The Whitney gets a new identity
I always thought the old Whitney logo just didn’t quite fit for an art museum. In that respect, the new identity succeeds– it screams museum. And I actually quite like the overall concept and minimalism of it.
Then it gets “responsive”. I sat here for a while trying to think of more eloquent words to describe it, but the ones that kept coming to mind were stupid and lazy. I like the W in the logo proper. Those jagged lines in the stationary and various marketing materials look, well, stupid, and yes, lazy– the easy way to fill up all that negative space (doesn’t it even need to be filled up?). The ANDY WARHOL and YAYOI KUSAMA that follow along the edges of the W that are supposed to showcase the logo’s flexibility look dumb; like they were trying so hard to be designy that it comes across as a newly enrolled Graphic Design student who just learned Illustrator and is trying too hard to be designy. And that pad of paper? Here’s our craaaazy W! Wasting a quarter of the sheet of paper because it looks… good?
Of course there’s also the little matter of Helvetica. I don’t hate Helvetica, but something about it in all caps just doesn’t look very nice. Maybe it’s the kerning. Maybe it’s the fact that when I go to a website that overuses it (e.g. whitney.org), it looks like the style sheet has yet to load. Maybe they thought they were thinking so far outside the box with the giant W that Helvetica would ground the whole thing in reality.
Well, based on the portfolio I guess they got what they wanted to get by hiring Experimental Jetset. Again, I do like the logo. I just think it gets ruined by that wiry, adaptive W that detracts from the simplicity that makes it beautiful in the first place. [images via Brand New]
Kickass website of the week
Cool little animations on the homepage, great use of negative space and typography, super in-depth case studies and very well-written blog posts. These guys really pay attention to detail and care about their content. [link]
Happy birthday Saul Bass
Even if you’re not a graphic designer you’re familiar with Saul Bass’s work– if not from his logos than from his amazing movie title sequences. He was one of the most iconic (and happens to be one of my all-time favorite) graphic designers of the 20th century. In honor of his 93rd birthday Google put together this really great little animation. [via designboom]
Kickass website of the week
This is one of my favorite things I’ve seen in a while– a great one page website that not only recaps the year for a company (Sailthru, in this case), but showcases their amazing design talent. More companies need to do create internal projects like this. Sure, it might not lead to profit directly, but it really shows how much they care about their brand and the product they have to offer. With it’s minimalism, huge typography and fun infographics, the design of it is right up my alley as well. Well done. [link]
The evolution of a logo
I posted something similar before, but I love seeing how these companies have changed their logos over time– for better (welcome to the 21st century, Windows) and for worse (go back to the 20th century, Pepsi). [via The Logo Company]
The new walls of Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA
Such a simple but awesome way to make a hospital less like a terrifying house of pain and death and more like an exciting jungle adventure! Actually, I wouldn’t be opposed to normal, adult hospitals doing something similar. I mean, who doesn’t like happy volcanoes and monkeys? [via blik]
Kickass website of the week
Most travel websites look and function pretty much the same. Not this one. I can’t speak for the deals, but visually and interactively speaking, it’s quite awesome. It also provides you with current weather and a bunch of photos and blurbs about every destination they have a deal for.
Kickass website of the week
Why do I like it? Beautiful photography, big, bold typography, nice interactivity, a cool overall vintage look and…beer! Time for happy hour.
NYCxDesign Festival
It’s a design festival! Or more specifically:
Hosted in the world’s design capital, the 12-day event will bring together culture, education, commerce and entertainment with a full, varied program, including exhibitions, installations, trade shows, talks, launches and open studios. Spanning all disciplines of design, from graphic and product design to architecture and fashion, digital and urban design to furniture and design thinking. NYCxDESIGN looks to create a platform for cultural and commercial opportunities, elevate established and emerging design practices and increase awareness of and appreciation for design by all audiences.
I’m still kicking myself for missing that graphic design exhibit on Governors Island last summer, so hopefully I’ll force myself to get out and actually see some of this. I’m particularly looking forward to the MFA exhibition at Pratt, which will probably be very bittersweet in reminding me what a horrific designer I was when I graduated (seriously, my senior portfolio barely qualified as graphic design), but how far I’ve come since (at least I think so). [website]
The New York Times is redesigning its website…FINALLY
For such a massive news organization The New York Times has one of the most unappealing, cluttered, terribly-designed websites out there. I often use it as an example when asked to name a website I hate the design of. I’m really interested to see what the revamped homepage will look like, but based on the individual article redesign they recently released it definitely looks like a step in the right direction. Let’s be honest, it would be extremely difficult to create anything that isn’t better compared to the visual disaster they’ve had going on pretty much since there’s been a New York Times website.
THE NEW (Typography! Open space!):
THE OLD (A horrendous pile of digital garbage!):
