From Thriftown to Japantown

Finally! I remembered to take a «before» picture of a piece before decoupaging it. I picked up this little wooden shelving unit at Thriftown (in The Mission) a little while back for 1.99$. Must of been a nano jewelry armoire in a previous life. Both drawers were missing but it was still in pretty good condition. Painted it black. Bought a small paper sample in Japantown. Cut a few shapes, applied several coats of mod podge and voilà! I give you my new ink cartridge dispenser! This is what I do between design gigs. (Please click on photo to enlarge)

Rebranding the right way

After yesterday's rant about GAP's logo gone wrong, today I needed to show an example of rebranding...gone good! Andronico's is my local supermarket. I was never a fan of their original logo (on the left) but was pleased to notice their new version. The new logo is both minimalist and elegant and has an overall upscale look. It displays the content artistically. Colorful and youthful icon with a timeless choice of font. C'est tout!

Amnesia Branding or the old vs the who?

It is one thing to refresh one's branding, it's another to changing it to the point of not recognizing it anymore. I was astounded to find that the beloved GAP logo had gone through a serious change. What's left of the old logo is the «spirit» of the blue rectangle, placed on the top right hand corner - ready to be exited in the next revamping. Just like me, GAP is getting older and is accepting to age with difficulty. But, I am not ready to give up on my personality in order to keeping up appearances. Neither should GAP. The new logo is sporting an American Apparel outfit (Helvetica, on white background). Actually, American Apparel, Crate&Barrel, and now GAP are now wearing all the same outfit. What was wrong with the previous (sniff) logo? From easily recognizable to «have we met before?». Is it a coincidence that the «new» logo came to life after Don Fisher's passing? I think not. A logo's soul is its font. And now, GAP has lost its soul...and a few sales for I would rather shop somewhere else.

I can now cry in several font styles!

Thanks to Kleenex® Expressions®, I can now cry in different font styles. Finally, the ultimate design (for me anyway) for a box of tissues. Actually, I like the box so much I might stop crying all together so I can keep this box forever. What a revelation. It was quite the challenge to return from Andronico's Market and make sure I would not bump into anything in order to keep the box intact. There is even a legend presented under the box explaining the origins of Letterpress. Pinch me I think I'm dreaming. Thank you Kleenex. I am so happy I could cry...but I won't.

Enjoy!

I miss sharing my chronicles! Have been busy with gigs, which made very happy but very tired and stressed. The awful part was, while all this was going on, my beloved espresso machine stopped working. Every once in a while, I had to run away to a local Starbucks and ask for...triple espressos. The good news is that, by next week, I will be deadline free and able to rant and rave about fonts, the art of being a talented tolerable triumphant graphic designer and anything else that deserves to be shared. Until then, enjoy a Coke Costco size!

Hommage à Eames

Here is my latest piece. A tribute to Charles Eames. It just so happens that I received 2 issues of HOUSE INDUSTRIES latest superb catalogue and took full advantage of it. I keep every single issue they send me and there is no way I would cut one out...

The wind beneath my wings

This is my favorite photo of my mom and I. It was taken in the 1980's while I was still studying graphic design. It's out of focus, it lacks art direction to say the least but I think it's lovely. I have a great big smile on my face and the only glimpse there is of my mom are her reading glasses but I can tell she was also smiling. My mom was the creative one in my family. I would leave for school in the morning and upon returning at the end of the day, the living room had been « redesigned » (new wall paper, all the furniture had been moved!) I never knew how she did it but every time, it was a success. All her life, she did amazing things with not very much $, but her ideas were plentiful. She was recycling way before anybody knew about it. I would dispose of my old paper color swatches for my assignments, scraps of foam core, stained China ink samples and tada: I would find a new note pad by the telephone with all those pieces that had end up in my trash basket!! That is just one of the gazillion examples I can come up with. She was outstanding with her culinary skills, her positive attitude towards life and payed attention to EVERYBODY - making you feel like a million dollars. I can still say today that not only was she my mother but my very best friend. She left us 9 years ago, thus ending a battle with cancer. Not a day goes by that I do not think of her. Here's to ALL the great moms out there - the ones here and the ones that have left us: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY Y'ALL!