Pat Findros
October 9, 2011
Graduation Project – Pabucuyarım
August 29, 2011
For my graduation project, I chose to challenge myself by designing the corporate identity of an imaginary brand. Building the concept; defining the target audience; shaping the soul, the character and the appeal of the brand accordingly.
I was influenced by the various products which are sold in vending-machines in Japan. These machines are positioned in critical locations to aid the customers in their time of need. I was thrilled by the notions of self-service and user-friendliness; for they enabled us to eliminate the middle-man (the salesmen) and cross out any external factors (such as; the location and the design of the shop, the music playing withing the shop etc.) to smooth out any problems one might face at the purchase points.
I decided that the corporate identity of this brand should mimic fast-food culture in textile, provide an alternative to the existing system and communicate efficiency and practicality. The ultimate purposes of this shoe brand are; to make the customer feel comfortable wearing it to a club, easily hop on-off public transportation, change into them while driving the car, slip one on and go shopping, secure their feet with comfort on long distance traveling and provide an alternative to the shoe that you left the house with in the morning.
After building the concept and defining the target audience, I focused upon other aspects of my project. The vending machine was going to contain 6 different shoe sizes (for both men & women) with 7 different colors for each shoe size. The shoes had to be folded in half in order to fit into the package and into the rows of the vending machine. Therefore the shoes had to be designed in a way that enables it to be folded in half. With this in mind, I decided to name my brand Pabucuyarım; for ‘yarım’ means ‘half’ in Turkish and the name itself is mentioned playfully in a Turkish riddle for children.
Below, you can view the step-by-step evolution of the design process.
You can view the finalized version on Behance.
Enjoy!
Yahşibey Design Workshop
September 2, 2010
So this is where I’ve been for a week. I attended the 25th Yahşibey Design Workshop as one of the selected graphic designers. Yay! It was totally awesome.
We were given a brief to examine the invisible layers of Yahşibey village. You can see what we have produced here. Be sure to check out my hybrid solutions project 
Here are some photos that I’ve taken there with a disposable camera which was loaded a film that has expired on 2006. Don’t get us wrong though, these are just brief moments we spent by the pool. The rest was all blood, sweat and tears believe me! 
It was so worth it.
Ersinhan Ersin
June 7, 2010
some of the most creative graphic design works that I’ve come across lately.
“Ersinhan was born in Sakarya in 1984. He began studying Visual Communication Design at Gazi University in 2006. Whilst working professionally in various sectors of design, he also produces video, animation, visual placement and performance work on the side. Having won several awards both locally and internationally, Ersinhan’s work has also been exhibited in various collective exhibitions in Italy, Holland, Belgium and China.”
original source: http://www.bananemag.com/ & http://www.ersinhanersin.com/
awesome logos of 2009
April 12, 2010
creative usage of the negative-positive space relationship.
Sean Freeman
April 11, 2010
Sean Freeman is an illustrator and typographer who has just joined the roster of the New York rep agency, Levine/Leavitt. He has come up with several innovative typographic designs and I like this one in particular.
Vanessa Lam
March 16, 2010
Non-Format
February 9, 2010
Towers Watson Corporate Identity
February 4, 2010
With a combined 14,000 employees in offices around the world, Towers Watson is the newly minted “professional services” firm created by the merger of the 5-year-old Watson Wyatt Worlwide and 76-year-old Towers Perrin, officially established earlier this month. Towers Watson offers services in Benefits (retirement, health and group benefits), Risk and Financial Services (insurance consolation, investments, risk management), and Talent and Rewards (executive compensation, employee rewards), all of it a nice presented package that is actually easy to understand. With a new name that literally merges the two companies, Interbrand was given the assignment to create the new visual identity.
It became evident that Towers Watson’s primary strength would be its combined attention to relationships, both with clients and employees. Through workshops and discussions about personality and brand archetypes, a strategic positioning, “Clarity through perspective,” was developed that would guide and support the creative development.
— Interbrand Project Description
The new logo represents each Towers Watson’s employees’ personal commitment to its customers by “putting their names on the line” with a personal signature of the company. The identity is a combination of a strong, pragmatic wordmark and an approachable signature symbol. The organic, hand-drawn nature of the logo and graphic system creates a personal and distinctive look amidst the impersonal, corporate, language of its competitors. To echo the hand-drawn nature of the logo, a customized, scripted typeface was created along with a library of illustrations.
— Interbrand Project Description
The new logo strikes a pretty good balance between seriousness and friendliness. The wordmark is as buttoned-up as it gets, all uppercase and black as a CEO suit, and it’s so refreshing to not get another all lowercase rounded wordmark. Meanwhile the TW monogram is loose and dynamic and makes a nice complement in shape and color to the name. I typically don’t like to say “This logo looks like…” but I was reminded of the Wynn brand. First, formally, as it’s a signature. But, second, philosophically, as a way to humanize an out-of-scale organization.
Clarity, a proprietary handwritten font for Towers Watson. Image removed by request. Official name of the font, “Mister K for TW,” provided by Interbrand.
The applications succeed similarly in appearing fresh yet not alienating towards a business-minded audience. The thick boxes behind text is nothing new, and Franklin Gothic is fairly conventional choice, but in conjunction with the handwritten font, it all manages to feel contemporary enough. Overall, a solid introduction for this new company.
via BrandNew
Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Corporate Identity
February 3, 2010
Based in Philadelphia, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is a collective of seven grant-making initiatives dedicated to supporting local artists and heritage organizations. Originally, each initiative had its own logo, lacking any consistency with the others. Because of that, there was no indication that it was part of a greater entity. Another problem was the absence of an umbrella logo for the Pew Center. The challenge for London-based johnson banks was to solve a rather specific client brief.
Although they wanted at one level to present themselves as a unified “Pew Center,” they still wanted to show that they worked across dance, exhibitions, arts fellowships, theatre, management, heritage and music, all within the Philadelphia area.
— johnsonbanks case study
Glancing at the Pew Center’s web site — as its civilian audience will experience it, and not presented in a case study — you might think the logo to be the white square, and that the other words and colors were designed purely for the website’s navigation. Checking johnsonbanks’ project description proves otherwise. This megalith of a logo includes the organization’s full name, the seven initiatives, the word “Philadelphia”, and a mammoth palette of eight colors. Designed to adapt to different situations, the primary logo system has three forms, each with varying scale and detail. The largest holds a record-breaking 25 words.
Deeper in the system are treatments designed to push individual initiatives. Each maintains the typeface, 8-color standard, the word “Philadelphia”, and a tiny “The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.” It’s unclear whether these are meant to be the official logos for the initiative. If so, they certainly won’t work at small sizes. Other than that, the designs show just how recognizeable and flexible the “colored cards” concept can be.
Pew Center for Arts & Heritage from johnson banks on Vimeo.
A minimal sans-in-square logo isn’t particularly groundbreaking for an art institution. What makes these logos worth noting is the ironic use of that solution — where the bombardment of simplicity creates a clutter that’s hard to miss. Aesthetically, it isn’t the most beautiful, nor the most interesting thing. A family of icons representing the initiatives would’ve been simpler to manage than type. Accusations of bad design decisions about scalability and printability are certainly expected and valid. In the end, though, it’s those risky decisions that make the logo stand out. Most importantly, the design tends to the client’s need of a flexible system that reflects the relationship of an organization and its constituents.
