Logo Design, Switzerland

Olympic Museum - Lausanne Switzerland

I went to the Olympic museum in Lausanne today and found these delights awaiting to inspire me. The current temporary exhibition is called 'Heros' and the design for it is pretty spectacular I must say. As soon as you walk in you're hit with a burst of colour and some rather sweet illustrated wall murals. Parts of the work is 3D and physically stands out to you which adds a great effect. The style of illustration is clear and the kind of style that I'm really into. They also interpret 3D illustrations that hang as well as free-stand. It was interactive and clear for people of all ages to understand about the various heros in the exhibition. They have some fabulous displays at The Olympic museum but this being my 2nd time there, I can definitely say it's the best exhibition I've seen to date.
The Olympic museum describes the exhibition as follows:
An original and colourful exhibition with a cartoon background, which gives a youthful, light-hearted and dynamic tone to a subject as fascinating as it is topical.

Switzerland.

Ahhhhh.... SWITZERLAND.





Possibly the most beautiful country in the world and I am fortunate enough to be spending the majority of my summer here :D Everything about the place is immaculate. And that's before I even get to their graphic design. Clinical I suppose could be the word to describe it. Or again immaculate... Despite the majority of my time being spent on working here and researching for my 3rd year design 'strategy plan,' I have still found time to relax and have a good time. (Naturally) Mostly by doing the following...



I have come across a few new names that I was completely ignorant to until my time here. Those I feel I should really know about due to their status' within Swiss design.
Firstly, Josef Müller-Brockmann, a Swiss graphic designer and teacher. He studied architecture, design and history of art. In 1936 he opened his Zurich studio specialising in graphic design, exhibition design and photography. Müller-Brockman was author of the 1961 publications The Graphic Artist and his Design Problems, Grid Systems in Graphic Design where he advocates use of the grid for page structure, and the 1971 publications History of the Poster and A History of Visual Communication.
He is recognised for his simple designs and his clean use of typography, notably Akzidenz-Grotesk, shapes and colours which inspires many graphic designers in the 21st century. Many of his works can be found on the gallery Blanka.





I have also discovered an amazing site called Blanka. Wow. This is how their description goes...



BLANKA IS A COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL, VINTAGE AND LIMITED EDITION POSTERS AND PRINTS. OUR EVER-EXPANDING WEBSITE INCLUDES ART, DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY, FILM AND MUSIC, BROUGHT TOGETHER BY COLLECTORS AND LEADING CREATIVES. WE COLLECT PRINTS TO SELL OR JUST TO INSPIRE, AND WE ARE CONSTANTLY ADDING NEW, HISTORIC AND UNUSUAL WORK TO OUR PERMANENT VISUAL ARCHIVE.

Their tabs include:

DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
ART
T-SHIRTS
VOUCHER
BOOKS
MUSIC
FILM
EVENTS

One word. Brilliant. I have thoroughly enjoyed looking through the majority of these tabs and been greatly inspired. It gave me the familiar exciting buzz that I get when seeing new work that makes me tick. Check it out :)

One designer/illustrator that i took a shine to was GREGORY GILBERT-LODGE.





HE LIVES AND WORKS IN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND. HIS WORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED AND PUBLISHED WIDELY THROUGHOUT EUROPE. HE HAS NOT ONLY WON HEAPS OF PRAISE FOR HIS TALENT BUT HE HAS ALSO PICKED UP NUMEROUS AWARD FOR HIS ELEGANTLY CRAFTED DRAWING STYLE AND APPROACH TO HIS ARTWORK.
Check his work at: WWW.GILBERT-LODGE.COM

One thing. I'm worried that I'm not doing anything that's practical myself. Finding time to draw is near impossible unless it's a mere doodle. So my mission is to try and get some work on the go and get it up on here. That's the plan Stan.

A new find.

I was 'facebooking' around as ever today and came across a fan site for a graphic design company based in Leeds called Hopscotch Design. They don't have a website yet as it is still under construction however they have started a blog and seem to have a fair little following starting on their facebook fan site. I haven't managed to check out any work by them apart from what is posted onto their page. The work below is theirs...







I have used their contact details on their blog to try and get in touch with them about possibly organising a visit to their studio and look at their portfolio. Hopefully they won't take too long to get back to me as I'm quite excited to see what other stuff they do. To quote from their blog they, 'offer a great experience in design for UK and international companies Hopscotch Graphic Design provides services in all aspects of graphic design including logo design, business cards, web design, brochures, flyers, posters and more. With a background in Art, we can produce beautiful illustrations in various styles for all your design needs and enhance the look of your office by creating original corporate art.'

I look forward to hearing from them soon :)

Summer yeee....!

The weather for t-shirts and shorts has arrived and I seem to find my self basking in the sun and not doing ANY graphic design related stuff. Opps. Not off to a great start there nor with the unfortunateness of a recent bereavement and funeral yesterday of a close family member. They will be sorely missed and leave a great void in our lives. Someone who was always keen to find out how I'm doing on my course and had nothing but words of encouragement.
Today however, I am going to try and ease that sadness and am flying to Switzerland to stay out there a few weeks and should be back at the end of August. Out here I will keep posting any graphic delights and try and stick to my plan for the summer in building a structure and direction for my 3rd year. Lets see what Le Swiss brings!

Ciao ciao x

How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul.

"Today, you can say you are a graphic designer without people looking at you as if you've just announced that you do nude salsa dancing."

A quote from 'How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul' that tickled me...

END OF 2nd YEAR EVALUATION

I can't believe 2nd year has come to an end. Time seems to be passing by very quickly at the moment. I seem to be constantly questioning my self as a designer and where my skills lie. From 2nd year I have learnt that my passion lies mainly in design for print and I want to become a better illustrator and image maker. I have enjoyed creating my own illustrations this year and have tried to develop a style I can call my own. I have been challenged and worked harder than ever. I have found myself struggling at times to keep my head above water, with the pressures of modules, critical studies, enterprise and innovation and PPD to juggle. At times it has been overwhelming but has been a big learning curve for me in how to manage my time. I have taken away with me a lot to reflect upon over this summer.

I am more aware of my strengths, my weaknesses and what I want to strive to become. I'm ready for my 3rd year and eager for it. I just know I need to keep this enthusiasm and thirst going over summer so I'm going to try my best to keep active in my practice, even if it's just a little here and there that keeps my ticking. I'd like to try and do some t-shirt designs over summer. Some friends of mine on the course have expressed an interest in wanting to produce some and I think it'll be a fun little project to become involved in over summer so when we get back we can hopefully get them printed up. The printing process too will be a learning curve for me and I'm excited to see where that could take us. Next year I would definitely like to do screen printing. It has been something I have wanted to do all this year but never got around to doing. Next year even if i don't use it for a course project, I will definitely give it a go. There is something about print that I have taken a shining too this year and want to become more involved in. I want to know more about it and become better at it. I have managed to try out digital printing, which is a process I will use again. It was very enjoyable to experiment with and very satisfying to see an end result.

I have realised that I would like to become more involved in the corporate side of design and try my hand at letter heads and logo design more. I feel my designs have been too fun and I have been too precious about them this year. I need to push myself until things go too far so I know I can develop my work better. I find I often have an idea, stick to it and then don't explore it enough to get the most out of it I perhaps could. From that, I know I am lazy and need to push myself harder.
I would like to develop my skills in InDesign so that my layout skills are better. I am still very much a novice to InDesign and only know the bare minimum. Summer is my chance to play around with it and test my hand to it.

I have been lucky enough to do a work placement at the end of my 2nd year with a print and design company however I am currently on the look out for a couple more and are in touch with some designers. This is all still very much in the process however. I gained an awful lot from doing a short placement with them. Just a few of the things I did for them were, help design a double sided business card, deliver work to clients, sit in on client briefings, give my opinion on page layout of a 200 page lighting brochure and help in and around the studio. I was able to speak to all the team and shadow them. I learnt a great deal from just talking to them and being able to observe what they were doing. Watching how they manage their time and the pace they worked to was a big eye opener and I didn't have to make tea or coffee! My time there has really inspired and informed me and kept me eager to find more and learn more over summer.

I hope 3rd year isn't going to finish me off, however I can feel the stress and soul ripping of it brewing already...
Quite what my plan for 3rd year is going to be yet I do not know, though this summer I am going to try to maintain my design practice through, type/visual journals, live briefs or independent practical research. Hopefully by doing so my plan will be ready and prepared to get the ball rolling as soon as I'm back in September. I just need to stick to it!