Designerlympics

Despite needing to keep my eyes popped open with matchsticks right now due to staying up far too late many school nights in a row this week watching The Olympics, I wanted to do a brief little review for us all on branding and design for this world-class event. Reason being, and I'll cut straight to the chase, is that I've been pretty thrown by the typeface they're using for the London Games this year. Love or hate it… we are not in total agreement here in the studio, but in all honesty I'm leaning toward 'hate'. Actually correction, I'm not leaning at all, I conclusively completely detest it. 

The London 2012 custom typeface is known as "2012 Headline" and was designed by Gareth Hague of Alias Foundry. I'm wondering how on earth the designers so successfully held the wool over the committe's eyes, to convince them it was a good idea to go with something so clunky, irregular and quite frankly, uncomfortable. Perhaps it may have worked as an upright typeface, especially since the 'o's are not slanted anyhow, but to me the decision to italicise something already pretty awkward just seems to make it visually choke. 

I've had a dig around the net to see what people have been saying, and my favourite was a succinct comment found on a forum which said, 'where THE F did they manage to find a font uglier and more moronic than comic sans?' Funny.

We look back over the years and although the Sydney 2000 font, ITC Binary has definitely dated, it certainly oozed personality and screamed 'important, big and exciting sporting event with serious competition'. Both Athens and Beijing settled for classic sans serif typefaces, Gill Sans and Frutiger (I think). And then we come to the font "Rio 2016", which is the font designed by the prolific and classy Dalton Maag foundry for the games in Rio (I know, surprising name eh). These guys have absolutely nailed it – this font is a great reminder of why we call type symbols 'characters' – its fluid form really personifies the richness of the city of Rio, its joyful Brazillian people and the energy of the athletes in action. Thumbs up from me.

Biennale at Cockatoo Island

If you're looking for something fun AND cultural to do this weekend, Team Boheem highly recommend visiting Cockatoo Island to see the artworks of the Biennale. Here's Ann's report, which beautifully compliments Chantel's pictures:

"With such perfect weather last Friday Cockatoo Island and the 18th Biennale of Sydney beckoned. Add in a free ferry ride with fantastic scenery on the way and what more could you want.

In previous lives Cockatoo Island has been a dockyard, reformatory and an industrial school. It hosts many of the structures still in place which provide amazing spaces for the 50 or so Biennale artworks. Many of the artworks are site specific and on a dramatic scale.

After spending a few hours wandering around my 3 favourites were all housed in the machinery hall:

Peter Robinson's giant polystyrene chains and hewn rocks were transfixing. They presented a contraction…. items normally linked with weight and strength were light and white. It was big! and I loved the way the chains lazily draped and integrated with the metal structure existing in the building. It must have taken a team of people to put together.

Next on the favourite list was 'Domesticated Turf', a shipping container where the  artist, Cal Lane, has cut out one of the sides and ends into a filagree look arrangement. Lit up, the house look like a lantern. It even has a lawn made up of stencilled chalk patterns that form a carpet leading up to it.

Lastly, an interactive kinetic piece by Philip Beesley. As you move through it the sensors triggered by the touch of a hand causing the delicate plastic feathers, which are like flowers, to open or close. There's so much to take in... glass bottles containing liquids which look like oil hanging down and large white forms overhead that look like they are gently breathing. Very organic, like a fairyland - the garden paradise in Avatar. A really beautiful and captivating space.

Established in 1973, the Biennale of Sydney is the third oldest international art biennial. It is running through three main venues:

the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of NSW and Cockatoo Island, as well as at satellite sites in the inner city."

Vintage thread spools

Just thought I'll put together a little collection of vintage thread spools to share. I love the way that each of these labels is its own resolved circular design. The bygone typefaces and flourishes make me so curious. I feel sure that there will be an opportunity to reference these little beauties in a new design one day soon...

Morphos Rebrand

We always find such value in partnering with other creative teams, and our relationship with Morphos commercial office fit-out specialists has offered some great opportunities for us to explore some interior graphics ideas. Recently Morphos came to us for a rebrand, and with Chantel at the wheel, the result is an incredibly smart, clean visual identity we're very proud of.

Mulbury

Look what I found. A little online shop which sells rescued timber picture frames, industrial furniture and lots of other delightful antique (and faux antique) goodies for the home. Mulbury is based in Melbourne and whilst admittedly I do find their collection a bit hit and miss, there are definitely some really special, unique pieces I know I won't be able to live without for too much longer. 

Pantone Tarts by Emilie de Griottes

For all lovers of food and colour swatches, these Pantone Tarts were developed by French "food designer" Emilie de Griottes. What a quirky, tasty idea, and a nice reminder that some of the best colour inspiration can be found in the fridge!

Mary Kate McDevitt

Every so often, I find myself dreaming about another life to be had. In this life, I live in a pretty but humble little house with a sunny verandah where I sit each morning to drink gentle herbal tea, and eat fresh figs and rustic sourdough from the local bakery. In this dream, I don't of course have to worry about meeting client deadlines or changing a logo twenty times before it's approved. I have all the time in the world, so I choose to spend it tinkering away with my paints, inks and pencils creating mind-blowing hand-drawn typography pieces, day after day. 

Unfortunately, I think I'm still at least a few years off fulfilling that dream. Until then, I'll swoon over clever and charming unique typographic studies created by people like Mary Kate McDevitt. Who probably lives in an urban apartment like me and simply makes making beautiful things like this a priority amidst the daily grind.

The Art For Jungle Project

Just letting ya'll know about a little art show which is on for one night only next Thursday 28th June, 6pm at the Lo-Fi Bar, 383 Bourke Street (above Kinselas on Taylor Square), Darlinghurst. It's called The Art For Jungle Project, and it's an eclectic collection of art, design and jewellery with contributions from artists across Australia. The purpose of the exhibition is to raise funds for Greenpeace, so they're collecting $5 donations at the door. I've handed over a couple of my etchings as well as two of Boheem's not-yet-launched typographic screen prints. Hope to see you there!

The Cake Pop-up Bar, Fraser Studios

Just one more 'places' entry before I return faithfully to all things design. I went to an opening a couple of weeks back at the Fraser Studios, and the atmosphere was positively buzzing. The space is only open for another few weeks and apparently as a last hurrah, they're serving wine, beer and cider as well as a few tasty morsels from Bourke St Bakery at The Cake pop-up bar Thurs (5-10pm) – Sun (3-10pm) each week until the end of June. It's right near the Clare Hotel off Broadway.

Color Collections

Designers, have you ever found yourself moving the CMYK dials mindlessly back and fourth, hoping to land the perfect colour harmony for your next design project, but feel they just don't want to land as naturally and as beautifully as you'd like? I found myself in that situation recently, and soon after came across these wonderful and very helpful colour blogs, which I'm certain will prove to be extremely useful for future design projects.

At the top we have Design Seeds, which displays palettes inspired by God Himself, and the amazing combination of hues which can be found in winter vegetables, moments of stillness in the African countryside... and some human-made beauty. What I love most about this site is that you can search for the colour by hue which you can define as a RGB value, as well as browse by theme.

In the middle we have Color Collective, which is one person's collection of palettes derived from mostly fashion shoots, where someone else has obviously already curated the colour. It is handy having it all in one place, though, and I like the way that the mood is set by the colour combinations.

Lastly there's Just Jaime – not offering as many and without links to photography, but a lovely little collection nonetheless.

Matching CMYK to Pantone

For those of us out there doing any colour picking for design projects, you might be familiar with the frustration of needing to find a Pantone colour to match the CMYK you used in your draft, half way through a job. I have at best spent aaaaages thumbing through our Pantone Swatch books trying to find a good match, but often I'm wanting a Pantone number when I'm not in the studio.

Here are two great sites which will help us all when we find ourselves in this predicament in the future. The first one at font.is gives a pictorial step-by-step instruction of how to match colours in Adobe Illustrator. But my favourite is this very ordinary, unassuming page at ginifab.com – which simply provides four boxes for us to type our CMYK breakdown, and then promptly delivers the Pantone equivalent. Not always completely accurate, but pretty close!

The Larder, Dulwich Hill

Sorry people – I know it seems this blog has become all about new Sydney finds, but there have been so many delightful retail and food spots popping up around the place (at least, my life), that I have to share them.

The Inner West is so hot right now. This unassuming little deli, The Larder, is located at 489 Marrickville Rd, Dulwich Hill. Who knew. The selection of food here is outstanding – pasta, chutneys, tea and coffee, cheeses, sweet treats, breads, plus lots of food I'm not even sure how to pronounce let alone know what it is... selected from suppliers worldwide. If you're after something obscure and tasty, and a grocery shopping experience which transports you immediately to a small, quaint French country town where your package is lovingly wrapped and handed to you in a rustic brown paper bag, then this is the place to visit.

The Organic Type

Created by graphic designers for graphic designers, The Organic Type makes it easy to incorporate the texture of handcrafted lettering into any project without ever picking up a pencil. Amazing! Worth noting that these typefaces don't actually work as fonts, they have to be placed as Photoshpo file – this is due to the extraordinary detail in each letter. What a find! Now I just need a project to use it for...

Margaret Tarrant

These completely adorable fairy tale illustrations were thoughtfully and beautifully composed by the prolific illustrator, Margaret Tarrant (1888-1959). Or, 'Aunt Maggie', as I like to call her. Yep, this incredible woman is actually somewhere – admittedly distant, but present nonetheless – in my family tree. In fact, the relationship is so remote that if you're reading this, you may be related to her as well. Margaret Tarrant has captured countless children's imaginations for many generations, I can't wait to read some of the nursery rhymes she has illustrated to my own children.

MONA

We Australians are all aware that our land is made up of two parts: The Mainland and The Island Below The Mainland. We are all fond of Tasmania and many of us would like to see ourselves at home in a pretty green Tassie Valley, with tasty berries growing in the backyard and a sunny kitchen which wafts aromas of fresh sourdough and tea. We're all aware that Hobart houses Australia's most outrageous, awe inspiring art museum too, it's just getting there which is the problem! For all of you who has the MONA on your list of places to go, here's my quick review.

Clearly, David Walsh didn't have enough space in his living room to display the pictures and things he's been collecting over time. And how exactly does one house an interactive installation of 300 lightbulbs? If you have the money, you pay a few people to build a giant adult art-gallery disneyland to show it off. The building is A-MA-ZING, and whether you're into art or not, exploring this incredible architectural feat is an experience in itself. The museum spaces are all underground; one has to wander down a spiral staircase or take a tubular lift downwards.

The collection is a little bit funny. Dave Walsh is intrigued by sex, death and poo. But lots of us are I suppose. It's not the sort of collection which left me feeling inspired, though. This is a particular taste and probably not representative of the most clever contemporary art on the market.

But I'm a designer, and my favourite part by far was the branding. The two symbols, the plus and the cross, are brilliant in their simplicity. They appear in the various marketing material and signage with the same whimsical approach which is applied to the whole museum. They smartly represent 'old' and 'new', and they exist as little marks which aren't fabricated icons and they're not strictly type, either. I love the way they animate on the website, they represent 'love' and 'hate' on the portable touch-screen devices and how they combine to create an asterisk of sorts for the MONA shop. Just lovely.