An interesting recent article from Fast Company about the changing times and how they affect design as well as other parts of the creative world. Take a look.
Magazines
11
May 10
May 10
Branding in an ever-changing world
Post by Sean Bacon
Tags: Branding, creative agency, Design, Graphic Design, graphic design san diego, Parallax, San Diego, Type
15
Apr 10
Apr 10
Advertising: The battle for your attention
Post by Sean Bacon
Advertising is a field that constantly changes to gain your attention. It has evolved over hundreds of years as approaches change with the times and technology. Getting the attention of target markets, especially younger people, is becoming more and more difficult as we are more and more aware of advertising tactics and marketing plans.
Monocle Magazine with an ad for Blackberry on the left and an article on the right
As awareness of advertising in magazines and on television increases it is becoming much easier for us to skip over advertisements not allowing them to use their power on us. With the invention of Tivo and other DVR devices as well as TV on the internet it is now possible to completely skip all ads on television. I am sure it is not new, but lately I have noticed a trend that combats these issues that is extremely successful. Why not make the ad blend in? Instead of making it splashy and special on its own to differentiate itself from everything else, make it like the magazine itself or resemble the TV show tricking the viewer into giving their attention because they do not recognize it as an advertisement. I have noticed it in magazines for a while, but I think the british magazine Monocle does it extremely well by having the ads follow the magazines design style as well as including text so that the ad blends in with the magazine resembling the rest of the content. I cannot tell you how many times I have “accidently” read one of the “ads” in their magazine, it really is a fantastic tactic. These ads have so much added value and must involve some coordination between the magazine and the people purchasing the ads.
More interior spreads from Monocle showing ads hidden amongst regular content.
I recently noticed a similar tactic being used on NBC. I rely on my DVR to save me from watching mundane and boring commercials, but during the show Community for the past few weeks they have been showing a commercial for TurboTax that I have seen more than any ad only because they “trick” me into watching it. They use the actors from the show Community and put them in a scenario that relates to the content on the show. It always airs as the first commercial in the break, and the first 3-4 times I would rewind back to watch the commercial thinking I was missing part of the show, a very smart way to combat this new DVR and Tivo age in terms of getting people to watch commercials.
Seems to me that with all the new ways we are able to filter information it might be best for some companies to focus on blending in and speaking to an even more specific target group, like people who watch Community, making sure their message is seen and read rather than trying to stand out and be looked over. Of course there are always exceptions and many ad campaigns are incredibly successful and work well at grabbing attention and standing out, but many of these are large big budget projects. So I guess the next time you are working on television or print advertising ask yourself is it better to stand out or blend in?
Tags: Advertising, attention, Branding, commercial, Commnity, creative agency, DVR, Graphic Design, graphic design san diego, Magazine, Monocle, NBC, Parallax, San Diego, Tax, Tivo, Turbo
26
Mar 10
Mar 10
+81 Voyage: Tokyo Graphic Passport
Post by Sean Bacon
+81 is a great art and design oriented magazine from Japan. Thankfully, every issue is printed in both English and Japanese. I first got into the magazine because of their experimental design style and interesting global design coverage. They print quarterly, but sometimes skip a quarter here or there. Every issue is themed around a subject like Photography, Visual Concepts, or Typography and then explored deeply mostly though interviewing experts and then printing their interviews with imagery. Even more infrequently they do special issues titled Voyage that explore a certain place in a travel+art+design type way.
The most recent issue of Voyage is the best by far in my opinion, titled Tokyo Graphics Passport the team went through high profile design cities like Amsterdam, London and New York exploring their magazine scene. The issue highlights each city showing interviews with creators or editors of magazines that are unique to that city. It is a great way to see what is happening around the world in magazine design and they do a good job of highlighting magazines that are not well known on a global scale, but are very interesting and well designed.
In addition to the indepth look at a few magazines per city they also highlighted the great art and design bookstores of each city with brief reviews of their vibe and the type of clientele they serve. I wish they had done this for every city, but nonetheless it is spectacular, being a bibliophile I really love having that info on hand just in case I decide to travel the globe sometime soon. I usually purchase issues of +81 at Kinokuniya bookshops, but some other Japanese bookstores will carry them as well.
Tags: +81, Branding, creative agency, Graphic Design, graphic design san diego, Kinokuniya, Magazine, Magazines, Parallax, plus 81, San Diego, Tokyo Graphic Passport
4
Feb 10
Feb 10
Giorgio…the typeface
Post by Sean Bacon
Giorgio type specimen. Via Christian Schwartz
Giorgio and Giorgio Sans, designed by Christian Schwartz with some help from Non-Format, is one of my favorite typefaces from the past year. Giorgio was originally designed as a custom typeface to be used in “T” magazine, a style magazine that is a part of the New York Times. I religiously read the Sunday New York Times and especially look forward to their inserted magazines and remember admiring Giorgio when it was an exclusive face. T, their style magazine, I think has become one of the most beautifully designed magazines. I have always admired and lusted for Giorgio so I was excited to hear the story behind its development and that it is now available for purchase.
Check out this video from TypoBerlin featuring Christian Schwartz talking mostly about the process and development of Giorgio & Giorgio Sans.
Spread from “T”, designed by Non-Format, featuring Giorgio. Image via Non-Format
Tags: Branding, Christian Schwartz, creative agency, Design, Giorgio, Graphic Design, graphic design san diego, New York Times, Non-Format, Parallax, San Diego, T, Type