Chic Beer Package Design: II

Here's some more stylish beer packaging that I happened to come across. Slightly less design-ish and a little more artistic, these Beck's bottles are part of a new series created by students from the Royal College of Art. The project, called Beck's Canvas, features artwork by the students and will be around for a "limited" time. I wonder if these will make it stateside.

(Found via Material Interest)


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Chic Beer Package Design

One of my roommates and I are huge beer enthusiasts. We've spent the past year or so collecting various bottles from all over the world, spanning everything from light lagers to coffee stouts to Trappist ales. We've accumulated close to 400 separate bottles, and the collection is growing. However, once you get that many bottles, it becomes less about finding the tastiest beer and more about finding an awesome package design. Design O'Blog has managed to track down a couple beers I've never seen or even heard of that have some great design. I especially like Tokaido and, although I don't collect cans, the Liten Ljus Lager, pictured above, is probably the coolest and most unique can of brew I've ever seen.


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New Prints from Si Scott

Si Scott has become one of my favorite graphic designers in the short time I've been keeping up on the art form. The guy is by far the best typographic magician right now, adopting a style that is highly intricate and elegant--and entirely his own. I obsess over it so much that it's inspiring my next tattoo. Anyway, Scott, in collaboration with Hype Type Studio, has some new prints for sale and, per usual, they receive my admiration.

(Found via Why Me?)

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Ghostco

Matthew Woodson's portfolio, Ghostco, reminds me of a mix between A Scanner Darkly and some unnamed graphic novel. A lot of what I posted lately in the graphic design department may overload the eyes a bit, so this is a nice change of pace I think. There's something to be said for the beauty in his color schemes and thin lines. Seems as though others agree--he's racked up quite an impressive clients list including ESPN Magazine, American Express, and Wired Magazine. This from a guy who graduated two years ago.

(Found via Changethethought)



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Pablo Alfieri's Portfolio, "Playful"

Pablo Alfieri impresses me much. I like that he isn't limiting himself either; even though his print work is pretty phenomenal, his venture into the 3d medium for his piece "The 90's" is about as awesome as it gets for us nostalgic types raised on Nickelodeon and Nintendo.

(Found via The Serif) FULL POST

alex trochut updates

A talented artist by the name of Alex Trochut just recently updated his portfolio. It includes the work above, along with some other really great stuff, including some projects done for Nike.

(Found via It's Nice That) FULL POST

bmw's gina, a shape-shifting car made from fabric

BMW is and has been for years my favorite auto company. Yeah, I know they don't get great gas mileage, cost an unreasonable amount of money and time to maintain, and don't run off tomatoes, but I'm a sucker for German design. Even with that bias, I'd say they've outdone themselves by building a shape-shifting car out of what appears to be the material used for those awkward looking American Apparel leggings. Or maybe that cape Christian Bale had in Batman Begins.

It's obviously only a concept and everyone knows that means nothing when it comes to actual production; the real point, however, is innovation, and BMW really took it to a new level of creativity with this design. According to the WIRED article on BMW's GINA (the name of the concept):

"Instead of steel, aluminum or even carbon fiber, the GINA Light Visionary Model has a body of seamless fabric stretched over a movable metal frame that allows the driver to change its shape at will. The car -- which actually runs and drives -- is a styling design headed straight for the BMW Museum in Munich and so it will never see production, but building a practical car wasn't the point."

It's hard to predict how this technology would ever be used effectively, but innovation is innovation and I'm glad I can leave it up to BMW to figure that out. You can also watch a short video clip about the car here. FULL POST

ginger monkey design

Ginger Monkey is the alias of designer Tom Lane. He's got a nice elegance to his work, grounded by some intelligent use of color. I really dig the browns contrasted with the rest of the composition. I wish I knew the secrets for working as well with type as he does.

Ginger Monkey's shop just opened as well, and you can buy some of his limited prints there.

(Found via Design You Can Trust) FULL POST

dirty harry 2-disc special edition

Out and about yesterday I got a chance to see the box to the Dirty Harry 2-Disc Special Edition that just released. It's one of the best DVD covers I've seen in a long time (There Will Be Blood's is a recent gem as well). There seems to be so many cover designs these days that are overdone and over-embossed. This one is simple and balanced, and I think what stands out to me the most is the type, which, given my mediocre if not horrible knowledge of typography, I'd have to say is some form of every designer's love/hate font, Helvetica.

I'm interested in seeing some Dirty Harry, and I'm a bit embarrassed that I haven't yet. As far as westerns go though, Clint Eastwood is a major bad ass and starred in some of the best movies the genre has ever seen. I'm confident that persona transfers over pretty well to the crime flick. FULL POST

minimalexperimental launches

Intended as "a platform for online and offline design exhibitions," Minimalexperimental just recently launched and includes exciting work from up-and-coming graphic designers. There's also a little interactivity to it, incorporating a comment system that displays right on the home page. Being faithful to its name, the site's design is straightforward and stripped down, letting it all hang out on just one single page.

(Found via Design You Trust) FULL POST

tree branch coat hooks for sale, after all

About a month ago I posted about some pretty cool tree branch coat hooks designed by Max Lipsey. At the time I pointed out that they weren't for sale and were more of a design piece by Lipsey. However, Max was kind enough to contact me to let me know that his inspirational design will in fact be going on sale in July. It turns out he's working on production right now and the hooks will be sold in groups of 3, 5, 7, and 9.

If you're interested in more info or pricing on the hooks, e-mail Max at info [at] lipsmax [dot] net.

On a side note, Max has a very cool portfolio site with some more great work on it. Take a look. FULL POST

a collection of nice type

Smashing Magazine needs to get the hell out of my brain. It seems like they're always doing features on whatever I'm into, design wise. Their collection of "Sexy, Bold And Experimental Typography" is very nice and definitely full of inspiration if you're looking to do some design/art work. I've been collecting ideas for a while to do something with the header of this site, so this is a big help.

(Found via Kottke. Picture above is work of Nicolas Alexander.) FULL POST

slick self-balancing speaker by hugh thomas

"Set for Rapid prototyping," Hugh Thomas has designed himself a pretty awesome set of wireless, self-balancing speakers. I've been really into typography lately, so the grill design really caught my eye, too. Nice touch.

(Found via ego technique) FULL POST

scott hansen/iso50/tycho, you've wowed me

I really don't like the look of 95total--at all--so I spend a good chunk of time in the various crevices of the Internet trying to find some sort of inspiration for a new design. I somehow came across this ISO50 site, which is "The Visual Work of Scott Hansen". I'm blown away by this guy's art, which spans across print, logos, web, and photo. He's got this way cool vintage vibe that's not unlike something you'd see on a Boards of Canada album cover. A lot of it's real 60s/70s with a good grounding in contemporary design.

But then, the kicker (which made me feel I had either come across an undiscovered gold mine of talent, or that I've been tucked away in my basement too long eating Girl Scout Cookies and playing 360 to ever hear of the guy) is that he dabbles in the trade of beats and melodies. On the ISO50 portfolio site you notice there's some music accompanied to your viewing. Turns out those are Hansen's chilled-out tunes penetrating your skull. Under the name of Tycho, Hansen tours and plays venues all over, creating very good IDM/electronic music that's not unlike, get this, Boards of Canada. I smell some influence.

Seeing how proficient this guy is in multiple areas has me impressed and wanting to develop my own abilities in those areas. Oh, and he blogs, too. Quite the show off, eh Scott?

Check out what this guy has to offer; it's a lot. FULL POST

pretty slick looking zoo york boards by mark and matt owens

The extent of my skateboarding abilities lies somewhere between wrapping my sweaty hands around a Playstation controller trying to master a 900 with Bucky Lasek and listening to "Self-Esteem" by The Offspring. The fact is, I'm a bit of a pansy when it comes to physically getting on a skateboard that I have the worst time trying to control. These Zoo York boards make me wish I wasn't such a square.

(Found via The Style Press) FULL POST

the bianca vase will outlive the flowers. just dont play ball in the house.

Cool, I got it. You're getting your mom flowers. But seriously, the plastic they come wrapped in, even if it's colored yellow, shouldn't be handed to the woman who gave up fun for you. I don't really know what mothers like, but I can't image they wouldn't be oh-so-thrilled to get the Bianca Vase from Crate&Barrel. Or, if she's a drinker, ignore the flowers and go with some Stella glasses. You may be the reason she drinks, so give her something cool to pour her medicine into. FULL POST

the moma store shows me again why japan is cool

As part of MOMAs Destination Japan line of products, these plates by Ikuko Nakazawa (interesting tidbit, my dad was pushing for my name to be Ikuko, or if I was a girl, Elizabeth) make your food say a lot. You know, that you're fun, interesting, or perhaps a romantic at heart just chasing a dream. While you're over at the MOMA store maybe you check out the Slice Plate. FULL POST

clever scrabble ad campaign

About as clever as it's gonna get advertising for a game based on words. Ogilvy, an ad agency out of Hungary, recently developed this campaign for Scrabble that plays with how we develop words out of mixed letters. Good stuff.
Here are all three of the separate ads: Here, here, here.

(Found via Why Me?) FULL POST

a collection of creatively constructed bookcases

Give credit to WebUrbanist for consistently putting out some great content. If you haven't added them to your reader, bookmarks, or however you manage to get your information, do so now. Every post has something very cool to show, and most of the time I can bet on the fact that you probably haven't seen it before.

Their latest post on "20 Unusually Brilliant Bookcase and Bookshelf Designs" is everything it says it is. Have a look, be impressed. FULL POST

off-the-wall (haha) design: silverware storage

Thanks to Lauren over at Double Takes for pointing out Patrick Turner's UtiliTILE design to me (it reminded her of those ever-recurring knife coat hooks). Meant to be a space-saver, Patrick Turner of Thout Design came up with a pretty cool and creative way to store silverware: on the wall. FULL POST