Vintage Car Logos and Typography

A few months ago I was at the Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona and was drawn to all of the fantastic vintage logos. The shiny chrome typography truly evokes an era when cruising was a pastime and global climate change wasn’t a concern. I pulled out my iPhone and snapped as many of the logos as I could.

It’s no secret that iPhone’s camera isn’t the greatest — and iPhone 3G doesn’t bring any improvements — so many of the photos were pretty shitty (oxymoron). I did my best in Lightroom to polish them up for your viewing pleasure. The retro typography is quite nice to look at, and might be a source of inspiration for you designers out there. Here’s a couple of my favorites:

The other 21 can be found at Flickr. Enjoy.

What is graphic design?

Here is my entry to Veerle’s What is Graphic Design Poster Competition. Needless to say, it’s best viewed at full size.

I was inspired by the idea, “graphic design speaks for itself.” What is graphic design? “I am graphic design,” speaks the design itself. I incorporated some very basic examples of graphic design, as well as references to measurement, placement, constraints, typography, and so forth.

For example, the “i” in the blue circle is a well-known product of graphic design, visually communicating the word information. The word graph in graphic was emphasized and altered to resemble a bar graph, which is another very basic example of graphic design. And, of course, there is the reference to a stop sign, with the red octagon surrounding the word sign in design. Sign, which has four letters and begins with an “s” just like the word stop, is not only a reference to a stop sign, but also an allusion to signs in general, for graphic design very often deals with the creation of signs and symbols that convey information or instructions.

Having used blue for the information sign and red for the stop sign, I chose green for the word graph. This completes the RGB color model, and helps convey the idea that graphic design is the combination of four essential elements — type, shapes, lines, and colors — to create complex and communicative art.

The design strictly adheres to a 50×50 pixel grid.

The competition ends on Friday, at which point Veerle will select twelve prize winners. So far, it has been great to see what other people have come up with. Best of luck to all!

One photograph, five color schemes

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Photographs are one of the best sources for color inspiration. Click through Flickr for about five seconds and you’re bound to come across a photo that has the potential to be translated into a different, but related, language: color. Oftentimes, in fact, a photograph will inspire not one color scheme, but many. Such was the case when I came across this striking image, captured by the talented Garrett LeSage.

I realized instantly that by focusing my attention to certain portions of the photo, I could easily pick out a handful of beautiful, organic color combinations. So, without further ado, here they are. Leave a link in the comments if you use one!

Finding color inspiration in men’s spring fashion

I am one of the lucky few that actually has very little trouble finding inspiration. Almost any visual object can get my creative cogs grinding, from a corkboard filled with colorful bulletins to the warm light cast by the sun as it sinks towards the horizon.

One of my favorite hunting grounds for inspiration is the catwalk — that long runway where the art of some of the best designers in the world is put on display, hanging not on walls but on bodies. And, of course, one of my favorite things to do with such a great source of inspiration is to extract beautiful color schemes that can be applied elsewhere, for example in a website design or the tint of a photograph.

I dug through the Spring 2007 menswear collections at men.style.com and found some great color inspiration in the outfits of five well-known fashion designers. Enjoy.

Gucci

I pulled out the sandy colors of the belt and pants, then combined them with the ocean blues of the shirt. The dark color of the sandals brings it all together, allowing the other colors to “pop.”

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Color Forecast: Hues to Use in 2005

About a year ago, I had the self-righteous idea to “forecast” the in colors of 2004. What I thought most people would simply brush off as “some random designer’s questionable hunch” wound up being quite a hit, and after many emails from supporters hoping for a 2005 edition, I decided to assuage their request.

To all of the nonbelievers, this forecast was derived from more than just a hunch. I take a considerable amount of time assessing design of the year past and the year to come. I take into consideration not only online design trends, but also trends in fashion, automobiles, and television. True, I pay attention to my personal thoughts on where design is headed, but, considering myself a fairly “trendy” and design-aware person, I think that’s permissible.

Take this forecast for what it is: a prediction, not a definition, of the year that follows. In some ways it may be dead on, and in others not further from the truth; regardless, design is in the eye of the beholder, and when it comes down to it every single color in the visible spectrum is a possibility. So, go forth with an open mind and, if nothing else, be inspired. Best, Adam.

The Purples

As everyone knows, there are two sides to every story, and this year’s forecast is no different: some say pink is still the color of the moment, while others insist that purple is the new pink. I agree with both, but, as you can see, moreso with the latter. The whole ooh-la-la pink trend is tired if you ask me, and purple is the perfect replacement.

Purple is one of those colors that will last through the year because it can change with and adapt to the seasons. Dark purples express warmth and sophistication for the winter, while brighter purples and lilacs will express a fresh playfulness for the spring and summer.

Desaturated purples such as DAD1E9 and 5E4D80 will rule all others. Get ready to see these duller purples in both the fashion and car world. They’re great for carrying those of us in the Northern hemisphere through the rest of winter, and, mixed with some more vibrant hues, will transition perfectly into the warmer seasons.

The Browns & Naturals

This year, deep browns and natural hues take the place of 2004’s blacks and grays. Online design can often be cold and “techy” as it is, and grays tend to reinforce that feeling, so this year look to browns and beiges to act as the base colors of your design. Throw in an ochre hue and a purple from above, and you’re set.

Like purples, browns and naturals will easily adapt to the changing seasons. Rich, dark browns are great for the colder seasons, while straw hues and brighter yellows will complement the warm months.

The great thing about this palette is that, like blacks and grays, it goes great with any color: colder hues such as blue and green, or warm reds and oranges. (If you’ve been paying attention, though, you’ll know to match it up with purple.)

A few words of warning: don’t let this palette steer you towards more natural designs; that’s not the point. Instead, mix it with vibrant hues to create a warm, contemporary look for 2005.

The Desaturateds

This palette consists of colors that have been… well, desaturated. These washed out hues are relaxed and warmer than their more vibrant brothers and sisters. For that reason, they’re great for the winter and fall seasons, but perhaps not so fitting for the warmer months. Therefore, these colors might disappear for a while, but reemerge later in the year.

This palette is partly based on the muted metallic fabrics that are popular in fashion right now, such as Gap’s sparkly scarves and Banana Republic’s metallic thread coats and skirts.

Make sure not to be overly vintage with this palette, which would be an easy thing to do seeing as these colors look very aged. Luckily, it’s easily avoidable by utilizing the other colors in this forecast.

The Trippy Tints

The previous palettes have more or less represented the toned down, more natural approach that is likely to be seen in 2005. Come June or July, though, people will grow sick of the whole thing and throw it out the window, instead looking towards these trippy tints for some rebellious fun.

These out-there colors won’t come alone, or even in pairs… they’ll be seen in packs. Designers, desperately searching for something fresh and new, will go balls out, applying this palette to tripped out patterns of stripes, polka dots, and plaids to create looks similar to those seen on the streets of Tokyo. I picture a sort of grunge-goes-neon theme, with shock value being a top priority among designers: who can pull off the most off-the-wall design without scaring their audience away? And don’t be surprised if black resurfaces for at least a couple months, as I see it being quite essential to making this palette work.

If right now you’re scared and asking yourself what the hell am I thinking, don’t fret: this palette is meant to be fun and freeing, like a release from the traditional rules of design. Instead of a pirate draped in red, white and black, picture one tripped out and draped in neon purple, yellow, and and yellow-green. With this palette, everything becomes a little less ordinary.

Color Forecast: Colors Galore in 2004

A brand new year is only a week away, and with it three hundred and sixty-five days worth of evolution in design. Sure, when the clock strikes midnight to announce January 1, 2004, everyone isn’t just going to morph and start designing differently than they did the day before, but the embarkment into a new year definitely symbolizes a step forward into an untraveled world where new styles and trends are going to be born (or, in many cases, reborn).

This past year has whipped through such trends as the dark, and oftentimes depressing, gothic look, the sleek and vibrant “mod” look, and even some throwbacks to the earth-toned ’70s and the fluorescent ’80s. After an acid-trip like that, designers are very likely going to be searching for repose in more laid-back design trends. This leads me to my color forecast for 2004: calming neutrals, peaceful blues and greens, stable dark shades, and a few vibrant hues to add life.

The Neutrals

This palette is the perfect break from the hectic go-go-go attitude of 2003. Gazing at them makes you want to just sit down and breathe for a moment. Nearly every color here is simply a pale gray with a small touch of a soft hue. The result? A color scheme that you could do yoga to!

The Blues and Greens

Blues, greens, and aquas will be a big hit in 2004 because they’re tranquil, but still very fun and enlivening. This palette is very much a reminder of the sea, and who wouldn’t like to relax on the sandy seashore? These clear, airy hues are nicely complemented by exquisite reds, oranges, or other such colors that you can find in the “vibrance” palette below.

The Deep Shades

2003 was a shaky and often unsettling year, so in 2004 it’s time for some stability. Enter black, charcoal gray, and the other shades that make up this palette. They are just what the “neutral” tones need: some confidence. Just don’t overdo it. You want to strengthen your design, not make it gloomy.

The Vibrance

2004 might be a slower-paced year, but people are still looking to have some fun! Use these hues to add accent in just the right places. This palette will keep your designs from becoming overly melodrmatic.

Get the Look Chic Simplicity

Chic simplicity. What exactly is “chic simplicity,” you ask? It is somewhat of an oxymoron: simple yet sophisticated. The design exudes simplicity through its forms, fonts, and layout, and sophistication through its textures, details, and tastefulness. It’s a fantastic “look” that can be used for almost every genre of websites: a professional, yet hip, corporate site; a stylish, yet clean, commercial site; or just a fun and colorful personal site. Whichever style you’re going for, this “look” will fit.

Download the Guides

Download Chic Simplicity Part 1 / Colors and Fonts / 47 kb
Download Chic Simplicity Part 2 / Techniques and Wrap-up / 113 kb

Colors

Colors that will give you the “chic simplicity” look are usually very bright, lively, and fun. To tone down the high values, meaning high brightness, of the colors, use tints and shades of gray, especially a dark gray to anchor the design and a light gray to give the design a clean and airy feeling. The grays will suit the vivid colors perfectly. Think of this principle in terms of an outfit. If you are going to wear an orange shirt, you want to wear a pair of dark pants to complement the brightness of the shirt.

Now it’s time to decide on a color scheme. Here’s the equation that will give you a perfect color combination every time:

   dark gray
+ light gray
+ color #1
+ color #2: tint or shade of color #1
+ color #3: complementary color of color #1
= the perfect color scheme!

Therefore, going by the numbered “Colors to Consider” in the guide, combining colors one, two, five, six, and eight will give you the chic and simple look that you’re aiming for. I’m telling you, this will work every time! Just use the colors in the guide to help you.

Fonts

When trying to obtain chic simplicity, you obviously want to keep things clean and simple. So, when choosing a font it is usually good to shy away from serif fonts. Serifs are very decorative and normally will not reflect the look that we’re trying to achieve, therefore I have chosen sans-serif fonts such as Century Gothic, Futura, and Gill Sans. They’re all very slick, clean, and stylish.

Well, now that you know the rule, we can go ahead break it. You’ll notice that there are a couple serif fonts in the list, namely Apple Garamond and Gloucester. Although they have serifs, they exude a certain tailored look that works well with the chic and simple look we are going for.

Another rule of thumb I discovered is that condensed fonts will usually be better at helping you achieve this look than their normal (i.e. not condensed) counterparts. When you condense a font, it’s almost like it loses weight, resulting in an overall sleeker look.

Techniques

1. Simple, Sectioned, Block Layouts

A great way to lay out your page is to use color. Now that you have chosen a color scheme, simply use those colors to section off blocks of content, and note what content will go in each block. Some basic sections to think about are the background, top or side navigation bars, a header, and the main content area, where white usually works best. Doing this will make it easier to come up with a final layout and will guarantee a clean result.

2. One Crisp, Large, Central Photograph

Using one, large photograph is the perfect way to add a punch of color to your webpage. Choose vibrant photographs that work well with your color scheme by having either similar hues or complementary hues.

If you are having trouble finding a photograph that works well with your design, ask yourself the following questions: What color from my color scheme do I want my photograph to represent? What is something, anything, that is that color? So, say your answer to the first question was red. Then, your answer to the second question might be strawberries, raspberries, or big red balloons. Now you know exactly what to look for. When using this method, close-ups and extreme close-ups (macros) are great, such as the example photograph of a basket of raspberries, because you can concentrate on one or two colors and they will give your design texture and vibrance.

3. Simple, Readable Navigation

We’re going for chic simplicity, so simple navigation is the way to go. It is extremely usable, very clean, and allows for an easy change if you ever find yourself wanting to redesign. Check out Dan Cederholm’s CSS tabs, CSS mini-tabs, and CSS mini-tab shapes for more!

4. Transparency and Layers

Overlapping objects that have been made slightly transparent is an easy way to add color and texture to your site. First, draw a shape, fill it with a color from your color scheme, and change its opacity, which is usually possible in some sort of “Layers” window, to somewhere around 50%. Repeat this step with a different shape, but the color the opacity should remain the same.

Once you have all of your shapes drawn, overlap them in a fun pattern. Every time two of the objects overlap, their colors will mix and produce a darker shade. The key here is to experiment! Try using different shapes, colors, and opacities.

5. Tight Text, Using Kerning

Sometimes text, especially when using condensed fonts, just looks too spaced out. The solution? Kerning. Found in the “Character” window in Photoshop and in the “Text Editor” window in Fireworks, kerning will often give your text an even cleaner, slicker look. Want proof? Compare the two columns in the guide and you’ll see that the kerned text looks more polished and refined.

6. White Space

White space is something that is very often overlooked when, in fact, it is one of the most important factors in making a good design look even better. White space can be achieved by increasing the leading or line-height, the space between each line of text, and by padding your blocks of content with anywhere from fifteen to two hundred pixels of blank space. Read more about white space in this great article at Design Matters.

7. Pixel Icons

Though very tiny, pixel icons are a fun and noticeable detail that are easy to incorporate and will add some subtle interest. Use them in place of the standard bullet in your lists, or place one at the end of each section of content, like magazines do at the end of each article.

8. All Lowercase or All Uppercase Text

Changing the case of your text is very easy and adds interest because of the simple fact that it is different than the standard capitalize-first-letter-of-each-word method. A great way of doing this is to implement CSS by using the text-transform property, with either uppercase or lowercase as the value.

9. Subtle Drop Shadows

Drop shadows have a bad reputation because they are so often misused, but when used subtly and correctly, they add a nice touch to any design. In the first example, a very faint and soft drop shadow is used to make the text pop off the background. In the second example, a faint, yet crisp, drop shadow adds dimension and interest. As always, experiment!

Putting It All Together

By simply combining many of the techniques explained above, I quickly and easily created this example webpage design. Notice how well the vibrant colors work with the calmer grays, and how the different sections of the page are distinguished using colors. The photograph in the header adds a ton of texture while, at the same time, incorporating a vibrant blue, one of the colors from the color scheme. The navigation is simple, yet stylish, making it easy for one to find their way around the site, and the pixel arrows are much cooler than standard bullets. The abundance of white space makes the page look very refined, not cluttered, and will make browsing the content easier for the viewers. And finally, the all lowercase navigation is extremely subtle, but a nice change from capitalization. In the end, we have a webpage that perfectly defines chic simplicity. Enjoy!