Typography & Graphic Design Blog
Typeface addicts: REJOICE!
Our latest book, “The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations” is now available for download in the BonFX Store. It’s a fully-indexed and clickable PDF that looks amazing on an HD monitor and even more beautiful on an iPad. Pinch and zoom is stunning, and the detail is unparalleled.
The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh.
Surely the propensity to “fall asleep” as we function is more common than anyone would care to admit. How easy it is to catch ourselves mechanically slogging through the motions from time to time – left unchecked and our work turns dismal. For this reason I offer a gentle injection, a nudge of sorts, and pass on a few “secrets” to ignite artistic inspiration in your journey as an artist.
Actually, the following are less secrets than gems hidden in plain sight –often overlooked by aspiring artists, while indispensable among the accomplished.
So, what are these gems?
Illustration – Douglas Bonneville
Although advice on fostering creativity is not hard find, it often falls short to dig deep into the reservoir where creativity germinates.
In her book, The Artist Within, Betty Edwards explores a force that propels creativity. She stresses the need to recognize and develop this force, or mode, to enhance creativity and solve every day problems…. [Read More]
As an artist, Frederick Franck is concerned with more than drawing solely for the sake of pleasure. He views it is as powerful tool in learning to truly see. Seeing, he believes, correlates to being deeply present in everyday life experiences. He writes about awakening through the practice of drawing directly what the eyes perceive, and no more. As a by-product, he finds inexplicable aliveness in all things, and the capacity to communicate that aliveness to others.
ILLUSTRATION – DOUGLAS BONNEVILLE
Anyone who is engaged in creative work has inevitably experienced the ebbs and flows that come with it. But like weather, even the most turbulent spells eventually pass, and though we can’t will them away, we can work with and through them until sunny skies return. So what can we do when the clouds that darken our eyes are Creative blocks, the common culprits that keep us from taking pleasure in our work?
While there are probably hundreds of ways to tackle the age-old issue, the following are a few possible approaches. They are bite-size and practical since overcomplicating things can sometimes reinforce what keeps us stuck.
It’s about removing clutter, both external and internal so creativity can resurface and blossom. We can do this through creating space while becoming vulnerable, still, gentle and self-forgiving.
Let’s start with the obvious:
Just a little reminder…
Read Design Culture for an insightful interview with Vignelli; his story and thoughts on design, type and advice to budding designers.
This made me laugh. People are great…
Zebrapets asked our team at Robin Design Studio to create a visual language, concepts, packaging and identity for their brand. The goal was to introduce the new pet brand to the German market in a fresh, bold and minimalist way. We used two basic main colours: black & white, because there is a serious colour-chaos in the shelves of the pet shops (and we all know the Von Restorff Effect).
Creating a minimalist white coffee shop in Hong Kong is sheer genius from a marketing stand point. NOC is a popular coffee shop that aspires “to remove distractions, so you can connect with the things that matter.”
Brilliant Design and Branding by SuperUnion
Hong Kong is all about more. NOC is a coffee company that believes in less. Less of what you don’t need or never asked for. Less irrelevant choice. Less cutting corners.
In a world that is obsessed with more, NOC decided to put a stake in the ground for believing in less. Nobody needs dozens of types of flat white – all you need is a good one. We created a coffee experience to give a moment of calm amid the chaos of a busy city.
