Shakespeare writes new chapter on weddings…

Hi all, I know it has been a while (as per usual) but I have been a busy boy working hard on a fantastic project which I have recently completed.

This project was a really fun venture for me as I got the chance to brand and design the whole start up for an exciting new wedding dress company called Shakespeare in Love Bridal (the blog title makes sense now doesn’t it)!

I was given the task to create a classy brand that was still young and trendy but appealed to all ages…it was a very open brief. My client Samantha Shakespeare was a dream to work with as she let me run all kinds of ideas through with her and was open to suggestions of how we could build this new exciting company.

Our aim was to get the company a presence in the wedding dress market and we needed to design a logo, 2011 Collection brochure, business stationary and website all ready for launch at the Essential Collection show. It was a very fun project which I think went well and hopefully you will agree looks pretty good.

The logo was based around the Shakespeare play on being a classic name (some bloke called Bill made it famous apparently), using a nice traditional type but softening it up with the floral pattern. The company colour scheme (as you may have guessed) is a traditional black and White throughout.

The brochure needed to be simple, sleek and beautiful and we decided to go with a black cover to keep it clean and tidy but maximum impact of the logo standing out in white on it’s own top centre. Within the brochure we kept the images sleek and classy without cluttering the backdrop to them so the focus was on the dresses the models were wearing and the information on the opposing page kept the potential purchaser informed. We also replicated this with the business cards so they complimented the brochure, easy to give out together to customers and suppliers alike. I won’t go on about it too much, please have a look at the images.

Finally I created a website which needed to also be sleek, stylish and offer the purchaser an insight into Shakespeare in Love Bridals ethos. I feel we got this just right, keeping it simple stylish and minimal and not over crowding the site with info that is not probably relevant. Please visit the site for more in depth views www.shakespeareinlovebridal.com.

I hope you like my work and I will be back soon with an update of some other exciting work I am currently working on…watch this space.

Tags: branding, brochure design, business cards, Graphic design, print, web design

Anyone for tee……

In my spare time I love to design tshirts and posters (yeh i know i am a loser), so when i had a little bit of time recently i decided to enter some of the design challenges on threadless.com.

I entered 2 different contests and I am hoping to get some good feedback from them. They are online now so if you fancy voting for them then why not go and have a little look around www.threadless.com.

The two contests I entered were:

1. Japan Relief, where the task was to design a tee that could raise awareness of the recent devastating earthquake and give hope. I focused my design on trying to show the devastation occurring but out of this can come something beautiful, this is why the butterflies are flying out of the centre of the earthquake represented by the circles and the rubble.

2. OCP Endangered animals tee; the task was to create a design where awareness is created on how our planet has endangered species which could soon become extinct. I wanted to highlight how humans and gorillas (a primate close to extinction) have such a close connection but still we persist to destroy their habitat and eventually will wipe them off the face of the planet. I wanted to create a simple image of an angry human who has the power and a desolate gorilla who is losing the battle.

To see more of these tees please visit my website at www.origincreative.org.

New work for all to see….

Been a little quiet recently (i know i probably start most posts with this sentence)  but i have been off working on some live projects and not really had the time to blog. I hope you like what i have to show you though as i am pretty happy with what i have produced.

1. Mash Health

I got asked by a dear friend of mine who works with a lovely company to have a look at producing a concept website for them, how could i say no? The brief was to create a fun but professional concept that they could take forward for their new site. I wanted to portray the fact that this is a company working in the health sector and that they are trying to help people be fit and healthy hence the people doing activities across the bottom, this would be the only flash element of the site with the rest pretty much html and css. I wanted to give the professional feel with the city scape as they are based in London and then keep a tight feel with the remaining illustration used. I got some great feedback on my site design from Mash and they have taken some of my ideas through to the final design, the full site is not finished yet but i look forward to seeing it. Here is an example of my work:

2. Central School of English

The CSoE approached me after seeing my work  on the web and asked me if i wanted to do some freelance design concepts for their new prospectus, again an offer that i cant refuse as its perfect for my portfolio so i happily agreed and off i went. They were asking for some concept designs on both a Course page and City page that would appeal to young international students and wanted 2 different ideas for both. It had to be dynamic, vibrant and fresh and this was my main focus to try and achieve. I produced the following 2 themed ideas which have very different approaches, the first is based around their corporate colours of blue and red and uses illustrations and a fresh young style, the second design is a lot ‘cleaner’ with a modern feel and uses minimal visuals to try to focus on the information. I hope you like what i have produced.

 

 

If you fancy seeing more of both of these projects then please visit my website at www.origincreative.org which has all my recent work.

House Industries, my first purchase unveiled….

I recently bought a new tee from famous type foundry House Industries and was very impressed with the presentation of the package they sent to me all the way from the old US of A. I thought i would share it with people , i believe this is the way a company should brand themselves and give the attention to detail to show who they are and what they do…Great job guys, love it!! Scroll down for the pics and the final unveil of my package (i mean the tee)! To check out House Industries go to http://www.houseind.com/

Upon opening of the box this is what i found, the large orange wrapping, a type book which showed all the type that House Industries currently produce, 2 x advertising posters / fold outs and of course my tee (which is in the paint can). Bit blurred, sorry about that but you get the impression.

The very snazzy type book, just full of typography with beautiful presentation and setting. I could look through this all day and enjoy the variation and colour used.

One of the promotional ‘flyers’ / foldouts / poster thingys that came with it. This one advertising the fonts of Alexander Girard, i love the use of illustration mixed with type.

My tee all wrapped up and packaged in a mock paint tin with excellent imagery / illustration and design to boot. I know it sounds stupid but the whole experience of receiving this was really enjoyable…..god i am a geek!

And a tee was born!! Granted it could do with an iron but i am very happy with it and will be looking to buy my next tee already from House…next one will be posted on here too! P.s check out (below) what i have done with the other marketing foldout….i liked it that much i thought this would look cool.

The Perfect Match….

Well i came home the other day to my Step-dad burning hundreds of match boxes and cigarettes sleeves….really don’t ask as i don’t even know where he gets this sort of stuff from, the life of a guy on retirement with too much time on his hands eh!

Anyway, getting back on track, i thought i would have a look through the pile of boxes and noticed the design of some of these were really interesting; some stretched back years and years with interesting use of typography, imagery and means of marketing a company / business. I thought i would put a few of these up on my blog and just see what other people think. I don’t see many people with matches nowadays and it seems to be a promotional tool that has died out so i may use some of these to make some artwork…..i will have to look into this later.

Love the classic look of the typography used on this cigarette sleeve, the gold stroke really gives it an elegant feel and it stood out of the pile. Don’t know anything about Rhodian Cigarettes but if i was a smoker (which i am not) i think i would definitely be toking on a Rhodey (thats what i would call it)!

I am guessing from the type used that this is a 80′s match box but i could be wrong (loving the future systems comment now that this is most likely a past system)!

Bit of a cheeky one (oo err)! Who doesnt need a matchbox with a lovely 70′s cover girl on the back? It is a shame about the positioning of the staple tho….poor girl!

The space shuttle one just HAD to be saved from the burning pile! I mean who can claim fame to having a commemorative Space Shuttle Matchbook huh?? Well i can now, and i also have gold matches to go with it…..a full set!! Get me eh, joining the big boys!!

Clever use of a matchbox to advertise your container company, i like the idea to make this box sides like the actual container and shows that it was actually thought through in terms of packaging design. Good idea guys.

Not exactly CMYK colour on the typography but sort of going with that style. I like the use of typography and the colour usage to make this matchbook stand out as a marketing tool.

Restaurant matchbooks were always a good little giveaway for people when smoking was more fashionable, not sure if they are still given out as i don’t see them very often but i like the use of the type and the simple 1 colour print.

Final one for this post, i really like the fairground (slightly trippy) style to this matchbook. Its got a very New Orleans feel to it but it could be from any part of the USA at anytime. Hope you have enjoyed looking through these as much as i have, i love the history of design and the past use of it. I think that this sort of print onto matchbooks is dying out and you probably don’t see it as often but why not have classic pieces like this as a promotional tool…..

Vector Artwork aplenty…

As a little christmas pressie i decided to produce a vector drawing for my friends and give them to them in a lovely frame. They all seemed to like them (unless they are good liars) and i am really happy they went down so well. I really enjoyed producing them all as it gave me a chance to stretch my wings on my vector artwork. Here are just a few examples of the artwork i produced, to see more then why not visit my site at www.origincreative.org.

We have touchdown! Origin Creative open for business…

Hi all, just a little update that i have finally (after a fair bit of self training and lots of coding / ripping hair out later) set up my own website. It is an overview of my work in all areas of design and i will be trying to keep this as up to date as i possibly can when i have done some new work. Here are just a few little screenshots from the site. It would be lovely to see you over there and even nicer to hear off people out there. Come visit me at www.origincreative.org.