Diary of a Graphic Designer by Michael C Place

This is a recent article for the design magazine ‘Creative Review’ that I really enjoyed as being a design student and having relatively little experience apart from a few months work experience it gives me a brief incite into the day to day workings of a real design studio. The article followed a month in the life of Michael C Place and his small London design studio ‘Build’ and I found not only interesting to see how he works but also reliving to see that even though he is a successful designer he still has some of the same problems that I do – such as ‘not being able to get things to look just right’ or coming up with ideas. I also liked the way that he cited some of his inspirations, who he worked with and I got to see a project (the Helvetica type poster) from concept to completion.

Arctic Papers Advert

This is recent press advert for a new brand of recycled paper called ‘Munken’ by Arctic Paper. The main focus of the advert is the large line/dot diagram with the heading ‘Interesting or frightening’. This combination made me initially think that it was some sort of personality test – the kind where depending on what you see can tell a physiatrist what your personality is – however when you read the copy it explains that the illustration is actually an airline route map, that airlines currently contribute to 2% of world CO2 emissions and that this is expected to double by 2012 and that this interesting diagram does have frightening implications. The advert then goes on to say that designers can help cut carbon emissions by using this new brand of high quality recycled paper. The reason that I like this advert is that unlike some other adverts selling green products at first glance it doesn’t obviously look like a ‘green product advert’ – the colour green isn’t used and there are no large statistics showing how this product will help cut carbon emissions – instead the designers have created a type of advert that will appeal directly to their target audience (other designers) – a advert that has a clever idea behind it.

Guardian Brand Campaign

These are two examples of posters produced by the design agency Wieden+Kennnedy London as part of a brand campaign for ‘The Guardian’ newspaper. The key aim for the campaign has been to promote and remind people of the papers key values such as its independence and that it is a respectable newspaper – not a tabloid. I think that these ads have been very successful in getting this message across to potential customers, as they are eye catching, clever and intellectual. The first ad shows how the paper aims to separate fact from opinions and the second that unlike other papers it doesn’t need to have shocking headlines everyday to sell.

Kate Moss Logo

Kate Moss has recently launched her own fashion brand to be sold on the high street through ‘TopShop’ and I think the logo that will be on all her products is a particularly beautiful piece of typography. The logo was created by Peter Saville and typographer Paul Barnes and is based on a typeface called ‘Brodovitch Albro’. I think the logo will be very successful as it carries connotations of class and elegance and looks and almost looks as if it would have been home in an Audrey Hepburn movie.