Back in May we posted a blog article outlining 14 Items Design Geeks Must Have! We have had such a huge response from all of you that since then I have been collecting any item I deem to be design related, geeky and worthy enough for a second post, so take a look though the further 21 items all design geeks must have and let me know what you think! Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Design Resources
A little while ago I was given a project and confidently told “Don’t worry it won’t take you long, we’ve got brand guidelines” With a spring in my step I opened the email and glanced down at the lonely half page of A5 which was their guidelines. Needless to say the brand guidelines left something to be desired and consisted of a logo, the correct pantone colours, and accompanying font. As you can imagine the project took longer than hoped as they didn’t have any consistent form of branding and I wasn’t given sufficient information as to what was required. However, we got there in the end and the client was more than happy with the final piece. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Branding, Graphic Design
If you are a regular visitor to the Eightyone Design Blog, I am sure you are aware that both Steve and I are particularly passionate about retro and vintage artwork. Team this up with our love for VW campervans (we have blogged about our own and have another blog dedicated to them as well!) and you get some of our favourite adverts ever created! These retro VW adverts are clean, simple and each one sends a clear message to their audience. The sense of continuity is spot on and their word play and copy really does set the standard (if you can put up with the sexism!).
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Posted in Branding, Design Inspiration
There have been a lot of articles written about stock photography lately, many of which believe that the use of it damages our creative industry. Rather than finding the perfect solution for a design brief, designers and clients alike log onto sites such as istock, fotolia and shutterstock, complete a quick image search which turns out average images that are far from perfect for their intended use. These photographs or stock vectors are not bespoke and have often been overused. A classic example is the ‘call us now…’ image on a contact page or catalogue showing a man or woman with a headset on! This image screams ’stock’ and should be extinct! Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Design Resources, Freelancing, Graphic Design
I know what you are thinking, this is just another article (or rant) dedicated to probably one of the hottest debates in graphic design… spec work and free pitching. Well you are wrong… sort of. I agree that we really don’t need another article based on this subject as there are so many already out there (like this one, this one and this one). All of these are great and tackle the subject in various ways and showcase a wide range of attitudes and thoughts towards free pitching. However, I am hoping this article will be slightly different and maybe question (as it has us) your thoughts towards free pitching and spec work. I thought I would share with you something that has happened to us here at Eightyone Design in recent months. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Freelancing, Graphic Design
A client recently came to us with an excellent idea for a site and I couldn’t wait to meet with them and get stuck into designing the visual. However when I thought about building the site I could feel a mild headache coming on. This got me thinking, what’s your favourite part of the graphic design process? I realise every project is different and some projects are a pure pleasure from beginning to end whilst others are just painful from the outset. However I still think there must be one part of the process where you think “I’m really looking forward to working on that…” Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Freelancing, Graphic Design, Logo Design, Web Design
Back in February I posted about my new hobby - photography. I set up a flickr account and for the past 4 months I’ve been snapping away at anything thats taken my fancy! I’ve posted a few of my favourite shots below: Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Photography
Just lately, we have been wondering how we could improve our graphic design studio to make it a more creative workspace. Whether it means adding a huge mural on the wall or simply designing some graphic art, we feel it could do with a bit of a change. After all, an extravagant and funky working space should give you an extra boost of inspiration! This led me to start looking at unusual and creative offices. Here are a few offices and creative spaces that take that concept to the extreme:
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Posted in Design Inspiration, Freelancing, Graphic Design
Our regular readers will know that we really enjoy vintage and retro design. From old record sleeves to cars, we love the look of something that appears to have travelled in time from the past. We recently got looking at vintage and retro architecture, particular from the 1970’s. There is something so memorable about 70’s inspired architecture, the hard edges and cold concrete mixed with chocolate and cream colours. No wonder so many modern buildings are starting to take inspiration from this era. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Design Inspiration
This blog article is about something that I am sure happens to all designers at some point in their career - You are asked to design something you don’t actually like. Now it’s not that what you are designing is wrong, in fact it’s perfect for the intended market. However, you yourself are not the target market and the brief does not encompass your style. Therefore, you do not like what you are actually creating.
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Posted in Graphic Design, T-shirt / Clothing design
