Saul Bass Google Doodle

It takes something special to be recognised by Google and given your own Doodle, and that is exactly what happened today when the more than worthy Saul Bass was honoured with his own Google Doodle on what would have been his 93rd birthday.

Certainly one of my favourites, Saul Bass was a fantastic graphic designer (and Oscar winning film maker!), known particularly for his bold and creative style of film title sequences, posters and logos.

The animated Google Doodle above is inspired by some of his more famous works including those from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus and Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder.  Superb work.

Bass’ portfolio of work also included a number of corporate logos, some of which still remain unchanged today.  Though even taking into account those that have been updated, the average lifespan of a Saul Bass logo is an impressive 34 years!

A great execution of a brilliant idea but then, being Google, we’ve come to expect nothing less.

More on the life of Saul Bass here and a fantastic looking book on the subject here.

Dove Real Beauty

It is commonly known that Photoshop is widely used to touch up and edit cover models.  Everything from minor blemishes to the “slimming” of limbs and full blown transformations.

This aspect of the industry has been mocked before with the likes of Fotoshop By Adobé, but now Dove are actively trying to do something about it with their campaign promoting and celebrating Real Beauty.

By planting a disguised “Beautify” skin glow effect to directly impact those who retouch the photos, such as art directors and graphic designers, the  Photoshop Action actually reverts the image back to the original unedited state.

Whilst this is no doubt a cunning and creative way to impact the retouching of photos, the scheme has come under some criticism that it isn’t targetting the right people.  Ultimately graphic designers and such are the ones who are doing the editing, but more often than not they are simply doing a job.  Their client is the one calling the shots and paying for the contract or project.

The underlying message from Dove is one of being happy with true beauty and making the point that Real Beauty isn’t retouched, but perhaps aiming their creativity at the real culprits would be more worthwhile.

Via Design Taxi.

Jetpack Solves Everything

Every now and then I step back from writing a word-y post and give you something fun.  Today is one of those times.

Jetpack.  Just because it’s Friday.

click to see large.

Poorly Drawn Lines‘ Jetpack Solves Everything.

Buy the print here.

A Short History Of The GIF

The title says it all.  A short history of the GIF (image format), in stop motion.

Creative, colourful, and surprisingly informative!  Well worth the “Staff Pick” over on Vimeo.

Via Explore.

The Colour For 2013

Almost as much of a tradition as Christmas itself, it is during the cold December months that a colourful glimmer of what to expect next year is announced.

As I’ve covered previously (here and here), Pantone have made their annual announcement and I give you the colour for 2013: Emerald (or Pantone 17-5641, if you prefer).

After not really seeing that much of this year’s recommended Tangerine Tango, Pantone note that ”the prevalence of green has been steadily rising for several seasons now”, already reinforcing that that this year’s selection is a more accomplished one.

Lively. Radiant. Lush… A color of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony.

Executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute, Leatrice Eiseman, explains the choice as the most abundant hue in nature: “the human eye sees more green than any other colour in the spectrum. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally-appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”

So, grab yourself  a limited edition Emerald mug to sip your morning brew, or a 17-5641 iPhone 5 case to be be sure you start the new year right on trend.

All information (including RGB, CMYK, and HTML match values) can be found here.

Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary

Two days ago the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco celebrated its 75th anniversary, and so creative agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners thought it only appropriate to come up with a refreshing poster campaign for the occasion.

Working alonside the Golden Gate National Parks Conservatory, the poster campaign takes a slightly different view of the bridge than we as tourists are probably used to seeing.  What has helped the overall result in becoming both a bold and strong graphic representation is the unique angles of the photos.  The photographers were granted special clearance to access certain areas of the bridge usually inaccessible to the general public to make this possible.

Little fact for you – the particular shade of orange that coats the bridge is an offically darkened version of “international orange” (#C0362C to be precise), which is used by the aerospace industry to set things apart from their surroundings in the landscape. 

More interesting facts about the bridge and the anniversary festival here and here.

Real Life Photoshop

In this day and age we are no strangers to Photoshop being used in advertising, but if you could use it in real life it would certainly make for some different situations.

Everything from crossing a river and stopping babies crying, to moving house and re-decorating, your life could be so much easier.

And my personal favourite…

Unfortunately for you Photoshop is still only software, and not available for real life.

More images over on Sad and Useless.

Best Venn Diagram Ever?

Probably.

ᔥ Uber Super.

Five Year Old Analyses Logos

Forget large corporate focus groups and extensive market research, what you actually need is the perspective of a five year old to judge the success of your identity.

I defy you not to at least smile during this logo critique session that Adam Ladd had with his five year old daughter (particularly at “A cheetah. A cheetah. A cheetah.”), who gives many a fresh impression on some well known brandmarks.  Quite adorable.

Via Swiss Miss.

Roald Dahl Stamps

I spent much of my childhood reading Roald Dahl and gazing at the beautiful illustrations by Quentin Blake. Timeless as they, Magpie Studio have used them as the basis for designing a new set of stamps for Royal Mail to celebrate 30 years in print for The BFG.

As the original book was only ever illustrated in black and white (which doesn’t translate to stamps so well), I was particularly pleased to discover some brand new illustrations that Quentin Blake was commissioned to do (in colour!) just for this stamp set.

Snozzcumbers and Whizzpoppers and Whangdoodles.

I couldn’t have put it any better myself.

Featuring in amongst the BFG designs are some of Roald Dahl’s other well known characters, all drawn in the distinctive hand of Blake.

Pick up your own copies of the stamps and other Roald Dahl items at the Royal Mail Shop, the 11 card set particularly caught my eye.