Mazda

This is an ad for the Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe. I think its a very clever ad; really thinking outside of the square in the design. Fair enough this ad takes up two pages, which of course is more expensive then a one page ad. But i believe it is worth with the uniqueness and interactive qualities behind it. The ad is cleverly asking the viewer to get involved by folding the page to make it look like the car with a rooftop . The art of folding paper is Origami, which has been the main influence in Mazda's design of it's retracting rooftop due to its folding nature is like how a piece of paper would be folded in Origami. Having this ad would be quite successful because the viewer is asked to join in, which would mean it would sustained in their memory. I believe this is one of Mazda's more successful advertisements. The colours chosen are used through out the ad, all following the nice, dark blue used on the car. The first page of the ad is where the main "action" happens with two different ways to view the ad are possible, when turning the page it covers all the necessary information behind the design of the car, giving clear and precise diagrams of the folding process behind the cars roof retraction. The typography used in this ad has an asian type tang to it, which helps support the copywriting at the beginning of the ad stating "the Japanese art of folding paper is called origami." Mazda being a Japanese car also helps to support the Asian feel behind the typography.

Barack Obama

This is a poster advertising a speech by Barack Obama in Germany. I found it when I was researching modern posters which uses the Bauhaus style. As soon as i saw it I was amazed, still am amazed whenever I look at it. Its just so BEAUTIFUL! haha yeah its good. 

I believe Barack Obama wouldn't be where he is now without his design team. Even though the style of the Bauhaus used in this design is 90 years old when this poster was designed, i believe it still has a modern feel to it which is incorporated in the somewhat "shiney" typography which uses gradients quite successfully. 

It uses the American colours so successfully with the majority of the poster, the majority of the poster is blue, but with a splash of rich red which is very strong in the design of the poster. The red is emphasizing that to attend the speech its free for the public.

I believe with the angle and the view of Barack Obama's face really has an emotional and powerful feel with it. As I look at the picture I see Barack as a dominant and inspirational man, just by looking at his picture. I think the typography is fantastic, using different sizes and boldness of the same san serif typeface. 

I want to shake the hand of every member of the Barack Obama design team.

Unknown Pleasures

This is the cover for Joy Division's album Unknown Pleasures. It was designed by my favourite graphic designer Peter Saville. I have always loved this design from when I first saw the cd on the stands at a shop, then of course I bought it. The image originally comes from an edition of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy, but the image was originally black on a white background. It represents 100 pulses from the first pulsar discovered, which is often referred to in the context of the album. Without knowing about the  true origins of the design it seems to have movement in the line which seems to represent sound in some sort of "beat" process which I think is a good way to incorporate sound into a visual artwork. I was attracted to the piece because at the time I was looking to purchase a Joy Division album and this was the one that stood out to me the most so I had to but it being a big fan of the band as what I am. 

I believe the design is of very high quality due to the representation of sound. It seems to have formed some form of trademark with Joy Division as many forms of merchandise have been using this design. I think this is one of Peter Saville's best pieces of work.

Solo

This is the packaging design for a Canadian mobile phone company known as Solo. I think its fantaaaaaaastic. I love the use of the broken orange lines which seems to support some form of movement which is incorporated into Solo's logo. The way the phone is situated in the plastic gives the impression that the phone is the centre of communication, communication that of that being represented by the broken orange line spread across the packaging. The packaging seem to follow the two thirds rule used in advertising with the phone in the top third and the description if the contents in the bottom third.

I saw the packaging in a book known as Logo Savvy which covers the developments behind large brands from across the world, being impressed by seeing how this company developed their logo, I though I would write a blog on my favourite packaging by them.

I believe it has strong typography in its logo which has worked well with being incorporated in other parts of the design.

I was attracted to the piece because of an ad which was for Solo but next to the packaging, after being obsessed with the ad for a while i soon became obsessed with the packaging.