Friday 22 July 2011

Shark Frenzy

A memorable quote from "Jaws" is this one:
[about to go looking for the shark]
Brody: "On the water?"
Hooper: "Well, if we're looking for a shark we're not gonna find him on the land."


Well, they couldn't have been more wrong...

1. This shark-shaped clearing can be found near Wallabi Point, New South Wales, Australia




2. The Headington Shark
The shark became the most famous resident of Headington when it was attached in August 1986. The sculpture, labelled "Untitled 1986", was erected on the 41st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bob on Nagasaki. Created by John Buckley, it is made of fibreglass, weighs 200kg, is 25 feet long and has survived to this day.




3. Discovery Channel Shark Building
In celebration of Shark Week 2010, Discovery Channel's office building in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA was transformed into a giant shark. Five inflatable pieces (head, two side fins, dorsal fin and tail) were hoisted into place by a crane and tied down with cables and ropes. If it were real it would be about 446 feet long and weigh about 84,000 pounds.




4. The Mako Shark II
The Mako Shark II show car made it's first appearance at the New York International Auto Show in April 1965. Chevrolet actually created two of them, only one of which was fully functional and its concept influenced the redesigned Corvette of 1968. The original Mako Shark was retroactively called the Mako Shark I.



5. Seabreacher X
This amazing vehicle can dive under water, roll from side to side,  jump 12ft into the air and has many resemblances to a white shark. It includes a dorsal fin, gaping jaws, rows of dagger-sharp teeth and measures 16.5ft in length which is almost identical to a shark's length.




See Mako gets everywhere....!

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Promotional materials for Wrexham Science Festival

With some great events still lined up for the Wrexham Science Festival here are some of the promotional materials we did for the festival.

First some bilingual postcards for highlights and family friendly events of the festival.



We also did two large posters (approx 150cm x 105cm) that had to include all the events of the festival with corresponding images. These could be found in a shop unit in Eagles Meadow where Techniquest Glyndwr had a mini Techniquest centre promoting the Wrexham Science Festival.


For more information on upcoming events visit www.wrexhamsf.com

Friday 15 July 2011

Fun Friday! - Part 5: 10 Graphic Design fun facts

Graphic design is not only known for its creative element, but also acclaimed for its trait of being an attractive and enjoyable field. While some stories are heard more often, some still remain unknown to many people. Here are some interesting graphic design facts:
  1. Claude Garamond, the person who created several contemporary typefaces such as Garamond and Sabon, died in poverty at the age of eighty-one.
  2. The first ever website hosted on a web server, launched in 1992, still exists today. The first website of the internet was http://info.cern.ch launched in 1992 by Tim Berners-Lee. It is still active.
  3. Sony Vaio’s logo has a hidden meaning. The first two letters form to look like the analogue signal. The last two letters, looking like 1 and 0, represent the digital signal.
  4. Woody Allen uses the same typeface—Windsor—in nearly all of his movies’ titles and credits.
  5. The Nike swoosh was created by Carolyn Davidson. She designed the icon as a college student back in 1971, and was paid only $35!
  6. The creation London Underground sign became an inspiration for the development of graphic design. Design ideas for things such as font types drew inspiration from the famous signage.
  7. Adobe Systems got its name from Adobe Creek in Los Altos, California, a river that ran near the house of one of the company’s founders.
  8. John Callcott Horsley designed the first Christmas card in 1843. But it was originally commissioned as the world’s first commercial Christmas card by Sir Henry Cole.
  9. The Georgia typeface, created by Matthew Carter, was taken from a tabloid headline reading ‘Alien Heads Found in Georgia’.
  10. The “Michelin man” appearing in the Michelin logo design is originally named “Monsieur Bibendum”. He also featured as the hero in the Oscar winning movie, “Logorama”.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Trivia Thursday - Creative Buildings

Inspiration and creative design can come in various shapes and forms. Here are some examples of astonishing architecture which I really like.

The Basket Building - Longaberger headquarters in Newark, Ohio
The Longaberger Company is an American manufacturer of handcrafted maple wood baskets and offers other home and lifestyle products, including pottery, wrought iron, fabric accessories and specialty foods. The Longaberger corporate headquarters takes the shape of their biggest seller, the "Medium Market Basket". The basket handles weigh almost 150 tons and can be heated during cold weather to prevent ice damage


Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic
The Dancing House is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague. It was designed by architect Vlado Milunic in co-operation with Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot. Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house resembles a pair of dancers) it stands out among Prague's more traditional buildings.


The Piano House in Huainan City, China

Built by the local government to draw interest to the newly developed area, The Piano House is a place where music students from the local college can practice and perform. An amazing transparent violin is attached to the piano building, which features the escalator and staircase that connects the two giant instruments.



Tuesday 12 July 2011

"German Tuesday - Deutscher Dienstag" Part 7

So it's festival season again with a very muddy Glastonbury, T in the Park and the German 'Rock am Ring' (at the famous Nurburgring) already gone by. Unfortunately the weather doesn't seem to care whether it's festival season or not.

Another German festival is the so called 'Rock im Wald' (Rock in the Woods). It's a series of open-air festivals at Northeim forest stage. In 2009 BBDO Berlin, Germany came up with this clever idea to promote the event. I love it because it's simple and very funny!




So, let's Rock 'n' Roll!

Friday 8 July 2011

Vehicle Wraps

Well, we thought we would share some other designs we have done on vehicles. These are no ordinary "vinyl stickers",  they are produced using a very high tech film which moulds itself to the vehicle and is able to follow all the contours. It is a vinyl "wallpaper". The beauty of this film is that it can be printed in vivid colours and gives our designs completely free reign - it's the Mako Shark rap!

Dese is cool from our design thinkin'
Gonna do more so keep on blinkin
Wraps is bangin' don't get no fako
Keep it real n' talk to Mako


Bus wrap for fflecsi

Krazy about Pizza wrap over a red smart car!
Krazy about Pizza on another car. Love the "cheesy" yellow wrap!

Passionate about Tiling half wrap

Tuesday 5 July 2011

"German Tuesday - Deutscher Dienstag" Part 6

It's time for some inspiration again. But this time we're taking a look at one of Germany's neighbours - Belgium.
It's a part of a TV advertising campaign for public transport. Yes, in some countries public transport is quite popular. I like this commercial as it delivers a serious message in a funny way.