PPRD - Panda a go go

I recently met with my friend to start designing the logo and stationary pack for Panda On A Bike (POAB). He wants the logo to be literal, so he actually wants it to show a panda on a bike - shame as I wanted it to be typographical only but I got over ruled. That's what creative directors do.

So I went away and came up with some early ideas.

I went back to show him and found that he had already bagged a client for an advertising job. Good news and bad news. Good news; it's a client. Bad news for me because it's a TV advert and therefore no graphic design needed to be completed. Bad news also because we need to send them an invoice for the time that we (the royal we) have spent doing it. Which means no more messing about in Illustrator with the logo, we have to go with what we've got, which is ok as we're both happy with it. I am now trying to get all my Uni work done for the hand in this Friday, and produce a stationary pack (or at least an invoice sheet) as soon as I can. No stress then.

The final logo will look something like this.

PPRD - Brief

I was asked recently to go into business with a friend of mine who works in advertising and wants to start his own advertising agency. He has asked me to be the designer and to work with him on any future projects he gets.

My first task is to design a logo which will then be used on business cards, letter heads etc., and also on a website. He has asked me to come up with some ideas for the website too, templates and designs with a view to building it for real next year.

The agency is called "Panda on a bike" and I have already met with him a couple of times to discuss early ideas of what he's looking for and will post any future meetings and outcomes here.

How a graphic designer works

Is this what the future holds?

Will I be having conversations with people like this soon?

Graphic Designer Vs Client

Or maybe I should go into Web Design?

Designer Vs Client: Make my Website for free

(Contains strong language).

Loving TED

I'm not sure who Ted is and not really bothered either to be honest, but I got pointed in this direction by Sally in my last tutorial and lost most of Sunday afternoon to this web page. I enjoyed the Phillipe Stark talk, very flamboyant, not too much sense being spoken - very French. Sagmeister has a couple on there too and I have a new found fondness for the Austrian now. I liked his work but never really "got" him, but "Stefan Sagmeister What He Has Learned", was a great insight to him and and now I soooo "get" him. Fantastic! Inspiring and interesting. Oh, and its free!

Something here for everyone. So many talks, not enough time, but if you do have time, I recommend this from Rory Sutherland.
Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group and one of the best Ad men this counrty has produced. Follow his blog here

"Thank you" packaging research

Whilst doing research for my wine packaging project for the "Thank You" brief, and keeping half an eye on the upcoming brief of "Old to New", I came across these.

I love inventive, well thought through packaging. Its what got me first interested in design as a career as I used to stare at cereal packets in the morning before heading off to another dull day in the office. Anyway, I digress...

Have a look at these fantastic ideas, really gets the juices flowing!

Here are some inspiring ideas I found for my business cards too. I've gone for a less contemporary look to mine what with the client being around in the early 1900's, but it's eye candy all the same! My favourite is No. 5. Enjoy.

Its good to talk!

After our group tutorial I feel I have some good ideas going forward for my "Thank you!" brief. I proposed my idea of saying thanks for a recent job opportunity and how I wanted to incorporate this into wine packaging. Before the tutorial I felt like I had hit a brick wall. I believed in my idea but couldn't get it on to the next level.

It was suggested to look at the visual language that advertisers use. If the receiver of the gift is in advertising, make it suitable for the audience. I thought about different types of advertising, Billboard, Ambient, Gorilla and had a lot of ideas. Also I want to look at other packaging ideas. The box is good, but I can also use the paper its wrapped in, or the bag it's supplied in.

I'm overflowing with ideas now so I need to look at each one, along with my notes and decide which one to pursue. It really does prove that talking helps, I would never have got there on my own!

Thanks!

Your welcome! This is the first part of my new brief of the 2nd year. An opportunity to say thanks. But to whom? Why? And most importantly how?!

I've asked everyone (well almost everyone) I've run into over the last few days who was the last person they thanked, why and in what tone they thanked them. Saying thank you for someone passing you the salt during dinner is a long way from thanking someone for saving your life...not that this has ever happened to me! The tone and receiver of this thanks will determine the whole project.

The list of who to thank is long. But I don't want it to get to heavy or sickly sweet. I don't want it to be a thanks to Mum for all her support, or my girlfriend for her inspiration. I find all that a little bit twee or full on. Thanks can be a real throw away comment, and this is what I want to look into. The truth is we say thanks all the time, and often mean it but don't really say it with any purpose except on a few occasions. I want to think of who I have thanked recently so I can capture the feeling and thought behind the words, which should help manifest itself as the basis of my project.