my two design cents

Very short shorts campaign

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:49:53 -0400

I found this great campaign from DDB New Zealand over at http://www.frederiksamuel.com and I am loving it. Isn’t it awesome?

Finding these videos this morning made my day. It’s great...

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:13:38 -0500

Finding these videos this morning made my day. It’s great to see that other designers appreciate type the way I do and make it into a piece of art. There is nothing like exploring a new foreign city where you don’t know the language. The excitement, the adventures…type and pictures take a whole new role when you can’t read them. I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I did.

Credits: Niklas Johansson (cinematography) and Albin Holmqvist (designer and art director)

Via

Video

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:12:14 -0500

Video

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:12:10 -0500

Faber-Castell latest ads

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:47:05 -0500

I love these new ads for Faber-Castell which is one of the largest manufacturers of pens and pencils. What I like about these ads is the fact that they are so simple but yet so powerful. Simplicity is key when creating ads because you only have seconds to catch someones attention. Bravo to Serviceplan. I bet we will see these ads in the Advertising Communication Arts Annual.

Great "calligraphy" look-alike fonts

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:26:57 -0500

Since the now fiancee proposed, I have been in full wedding planning mode and looking forward to designing a bunch of fun stuff for our wedding. This past weekend, I was looking for nice calligraphy fonts that won’t cost a fortune for my (or maybe I should say “our”) save the date envelopes. Enjoy!

ALWAYS: starting at $19

YANA: Starting at $10

CAPISTRANO: starting at $29

CIDER: Starting at $25

SCRIPTINA: Free!

TANGERINE: Free!

Judge the book by its cover

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:25:55 -0500

One of my good friends from back home just finished working on the design for this beautiful book for Goya Foods Company and I am in love with the cover. Isn’t it cool?

For more pictures and information go here: http://estudiointerlinea.com/archives/2671

If I could only draw...

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:48:28 -0500

I really wish I could draw. It comes so easily for some people and for others, well, it’s pretty much impossible. I’ve taken some drawing classes and I just need to admit that I wasn’t born with that part of my brain.

I saw this paintings from this Canadian-born artist called Ben Tour and they are amazing. I love the use of colors and the fact that there is a lot of white space. Enjoy more of his work here: http://www.thetourshow.com

Inspiration for packaging design

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 08:05:07 -0500

Here are 4 sites that I go to often when I am looking for packaging inspiration. I even visit these sites when I am looking for inspiration overall.

Finding inspiration for logo design

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:17:00 -0500

This is a continuation post from last week’s post about finding inspiration for web design. Here are some of the websites I go to when I need to design a logo and I need some inspiration. Enjoy!

Finding inspiration for web design

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:02:07 -0500

A lot of people always ask me where do I look for inspiration. The simple answer to that question is that I mostly find it online. Every time I have a small break (which unfortunately is very rarely) I surf the internet for new work and see what other people are doing. I use this great social bookmarking service called delicious to organize all of the things I find that I like. That way, when I get an assignment, I can go and look at these sites for inspiration and thought starters.

Sometimes the sites that I go to depend on the kind of work that I am working on. I have some specific websites that I go for website inspiration, others for logo inspiration, print ad inspiration…you get the picture.

Today, I will show some of the sites that I use for site inspiration.

Wrap your gifts with tweets. Literally.

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:50:29 -0500

This holiday season, Samsung and Intel have joined forces to provide customers with a very unique treat: wrapping paper that showcases your tweets. When the promotion launched, they gave the first 3,000 people a free printed roll with free shipping. But, I just went to their site and it looks like they gave out the 3,000 rolls already (that was fast!). Thankfully, I ordered mine a couple of days ago :)

I think that this is a very smart promotion for the new BOOSTED — Samsung’s new RF510 laptop with Intel Core i5 processor. All the rolls are 19” x 76” and if you upload a picture of a present wrapped with this Tweet Wrap, you will be entered to win a new Samsung laptop. Totally doing it.

I really love when companies think of new ways to incorporate social media into their promotional campaigns. I have never seen this done before and I give them a big gold star for thinking of it. The site is also very well designed. It is very festive and current. I love the happy colors that they are using as well as the use of typography.

Take a look for yourself: http://pages.samsung.com/us/tweetwrap/ and let me know what you think.

WTF?

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:37:00 -0500

Minga (a creative studio in Argentina) created these series of hilarious promotional posters that are properly titled: WTF? What I love about these posters is that they kept them simple by using few colors and silhouettes. I also like the fact that they don’t need an explanation. You get exactly what they mean by looking at the situation and at the WTF? That is what I call a very successful design.

Don’t you think these will make great Tshirts or/and iPhone cases?

For more posters, click here and here.

Wait a minute. You can design barcodes?

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:00:06 -0500

Now you can. I found this site (http://www.vanitybarcodes.com) a couple of months ago that will transform your barcode into a shape, animal, cracker, person… you name it! How cool is that? For us designers it just opens a whole world full of possibilities when it comes to designing the area where the barcode goes in.

Logo Collection I

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:01:07 -0500

I have a folder in my desktop called “Logos” where I save all of the cool and clever logos that I find when I am looking for inspiration. Every time I have to design a logo, I get very excited. They take way more time than people think, but it is so rewarding when you are done and the client falls in love with one of your designs.

Here are 15 logos that I think are very well designed. Enjoy!

Neighborhood Posters

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:39:30 -0500

I found these great posters by designer Jenny Beorkrem the other day and I really really really want the Boston one. They have most of the things that I love: simplicity, typography and originality.

Here is the site: http://www.orkposters.com/

Ambient Advertising Campaign

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:40:47 -0500

The German agency Jung von Matt Matt/Stuttgart did this great ambient campaign for Ambi Pur (which is an air-freshener brand). Isn’t it gorgeous?

via: adsoftheworld, advertolog, origination

Beautiful Food Blogs

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:00:07 -0500

In the name of Thanksgiving week, I want to showcase 4 of my favorite food blogs. Not only are they very nicely designed, their photography is amazing. Every time I go to one of these blogs, my mouth starts to water and I get hungry. It just makes you want to get into that kitchen and cook!

Happy Turkey Day.

I am obsessed with the new Target commercials. Whoever did the...

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:00:06 -0500

I am obsessed with the new Target commercials. Whoever did the casting nailed it. Check out their YouTube channel for more versions: http://www.youtube.com/user/Target

Showcase your work in style

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:24:00 -0500

If you are a designer, you know the deal. You have to show your work in order to get an interview. The way you showcase your work could definitely make someone intrigued to see more or ticked off and loose interest. Here are some examples of portfolios that I think are beautiful and effective.