Question.
Is your form following your function?
Is your less really more?
Have you seen the big G-O-D lurking around in your details?
And the behemoth of all design questions, are you K.I.S.S.-ing?
For those of you that have been overloaded with design formulas–here, there, and everywhere–a book is coming that blows these rules out of the water, Never Use White Type on a Black Background: And 50 Other Ridiculous Design Rules by Anneloes van Gaalen.
I have a love affair with breaking rules, so this book gives me hard-core proof and comfort in this crazy “when in doubt–leave it out” laden design world.
Happy rule breaking!
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Jinean Robinson is…
Motion typography (or kinetic typography) refers to the art and technique of expression with animated text. Here’s one that appeals to both the artist and bassist in me.
Of course, this video prompted me to scour You Tube and Google for other good examples of kinetic typography whereupon I discovered someone, Marco Kuiper, a student in the Netherlands, had already assembled quite the good collection of kinetic typography videos here.
It did not include, however, one based on my very favorite and most classic Abbott Costello bit, “Who’s on First.” You can view that one here.
Helena Bouchez is principal of Helena B Communications,…
House Industries is a group of typography fiends. Check out their new type family, Girard, that has all sorts of font and character goodies within the typeface. Click image to peep their coolness video and explore the face.
Happy Fontin’ 
!!!
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
People get fairies, names, and astrological signs and other silly things that they identify with tattooed on them–WHY NOT THE FONT YOU IDENTIFY WITH? Come on a couple tequila shots and a late night will do it 
Take this quiz to find out what typeface is your mojo. Take it–I’m interested in hearing about your font and if you think it fits–put your response below in comment section.
TAKE QUIZ NOW
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development.…
Very cool use of typography and printing…check it out!
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
Chicago – Dallas – Los Angeles – San Francisco – New York City – Seattle: These placement gurus have got some good work and clients brewing. Go get you some work and you are free to send all commission checks to me via Paypal Seriously, lots of great work and opportunity for freelance. Let me know how it goes!
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
SFX: ooooooooooooo
Woman VO (Screams): Help me!!! They’ve been here and left their mark!!!
Crop circle font…..typography from another planet. Have fun!
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
Ahhhhhhhh! I just love the smell of free typefaces on a Tuesday….
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
Welcome to Thursday! Finally, we’re on the down slope of of the week and heading toward the weekend. It’s not over yet, though, so don’t get too comfy. There’s still room to be productive. So, how about something free to get you through your remaining time on the clock? Today’s feature is: the FONT. Where to find it, your options, and, more importantly, sans unnecessary pop-ups, redirects and complicated navigation’s. Enjoy, cheapskates.
Font Face (www.fontface.com) is, by far, my favorite. Though other sites may have a better filtering system, this site does a really great job to feature useful and interesting fonts…
Award winning Australian designers Trust Fun! and international director Kris Moyes will present a series of works titled ‘Glory Holes’ at Monster Children Gallery from April 24, in an exhibition which explores the increasingly blurred line between art and commerce.
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
When reading multiple interviews of the greats in design the answer time and time again to the question, “what is the biggest downfall of modern new designers?”– is almost always lack of typographical skills. So dunda dun dun…Typography Tuesdays!!! (VO: echo in stereo “uesday-uesday-uesday”) Each Tuesday we will bust the 14-pt Arial right aligned myth and get a little inspiration to boot.
So, come one come all! Every Tuesday we are going to get a typography fix.
First up…Trochut. NIIIIICCCCE!!!!
Some great work. Click image for site.
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over…
Ok. Gonna tell you a little secret….
I know we can get caught in our rut of, “how much bigger do I have to make this logo,” “must EVERYTHING have to be sketched, comped, and spelled out to buy off on just the concept?,” or “do I have to work with the brand marketing all-star team from the 60’s?”
But on my way to meetings yesterday, I got a quick reminder of how lucky we are. I was riding on the interstate and saw a car on the freeway hit the guard rail only to be thrown into oncoming traffic. This reminded…
Ahh, now I know where awards are and the money to pay for entering can be found.
To those of you who dream of seeing your name grace the gold pencil, running in meadows with gold lions, or at least getting in the table of contents of design award annuals: get ready to pay up. I have been amazed at the fees participants must pay for entering design shows. Ok, ok, maybe I can understand the big bucks for Cannes, One Show, even CA, but all types of “award shows” are now asking for exorbitant amounts for just one entry in…
Ok, ok…how many of you guys out there feel my pain.
“Jazz it up, add great graphics and make it snappy!”
This was literally copy and pasted verbatim from an email I once received from a client. Teaching clients the value of what we do is getting old and I refused to forward this to my creative teams because I value them waaaaay more than jazzy, great-n-graphicy, and snappy (sounds like the 8th, 9th, and 10th dwarf). So, glad I didn’t here my all time favorite, “make it pop.”
So I open the floor to two questions:
1) Why, oh why, do strategic communication…
Last week the Detroit Lions, the NFL’s poster child for futility announced that they are finally up grading/refreshing their brand identity. If you’re not a foot ball fan, let me give you a bit of perspective on their plight. The Lions have not won an NFL Championship since Ike was president in 1957. They’ve never made it to a Super Bowl and in 52 seasons since then, they have only made the playoffs 9 times and and notched one post season victory. It gets worse. Last season the Lions became only the second team in NFL history to lose every game and the first to rack up an 0-16 record. Simply put the Detroit Lions have become the black hole of pro football.
I love billboards. The sheer magnitude of their size always invigorated me. The challenges. The possibilities. These are some examples of the best that’s out there, coming to a field of vision near you. http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/01/05/clever-and-creative-billboard-advertising/ 
Joel Kirstein is a Creative Director who has been in the ad agency trenches for 25, specializing in shopper marketing, branding, and retail. Contact him on Linked In and www.coroflot.com/joelkirstein
Ok, pencils down!
For all you organic, Juno-ish typeface lovers out there, a hand drawn typeface has been developed to save your day and sketchpads.
Have fun! And make sure to send me what you make!
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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
So, what is the answer?
In a world of competing designers where everyone with Arial and a Sharpie are now the next Paula Scher, how do you compete for work? Is spec the answer?
Well, as lines have been drawn, there are two sides to the work-for-free war and boy oh boy are the jump drives flying.
One side believes that designers must take a united stand to not give free labor and belittle our purpose and industry. The other side says that in this overcrowded, over-saturated, and any other “over” word you can think of, it is just part of the evolving world…
I hear you….I hear you over there!
“I have mad skillz…I mean I’m a design machine.”
“No one can touch me!”
“Just wish someone other than my mac, cat, and mamma knew how ill I am!”
Well there is an answer to your prayers a great way to promote your work! Facebook has a new group called “Artists Group” utilizing FB new iSnap application.
iSnapChat is a new Facebook application. It is a sophisticated visual communication tool to enable artists, photographers, designers and others to and promote their work. To find out more and learn about the launch join this group or click image:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76846695232
EXCUSES ARE…
QSR chain JACK IN THE BOX with 2,100 quick-serve restaurants in 18 states and a pioneer of the drive-thru concept just launched their re-branded identity.The work was done by Duffy & Partners http://www.duffy.com of Minneapolis and the reaction has been mixed. I opine this way…
I like the look but feel that it is too clean in the sense that this is for a fast food chain and it comes across as more befitting a toy product than anything having to do with food. My first reaction I had was “MATTEL” because of the choice of red, more that fun, food and frivolity.
JACK…
Torch Creative out of Dallas is really lighting up the Sports and Corporate Branding Identity Program category for the National Hockey League, The NBA and in categories as diverse as QSR, CPG, Social/Cause Marketing, Health & Wellness and Industrial. In business since 2005, in four years they have established themselves as one the top design firms with a very distinct approach to their work.http://www.torchcreative.com/
The two principals, Brad Bishop and Michael Thurman, both from Texas have done some terrific work for the NHL such as their efforts for the 2008 Winter Classic. www.torchcreative.com/work.html
One of the things that struck me as so impressive about…
Besides stupid people and abject nonsense, they’re a given. We all do things that don’t help our own cause and make what we normally do very fluidly, into a battle and a struggle. Shalu Wasu a creative consultant with a terrific website that offers some great “reminders” on how not to be your own worse enemy. It is a simple, effective read that will be useful: http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/15-elephant-tethers-that-stop-you-from-being-creative/
Here’s a taste of what Shalu Wasu identifies as the many things creatives use to tether themselves to failure:
1. What will people think?
2. But I’ve never had any great ideas!
3. What is the right answer?
4. I don’t…
I get a lot of people asking me why I love to design logos more than anything else. My passion is definitely all things Shopper Marketing, but if I had to choose only one thing that I would love to do and never get tired of, it’s logos. The challenge from where I live and breathe, is they are their own language of business communication. A company’s visual signature and currency. The first brand ambassador for what your initiative endeavors to accomplish. Regardless if the logo is for a fortune 100 corporation or for one of my friends’ temporary projects, I…
10 – Our Troops all coming home ahead of time, safely and being appreciated for doing an impossible job!
9 – More Talented, Smart Creative people being rehired in Advertising
8 – The Ad Industry coming to their senses that Creatives are the muscle that drives our industry
7 – The economy rebounds from the current melt down as fast as possible!
6 – The price of gas continues to plunge and we’re paying under a buck a gallon by February and it doesn’t stop going down there… (Oil companies going under would make my millenium!)
5 – Wall Street Interlopers, Scum Bag Politicians, Predatory…
10 – More Jerry Seinfeld-Bill Gates Microsoft commercials (Give up, you suck!)
9 - More GEICO Caveman and GECKO commercials (Unwatchable)
8 - Any Advertising of any kind with Paris Hilton in it (Just go away already)
7 - Any Political Campaign ad or commercial… (I think we had our fill in 2008 to last a lifetime?)
6 - Any Politician saying “I approved this commercial.” (If you can’t put together a good tv spot,
how can you think you can run anything?”)
5 – Stop talking about “Change We Can Believe In” (and actually start DOING some of that change!)
4 – More New Brand launches…
I also got a number of emails from people who aren’t necessarily sports fans to the manic level of near-certifiability like me, but enthusiasts of other sports who inquired why I wrote only about the so-called “Big 4″ and not some other sports that they liked. I have also alluded to the Olympics and some other sports in the past, but in the interest of always trying to be both fair and balanced
In an industry that is in the business of creativity, it is not surprising that the level of creativity in their brand identity is so strong, enduring and often iconic. Ever wonder where do movie studios come up with these enduring and iconic logos that lead their brands? Well I do.
It’s almost midnight, you have to come up with a logo identity program for a client with a nebulous product and a scattered brand strategy that splits more hairs than static electricity and a blow dryer. Where do you go to get inspired? Where DO you go?
. I tip my hat to the creators of these expressive portrayals. Emoticons started out as this : ) and have developed ^_^ and evolved 
