"The symbolic meanings of the number four are linked to those of the cross and the square. 'almost from prehistoric times, the number four was employed to signify what was solid, what could be touched and felt. Its relationship to the cross (four points) made it an outstanding symbol of wholeness and universality, a symbol which drew all to itself'. Where lines of latitude and longitude intersect, they divide the earth into four proportions. Throughout the world kings and chieftains have been called 'lord of the four suns'...'lord of the four quarters of the earth'... by which is understood to the extent of their powers both territorially and in terms of total control of their subjects' doings." - Wikipedia
Wow, that's something to think about. Now without further delay, the number 4...
A little history lesson. My client, Infinity Surfboards, has been around awhile... since 1970. A moment of silence for their 40th anniversary.
Ok, and in that 40 years more than a few note-worthy people have passed through their doors. Since this is a, mostly, design blog I will mention a one, David Carson. The David Carson. The David Carson that has been called the most influential designer of the 90s, and credited with the much copied destruction of type.
I am a fan of legibility, funtion, beauty and type, the way the type designer intended for it to be used. However, that does not stop the design of David Carson from influencing me, like it has every other designer out there. We have all gone through that stage of type destruction and experimentation, something that never ends. When type experimentation ends, you are officially a copywriter and no longer a designer. So many fonts, so little time and so many opportunities to be had.
All that said, and I am not really sure what I actually did say, I have a tremendous respect for Mr. David Carson as a designer, for the spark he created across the global design community, as a fellow surfer and as a fellow Infinity Alumni.
The surf lam above is from his 'pro' model from back in his days of riding for and working for Infinity Surfboards. Not only is Mr. Carson a legendary designer, but he happens to shred pretty hard on a surfboard. It appears an old Infinity surfboard-glasser sent him a note (written below the lam). I got this off David Carson's website. Take a look at his website, as there are a few shots and videos of him riding Infinitys and working at the shop down in San Diego back in the day. Good times, great designs...
Now what would really be great is to have Mr. Carson come on back and design an ad or two for Infinity, for old times sake. That's an official invitation... The Boehnes say 'hi!'
The number 5 is so popular. It is the number of foundation books in the bible, the dollar bill amount that Abe Lincoln is on, the number of rings in the Olympic logo, the number of points in a pentagram, the number of elements in that movie with Bruce Willis and Chris Tucker and so on. Wow, we should all aspire to be as great as #5 some day...
Newbaric and Nation strolled up the coast to the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach. It was the final day, Sunday March 7th, when I got my 15 minutes of fame ;) That's us behind Mr. Freddy Couples. Newbaric in the 'newsboy' looking so Golf, and Nation in the Nation Scramble hat, looking on...
The day went like this... Nation had some tickets bestowed upon himself and Newbaric said "heck yeah" lets do this. We make our way to the course as the ticket lady says, "oh wow, you guys are going to the party tent!" "Huh?" Yeah, little did we know, our passes were for the LA Times 18th fairway villas. Sit back, get some free grub and drinks and take in panoramic views of the 18th, 15th and 10th fairways. Great start to a great day.
After we got some food and drinks in us, we headed out on the course to follow the one and only, Mr. Tom Watson, my personal favorite, as he is for most golfers. Open up your Websters to 'golf' and Mr. Watson is the stoic character they should have representing the game. Watching his approach to the every hole was surreal. A walk to the front of every tee box, survey the fairway, the wind, the elements, and then back to blast the ball with precision to the middle of the fairway. Then his 'walk' continues. So classy, alone and deep in thought. More of a strut/stroll, than a walk. Nation picked him out of a crowd walking down the fairway at about 250 yards out. Yeah, Mr. Watson is OG. He had an unbelievable push for the win and ended the day -9, with a three day final of -11.
As Mr. Watson's path crossed with Mr. Couples mob, we jumped over to see what Boom Boom was up to. The current tournament leader, and eventual winner, Mr. Freddy Couples was lights out! The screen shots above were from different family and friends taking photos of the TV as yours truly and Nation were situated right behind Mr. Couples, as he teed off at the 13th hole. Look at us, so serious, and ready to see Freddy knock the ball where it belongs. Yup, that's us.
We made out way back to the villas to watch the final march down the 18th fairway to victory. As we were leaving, we get the call that we were on TV for a good 30 seconds while Freddy was getting ready to tee off. Wow, what a day...
Good Monday to all. Start of another week and you know what that means, The Design Quota is back on. Here we have everyone's favorite number 6. Looking sharp, yet playful. Careful with this one...
I was cruising through the pages of Brand New today, and was reminded of the Hartford Whalers from one of the posters. What a great, timeless, clever logo. The H, and the W with a whale tale. Good stuff. I wish the team was still around so the logo could get some use. So many good logos from companies and teams of the past. I will try and dig some more gems up.
Not to bring a good post down, but how does design like this happen today? Especially with all the resources and designers to choose from? What a shame... Check it out on Brand New here.
Just to end the post on an up note, there was a redeeming logo on Brand New as well. Check it.
Everyone is going to have an opinion when a new logo comes out, and you ALWAYS get the "reminds me of..." comments. But all in all the Heart logo is well done, memorable and has it's own twist without being too much of a "heart."
As I work my way from 9-0, we'll see where each number takes the design process. Keeping it clean so far, see if some illustration or texture works its way into the mix in the next few...
This is the start of Volume 1 of the design quota. I am going to explore alphanumeric forms and images. Some will be hand drawn, others based off fonts. Looking forward to seeing where it will progress to. Feel free to throw in comments, opinions and requests.
Yup, hot off the press! Together=One, the poster Newbaric designed for The Haiti Poster Project, is off the press and ready to be delivered. Thanks to Nick at The Half and Half for getting things done and sending over the picks of the process. I love the screen printed poster. Wish I could have gotten my hands dirty with this one, but because of time and space, I left this one to the pros at the Half and Half to print. Much Appreciated!
So the time is here, and I welcome you to the first posting of The Design Quota, a daily design venture brought to you by Newbaric.
Newbaric will be designing something new everyday to post on the site. These designs may range from sketches to concepts to full on final pieces. It's a process of just getting it out there and giving the braina work out. In this case, it's not about the final design, but more about the process of design. Looking forward to seeing where it leads.
I will be breaking it down into categories. The first week may be "icons" or it may be themed. Good times ahead, this is your official invite to hop on the crazy train.
So it's March eh? Good stuff. Sorry for the lapse in posts, it's been a little more than hectic this last week. Went out to Hamilton Oaks for some wine tasting, that's the photo above. Great times were had by all. Some serious wine, and some serious pours.
Should have the Haiti Poster Project poster in hand in the next week. Can't wait.
A BIG shout out to the USA for shining bright in the Olympics. Kudos to the USA hockey team for a stellar permformance every game. Definately a gold-medal worthy team. Congrats to Canada on the gold. Great Olympics and an awesome host country.
Here is the poster I just completed for The Haiti Poster Project. Pretty happy about this one and can't wait to see the printed piece. Thank you to The Half and Half for printing the poster. It will be 12"x24", 3-color screen print on 100# Cougar Bright White paper. Check back at The Haiti Poster Project's website to see all the posters. All the proceeds will be going to Doctors without Borders.
I will be posting updates to the project, and post when mine and all the other designer's posters are available for sale. Time to raise some money and get down to business!
Special thanks to Moxie Sozo and Josh Higgins for putting this all together. Good people, great cause...
Today is a poster day. It's been a little while since I have been able to design a poster from start to finish. I love the quality of a screen printed poster. One of my favorite poster projects to date was The Hurricane Poster Project poster I did for Katrina a few years back. Check it out.
Today I am starting a poster for The Haiti Poster Project. The same good people over at Moxie Sozo are putting on the benefit poster program to aid the people of Haiti. Check back soon for the poster's progress and to see all the other designer's posters for the project.
The new Vancouver 2010 posters have all the elements of a vintage Olympic poster without the large type. Of course recent Olympics have consistent "branding" across the board with colors and logos to tie everything together. I am a fan of these posters. Olympic design usually captures the idea well, without regard for current trends.
I am not going to be able to watch the USA - Switzerland hockey game today, I will have it taped. Looking forward to hockey getting underway. Mr. Kane of my Chicago Blackhawks will be representing the USofA! Do it...
Add a little texture to the vector shape of a simple snowflake and voola! Good clean fun. Innsbruck has a few good ones from the times they have hosted, more to come...
Classic Olympic poster. Very geometric and understated. Some more classic posters to come, with some great illustrations.
Day 2 of the Olympics is over, looking forward to some Hockey starting up. I won't be able to watch much of anything, but I will be checking in to see how the red white and blue are doing. Still don't understand the sport where you go bowling with a tea kettle on ice and then clean up with a broom at the same time. And Baseball got thrown out the Olympics? OK...
This is a re-post from a few months back. I thought with the Olypmics happening now, it might be relevant to bring it to the front again. What a dream project. Plenty of opinions and scrutiny to go around, I am sure, but how rewarding. Has to be a pinnacle of a designers career.
So here we are, Day 01 of the 2010 Olympic winter games. Over the next month I will post some design features of the current Olympics as well as some tribute designs of past Olympics. So Awesome. If you remember this post, there are some great history to the design of the Olympic games. I will re-post that video, since it seams relevant.
Go USA! USA for life, couldn't be more proud. Seeing our athletes march around that stadium, represent us well! Oh, and nice Ralph Lauren gear. They look like they are off the pages of a polo ad. I liked it. Classy. American.
Infinity is established, and so are these cards. So clean, so rich and oozing of tradition like the 40 year old surf board makers that they are. Just off the press. Satin finish with some space to write your custom board specs. The new cards represent the new brand direction of Infinity Surfboards. I know you remember the van graphics that Newbaric dialed in for them a few months back... Check out the company rig: Infinity Van.
We don't just create sweet looking graphics, we build brands...
