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.

Darrin Crescenzi - A Game of Thrones icons

Like many others, I've become obsessed with the series A Game of Thrones. I'm currently working my way through the novels which is taking quite a while as I seem to be really busy at the moment.

Darrin Crescenzi also loved the series, and created a series of icons for each of the families. It was a personal project, and probably quite a nice change from the Nike brand design he usually works on.
It's brilliantly designed, colourful, and a good contemporary take on what could have ended up being too traditional.

A poster was available but has sold out.

Axis Maps - Typographic Maps

These typographic maps by Axis Maps are brilliant. Often typographic maps created and be too cluttered or don't read well, but these have a very suitable typeface which is legible at small point size. The different colours build up an visually pleasing poster that looks like it has depth. I think these maps work much better showing cities which are built on a grid system. London or even Leeds would possibly create quite a mess which wouldn't be as pleasing to look at.

I particularly like the Chicago version in colour. The creators say...

"Typographic Maps accurately depict the streets and highways, parks, neighborhoods, coastlines, and physical features of the city using nothing but type. By weaving together thousands of words, a full picture of the city emerges. Every letter was carefully placed, taking hundreds of hours to complete for each map."

The posters and letterpress prints are available to buy for $20-150. Cities available are Manhattan, Chicago, Madison, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston and New York City.

 All photos from Axis Maps.

Jack Daniels Packaging

Every so often I get items through the post from Jack Daniels. Most recently was a set of coasters. I like the typography they use on the packaging. The simple black, white and orange are very effective (the orange being a similar colour to the whiskey itself). By sending out small items at no cost to the recipient, they are strengthening the brand by giving a feeling that Jack Daniels cares about its customers and likes to reward them for their loyalty.

Kerning Game

This game is a really good test to see how good you are at kerning. I got 96/100..was a little wonky on one but got 100% on most! Give it a try!

Kerning game crafted by Mark MacKay for Method of Action

Branding Article

I've been reading articles refreshing my graphic design brain and came across this interesting one from Fatima Mekkaoui at sixrevisions.com. It's good to read something that is well written and doesn't bulk up the article with useless babble.

30 Corporate Design Typefaces

A magazine article with 30 typefaces suitable for corporate design. It's good to have a bit of background knowledge on the fonts and how, when and by whom they were designed. I'm sure this article will help me when I'm struggling to find a suitable typeface.

30 Corporate Design Typefaces

Beach Calligraphy

I came across these amazing images yesterday and was really impressed. The artist is Andrew van der Merwe, in a style he calls beach calligraphy.The carving into the sand is so precise, with wonderful shadows cast into the lines, and the location looks so serene.
Find more photos and information here