Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Gatorade are redesigning their logos and bottles. I’m interested to see where this new direction takes the company.
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_new_bottles.php
If you haven’t been to Brand New before, it’s an excellent blog that documents companies who are rebranding, by giving before and after shots of old and new logos. Great source of inspiration.
Now playing: Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation
Remember back in the day…say 2000…when every morning you would go to check out your favorite design sites, among them being Surfstation? Somehow tonight I drifted over to surfstation.lu after years since I last checked in and found myself redirected to surfstation.com. After some 4 or 5 years (lost track actually) of no real meaty content updates, I was surprised to see they’ve scaled back the site to what they did best—pulling some great design portfolios out of the web and giving us all a one stop shop for inspiration.
Gone are the self-important collages and obnoxious patters in the background. In scaling the site back, it seems they’ve even squeezed out the pretentiousness (including that .lu address!), of which the last site reeked. Its been replaced with a very eye-pleasing, gentle blog format that feels very graceful to read through. Another great feature they’ve included are photos of the sites featured, so you know what you’re getting into before clicking.
After that inital rush of nostalgia washed over me, I decided to check out another old favorite, Design is Kinky. Yes, I have been lackadaisical about keeping up with all of these Web 2.0 redesigns, thank you. It’s what happens when you get a full time job. Again, another good redesign that focuses on the talent, cutting all the fat of the old site. After a good portion of the evening spent with these two sites, I’m glad to have checked back in to get refreshed with a look at some up and coming design.
Guys, its good to be back.
www.surfstation.com
www.designiskinky.com
Now listening to: No Age - Weirdo Rippers
Sapitot Creative is proud to announce the launch of the Semmering Studios website, version 1.0. Semmering is a photography studio based in Kansas City, run by Sionnie LaFollette, wife of another Sapitot client, Mr. Khorky Custer Khrusty himself (pictured above in all his gold glory)! Granted, this version is a very small mini-site at the moment, but further development into a full portfolio site will occur in the near future. Many thanks to Brian Schilt for his outstanding coding work, excellent job as always!
You can check out the beginnings of the site here, www.semmeringstudios.com
Currently listening to: Sigur Rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
I just posted one of the last projects I worked on at Discovery, an ekit design for Planet Green’s new show Greensburg, into the web portfolio of the Sapitot site. The show, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, documents the rebuilding of Greensburg, KS after being completely destroyed by an F5 tornado into a totally “green” city. The premise seems pretty interesting. Make sure to tune in, the show starts in mid June.
Now Playing: PlayRadioPlay! - Texas
Finally caught the portfolio up to the present time, with all the new work I’ve been doing the past 6 months. Just added a couple new logos and new ad concepting series.
Life will also start spinning up with Sapitot Records soon, as Kyle just announced he is returning to the studio in April to start recording his second full length…with a twist. It’s going to be a Christmas album. He’s posted some details on his BLOG.
I’ve always been one that cringes at political design. It seems that no candidate ever takes the time to do justice to how they present their message. Clichés abound in this realm: the traditional flag, eagle and stars decorate just about every sign posted in someone’s front yard that proves that they are most patriotic candidate. Even worse, this fall I saw signs here in northern Virginia that used the most horrid of fonts…comic sans! C’mon now!
I finally found such a candidate in Barack Obama. I had not logged on to his site since his candidacy was in its infancy and from what I recall, it was a decent site. I revisited it during the pre-New Hampshire hype this week and was pleasantly greeted with a very fresh, clean and youthful site. An absolutely beautiful, well thought out presentation. The subtle patterns in the background, the charming widgets that decorate the page are all very tastefully done. The designers picked a very simple sans serif font to use consistently throughout the site, as opposed to the heavy handed serifs that Hillary uses rather inconsistently on her page.
The design does what all great design should do, compliment the message, and also lets the information breathe. I don’t feel as though I’m getting bashed in the head with all of his latest news and achievements, the site gracefully unfolds as the viewer scrolls down the page, with everything easily navigable. It gives the impression of a very sophisticated, well prepared candidate who represents change. The look of Obama’s site reiterates his position of breathing new life into Washington. In comparison, his rivals’ sites feel clunky and cluttered. Perhaps a it’s a good contrast of the old generation vs. the new one coming of age.
Now I’m not saying I would base my vote off of a web site design (although he already has my vote in the bag), but you have to respect someone who takes the time to thoughtfully present their case. Hats off to the designers and developers…if anyone figures out who did the site, I’d love to see their portfolio.
You can check out the Obama site here: www.barackobama.com
Most importantly, get out and vote this year, wherever you live. This election is too important not to do so.
