Avenir, Frutiger, Univers, Vectora, are just some of the +30 fonts designed by the iconic typeface artists, Adrian Frutiger (1928-2015). His typefaces grace signage and print across the world, from London, to eBay, to highway signs everywhere. What made this versatility possible, was Frutiger’s ability to create something new, again, and again, and again. He […]
Take two opposing forces, put them together, and let the energy of this unlikely union burst out and bring transformative change. That’s what we did with iconic performer, Céline Dion, and trailblazing kidswear-brand, nununu. When they first approached us, wanting to create something with each other but unclear on how and what exactly, we were […]
Order isn’t wishful thinking, especially not for designers. Design work has to really rely on the underlying grid of rationality and efficiency, to get simplicity, legibility, and objectivity. Celebrated Swiss designer and teacher, Joseph Müller-Brockmann (1914-1996), called this approach a “clear identification of priorities.” The influential pioneer of functional, neutral, and objective design, Müller-Brockmann insisted […]
Branding is just a funny word for universe. Iconic British designer, Jonathan Barnbrook, insists that what graphic designers do is create worlds. Something is revealed through the work, and he wants designers to use their skill to move society along. He believes that graphic design is personal, so that no projects should ever veer you […]
Take pop culture, and mix it up with fine art. Paula Scher, one of the world’s most influential graphic artists, has done this for decades. She fuses the high with the low, to create iconic, accessible, and memorable images that have entered into the global vernacular of graphic design. Believing that type is also a […]
In April, 2020, we received an amazing email from The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards: “Your book On the Hummus Route has won Best Book of the Year in All Categories, and Best Book for Peace…” It was like a spark of hope in these times of the pandemic, acknowledging the path our book paves forward […]
Use “2-dimensions as spatial,” see that “light is volume,” and be at once “terrified and exhilarated,” are just some of the eccentric polarities that make perfect sense to transmedia graphic designer April Greiman. In 1980, Greiman took computer technology from being used solely for information processing and broke the mold by integrating it in graphic […]
I’ve never liked this word combination: Corporate Identity Design. It just always leads much too quickly into logos and letterheads and brand books and color palettes. I do like the word identity, though, but I’ve found that it’s completely hidden, submerged under the heavy layers of corporate needs and design necessities. Identity? We need to […]
Go ahead, make the jump from architecture to typography – we dare you. That’s exactly what Dutch designer Piet Zwart (1885-1977) had done. By the time his career in typography and graphic design took off, he had already studied architecture, taught art history, and worked as an interior, fabric, and furniture design. He was a […]
Let’s look at typography from the eyes of American graphic designer Herb Lubalin (1918-81). He designed some of the more iconic typefaces and typographic logos of the century, and he always called his work “word pictures”. His approach to typography uses letterforms to express ideas visually. By using “graphic expressionism,” a typeface can tell the […]