The letter U is coming in hot. It's representing itself in the form of a UV sunblock logo. Ultra-Violet, the dangerous invisible little rays that make you extra crispy. Smart little letter, I say.
Some things I would keep on changing and tweaking if this was going to be a logo. Spacing and alignment, as well as some extra modifications to the standard type. Thanks to Futura for lending us it's bold U. Always a happy helper.
If you haven't already seen this video, take a look. It's the USA reacting to Donovan's goal from around the world. Good stuff and great to see the country getting into it. This is the World Cup...
I have never been much of a video game player. Maybe because I am terrible at it, and the remote would eventually end up in the TV. But Tetris is one of those games I did like growing up. I never knew I had so much in common with T. It's a whole family of Tetris pieces. Imagine T's family picnics, good times...
The double-decker T is rare in these parts. It showed up with all the latest trends from overlap, transparencies and arrows. Kudos T, you are like vampire movies of typography... so hot right now.
Yup, it's a T-Square. Just the beginning of what could be a nice plaid repeat pattern. I could see you on the golf course rocking your T-Square polo. Collar down, like a gentlemen...
The double double S. Simple Univers condensed spun around to make a nice semi-geometric shape. Pleasing to see and taste. A subtle folding border and you have the making of the Design Quota. Until tomorrow when T makes it's debut.
We have some noise on this one. Got this 'S' from a found photo in the Newbaric archive. I was looking for something a little less obvious, but that is how the Design Quota works. Mysterious ways... not really.
I swiped this off of my buddy 'ol pal, Joe Turpel's website. The Black Keys are without hesitation one of my favortie bands of the last decade. I was poking around Joe's Page Turner blog, and saw he posted this vid. Definately worth a repost. So talented. Music and design go together like two things that really should always be together... always.
Just wrapped up a nice little full page gem for Infinity. Off to print.
We changed up the art direction and look for Infinity. Went from the black and worn look to something a little brighter and fresh. Just in time for summer. Put your feet up, grab an iced tea (with an umbrella) and soak in the rays.
The USA won today, 3-2, against Slovenia... that is until the referee decided to take back the goal for no explainable reason. FIFA, get your act together. The other cards in the games were human mistakes, but taking a goal away is corruption. You can't blame games on the ref, but I am finding it hard to figure out any other reason why the USA lost this game...
That said, the Slovenian team is good, and all due respect to their efforts on the pitch. USA defense, wake up, you can't afford anymore early goals. Great comeback, let's keep it rolling into next Wednesday against Algeria.
The letter S is here. This is S. Yup. A little swoopy swoop and that's about all this one has to offer. Background image is part of a painting I just finished. Nice texture to it.
Bookman is the typeface that has sponsored today's design quota. Have a great weekend, and see y'all on Monday.
In a nice continuation from yesterday, we stick with the eye games. This one is a salute to Mr. Escher, the wizard of perception. Neutra is the typeface behind the scenes of this one. Always a good helper.
I like those emails you get where all the words are jumbled up and makes no sense, but you can read them. Then they tell you "if you can read this you are not neccessarily a genius, but you might be smart." They make me feel smart. I am in the top 99% of all humankind. Very rewarding. So this design quota is a tribute to those tests, without pushing the boundaries as much. Don't worry, you're smart too. Brains rule!
I was playing with R as an icon and it morphed into what I thought of as a moving line company. It has that 'North American' moving line vibe, so I figured I would roll with it. Who knows, maybe it's a subway line. "Take the 'r' line downtown and get off at the Newbaric stop..."
The design quota did it's job, it got the juices flowing and time to move on to projects. A small list for the day: Infinity magazine ad, CH Robinson graphic for their LA office, Infinity catalog layout, logo for start up company, and finish up JSK website and Academy icon. Better get started. Until tomorrow...
I set out today to design a new crest for the USA national soccer, ehm football, team. As I researched our history, something our current crest completely lacks, I became inspired to create a crest that shows who we are, and our attitude as a nation and soccer team.
Perhaps my favorite icon of American history is the Gadsden flag and Benjamin Franklin's original "Join or Die" wood cut. It symbolized the 8 sections of the new colonies and the message was to unite. What could be more symbolic for the United States of America?
Of course, Nike Soccer has had the "Don't Tread on Me" graphic for a number of years now and I think it sums up what I would want to get across. I know, a lazy design quota right? I didn't design the crest, as it would be different if I did. Unfortunately, the research and reading I did, that led to what would be my direction for the solution, took up all the time I have for the design quota today :)
I am slightly embarrassed of our current emblem. It shows no history, and has that cliche soccer ball with speed lines. A little too clip art for my taste. It looks like a young, underdog logo. So much fun could be had. For now, I think the USA should adopt the Nike art direction.
Having said that, I will pursue a deeper exploration and design of what I would have the USA soccer crest be. The snake coiled around a ball shape is a start. Maybe add in the 8 sections like Mr. Franklin's original drawing. I would look into using a different shield, maybe a circle for the crest. Typographically I think a bold USA would be the call, without the "soccer". I would also explore a less cliche way to display the stars and stripes. Could get tough, stay tuned...
On that note, CONGRATS to the USA team for their 1-1 tie with England. Ball possession was almost even and the US looked like the more composed and poise team. Our defense was shaky at best and that needs to be addressed right away. You have to love hype and how it forms stereotypes. Although a tie with England is nice, they are far from a Germany, Brazil, Argentina or Spain. England's goalie mistake was no worse than the USA's defensive slip-up when England scored. That's soccer. Don't Tread on Me...
Yup, it's a Q with nice tail, "painted" on the wall. This is the hallway of one of the more interesting buildings I have been in. UT Architecture and Design department. Plenty of photo ops in a place like that.
Never really know what a Q will come up with until you give it a try. Neutra typeface Q, a little repeat pattern, some nifty colors and bamn! You have a stained-glass window!
We interrupt the Design Quota once more for the NHL Stanley Cup champs, the Chicago Blackhawks!!! Yup, that's the Hancock and SEARS, hoisting the Stanley Cup over Chicago. Looks heavy.
What great playoffs, what a phenomenal series and what a priceless championship. Here's to the Blackhawks, the city of Chicago and Chicago fans around the world. The Flyers were fighters and had me throwing hats and remotes at the TV more than once. Hats off to them for a great, clean series. Good hits, great goals and respectable sportsmanship.
Couldn't be more proud to be a Chicagoan. Greatest sports city, well deserved. Thank you Blackhawks.
Quelle eh? I know it's not fair to design an icon, and then apply it, but that's the design quota. Whatever gets the design juices flowing. Here is the letter Q, for the ficticious company 'Quelle'. They print books, hence the 'page'/'book' shape that rounds out the Q at the bottom.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled Design Quota to bring you the June 7th, 1776 edition.
It's a pretty important date in American history, one of the most important. On June 7th, 1776 Richard Henry Lee brought the following resolution before the Continental Congress of the United Colonies:
"Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."
This is our declaration of independence. The Virginia Resolution on Independence was the catalyst to our freedom.
Thanks to Katie for her inspiration and passion for American history ;)
P took a walk on the wild side. Hanging out in the jungle, blending in with it's elements. If you didn't know it was a P, you would just think it was a tiger taking a bath. So stealth...
Decided to reintroduce some imagery. I was enjoying the vector logo goodness for each letter, and I will return to that. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. For now, wrestle with this...
This morning's design quota brings you a quick P. Just looking at what designs P can come up with on it's own. Pretty straight forward without any real idea. I think P is moving a little slow today from the camp out last yesterday...
The letter P invited us on it's camping trip. A very resourceful letter, P is. No pan to boil water? Not a problem, the letter P is like the MacGyver of the alphabet. Nice move P, nice move...
By the way, that water was for my daily oatmeal breakfast, a must have... And yes, I go camping with letters.
DISCLAIMER: I am not an A's fan, nor is this logo even remotely real. It's just another fun Design Quota post. Good, now that we got all the legal jargon out of the way...
Here is the design for today's design quota. The letter O has morphed itself into an Oakland A's icon. Probably more of a random graphic than team identity. You have the O, the A and the baseball diamond shape. I think this qualifies, eh?
To all of you in the A's front office, drop me an email or give me call. I see some real potential here :)
Welcome to the special edition of The Design Quota. Took a break from the alphabet to focus on the day at hand.
Happy Memorial Day to all, and God bless all of our troops that have fought and sacrificed their lives for our country and the greater good of the world. We can never repay you for what you have given...
O. A simple letter with subtle variations. It's amazing the amount of ways you can create a circle. Each typeface has it's own character and it's own O, and yet it presents the least opportunity for change or originality of all the letter forms. The one above is the geomtric Neutra, with a strike through the middle, keeping with the geometric theme...
I have created hundreds if not thousands of 'O' variations during my years working at Oakley. Many Os were sketched, rendered and sketched again. Maybe I will post some of those variations for my next design quota. Is that cheating? It's good to be king...
The last few days have been my bachelor party. Yup, getting married in a few months and all the bros took me golfing, camping and surfing. What else do you want? We took over Cardiff and let the good times roll. Here's a sequence I took of all the guys in action around the campsite. Thanks again for rockin' out for a few days to celebrate my last days of freedom. Joke, laugh...
