Friday Favourites: Instagrams

With Instagram being used daily by 75 million people, it is a great platform to showcase your work. Here are some of my favourite design instagrammers that inspire me and brighten up my feed.

Andrei Robu

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." Though he gained a degree in Graphic Design, Robu believes he is mostly self-taught. His work is primarily typography based, exploring new shapes and typefaces which he displays on his feed. His work is bright and beautiful, and he offers great advice to new creatives through his website, "Do what you feel and don't mind the trends around you. Keep experimenting. One can never know the real value of what you’ve just done. Don’t be afraid of saying what you think. Find out what distracts you and eliminate it. Simplify."

Becca Cahan

Another artist who focuses primarily on lettering, Becca Cahan creates ethereal illustrations using watercolours. Graduating with an Honors BFA in illustration, she has always had a passion for lettering and believes that it is "her thing." Her work is so colourful, delicate and sweet, creating beautiful posters out of well known quotes which inspire me each and every time I see them.

Chuck Anderson

Chuck Anderson's designs are pretty wonderful alone, but when paired with his whimsical photography, there is little who match his feed. With collaborations with Microsoft, Nike, Warner Bros., Reebok, Invisible Children, Charity:Water, and Target, you've probably already seen his work, but you can find him experimenting with light, double exposures and layers on his instafeed, or take one of his classes on "Everyday Surrealism" to learn more.

Birdy and Me

Kelly Smith's illustrations are definitely of an enviable talent. Living in Australia, she works predominantly in the Fashion and Beauty area, collaborating with luxury brands such as Valentino, Armani, Jenny Packham, H&M, Vogue, Samantha Wills, Net-A-Porter and The Sunday Times Style. Her work has also been published in Harpers Bazaar, In Style, Russh, Flare -- so it's pretty much a given that you've seen her stuff. Inspired from fashion, film and fairytales, Kelly's work explores organic texture and pencil, adding ink and digital elements to contrast. So delicate: you are definitely missing out if you're not a follower already, that's for sure.

Zachary Smith

A freelance designer with a flare for lettering and illustration, his instagram is full of little quotes and designs created on different mediums: as you can see from the image above, he has even painted lettering onto a saw! Clearly nothing is safe. His instagram just oozes inspiration and I can't help but feel that little bit more motivated to create after browsing through his feed.

Profile: Founded

“Working with people is people. We are not artists, we are commercially minded.”

I recently attended a talk featuring Anthony, the creative director from Founded. Originally named Blue River, Founded is a graphic design studio based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, which produces creative responses for a varied and international client base.

When Anthony began to work at Founded, he didn't begin as a designer. He lacked experience and had a taken a degree in something completely different, and was offered the position of Account Manager. He knew it wasn't what he wanted to do, but being in the environment allowed him to gain experience in the field. Learning from the designers who worked there, he worked hard to join the creative side of the business, and has managed to work his way up to Creative Director. This stresses that its not necessarily about the skills, background or degree you take: it's all about your mind frame, and passion. The most important part of design is the idea.

The company doesn't advertise it's brand, and doesn't pitch without being paid. The way they get their clients is through their work: the most important advertising is your product itself. He mentioned that the internet and PDF's have revolutionised the company, and the field as a whole, due to being able to expand further than their region. The process is quicker, more efficient, and allows their work to be seen by millions all over the world: alongside having clients from all walks of life now, too.

Anthony wanted to talk about his work with the Baltic, a contemporary arts centre sitting on Gateshead's side of the Quayside. Founded have worked with them since it opened, and had many issues to tackle. The Quayside was rough and derelict until Gateshead Council decided to put money to revitalise and resurrect the area. Something they wanted to create was a place to hold contemporary art, but, it isn't that sought for by the North East, when compared to places like London. The solution to this was to advertise the Baltic, to make it fun, different, and befitting of the area. With it's own typeface based on the industrial building it lives in, being the face of the company, Founded developed the identity, way-finding system and building exterior, stripping the brand down to it's core elements: typeface, and a serious black and white colour palette. Founded began to explore a cheeky attitude for the centre: a white page, with bold, black text stating "Baltic has toilets." They needed to inject a personality into the place, engage with the locals and communicate.

Some of their most well known campaigns are -- "250 Plastered Geordies" which was placed on buses, taxi's and billboards. This advertisement played on the culture of Newcastle, and what it's known for. "1,700 Naked Geordies" followed, where Founded were able to explore photography, and created a build up to the project. They were also involved in the advertisements for the Turner Prize, in which they engaged and empowered the public, inviting them to "make [their] own mind up." This was such a huge deal due to it being the first Turner Prize exhibition held outside a Tate gallery. Most recently, Founded helped rebrand the Baltic's kitchen.

After Government funding for Art Gallery's dwindled, Baltic became commercially minded, turning to Founded to design bags and books for the brand. These merchandise lead to the Baltic being named independent retailer of the year. For these reasons, the Baltic and Founded work well hand in hand -- they understand one another, and after 10 years of working together, Founded created two wooden posters, featuring "Me, We" from Muhammad Ali's poem, to commemorate their relationship.

Anthony also had some words of wisdom for us designers who are still trying to find our feet. "Don't be scared of competition, learn from them. Look at each others work, compare, bounce of others at all times. It's important to keep up with current trends and to keep your work fresh." I found the talk extremely inspiring -- Anthony has such an extensive experience, it was refreshing and influential to here what he had to say. I think I learnt quite a lot of life lessons, that I will definitely keep in mind.

You can find more of Founded here, here, and here.

Moodboard: Donkey Label

When given the brief of designing a jersey for the cycling company, Donkey Label, I decided the approach I wanted to take was one that focused on the human body. After speaking to someone from the target audience, (Hello Dad!) there were some great points made: needs to be reflective, bright, 3 pockets on the back -- one with a zip, needs to fit the three f's, form, fullfilling and functional. I felt he was a great person to speak to as he has often taken up challenges that push his body to a limit: cycling from Gibraltar to Newcastle Upon Tyne, and also competing in Race Across America, he has a lot of experience and is particularly picky on what looks good, feels good, and functions to his standards. He mentioned a comment about how cycling allows you to be one with nature, to see the world in a different way, quicker than walking but more accessible than a car. I wanted to do something that combined the two. I decided that, after looking at the effects of cycling on the body, both good and bad, I wanted to create a jersey that signified the topography of the human body. The moodboard above focuses on the notes I took from the interview: reflections, nature, topography -- a modern approach to a traditional sport. I personally feel this could allow me to utilize texture and colour, experiment with touchpoints and materials and create something significant. Here's to taking inspiration from something you know pretty darn well, your home, the body!

Profile: Wim Crouwel

"Of course design is about problem solving, but I cannot resist adding something personal."

Willem Crouwel, otherwise known as “Wim Crouwel,” is a Dutch Graphic Designer who specialises in typography. Throughout his career, he produced work for exhibitions, posters, calendars, typefaces, trademarks and stamps. (Design Museum, N/A) Born 1928, Crouwel was inspired by his surroundings, such as electricity pylons, railway yards, overhead cables, concrete, glass and steel: and after a trip to the circus, was captivated by the big top. He created a scaled down circus tent in his room. This interest in architecture was the first step towards his modern, systematic grid work. He used this structure often in his later designs.

After graduating with a fine art degree and spending two years in the military, Crouwel pursued a career in exhibition designing, collaborating with other designers such as Dick Elfers, which diversified his own work. Whilst working in this field, Crouwel wanted the title of the exhibition to be reflected in the poster. He would look at the work of the artist, and use his first impressions to translate it typographically, often using their characteristics. For example, Eindhoven Fernand Leger’s work could be recognized by his use of heavy, black lines. This influenced Crouwel to create “Leger” out of thick, black lines to dominate and distinguish the poster. Crouwel was always trying to create something striking, functional, and abstract.

“Design is something to help society. You can build. You can add to it.”

Crouwel was one of five founders of the design studio Total Design. The founders were very diverse in their styles and skills, “Total” summing this up. With these different skills and experience, the team were able to create complex and wide-ranging projects for clients from all areas of businesses.

Crouwel focused mainly on the emotive style of expressionism as a painter, but was very Bauhaus and focused on functionalism in his designs. He stated, “When you're a functionalist you want to make things comprehensible, readable, make your ideas visible. I feel myself being a modernist, a functionalist, but aesthetics always stand in the way.” He was both inspired and fascinated by Bauhaus ideas and typography. His work always consisted of both of those elements: an emotional and a rational aspect.

One of Crouwel’s most notable work was the grid-based methodology he created for the Stedelijk Museum, which gave the Museum’s publicity material a lot of flexibility, whilst keeping the material recognizable in it’s visual language. This is still used today. Crowuel is also recognised for his experimental typography. Pushing the boundaries of the principles and legibility, he used his experience of grids and structure to support easily read sans serif typefaces. In 1967, Crouwel designed the typeface New Alphabet, which embraced the limitations of the early technology. The font contained horizontal and vertical strokes only.

Pinterest Picks

Here I have shown some of my most recent likes from Pinterest. I discovered Leslie David's work, as seen top middle, and was extremely inspired by her use of texture and colour to use a traditional method of painting on top of a photograph. It's the perfect mixture of realistic and nonsensical and adds a touch of surrealism to the page. I was also drawn to the poster featured bottom left, which is simplistic and organised.

The quote to the middle is something I want to remember throughout this year, within my coursework and also my life.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Friday Favourites: Blogs

Often, we are told that "you need an online presence to get your name out into the world." And that's true: the internet can be extremely beneficial to a business, and a person, when utilised. 

One of the ways to do this is by creating a blog. I've been following a few designers via bloglovin (a great way to keep up with favourite blogs) and being inspired with how they use their blog to show their creativeness, inspiration, mood boards and lifestyles. I want to follow their footsteps and make my own blog into a portfolio and something I can be proud to show future employers, alongside keeping everything in one place. With that being said, here are some of my favourites.

Cocorinna
Corina is a graphic designer who is "passionate about jewellery design, photography and exploring." Her blog is beautifully designed, and her posts are equally such, editing photographs with typography and illustrations, including her lifestyle posts. She also offers tips for other graphic designers, such as this moodboard guide, which you can find here. You can also find her portfolio here.


Breanna Rose

Breanna is another who shares her own designs, alongside her life. I've found that a lot of bloggers, especially those who are design based, show their lifestyles on their blog as it shares their inspiration and allows you to truly get to know the person. It also creates an audience for those who aren't big fans of design. Breanna is a huge inspiration and often gives tips on being a freelance designer, which you can find here. She also allows her blog to be a platform for other designers, posting interviews on their work and inspirations, called the "creative diaries." I love the way she creates her moodboards.

Holly Marie Designs

Similar to Breanna, Holly Marie also allows her blog to be a platform for other creatives: a series of what she calls, "creative q&a." This is extremely helpful for me, and I'm sure others, as I absolutely love hearing and finding new and more creatives, and find it inspiring that in this community, we all appear to be helping each other find our feet, rather than competing. Holly Marie also has posts on music, interior, typography, tips on being a freelance designer, and "creative conversations." Her blog is also beautifully simple.

Design Love Fest

Bri is an art director and founder / editor of Design Love Fest, a lifestyle blog which primarily focuses on design. She creates, and uploads others creating, free downloads, often backgrounds (one of which is the background on both my phone, and my laptop.) She is a huge inspiration for me, as a lot of her portfolio is editorial designs, which we all know is an area I would love to go into. You can find her portfolio here.

The Nectar Collective

Melyssa describes her blog as a place where she convinces people they matter: running her own graphic design studio, she blogs about her inspirations, running a business and her current life goals. "I’ve always believed that everyone has a powerful and important story to tell. I also know that no matter what your interests or talents, you are superbly, freakishly creative (seriously, it’s crazy). The Nectar Collective is a home to all the things that make life beautiful, with an emphasis on finding meaning, growth, and community in the everyday. It’s a tribe for love-seekers, progress-chasers, and booty-shakers (hey, I never said we don’t get down here)." Her blog is beautifully designed, paired with her awesome attitude and great advice, this is one to read.

Minna May

Minna So is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Seattle. Currently studying business and visual communication design, she runs her own freelance business alongside her blog. Her blog covers everything from design, fashion, interiors, food and illustration, and it has become a platform to create and showcase her work. You can see her portfolio here.