Warburtons finds a new look

Family bakers Warburtons are amongst the largest of all grocery branded products. I myself and partial to the odd slice of Warburtons farmhouse to house my cheese and pickle sandwich. So, reading up on the Warburton re-brand has made me somewhat nostalgic towards the classic and traditional logo that has now been replaced by a clean and modern marque. At first sight I was skeptical but reading through my favourite design blog site Brand New I had a change of perspective.

Standing on it's own the new Warburtons logo lacks the impact and feeling created by their old identity. However, when it's applied to the multitude of platforms we as consumers will see it, it is transformed and along with this, their packaging, literature, livery and overall look and feel is hugely altered.

It feels soft and tangible, it's look and feels like a loaf of bread I would to eat. Nice

Diet Coke has a temporary makeover.

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of tooth rotters Coca Cola a new Diet Coke can has been unveiled. Said to only be making a temporary appearance, the design was creative by San Francisco's Turner Duckworth.

It doesn't feel like the most revolutionary design, but it does look defiantly fresh and bold. The fact that the full product name 'Diet Coke' isn't completely visible is a great creative move and just shows how strong the product brand is, no longer do they need to dump an enormous over saturated Coca Cola logo on the can as this proves...just does the job nicely.

Below are some other celbratory design creations put together by a few design agencies that might tinkle your fancy. I'm a hughe fan of James Jarvis and his work in collaboration with Clot Inc is superb.

Art of the Menu

Many, or most designers that work on print projects will have tackled a menu during their time. Whether it's a pop up bar, glamourous restaurant or for a boutique hotel wine menu, the art of designing a menu is well understated…not for long though. The folk over at Brand New have launched a blog to bring the Art of the Menu back into our eyes. We will never dine the same way again.

We Love Typography

I have always been a fan of I Love Typography from John Boardley, now for all you Type aficionados there another place to get your daily dose of inspiration. Take a look at We Love Typography and you'll find yourself lost among some truly great creative pieces.

Another short one from me....busy busy.

French Paper Kraft

Sometimes there's something you stumble across when your surfing this worldwide web which makes you think...damn I wish I had done that first!

I had always been a paper aeroplane fan as a kid and eventually upgraded to the balsa wood plane with a little lead tip. I would draw a silly pilots faces on them and a few doodles. This however is taking it to the next level and I strongly feel the need to hunt one of these down throw it around for an afternoon.

Visit Charles Anderson to read a little more.

Nike Better World

Not much needs to be said about the Nike Better World site that hasn't already been mentioned. Just get over there and enjoy it right now

Cornwall Design Season

This Saturday sees the launch of the outdoor exhibitions as part of Cornwall Design Season. An array of brightly coloured shipping containers will be cropping up in various places throughout the county and inside them...well no-one knows, but it will be well worth a visit.

The idea of Cornwall Design Season is "an exploration into how great design and creative solutions can bring about lasting benefits for the people of Cornwall".

Stories will be told through a variety of design led solutions, telling the viewer how this story has changed something "be it a mind, a moment, a town, or maybe even the world. Some are humbling, some are astonishing, some are both"

There are also a number of events surrounding the Cornwall Design Season, taking place at the Tate St.Ives, Falmouth Art Gallery and a design summit 'Intersections 2011' with speakers such as Sophie Thomas and Linda Relph-Knight at Eden Project.

It's going to be a colourful few weeks...enjoy it.

Polish visit - Krakow

I have finally defrosted my toes and my fingers are now functioning after the coldest  trip to the Polish city of Krakow. It was my first visit to Poland and despite the cold I had an amazing time. There is a huge amount to learn about the history of Eastern Europe and it's wet my appetite to visit more of that region.

As with every visit to cities your senses tend to get an overload for the first few days while you take it all in. One thing I love about visiting new cities is studying the signage, from shop fronts to street signs and fly-posters and restaurant menus there is so much colour and type variation to be found, especially when you can spend more time looking at the type rather than the words as my grasp of Polish is far from established.

Krakow was a wash with hand drawn signage which I became obsessed with during the short trip. Especially within the Jewish quarter, Hebrew lettering mixed with Roman type, thick with colour against the grey and imposing city buildings.

I came back with a refreshed outlook on type, I had been in front of my computer studying digital type for so long, it was a well needed break to appreciate the art of hand drawn signage, so much so that I am now attending a short course in signwriting so was this space!

Best Logo Ever?

I feel as though I have been blogging about logos a lot recently, but it's all everyone is talking about. Now, Creative Review have committed themselves to presenting a list of "the 20 greatest marks ever created" in their forthcoming April edition.

That to me, seems like an almighty challenge, the problem being, their are just so many logos and marks out there it's sometimes hard to see the woods from the trees. It's a tough task because you can view a logo on it's success, take Nike or Apple for example, they are great logos because of what they stand for, their simplicity, style and design appeal. But, you can't deny they were always going to have an advantage, with buckets full of marketing funding and a list as long as...well quite a long list… of successful products to endorse the brands it can't all be down to a simple mark.

On the other hand you could look at the best logos being an excellent piece of design, a mark that is meticulously detailed or something that just makes you say 'wow', it doesn't need to have brand values that go alongside it, or celebrities endorsing it...it can just look nice...can't it?

Visit Brand New / Creative Review for more details

The new Starbucks logo

I have been reading off and on about the new logo Starbucks have unveiled, so I thought I would throw my two pence in. The logo we know/knew so well was released in the early nineties which is nearly 20 years ago, I think thats fairly good going for a brand that has grown so quickly. The new logo however, is a little more than a tweak. It seems, some industry folk are saying, it's a move, a move away from coffee and into a broader market. With this new identity may come a new and diverse product range and a likely change to the environment we all our mocha frocha happy chappy chino latte's in.

Looking at the logo purely from an aesthetic perspective I think it's rather good, a lot more pleasing on the eye now the bold contrast between the deep green and black are in bygone days, it has a more simple feel to it, the clunky almost abrasive appearance the "Siren" forced upon out high streets almost look angelic and mildly calming.

Good move chaps. Now sort your coffee out, please.

Hand Job - A catalog of type

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Helveticons

Helveticons. Enough said.

The one that got away...

Last year I took on a project with two music producers going by the name of Money Making Brothers. The  brief was to create a logo that could be used as both text and image, above was one of them which I was absolutely loving! Unfortunately, they went with another option which I will upload soon! Ahhhh, the one that got away...

Pantone of the Year 2011

So, we say goodbye to ye ol' faithful Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise and welcome the cheeky Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle,. This little number is claiming to be courageous, confident and vital, a brave new colour, for a brave new world!

Best Font(s) of 2010

So, a quick roundup of the best fonts of 2010. It's not a small task but someone has to do it and I'm glad they did, FontShop are the one-stop shop for all things font related and it is always a joy to read their font reviews. Fonts have taken a leap into the mainstream of late and they are getting well deserved attention from folk such as Simon Garfield with Just My Type. Anyway, the best fonts of 2010...after careful consideration I am with FF Din Round, I am a huge fan and user of Din Pro, so a softer version is more than welcome in my books.

View FontShops 2010 font roundup here

First Blog of the Year!

For me that is anyway...a few days late but it got here in the end.

Some of you may have seen this gem of a marketing piece floating around emails before we headed of for the winter food feast that is Christmas. Design firm Quietroom had clearly spent some time thinking about this and it had me smiling all the way! View it here