Bokeh Inspired Tutorial
Bokeh is the blurred effect you see in a photo when things are out-of-focus. In certain cases where the out-of-focus area contains a lot of light and different colors, the blurriness can create an interesting aesthetic that is pretty to look at. Bokeh has made its way from photos to the digital space as made evident by an abundance of bokeh-inspired wallpapers available for desktops and mobile phones. Here are some examples of bokeh in photography: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5.
The goal of this tutorial is to create an abstract bokeh-inspired wallpaper like the one displayed above.
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Wendy’s New Logo Design: Where’s the Beef?
Wendy’s revealed its new logo design last week (See above). It is the first redesign for the Ohio-based fast-food company since 1983. The new design is part of Wendy’s new branding efforts and supports its new advertising campaign “Now that’s better.” Unfortunately, we cannot really say the same about Wendy’s new brand identity.
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Apple’s Logo – An Investigation
Apple’s iconic logo is recognized all around the world. Some have called it a nearly flawless design, particularly because the “leaf” at the top of the apple is supposed to perfectly fit into the “bite” taken out its side. We decided to find out whether that bit was true by cutting out the leaf and placing it inside of the bite ourselves. Take a look inside to see our results.
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Color of the Year: Pantone’s Zeitgeist Chroma
Last month Pantone announced Tangerine Tango as the “color of the year” for 2012. Executive director of Pantone Leatrice Eiseman described the hue as “sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive.” Great, but what made Tangerine Tango a better choice than Passionate Purple? Or Bombastic Blue? Or Requiem Red? Well according to Pantone, the chosen color is meant to act as a guide through which our culture’s current zeitgeist is being channeled.
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Online Art Resources
Art is a vast subject that changes frequently and often radically with time. Here are some interesting, informative, and inspirational art-oriented websites to keep you in the know and inspired with fresh material.
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Branding: How Much Can You Take Away?
When scanning a grocery aisle for our favorite products, it’s usually easy to spot what we’re looking for. Brands we’ve grown familiar with have packaged their items in such a way that it’s more of a search for the visual graphics that represent them, rather than for the brand name itself. We decided to take some familiar packages and observe how strong our associations are when key components are taken away.
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Online Typography Resources
Typography is something that is so pervasive that most of us don’t think twice about it. Here are some great resources for learning about typography and different types of fonts.
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Branding: Brand Identity Flags
Much like a country’s flag, a brand’s identity is supposed to represent the brand as a whole. Looking at some of the most recognizable brand identities, one of the things that stands out the most is the colors that are used. Why were these colors chosen? What do the colors mean? What do they mean to the company? These are some important questions to ask when considering which colors should represent a brand. In this entry, 16 brand identities were turned into flags to represent each brand as if they were countries. The prevalence of each color was taken into consideration in making these flags.
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Star Wars: A Galaxy Without Limits
In anticipation of the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, we are posting a Star Wars themed post every day this week.
In today’s blog, we’re looking at the Imperial Tourism Bureau’s newest advertising campaign to attract intergalactic travelers to Imperial space: A Galaxy Without Limits.
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Typography: Comparing Typefaces
When I look around the world that lies outside, I see many different things. One thing that stands out to me is signs. My eyes naturally scan the letters that are on the signs and, aside from just reading the words that they form, I also take note of the typeface that they use. Now there are thousands of different typefaces out there, so one can imagine how difficult it can be to pinpoint exactly which one they are looking at. What makes it even more difficult is the fact that many typefaces look the same; however, if one takes the time to notice and remember the slight differences between these typefaces, it will be easier to distinguish one from the other. One typeface may have longer ascenders than the other, or it might have a bigger x-height- whatever the difference is, it’s just a matter of knowing which characteristics to look for. For this post, I will compare the Arial typeface to Helvetica, and Gotham to Avenir.
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