Halloween Pumpkin Carving

I don't get into the Halloween spirit. It's really not my thing unfortunately, but I do appreciate a good pumpkin carving! These are pretty amazing!!

  
 
These amazingly detailed pumpkins were carved by Ray Villafane. He uses clay modelling tools instead of just a knife, and because of that he manages to achieve textures and lines that really stand out from the traditional pumpkin.

Below are some more great examples of other peoples pumpkins.

Tetley Team Tea Poster

The lovely people at Tetley Tea Folk found my motivational team tea poster on my website, and they liked it so much they shared it on their Facebook page! The poster has also been tweeted by Strudel, a design company based in London. I had fun making the poster and I'm glad other people are enjoying it also. 

It can be viewed by clicking here.

Scott Duncan-Brown - Illustrator

This is my friend Scott Duncan-Brown's work. He is an amazing illustrator, currently working as a story board artist at Kuro Dragon in Gateshead. He is also working with an author to illustrate a childrens book titled The Bare Bear.

His website is having a bit of a revamp at the moment and can be found at www.scottduncanbrown.com, but take a look and check out his work!

Ribena Light Packaging Redesign - Aesop

New Ribena Light packaging by Aesop in London. Much simpler, cleaner and feels more refreshed. Removing some of the imagery makes it fit with the idea that there's less sugar. A sort of scaled back version of the 'full-fat' original version. Ribena have recently made a big effort to show that they use blackcurrants grown in Britain so to have a redesigned packaging will refresh the image and keep people talking about the brand.

I still have the idea that if a product has to have a 'light' or 'diet' version, then the original must not be too healthy for you!

National Vodka Day

Happy National Vodka Day! To celebrate, I've been having a look at some beautifully designed vodka bottles.

eBay Logo Redesign

eBay have announced they have redesigned their logo after seventeen years. I haven't been a massive fan of the original logo. It's seemed rather childish and hastily put together, but over time it's grown on me and the colours and style is now totally associated with eBay.

The new logo has lost the playfulness. It's like the brand is trying to grow up, but whilst doing so it is taking away the community feeling that the previous logo had. I'm not a massive fan of the lack of kerning. The letters should either be how they were previously, or not connecting at all. I do prefer the colours, particularly the blue as it seems to flow more, and my eye doesn't get stuck on the letter b.

It's always going to be a tough job to redesign such a memorable logo, and everyone has their own opinions. This design could have been better, but could have been a lot worse.