SA creatives featured!

I always get a kick out of seeing South Africans making name for themselves!
This issue of NICE features great talent from Jozi.
Enjoy!

Open publication - Free publishing - More au retour

Guess what I've been working on?

headspace

redrawing,
revisiting,
rethinking,
reviewing,
re-evaluating and
redesigning...

I love my life right now!

(digging the doodle? pen on paper, snapped with iPhone, modified in PS Mobile and Polarize App)

add this to your blogroll - now

quite possibly one of the most beautiful and engaging comics out there! i dare you not to emote.

list: posters i long to own

our lease will be up come february, which has me daydreaming about finding the perfect space again :0)
wooden floors...
high ceilings...
kitchen with an oven...
rooftop patio...
lots and lots of cupboards for Peter's clothes *lol*

this lead me to thinking about decoration.
does wanting these posters make me weird?

a look into the future

another t-shirt entry! Vote now!! (3 days left)

My springleap | Designs

"umshini wami" is a Zulu song favored by ex-deputy president Jacob Zuma during his rape trial. it translates: "bring me my machine gun".

Peace!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

8 ways to drive a graphic designer mad.

From ghisroy.com - Rants, Comics & other Sillyness.

As everyone knows, graphic designers are the reason there are so many wars in this world. They get inside our heads with their subliminal advertising, force us against our will to spend money on the worst pieces of shit, and eventually, drive us to depression and random acts of violence. And of course, most of them are communists.

So to do my part to save the world from them, i made a list of things you can do when working with a graphic designer, to assure that they have a burn-out and leave this business FOREVER.


1-Microsoft Office
When you have to send a graphic designer a document, make sure it's made with a program from Microsoft Office. PC version if possible. If you have to send pictures, you'll have more success in driving them mad if, instead of just sending a jpeg or a raw camera file, you embed the pictures inside a Microsoft Office document like Word or Powerpoint. Don't forget to lower the resolution to 72 dpi so that they'll have to contact you again for a higher quality version. When you send them the "higher" version, make sure the size is at least 50% smaller. And if you're using email to send the pictures, forget the attatchment once in a while.












2-Fonts
If the graphic designer chooses Helvetica for a font, ask for Arial. If he chooses Arial, ask for Comic Sans. If he chooses Comic Sans, he's already half-insane, so your job's half done.











3-More is better
Let's say you want a newsletter designed. Graphic designers will always try to leave white space everywhere. Large margins, the leading and kerning of text, etc. They will tell you that they do this because it's easier to read, and leads to a more clean, professional look. But do not believe those lies. The reason they do this is to make the document bigger, with more pages, so that it costs you more at the print shop. Why do they do it? Because graphic designers hate you. They also eat babies. Uncooked, raw baby meat.

So make sure you ask them to put smaller margins and really, really small text. Many different fonts are also suggested (bonus if you ask for Comic Sans, Arial or Sand). Ask for clipart. Ask for many pictures (if you don't know how to send them, refer to #1). They will try to argument, and defend their choices but don't worry, in the end the client is always right and they will bow to your many requests.


4-Logos
If you have to send a graphic designer a logo for a particular project, let's say of a sponsor or partner, be sure to have it really really small and in a low-res gif or jpeg format. Again, bonus points if you insert it in a Word document before sending it. Now you might think that would be enough but if you really want to be successful in lowering the mental stability of a graphic designer, do your best to send a version of the logo over a hard to cut-out background. Black or white backgrounds should be avoided, as they are easy to cut-out with the darken or lighten layer style in photoshop. Once the graphic designer is done working on that bitmap logo, tell him you need it to be bigger.

If you need a custom made logo, make your own sketches on a napkin. Or better yet, make your 9 year old kid draw it. Your sketch shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to make. You don't want to make something that's detailed and easy to understand, because the less the designer understands what you want, the more you can make him change things afterwards. Never accept the first logo. Never accept the 9th, make him do many changes, colors, fonts & clip art. Ask him to add a picture in the logo. Bevels. Gradients. Comic Sans. And when he's at his 10th attempt, tell him that you like the 2nd one the most. I know, it's mean but remember: graphic designers are the cause of breast cancer among middle aged women.


5-Chosing your words
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don't really mean anything. Terms like "jazz it up a bit" or "can you make it more webbish?". "I would like the design to be beautiful" or "I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics." are other options. Don't feel bad about it, you've got the right. In fact, it's your duty because we all know that on fullmoons, graphic designers shapeshift into werewolves.


6-Colors
The best way for you to pick colors (because you don't want to let the graphic designer choose) is to write random colors on pieces of paper, put them in a hat and choose. The graphic designer will suggest to stay with 2-3 main colors at the most, but no. Choose as many as you like, and make sure to do the hat thing in front of him. While doing it, sing a very annoying song.


7-Deadlines
When it's your turn to approve the design, take your time. There is no rush. Take two days. Take six. Just as long as when the deadline of the project approaches, you get back to the designer with more corrections and changes that he has time to make. After all, graphic designers are responsible for the 911 attacks.

8-Finish him
After you've applied this list on your victim, it is part of human nature (although some would argue weather they're human or not) to get a bit insecure. As he realises that he just can't satisfy your needs, the graphic designer will most likely abandon all hopes of winning an argument and will just do whatever you tell him to do, without question. You want that in purple? Purple it is. Six different fonts? Sure!

You would think that at this point you have won, but don't forget the goal of this: he has to quit this business. So be ready for the final blow: When making final decisions on colors, shapes, fonts, etc, tell him that you are disappointed by his lack of initiative. Tell him that after all, he is the designer and that he should be the one to put his expertise and talent at work, not you. That you were expecting more output and advices about design from him.

Tell him you've had enough with his lack of creativity and that you would rather do your own layouts on Publisher instead of paying for his services. And there you go. You should have graphic designer all tucked into a straight jacket in no time!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

my T made it to the top 20!!

springleap | Garden Route Geeks


would you look at that!! my t-shirt made it into the top 20 designs for april!!!
oh how chuffed am i?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

vote for i

there's a rocking movement online called springleap, where SA artist, designers, doodlers (whomever) get the opportunity to enter t-shirt designs online. monthly winners are voted for by, well... pretty much anyone - and the winners get produced!! check it out!

and remember to vote for your favorites!! especially if it's mine ;0)

ps: who gets the code?

Cool design!!

Now this is a print I wouldn't mind owning! Talk about brilliant information design! It's simple, easy to understand and provides all the relevant information you require! (To top it all - it's beautiful!)

Country Codes of the World (Byte Level Research)

Blogged with Flock

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY @ 50 Victoria Street

I got this fom my friends at Moss Grahic Design. (It probably took Quentin all of 5 minutes to walk out, take the picture and slap it all together - but we loves it.

Eskom's Darkest Hour [Carte Blanche: 27 January 2008]

This was the title of last night's episode of Carte Blache

During the broadcast, they asked viewers whether or not they had faith in Eskom to solve our power crisis (sms voting):
N: 109 538
Y: 1 216

By clicking the title-link of this post, you can read the transcript of last night's episode.

Riveting stuff, I tell ya!

Stormhoek - my favourite wine!

Last night, in Johannesburg, the Council of judges for South Africa’s Marketing Excellence awards gave a gold medal and trophy to Stormhoek as the best Brand marketing campaign of the year (Small Budget).

They gave the same awards to other brands for Medium Budget and Large Budget and Extra Large Budget.

Finally, they gave a bigger trophy to the Grand Prix winner for the overall brand campaign winner and this went to Stormhoek.

Gold awards and trophies were handed out for sponsorship campaigns, arts and culture campaigns and an ex-advertising copywriter (now Absa Bank marketing manager) called Happy Ntshingila was crowned Marketing Man of the Year.
[Full story from bizcommunity.com.]

Not only is Stormhoek my FAVOURITE WINE OF ALL TIME – but they have a brilliant marketing strategy as well: Blogging. Yup - go to: www.stormhoek.co.za - that's it! Brilliant.


Probably my favourite part of the Stormhoek image - is Hugh Macleod's (he of gapingvoid fame) cartoons that are used as their labels. A few of them are posted below:

Peace.

Creepy but cool

I found this via Digg... this must have taken hours and hours and days and days and...

New York Decay (JPEG Image, 2000x1351 pixels) - Scaled (51%)

Blogged with Flock

Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise : Digital Design: AvenueA|RazorFish Report

If you're interested in the latest authoritative report on Digital Design - and what your online presence should learn from it - click through Steve Clayton's blog for the motherload:

Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise : Digital Design: AvenueA|RazorFish Report

Blogged with Flock

Woof Wan-Bau's art

"Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. In a response to the homogenisation of Japanese media and art, “Superflat” attempts to critique the vacuity of post-war Japanese culture, including criticisms of the otaku lifestyle, consumerism, and related issues." Wikipedia

Up until this morning, I was blissfully unaware of the Superflat art movement. Thanks to Jockohomo's blog - I've been introduced to the work of Woof Wan-Bau. This particular video (for lack of a better term) still has me in its grip.

Right now I'm dying to read "Superflat and Otaku Nationalism", a paper presented at MOCA gallery at the Pacific design Center, West Hollywood, on 5 April 2001. Especially after seeing this:

"An ad campaign for LOUIS VUITTON by Mamoru Hosoda. an updated alice in wonderland, in which a girl, searching for her lost cell phone, floats in a dizzying world of the company's logos. While waiting to meet her friends outside of a Louis Vuitton store, Aya's cell phone is eaten by the LV Panda, who then promptly swallows Aya - but the inside of his stomach is gateway to a psychedelic wonderland. Based on characters created by famed superflat artist Takashi Murakami." YouTube

Correct me if I'm wrong - but isn't the Superflat art movement anti-consumerist in nature? How horribly fascinating it is to see the perversion of another manifesto by (seemingly all powerful) consumerism.

and then they do this

Ich+ Ich - Du erinnerst mich an Liebe.

This has to be one of the most beautiful music videos I've seen in a very, very long time. "You remind me of love"

them crazy Germans

How cool is this!! "I am a gummy bear..." darnit - it's corny, silly and addictive. This won't make the list of "All Time Classics" - but it's good for at least a few parties ;0)

Why I love graphic designers

From Idea Attic