Diego neighborhood include 4 languages: English, Spanish, Tagalog [...]
