Beautiful Packaging

Ever go to the store and find the product that you are trying to buy comes in ten different varieties or brands! I find this a lot with women's products like makeup, lotion, shampoo, etc. My theory has always been if I don't care about a certain brand then I go by the packaging. If I like the packaging then I assume that perhaps I will like that specific brand. My theory hasn't failed me yet but always keep in mind that age old phrase - Don't judge a book by it's cover! You shouldn't necessarily judge a product by it's packaging, although, there are some really creative designs out there.

I like simple designs with splashes of color. Like these examples:

I think this one is really creative!!  Why not have a bannana juice box resemble a bananna?

Color Theory

Color theory is an interesting subject to me! Depending on the feel of  a website or who your target audience may be, color theory defines certain sets of color palettes. For instance, if you are creating a website targeted to men then you should use blues and darker colors than a website targeted to women who fKavor purples, pinks, and lighter colors. Also, you will notice that most childrens' websites use bright, neon color palettes.

Kuler is a website that has a great tool to create color schemes. If you do not want to customize your own set of colors than you can browse the gallery of color schemes that other Kuler users have created. It is a free tool and has every color, shade, and hue you could want for a website or design you are creating.

Check out the website:  Kuler

Creative Print Advertisements

Creative print advertisements fascinate me! I always wonder how long it took for the creative team to come up with such amazing ideas. I recently came across a print ad campaign by Fujitsu air conditioners through a different blog that I was reading. T he campaign is witty and speaks to the product's capability. The colors used are warm tones with splashes of color. A great air conditioner keeps your house as cold as possible. Fujitsu uses humor to show this by putting sweaters on objects around the house. Viewers get the message that the air conditioner can be set so cold that objects need to warm up. I think it is a funny twist! What do you think of the print ads?

Here are the campaign pictures!

The beauty of Infographics

In a past class we also looked at the design of infographics using David Mccandless as inspiration.  As an assignment we were asked to watch David’s TED talk titled “The Beauty of Data Visualization” and create our own infographic based on the life cycle of a product. Needless to say my infographic did not have the same impact that David’s infographics have on viewers.  David has  a knack for turning data that may normally be complex to view into an infographic that completely makes sense. Due to his simple designs, viewers can usually infer patterns that sometimes would be missed when dealing with data results.

Watch the video below and see some of David's work and his explanations!

More about Austin...

I can't help it I could fill my whole blog with stories about Austin. I will refrain from doing so but I am going to piggy back off my original post about Austin for just one second. One touristy activity I did partake in was going to see the Congress Bridge Bats! Every night around dusk thousands and thousands of bats fly from under the bridge to eat. The colony is estimated to be over a million bats in an urban location such as downtown Austin. You can imagine the sight of them! As much as bats creep me out and scare me half to death, I have to say there was something awesome about seeing so many cover the sky all at once. One minute I could see the early signs of night creeping up on us and all of a sudden the sky was black. Not because the sun had finally set, but because millions of bats were flying above my head!

Even mother nature has a way of inspiring design in some form or fashion. Do you remember as a child looking up at clouds or stars and creating patterns or swearing that you saw design of animals, flowers, etc? We see design in anything and everything. It is truly in the eye of the beholder! Honestly, if someone was not familiar with the bat phenomenon, from a distance it looks like a long streak of black. They would never know what they were looking at! Check out photos below and tell me what you think! Do you think these pictures are inspiring in any sort of way?

Learn more about the Congress Bridge Bats by clicking here!

Here is the source!

Here is the source!

Keep Austin Weird!

I was lucky enough to be sent to a conference in beautiful downtown Austin, TX in the beginning of June. The weather was hot and hazy but that did not stop me from enjoying the sights and sounds of Austin. Have you ever heard the phrase "Keep Austin Weird"? You will find it everywhere you look - T-shirts, souvenirs, bumper stickers, dolls, etc.! I had to inquire about this because weird is not usually a term that one would want to closely associate themselves with and so why would a large city. Come to find out and I did immerse myself in the culture of Austin - the community accepts everyone and the uniqueness that people bring to the city is the "weird" factor! 

What does this have to do with anything inspirational in design? The hotel I stayed at had an amazing view of Austin's downtown skyline. I've been to my share of big cities - NYC - Washington, DC - Boston and so on but for some reason Austin just stood out. I've never seen such an array of architecture in my life. What I mean by this is that each high rise seemed to be a different style and shape. I didn't bring a camera and by golly my cell phone is centuries old and does not have the picture quality that newer cell phones have now and so I have to admit that the photos below are stock photos found off of my best friend Google! They certainly do not capture the "weirdness" of Austin, nor does it really give you a sense of wonder that I felt when staring out at the skyline.

You will have to take my word for it! I am a big fan of architecture in general. Design is a key ingredient to having sound buildings. What I love seeing is a designer that can create such a unique building that makes you question - How is that thing standing there without falling? Now that type of architecture is inspirational! Enjoy the following photos - I will make sure to note the source of the photos as I don't want anyone coming back to my blog and commenting that I stole their picture :-) 

Photo by: Jay Graham/ Website: Click Here!

Photo by: Hill Country Surf/ Website: Click Here!