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exhume · Jan 8, 2012

Vespa said:
Can anybody recommend a book (or site) on layout? Something with an emphasis on arranging text with illustrations. I'm a fan of Tum Muller's work, especially the stuff he does with Ashley Wood:

I absolutely love this book, even though it says 'brochure design' on the cover, it's pretty multipurpose and many of the presentation ideas within are really cool.

Those Ashley Wood layouts look very 90s inspired - have you had a look at work by Chris Ashworth?
Edit: Buro Destruct and Designers Republic might be up your alley too.

cbox · Jan 8, 2012

Flek said:
haha turns out the poster on forrstr was me. Design world - so small

no way! thanks buddy, appreciate it!

noah111 · Jan 9, 2012

This is the rough version but it's basically all done;

PS. Thanks for all the book recommendations people, some good stuff.

Always-honest · Jan 9, 2012

Sentry said:
This is the rough version but it's basically all done;

PS. Thanks for all the book recommendations people, some good stuff.

A bit dark, but i like it a lot!
Maybe one day you can make a version where the logo is carved or lasered in to the wood?
A bit like this:

noah111 · Jan 9, 2012

Thanks, that's similar to what I had planned, but the guy just took it (when I showed a WIP) like this, :lol. I'll be doing a much larger version though, which is when i'll bring out the fancy. Thanks for the advice!

Mihael Mello Keehl · Jan 9, 2012

RDreamer said:
I went to school for Graphic Design and Marketing. Haven't found anything big yet, but I did freelancing here and there and then my friend started a business and when he finally built it up enough he hired me on to do all their ads and logo work and everything. So, I created his branding from the ground up.

My first piece for him that really got everything rolling was this brochure.

(sidenote: Forgive the borders on all these. It's the way I display them on my site. So the black and white borders aren't part of any design I put up here. They're used to separate it from my site background)

I did everything on there except the CMP logo, which they had to stick with because they had some rugs and things with it rented for another year+. They wanted to kind of separate from that branding and get things under the Tactical Lazer Tag brand for the future. All the photos were done by me, too. The branding has worked quite nicely because it's eye catching like that, and it makes getting shirts done very cheap, which was something I really had to keep in mind. Our branding as black and that orange color means we can do a lot of vinyl one color shirts and things from a guy we know.

And my favorite piece from working with them has been the tournament posters I've been doing. In real life 18x24 (or 17x24 if we get it printed cheaper from a guy we know) they look so vibrant and awesome. I am just insanely proud of the direction they went.

http://livetheart.net/DesignCommissions/CMPTP1.jpg
http://livetheart.net/DesignCommissions/CMPTP2.jpg
http://livetheart.net/DesignCommissions/CMPTP3.jpg

Overall, there is A LOT of orange in my designs for them. Sometimes that gets a bit obnoxious and it's something I know I should work on a bit, but overall the aesthetic does its job. It's something that looks modern and military, but also has a sort of futuristic edge about it. It really fits in with their whole lazer tag thing, since they do a very modern military simulation style of lazer tag.

Also, my site is here. I need to do a redesign on the header, I think, and possibly everything at some point. It's really the first website I ever made, and I've not really done any changes to it since.

wow thats pretty cool, I actually know someone who works there..Im from milwaukee to also studying graphic design..kinda cool see another on gaf...anyways yea I've been studying it for like a year and a half still not where I want to be in terms of skill but hopefully that changes with semester as Ill have more difficult classes about stuff I dont already know.

histopher · Jan 9, 2012

Hey guys,

I'm messing around with a logo for a friends band. They play bluegrass music, and they love a good drink. I am trying to represent the three letters of the band name GCL as a beer bottle.

Looking for any advice... I know it's not great so please don't be too harsh! I think the L and C need to be swapped around to make sense as well.

Cheers.

RDreamer · Jan 9, 2012

Mihael Mello Keehl said:
wow thats pretty cool, I actually know someone who works there..Im from milwaukee to also studying graphic design..kinda cool see another on gaf...anyways yea I've been studying it for like a year and a half still not where I want to be in terms of skill but hopefully that changes with semester as Ill have more difficult classes about stuff I dont already know.

Whoa, small world, I guess.

Are you studying design in Milwaukee then? What school are you going to?

cbox · Jan 9, 2012

histopher said:
Hey guys,

I'm messing around with a logo for a friends band. They play bluegrass music, and they love a good drink. I am trying to represent the three letters of the band name GCL as a beer bottle.

Looking for any advice... I know it's not great so please don't be too harsh! I think the L and C need to be swapped around to make sense as well.

Cheers.

You might want to use the G as the bottle, C as a label, and the L as the top spout.

MrPliskin · Jan 9, 2012

histopher said:
Hey guys,

I'm messing around with a logo for a friends band. They play bluegrass music, and they love a good drink. I am trying to represent the three letters of the band name GCL as a beer bottle.

Looking for any advice... I know it's not great so please don't be too harsh! I think the L and C need to be swapped around to make sense as well.

Cheers.

The furthest to the right is actually quite good, and I'd continue refining that design. With some more work, I think it'll come together very well. The first two make me think of old progressive commercials, lol.

Vespa · Jan 9, 2012

exhume said:
I absolutely love this book, even though it says 'brochure design' on the cover, it's pretty multipurpose and many of the presentation ideas within are really cool.

Those Ashley Wood layouts look very 90s inspired - have you had a look at work by Chris Ashworth?
Edit: Buro Destruct and Designers Republic might be up your alley too.

Thanks for the book recommendation, does it go into the actual design aspect? I tried to roughly de-construct a few posters (Using the throw shit at a wall technique) to see how things are laid out, noticed the rule of thirds being used a fair bit but some of the other aspects that are clearly designed into the layout I have no clue about haha, guess I'll continue to do more of these and see if I can see a pattern.

Really like that pine star logo btw.

noah111 · Jan 9, 2012

ConvenientBox said:
You might want to use the G as the bottle, C as a label, and the L as the top spout.

Problem is the reading order there, needs to have it seem as natural as possible to read G then C then L, in that order. Third one is on to something, but it'd seem pretty difficult to get right.

Good luck!

histopher · Jan 9, 2012

Thanks for all the suggestions, will post back again. Yeah, it's quite ugly at the moment isn't it? Haha.

Betta Lines · Jan 10, 2012

Hi guys, I'm a novice at this, so please excuse the newbie questions. I am in the middle of working on some ideas for a company rebranding that I will hopefully be selected to complete.

I'm ok with the logo side of things, but I am completely unfamiliar with fonts, and the associated licensing/copyright/legal stuff. At the moment, the company uses the 'Frutiger' family of fonts for all the branding, taglines, etc. If I were to suggest a different font for this rebranding, is there a correct procedure for going about this? Do I purchase a font package and then add it to my fee? For instance, the fonts they currently use all seem to be contained within this £319 Frutiger 'value pack', which is quite an investment for someone starting out like me...

noah111 · Jan 11, 2012

Always-honest said:
A bit dark, but i like it a lot!
Maybe one day you can make a version where the logo is carved or lasered in to the wood?
A bit like this: http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles2/117758/projects/863881/467115439eae317446c91e09100055ed.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
So he ended up deciding he wanted a large version, so I made this;

[QUOTE][URL="http://cl.ly/DFHI"][img]http://f.cl.ly/items/1M3C2w3O1I1K2o1H2a07/PS_SQR_LG_1024.png[/URL]

Couldn't get the depth to look as defined as the example you showed, due the the edges and lines being so thin, as well as darker indentions on light wood working better than the vice versa, but it turned out ok.

Also did this wallpaper version for him, probably shouldn't be doing this all for free but he's an old friend with a start-up, felt like I could help a bit.

Buckethead · Jan 11, 2012

I suck at logo design. I need to improve.

I also need to improve at drawing. I don't have to be God at it but at least be able to draw some human looking characters when I'm storyboarding FFS.

Ugh.

Fantomex · Jan 11, 2012

I just wanted to find a support group within this thread. Yesterday a client made me use the font CHALKBOARD for a call out on pen packaging. I fought tooth and nail, made fun of it and he laughed along with me, but he still got his way. I feel so dirty.

Buckethead · Jan 11, 2012

A client suggested I use a "more plain font like Helvetica" once.

I forget what I changed it to, but it wasn't fucking Helvetica.

Always-honest · Jan 11, 2012

Sentry said:
So he ended up deciding he wanted a large version, so I made this;

Couldn't get the depth to look as defined as the example you showed, due the the edges and lines being so thin, as well as darker indentions on light wood working better than the vice versa, but it turned out ok.

Also did this wallpaper version for him, probably shouldn't be doing this all for free but he's an old friend with a start-up, felt like I could help a bit.

Looks good! I like that you made sure that the woodtexture in the logo and the surrounding wood don't line up.

And as someone who is a freelance designer/ illustrator for over 15 years now, i still do more than i get payed for and even a lot of free stuff for friends. If you feel good about it, do it. You'll only get more work out of it in the end.

lil smoke · Jan 11, 2012

I once contacted a company to buy a font "Crystopia" when we were ready to use it commercially.

The response was something like:

"Oh wow, well we're glad you at least are asking, but the font business has been dead long ago, we don't expect users to pay anymore, do what you want, but again thanks for the interest"

From then on, I never worried about what fonts I used for small individual projects. Whenever I need to use a new font for a larger company, I just tell them I need it, and they have to pay for it. Big products have to be 100% legal, so it's never a problem to get it approved... then I copy it to my USB and have it for my own personal use too!

noah111 · Jan 11, 2012

Always-honest said:
Looks good! I like that you made sure that the woodtexture in the logo and the surrounding wood don't line up.

And as someone who is a freelance designer/ illustrator for over 15 years now, i still do more than i get payed for and even a lot of free stuff for friends. If you feel good about it, do it. You'll only get more work out of it in the end.

Thanks, this is basically just something for a friend, and i'm not a professional by any stretch. I wouldn't mind studying more graphic design, though, it can be pretty fun.

And that is true, along with gaining experience. It can sometimes be like solving a puzzle, trying to get it 'just right'.

Buckethead said:
A client suggested I use a "more plain font like Helvetica" once.

I forget what I changed it to, but it wasn't fucking Helvetica.

I find futura pretty beautiful and still simple.

-MB- · Jan 12, 2012

I just started using Indesign and I'm already stumped.
I'm trying to get a numbered list to be set after the text instead of infront of it,
but I don't see any option to do such a thing.
Anyone have any idea how to do it?

RDreamer · Jan 13, 2012

I sent in my resume to a job the other day, and got an email back today saying they were doing interviews. It's for a graphic coordinator position. The email says they're doing a 2 hour group interview and says to bring in samples of your work in a self addressed and stamped envelope. This seems really strange to me. I've never heard of group interviews for a graphic coordinator position, and asking people to bring in their portfolios in a self addressed envelope seems really fucking weird. It's especially weird because most people don't have their portfolios in a format like that. Do they really want me to print my stuff out on regular paper especially for them? Anyone have any experience with this? Is this just an HR person that doesn't understand the field, maybe?

It also sucks that the day and time they have is something I absolutely can't make.

noah111 · Jan 14, 2012

So I found this old woodshop drawing project I did in HS (or was it JHS?) and decided to fancy it up and go with it, mess around. Ended up making myself an iPhone wallpaper.

It's my initials btw (N.C.)

dmshaposv · Jan 14, 2012

-MB- said:
I just started using Indesign and I'm already stumped.
I'm trying to get a numbered list to be set after the text instead of infront of it,
but I don't see any option to do such a thing.
Anyone have any idea how to do it?

Be sure in your paragraph style, your alignment is left. That may be the problem.

Alternatively, you can follow this easy tut to make sure you make a correct list:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/instant-indesign/creating-an-automatic-numbered-list/

-MB- · Jan 14, 2012

dmshaposv said:
Be sure in your paragraph style, your alignment is left. That may be the problem.

Alternatively, you can follow this easy tut to make sure you make a correct list:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/instant-indesign/creating-an-automatic-numbered-list/

Watched that, It didn't touch upon how I wanted it.
instead of:
1 text
2 text

I want it

text 1
text 2

And I see noting that allows me to do it unless picking a table of contents, but then it won't number automatically.

Buckethead · Jan 14, 2012

Sentry said:
So I found this old woodshop drawing project I did in HS (or was it JHS?) and decided to fancy it up and go with it, mess around. Ended up making myself an iPhone wallpaper. )

Nice. What did you do to get the grungy texture look?

noah111 · Jan 14, 2012

Buckethead said:
Nice. What did you do to get the grungy texture look?

Thanks, and to be honest I went with the grungy look simply due to it being easier that way.

When I first was trying to lasso/magic wand erase all the wood from the original image, the texture of the wood made erasing/detecting pretty hard so it naturally came out like this, without me doing anything;

After that, I found black on white to look nicer. From there I just applied some gradients from the center outward (dark out, transparent in) and then manually did some erasing with grunge type brushes.

Along with erasing using some dirty type of brushes (low transparency) I did the same but with brushes and painted over some splatter effects, which were kinda already present to begin with.

I like how it turned out, though, and it looks better than the clean version I tried doing, tbh. I used the clean version as an avatar a while back, since it looks good small, but the OG is pretty messy;

PS. I'm using Pixelmator 2, never even tried Indesign or anything other than basic PS CS5, but I probably will eventually (esp. for typographical design later on).

Jharp · Jan 14, 2012

FStop7 said:

Holy shit, you're an ARTIST!

gimz · Jan 20, 2012

just created this logo for my friend's party

Title is Joyholic

Hato-kun · Jan 21, 2012

Playing around with ideas for a mate. He's getting into some music stuff, so he needs an image. Never really had a go at proper design so it's all so very new...

His name is Vincent. If you didn't get it.

Atramental · Jan 22, 2012

Hey everyone, I just wanted to get some other designer's opinions on this logo before my instructor critiques it. The point of this project is to make something that looks like it came from the Art Deco period of design. Also, this is just preliminary work so a lot things about this logo are subject to change.

Shurs · Jan 22, 2012

Any program recommendations for someone who wants to try Graphic Design as a hobby?

I'm not too keen on spending over $1,000 on CS5.

The programs don't have to be free, but less than $100 would be nice.

[Nintex] · Jan 22, 2012

Shurs said:
Any program recommendations for someone who wants to try Graphic Design as a hobby?

I'm not too keen on spending over $1,000 on CS5.

The programs don't have to be free, but less than $100 would be nice.

Most of my classmates without access to Adobe stuff use GIMP, so look into that.

It's free: http://www.gimp.org/

Shurs · Jan 22, 2012

[Nintex];34480534 said:
Most of my classmates without access to Adobe stuff use GIMP, so look into that.

It's free: http://www.gimp.org/

I do have Gimp, but it feels overly complicated.

Also, being an X11 program, it feels archaic.

This isn't to say I don't appreciate the suggestion, though.

MrBig · Jan 22, 2012

Atramental said:
Hey everyone, I just wanted to get some other designer's opinions on this logo before my instructor critiques it. The point of this project is to make something that looks like it came from the Art Deco period of design. Also, this is just preliminary work so a lot things about this logo are subject to change.

Logo needs some fluid changes in line weight to match the text font.

layzie1989 · Jan 22, 2012

IMO strokes like that on type are never a good idea. ditch it.

edit: i'll also say the whole thing is more gothic and less art deco. Art deco typefaces are more geometric and don't have sharp angular serifs.

exhume · Jan 22, 2012

Shurs said:
Any program recommendations for someone who wants to try Graphic Design as a hobby?

I'm not too keen on spending over $1,000 on CS5.

The programs don't have to be free, but less than $100 would be nice.

Yeah, I know what you mean about GIMP - it's not particularly new-user-friendly.

Do you have or do you know somebody with a valid student card? You can get quite a hefty discount on CS5 if you do, I think it's like $300.

There's also Inkscape, which is free and is supposedly very similar to Illustrator, but I've not tried it. Manga Studio is also free, and good if you want to draw and paint, but you can't do the flashy stuff Photoshop lets you. Don't know if there's a good free alternative to InDesign, but it's less essential than the Photoshop & Illustrator combo if you're just having a play around.

.GqueB. · Jan 22, 2012

Hato-kun said:
Playing around with ideas for a mate. He's getting into some music stuff, so he needs an image. Never really had a go at proper design so it's all so very new...

His name is Vincent. If you didn't get it.

Why'd you crop the girls face off? Seems weird.

Atramental · Jan 22, 2012

layzie1989 said:
IMO strokes like that on type are never a good idea. ditch it.

*Poof*

Gone.

Ollie Pooch · Jan 23, 2012

Something like this might work better :

(ITC Mostra and Avenir) feels a little more art deco to me. Also removed the stroke from the logo part. Excuse the kerning - I'm meant to be working

There are heavier weights of Mostra which I don't have, so couldn't try them, but might be more appropriate.

Atramental · Jan 23, 2012

julls said:
Something like this might work better :

http://i.imgur.com/LWtgF.jpg[IMG]
(ITC Mostra and Avenir) feels a little more art deco to me. Also removed the stroke from the logo part. Excuse the kerning - I'm meant to be working :P There are heavier weights of Mostra which I don't have, so couldn't try them, but might be more appropriate.[/QUOTE]
When I was looking through all my various fonts and I must of skipped over Mostra. :P

Also, as luck has it, I have both Mostra and Avenir with all their various weights. My employer and one of my instructors at my university gave me a shit load of typefaces and I still haven't gone through all of them. haha.

Omega.Blaze · Jan 23, 2012

julls said:
Something like this might work better :

(ITC Mostra and Avenir) feels a little more art deco to me. Also removed the stroke from the logo part. Excuse the kerning - I'm meant to be working There are heavier weights of Mostra which I don't have, so couldn't try them, but might be more appropriate.

Yep, this one looks better because of the text. To give it your own spin, try to find other Art Deco fonts that you find attractive but aren't as common as fonts like "Andes".

Devolution · Jan 23, 2012

julls said:
Something like this might work better :

(ITC Mostra and Avenir) feels a little more art deco to me. Also removed the stroke from the logo part. Excuse the kerning - I'm meant to be working There are heavier weights of Mostra which I don't have, so couldn't try them, but might be more appropriate.

Yes. Kerned out and no outlines. Atra next time you make a logo like that. Make it about as small as it would appear, like say a business card. You can see how outlines like that is going to be a hassle. This is why people get pissy about outlined text:

If you make it small too, you can see what needs to possibly be thickened up (like ELECTRIC even in the above example) and what kind of ratio you have going on with the bird and the type. As much as I like the logo I think you should possibly go with the bird on the side. Right now your gryphon is taking up a lot of real estate.

I'm not quite sure about the story here, it reminds me of a gargoyle you'd set atop a building.

Atramental · Jan 23, 2012

Omega.Blaze said:
Yep, this one looks better because of the text. To give it your own spin, try to find other Art Deco fonts that you find attractive but aren't as common as fonts like "Andes".

I'll have to hunt through my 4000+ typefaces but I think I'll be able to find some more Art Deco ones in my collection.

Devolution said:
Yes. Kerned out and no outlines. Atra next time you make a logo like that. Make it about as small as it would appear, like say a business card. You can see how outlines like that is going to be a hassle. This is why people get pissy about outlined text:

If you make it small too, you can see what needs to possibly be thickened up (like ELECTRIC even in the above example) and what kind of ratio you have going on with the bird and the type.

I'll definitely keep this all in mind next time I design another logo.

As much as I like the logo I think you should possibly go with the bird on the side. Right now your gryphon is taking up a lot of real estate.

I'm not quite sure about the story here, it reminds me of a gargoyle you'd set atop a building.

My instructor gave me rather vague instructions on this project so I think he'll clarify some more things tomorrow.

And this is going to be 1 out of 10 different renditions of this logo:

So I'll have plenty of different logo and type combinations to show my instructor.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Timedog · Jan 23, 2012

Hato-kun said:
Playing around with ideas for a mate. He's getting into some music stuff, so he needs an image. Never really had a go at proper design so it's all so very new...

His name is Vincent. If you didn't get it.

I think it would look better if you cross-processed the blacks in the underlying photos so that the blacks in the photos didn't blend into the black foreground. Notice how the blacks in the 'C' aren't actually black, and it looks better?

elsk · Jan 23, 2012

Hi guys. I want to learn how to use Illustrator, any good place to start (tutorial, etc)?
I'm very used to Photoshop, and Illustrator looks very different to me.

Omega.Blaze · Jan 23, 2012

elsk said:
Hi guys. I want to learn how to use Illustrator, any good place to start (tutorial, etc)?
I'm very used to Photoshop, and Illustrator looks very different to me.

Watch some youtube tutorials; there are plenty of 'em.

Devolution · Jan 23, 2012

Hato-kun said:
Playing around with ideas for a mate. He's getting into some music stuff, so he needs an image. Never really had a go at proper design so it's all so very new...

His name is Vincent. If you didn't get it.

Agree with timedog about the blacks.

In my opinion you should think more about how you're cropping these images into the letters. Like the Piano one would look even better parallel with the diagonal lines of the n, if you don't get what I mean I can draw a diagram. Or the lines of fabric in the T, either more angled or perfectly horizontal with the T. I actually like the C best since there is a nice color shift and cropping.

Ether_Snake · Jan 23, 2012

gimz said:
just created this logo for my friend's party

Title is Joyholic

I read Jyblic.

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