May 15, 2008



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London 2012 Olympics Brand

London 2012 Olympics BrandThe bright and colorful (and hotly debated) new logo for the London 2012 Olympics brand designed by Wolf Ollins makes a bold statement with its release last week. While some stalwart UK news critics are up in arms (notably the Sun and Independent) and designers are being polarized from coast to coast, some of the brand messaging is lost in the public's initial gut reaction to the logo. It's actually quite a positive message of inclusion, fair play, and interaction — even welcoming people to download the logo template and design their own variations (hint, hint, 'threadsters.) Personally, we're for anything that stirs up this much debate and interest in graphic design... and additionally any logo that has been described as both "new rave", a "toilet monkey" and looks like a graffiti mural gets our vote! Finally, since no one can quite decide what the logo is, or whether it will... More

London 2012 Olympics Brand

Vitamin Water

Vitamin WaterA fun, funky and fabulous color rush greets you in the technicolor product site for Vitamin Water. This nutrient-infused drink has taken the bottled beverage market by storm (recently purchased by Coke for $4.1B) due in no small part to its bright color-coded labeling and effervescent copy-writing. The site takes the branding to the next level by bundling each flavor with its own expressive animated illustration – that harmonizes quite well with the current "Coke side of life" branding which also uses bright, abstract illustrations (and no, we don't believe in coincidence). Be sure to note the undulating, color coded navigation and the celebrity tie-ins that lend even more personality to each flavor. A brilliant example of successful brand marketing.... More

Vitamin Water


Tijuana Flats

Tijuana FlatsA unique Mexican food chain in the making, Tijuana Flats approaches food, wall art and hot sauces with an "anything goes" approach – but also heralds a strong community-based value system. The result is a fun feeling food joint with twist of lime and a spicy appeal. We really liked the down-home Flash site that employs several different types of hand-drawn fonts (and perhaps one of the few times we'll conceed that more than 5 different font styles work well together). Nice typography and non-technical appeal... and be sure to check out some of their irreverant advertising campaigns.... More

Tijuana Flats

Philips Dynamic Lighting

Philips Dynamic LightingHere's an interesting site (we missed) that launched back in 2005... Remote controlled, dynamic lighting—an advanced lighting solution that brings the rythmic fluctuations of daylight into the working environment. Dynamic Lighting is something you install into your home or office that alternates between blends of cool and warm light to create a stimulating (or soothing) ambience, based upon the time of day, or your own preferences. It's a really interesting technology, and this clean, sky-tones-on-white website has all the right demos and diagrams to communicate the concept with the utmost clarity.... More

Also posted under industrial design & autos.

Philips Dynamic Lighting


The Tap Project

The Tap ProjectAs mega software drink companies make millions off bottling spring water for the "health conscious" masses, on March 22nd, participating restaurants in New York City will draw attention to the less fortunate, and invites patrons to donate just $1 for the tap water they usually enjoy for free (for those who may not know, NYC has some of the cleanest tap water in the country, and the world). All monies raised will help UNICEF provide safe drinking water to children around the world. And non-New Yorkers can donate too through this site. So drink up on World Water Day.... More

The Tap Project

Rusta Media

Rusta MediaIn order to sell airtime on SABC channels leading up to the Cricket World Cup Show, media planners are shown the shocking media options they'll get stuck with if they don't book with the SABC. In this brilliant illustrated collage design of a non-existent Caribbean media company's website, media buyers explore the dodgiest media solutions ever, reinforcing the need to book with the national broadcaster before they run out of options. Touting everything from branded coconuts, bongs, to spray-painted goats and fishing boat billboards (locations cannot be confirmed)—the results of this hilarious campaign exceeded sales target by over 250% – with 40% more hits than targeted on launch day and an average of over 1400 hits per month (from a maximum pool of only 750 media planners). Outstanding, functional, funny and also a beautifully illustrated collage design. And don't forget to check the Terms & Conditions.... More

Rusta Media


Valspar

ValsparGet inspired in this one-of-kind site, where we finally see an appropriate use of the ability to use XML with CSS to rotate random color palettes... and for whom better than this large global paints and coatings firm? Mainly driven by large scenic photography, each page brings a different coordinated color scheme... But some photos allow you to interact and alter the colors in the photo itself by picking from pre-made palettes—which you can then add to a shopping list. Impressive, beautiful and relaxing exploration in a very clean design shell.... More

Also posted under extra experimental, standards based web design.

Valspar

alta bikes

alta bikesA great sales tool for alta fixed-gear bikes, with a very nice yarn. Hilarious photo illustrations in a very short, sweet, and funny presentation... and besides the bikes are just sharp. The 'Thread behind the bike is that it's a joint project beween graphic designers (Bleed), furniture designers (Norway Says), product designers (Frost Produkt) and advertisers (Shnel&Melnychuck). Perfect.... More

Also posted under industrial design & autos, sports design.

alta bikes


Birmingham Black History

Birmingham Black HistorySet up to promote events during Birmingham's Black History Month celebrations, find out about Birmingham's Black past, which has contributed to Birmingham's present and future. As quoted from an Afrikan proverb: "A people without a history are like a tree without roots". And these roots (the site) has plenty of color (literally) in a nice, clean presentation.... More

Birmingham Black History

Doritos | Snack Strong

Doritos | Snack StrongWith a bit of nacho-on-tongue-in-cheek showmanship, Doritos beings us into their immersive virtual 3D hollywood production set, which doubles as a slighty apocalyptic-hued fantasy secret lab. Again, the detail in these animations is certainly beyond the scope of reasonable spending, but the results are really impressive. There is more than enough eye-candy to go around—down to the randomness programmed into little ant-like people on the ground... and it's only 2/5 complete as three more sections are due to be released in the near future. As a big childhood fan of original Doritos, I'm personally not sure why they need 15 new flavors, but evidently these guys have more time on their hands than you can shake a spice rack at.... More

Also posted under animation & game design.

Doritos | Snack Strong


Nestea Ice

Nestea IceFeaturing funny animated clip-art, flourishes and purely mystical landscapes, the immersive Nestea Ice site comes off as a funky cross falling somewhere between Monthy Python and an animated version of the North Pole on Zoloft. Currently hosted live only on Juxt's site, this fantasy world of Nestea Ice hopefully lives on—it's a perfect case-study of a dream design for any illustration and interactive Flash animation team.... More

Also posted under Flash, animation & game design.

Nestea Ice

Rexona | Action City

Rexona | Action CityAlthough we've all seen 3D immersive sites before, some of the newest breed take it to an uncommonly high level of detail. Take for example the Rexona (also know as Degree deodorant in the U.S.) "Action City" site, which takes its cue from a very popular stunt man TV commercial produced in 2006. It has 3D graphics rivaling next-generation video games, but due to the medium, contains only 1% of the actual full-environmental funtionality—which truthfully, given the medium, is quite an accomplishment. That being said, don't miss the mini-game and the many little hidden clickables. Overall, an A+ for gratuitous graphics.... More

Also posted under animation & game design.

Rexona | Action City


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promotional design is...

Sites that promote and market specific products or services in which the design is approached with more of an advertising slant. Marketing details, copy, branding and originality of design are all considered.

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