5/5/10 - 5 Great Newspaper Designs

Most of the Mexican newspapers I saw were extremely colorful. It is definitely eye-catching. Many papers like this one were heavy on the info above-the-fold (e.g. the baby on this, probably eating lead paint, has nothing to do with the main headline). I like that each story has a picture and a lead in to make you open the paper.

The previous paper, this one is very heavy at the top. I think that if they would've brought some more of that imagery down, it would be better. The bottom half is very text heavy, but the top pieced-pictures are brilliant.

I really like the colored boxes and text for the different stories. As a reader, it makes it easy to move from one story to the next. Each image is striking, and it appears that the designer took time to pick the best pic for each slot.

Why do I like this seemingly typical paper? It is because I like the traditional newspaper look. However, the large graphics keep me interested, and I'm going to bet that I would read every cutline under the pics. It's clean and simple, like a news story should read.

I love the colors! I'm assuming, since I can't read it, that each color pairs with a certain section. I would love to see if the headers match those sections on the inside, as well. The colored boxes help to separate stories and images.

4/21/10 - 5 Ads of the World Finds

There is a whole series of Volkswagen independent cinema ads like this using different movies on the police reports/tickets/Car performance tests. This one happens to be Toy Story, and it made me laugh ("NOT MY FAULT"). It's rather simple with the piece of paper sitting on a plain background, but it gets the job done.

This reminded me of our two city airline designs. There was one for Paris with the "A" enlarged to be the Eiffel Tower, but I like the creativity of the double-decker bus in this ad.

(Sorry it is so small and blurry, I tried to enlarge it) I think Max Huber when I see this design, especially the golf ad he designed. If the image wasn't so blurry, you could see the great geometric shapes in the background with the bold colors in the foreground. The negative space works well to put the focus on the center of the page, then down to the left hand side text.

It's cute and uses negative space well. The point is that you can customize your vehicle, and flashy imagery wasn't needed to tell the viewer that.

Again, this is a series with the bull somehow conveying that he is beating the bear (propping his feet upon a bearskin rug is another I liked). It is childish to use the stuffed animals and pencil as a bat, but if you read the tag line it makes sense (they are examining the shift in the changing market). I like that they try to make it simpler than what it is, and it shows that they will explain the situation without a lot of over the top language.

4/14/10 - 5 Ad Finds

The humor in this advertisement is why I think it works. It works perfectly to move your eye down the line of typical hunters to the last guy holding a vacuum. Another reason I like it is because it could easily be a typical picture found in the Saturday Evening Post with the classic feel.

Most of the ads I found have humor to them, and I think humor works great when it is actually funny and not stupid or too subtle. In this ad, you would expect to pick up these binoculars and immediately have any scenery right in front of you.

It literally took me a few seconds of looking at this ad to understand it because I didn't see the slogan "Become the King of Bluff." I was slightly confused at first, but then it became hilarious. There were other ads in this campaign with a male beauty queen (dress, tiara and sash included) and a grandma being arrested with a man holding a crowbar standing on her porch. The irony works.

I love the mixture of high fashion and everyday products mixed together here. The models make the products high fashion, and the products make the models slightly more down to earth. Even though a lot is going on in the spread, I'm not overwhelmed, but rather I'm intrigued.

I think of "designing with the delete key" when I see this. If you can't read the fine print, it is an ad by Guinness beer stating that your reaction time is delayed with every drink. The sign is recognizable, and therefore a lot of explanation is unnecessary.

5 Finds - Helvetica

Helvetica is a modern font, and this packaging is definitely modern with the white background. You know exactly what brand you are looking at, and it helps that the black font matches all the utensils handles to make it even more streamline.

I don't know how many times I have looked at this logo without even realizing that there is a sun in the center of it. It is a creative use of the font that sets it apart from other Helvetica users.

Perhaps it is because I went to the ginormous Crate&Barrel store in Chicago last week that I included this logo. However, the items sold there are modern and sleek, so Helvetica matches quite nicely.
How the designers made this symbol so sharp and sophisticated, I may never know. Three letters on a circle and four triangles has never looked better (or has been so expensive).
I'm rather fond of turning font into pictures, and this pic uses Helvetica to make this man! Different shades of Helvetica were used to put a different spin on the font.