You don't need photoshop afterall...

 

http://www.demilked.com/jee-young-lee-surreal-photography-studio-room/

These pictures are absolutely amazing. I put one picture here to hopefully entice people to click on the link to see the rest. The artist, Jee Young Lee, composed each image without the use of photoshop. That just blows my mind, I don't even know what to say. They look so surreal and fantasy-like that it's hard to believe it was all arrange by hand without the help of computers, especially the lighting and haziness in some of them. I would love to see the process of how an image was made, like what materials were used how how she positioned everything to how she wanted it. 

~ Catherine

Victorian Blood Book

http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/this-victorian-blood-book-will-give-you-nightmares

Ok, this post is kind of dark, but nevertheless admirable. There wasn't many details about this on the website, but I'm sure there's some more on wikipedia or something. Basically it's a book from the Victorian times that consists of extremely detailed and elaborate etchings, all dripping in what appears to be blood, but don't worry, it's just india red ink. As I said, it's kind of dark and gruesome, but the images are just hauntingly memorizing with the way they are arranged. At the end of the post, the author said whoever made this might have been the world's first great graphic designer. 

~ Catherine

Pepsi vs Coke

I meant to post this after Halloween, but I forgot about it until now. This ad made me laugh in that Coca-Cola only had to change the phrase on the image to make it fall in their favor, which goes to show how important context is when making an ad, especially if you're going to poke fun at your biggest competitor. When you take out the written phrase, the only thing that references Halloween was the fact that it was released close to the holiday. Perhaps if Pepsi added some more Halloween themes in the image, like a jack-o-lantern, skeleton, etc...they wouldn't find themselves in the awkward situation where their own ad was used against them. 

~ Catherine

Update: After googling for a bit, I found out that Cola cola's response was not official and it was probably made by a Coke fan. But still, it's a cleaver and witty response. 

Logo Colors

I am surprised that we are not required to take a color theory class for graphic design. For various projects thus far, I found it quite difficult to choose what colors to use and depending on what colors you use, it can either make or break your design. It's so simple and yet so complicated at the same time.  Anyways I found a chart of popular logos divided into color categories and apparently, those colors can convey a certain emotion to the viewer. I'm not sure what the basis of some of these emotions to color are (other than green for nature or health), but it's interesting to see them separated like this. Perhaps if you need to make a logo in the future (I'm looking at you guys who have yet to take Typography I) and are unsure of what colors to use, this might be a good place to start for inspiration.

~ Catherine

Roundhand Lettering

Watching this guy do lettering is absolutely mesmerizing. I remember that one lady sign painter from the Sign Painters movie said how every time her mentor wrote something, it was magic, and that's the feeling I get when watching this guy. I wonder how long this guy trained for to get to where he is at. Each letter is perfectly placed, all at the perfect angle, an the edges are just so clean and crisp. I also appreciate his comments while he is writing as it gives some insight as to how this is done well.

~ Catherine

It's not about Dragons

I found this along with another car variation in the magazine Lurzer's Archive and thought it was interesting. The whole thing says: "Unfortunately, over 3 million people in France will keep on thinking that this is a poster for A Film with Dragons. Help us make illiteracy the national cause of 2013. Sign the petition of the national agency for the fight against illiteracy in France on illettrisme2013.fr." I just think it was ironic they used a movie poster style ad for an illiteracy awareness message. Obviously, people who cannot read will think it's for a movie since that is literally what it looks like. It is well done because at first glace, it really does look like a movie poster for the Hobbit or something, only when you take the time to read the find print will you see the true message. I highly suggest finding the full size version, it's worth a look. There's also a car, bikini, and mascara version of the same message.

~ Catherine

Absolut Vodka Ads

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-best-of-the-great-absolut-ads

Here is a list of old Absolut Vodka advertisements.  I love how there is a variety of them, each one depicting a very situation. It's also great how they easily incorporated the bottle into each one without forcing it too much along with the one word next to "Absolut" that summarizes the poster. Speaking of their bottle, it has become kind of an iconic hasn't it? Just with the silhouette  alone, most people would probably be able to identify that it's Absolut. You know you have a good business when people can just identify you with your packaging. I wonder how long it took them to design that bottle....

~ Catherine