Nice use of glitter...

This poster was designed by Because Studio.

I think its a great use of media and really appropriate for the quote.Nice, clean and simple. The quote is from a comedian called Demetri Martin.

I really like the idea behind this and it gives me inspiration for my 'all that glitters isn't gold' poster.

Stamps

First Day Covers for stamps.

The above first day cover is celebrating the beatles album covers and features an example of each stamp from the series.


Above are the stamps that celebrated the 100th anniversary of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories childrens book. Each stamps depicts a different story from the book.

Featured is the stamp first day cover which is a unique and inexpensive way to collect Special Stamps. First Day Covers are specially designed envelopes, containing a full set of Special Stamps, personalised with your name and address and cancelled with a ‘First Day of Issue’ handstamp – creating your very own marker in time.

Source: www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300675&mediaId=32400670

sustainable design stamps

Found: www.rsadesigndirections.org

This stamp set is by one of the winners from the RSA brief that was set last year. The designer Kevin Daly created this stamp range with the theme of sustainability.

Each stamp was letterpressed by hand and printed using a grey ink so that it reduces the amount of ink used within the print process.

I really like how effective this stamp set is and its so clean and simple with the use of just letterpress and the use of grey ink.

awww hello...leonard (dogs&cats stamps)

Set of stamps to mark 150 years of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home tugs on the heart strings with images starring the likes of Leonard (see above)

The stamps were designed by CDT with photographs by Steve Hoskins.Each one features a cat or dog who has been succesfully 'rehomed'.

Source: www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog

The use of single images works really well within stamp design whether it be a photo like the ones above or an illustration. It seems simple bold designs work best within stamp design.

Book Poster Promotion.

These photos were taken in Leeds train station and show really good examples of book promotion.

The image above shows a poster that is very much about just the book itself, using quotes from publications to highlight it further. However in quite a small print there's the web address for Waterstones bookshop, so not only is the poster promotion for a book but also the shop its sold in.

The example above for the 'blood line' is slightly different to the one above as it is just promoting the book. There's no reference to a bookshop this time! Everything is very bold within this poster by just using a limited colour palette to do this. The main focus is the book image been central to the poster design along with the bold type to create a poster with impact.

The poster above again promotes both book store and the book itself, but this time 'Waterstones' is in a much bolder type. I feel this one lacks impact but is simply just the book and a black background, simple and straightforward.

Penguin Book Covers:

These are great examples of how well just using two colours work on a book cover, one reason for this is it cuts cost down when taken to print but its just so simple and it works.

Book Box Set.

This is a very plain example for a box set, but its the neat style that gives it quality and the indents make it easier to get the books out. This is maybe something that I could consider within my designs for the box set I'm making.

Just So Book Covers

These are just a couple of book covers for the Just So Stories, I selected these example as they show how simple illustrations and colour work so well. The yellow book cover works as its striking with colour and bold with the image of a paw print.

Lundgren+Lindqvist

"Our business cards are triplexed GF Smith Colorplan (Cool Grey, Bright Red and Pristine White) and have negative embossing, foil blocking and UV-varnish. The letter paper is Colorplan Pristine White with negative embossing and the S65 window envelopes are made out of Colorplan Cool Grey." (quote from...www.lundgrenlindqvist.se/lundgrenlindqvist)

This is a really well thoughout self promo for Lundgren+Lindqvist who are a design studio that is based in Sweden. Everything is kept nice and simple without over complicating anything which creates a really clean piece of identity. Also its a nice touch by adding the personalised stamp on the reverse of the envelopes. Maybe this is something that I could consider with my own branding?!?!

Stamp Formats.

When the booklet is folded up there is a 5mm edge to take in to account when laying out my designs. Also the royal mail logo takes up most of the booklet so I will need to consider this within my designs.

Important information for the inside of my designs. Each stamp book comes with a set of 6 stamp of which are all of the same kind.

More information on the reverse of the book, including a barcode and what the 1st class stamp is valid for. Also seen in the photo below the fold of the book is perforated so that it can be torn off to make the stamp more accessible to be kept in a wallet or purse.

Energy Design Studio's Xmas Card Mailout.

Images found here: www.paulmadethis.com

This is great and really inspires me to take on another paper product brief again in the near future!
It's a diecut Christmas card that invites the user to make their own winter scene. The card is printed on to Retreeve Vellum Brilliant White FSC stock.
It really is the little things that matter within this card as this is what makes it, because on the outside of the card its quite plain and not very exciting. Also each little tree within the card represents each designer within the studio.Nice.

Belrgrate Kennels Brand Identity.

Images from : www.paulmadethis.com

I love the really simple approach to the logo for the kennels, its straight to the point and really bold with the use of colour. Which is a nice example to relate to, as this is something similar to what I'm trying to achieve with the Fairfax logo.

Wedding Invites.

Images found at: www.paulmadethis.com
These invites have been screen printed on to a bright white colourplan stock, using a limited colour palette also really works along with the simplicity of the prints. It keeps it personal and a very elegant type is used to appeal to it audience.

Royal mail Classic Alblum Cover Stamps.

I'm looking at producing the higher end stamp range, so that they would appear as a collectors item. Here the royal mail have two versions to buy which is just a single souvenir cover sheet which has 10 different stamps included on it. Where as the presentation pack includes more information about the album art work and a separate single sheet with 10 stamps again.

Penguin Classics team up with (RED)

These book covers work really well and go beyond the normal boundaries of the penguin format. In particular the illustrative fonts used for most of the covers work and the limited colour palette.

The dracula book cover is really different from what you would normally find on a cover of that genre, which is usually gothic related imagery.

As with the cover below its really something you would not expect to see on a penguin book! but as a whole its really eyecatching, as theres a lot going on which makes it more interesting. But one thing that is the same throughout the book series is the band of colour running along the bottom of the front covers (which is very distinctively penguin)

All found on: www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog

Band Identity

This is by a designer based in New York called Jessica Walsh (www.jessicawalsh.com)
After looking through her work I stumbled across this stationary for a wind quintet which relates really well to my 'Fairfax Singers' brief.
The above example works really well and is kept quite simple, but using the process of foiling to give it that quality feel especially with the business cards.

Waterstones Bookshop:

The book above is part of the whole series of children's classic's that were redesigned in 2008 as part of this series each book featured a repeating pattern of a certain image from the book. For this book it colours really relate well to the theme of the imagery and the content of the book itself. Its also to a high quality finish, however due that it is more expensive.

This book cover is quite unique and to me it looks unfinished but i guess its meant to be like that.Nice and simple.
The book cover above have a real letterpress feel to them and the one on the left is also blind embossed as well (this might not be clear in the photo?!?!) Which is a really nice simple effect to create impact with. The colour scheme is quite bland tho just using neutral tones but it was the type that caught my eye, the whole series of books are of a similar layout and all use just typography.

The series of books above, work really well as a set with the use of colour as it creates impact on the shelf.

The Alice book cover uses the process of a spot varnish to make the book more appealing and just highlights the the title of the book the author and the actual boarder around the book itself. This is a really nice method used within book design and is something I could consider using within my book series.

This is a book cover that caught my eye. Its a nice style of illustration and only uses black,white and pink within the cover. In doing so I think this cover really stands out from the rest. The only thing different to it that there is no blurb on the back of the book, which then means there is more room for more illustration.