Identity Designed #010
I've been asked a few times if I use moodboards in my client projects. Not always. But moodboards can be useful for narrowing the focus and reaching consensus on design ideas before any design work takes place. Here’s a PDF (5mb) that shows a sample of this early project phase. I pieced it together for a recent client call to discuss the potential of three design directions and how various identity elements could pan out.
A few more thoughts in the video below.
Elsewhere, a couple of questions you might be able to help with.
Are you a design teacher or writer, or can you suggest one, who’d like to receive a review copy of my new book?
And can you recommend a USB hub or dock to support an external monitor? My four MacBook ports are currently used by the power cable, a monitor, webcam, and audio interface. I need one more port for the Elgato Prompter I’m thinking of picking up.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Features from Identity Designed
Donut Shop is a furniture design studio in Detroit, Michigan. “Designed to be mono-spaced, each letter in the six fonts seamlessly combines with others, illustrating the diversity of Donut Shop’s furniture designs.”
LiveKit is a software platform that allows developers to create applications that use real-time video, audio, and data. “We helped them craft something with a bit of a digital edge — something that could live in the dark mode world, but had some really beautiful color and animation to make spending time with it that much more pleasant.”
And from Logo Design Love
“Many of the band logo design trailblazers are no longer with us. Some of their stories have been lost in the mists of time. Logo Rhythm does its damnedest to put this right. To give credit where it’s due. To sing the praises of the unsung designer or guitarist or drummer’s girlfriend who came up with the idea.” By Jim K Davies and Jamie Ellul.
Lizzie Frost wanted to create a logo that felt as warm and inviting as Shoop’s signature dish. “The winking spoon and bowl felt perfect. Just crazy enough — or maybe I mean just subtle enough — to work.” More of the Shoop logo.
“Artists usually think of their work as the making of an image; graphic designers think of design as communication through image and type. This book suggests that there is a third, hidden, factor at play in every visual work and image: the mark.” An excerpt from Steven Skaggs’ new book The Hidden Factor.
Last, not least…
Solfeggio frequencies refer to specific tones of sound that help with and promote various aspects of body and mind health.
Themed around “process,” Luke, Dan, and the team are bringing the Birmingham Design Festival back in June. Mightily impressive.
Two websites for design mockups that are new to me: Mockups Design (all free) and Unblast (mostly free). More free and premium offerings in my resources.
Creativity for Sale is the fairly new podcast by London-based Radim Malinic, launched earlier this year. Worth a listen.
When Pat Morgan asked senior designers what early career mistakes they made, one answer from designer Mads Sæløen resonated — “Criticising someone else’s work for clout. That’s a great way to ostracize oneself from a community.” Reminded me of blog post I once published about the London 2012 logo. One to forget (can’t forget).
When you refer others to subscribe to this newsletter I offer small tokens of appreciation such as sharing your website, video calls on anything I can help with, and signed books. Substack makes it easy through its subscriber referrals tool, so the first shout-out goes to
of The Everyday Designer for kindly referring folk this way. Thank you, Alex.Blip as a WeTransfer/Dropbox alternative? Maybe.
If you haven’t already connected with me on LinkedIn, please do: www.linkedIn.com/in/davidairey
Getting featured on Napier University’s Meet our alumni column is a real pleasure (it was way back in 1999 when I was a student of the Graphic Communications Management degree — the best of times).
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