Grindin by Nobody Beats The Drum

I have be wanting to share this ever since I laid my eyes on it. It is such a clever use of simple spray-painted wooden blocks and stop-motion. The video was created by Rogier van der Zwaag, and I think he was pretty clever in only shooting quarter of the video, flipping it both horizontally and then vertically in post production.

The Constructivist.

VESTITUS Vol. 1

Well this post is simply to show you a concept for a magazine I have thought about for a while. There seems to be a high end fashion magazine for everything these days, yet still there seems to be very little that caters for the transgender community. Androgyny is not a new idea or concept within fashion, and it seems that more and more designers are designing collections that are no longer gender specific but towards a more androgynous lifestyle and aesthetic, as a way of representing the equality between men and women as society opens up and allows us to be more equal.

This is how I came to the idea of VESTITUS. The word vestitus is latin for dressed, and is fitting since the magazine is a lifestyle magazine about dressing (in this case to appeal to those involved within transvestism).

The magazine celebrates tranvestism, transexuality, cross dressing and androgyny in all its manifestations within high end fashion. What you will find on the pages will hopefully give you inspiration and freedom to be that persona you have always wanted to be.

The cover is in lipstick red, to reference the first moment a man dresses to become that other persona and puts on lipstick for the first time (possibly our mother's or sister's own red lipstick) I feel the colour choice is very appropriate for the first issue. The cover is a collage of male and female facial features to emphasize the bluring of lines between the male and female form, the lips in the centre represent that VESTITUS is perhaps one of the first of such magazines to speak openly of what is considered a sub-cultured lifestyle. Hopefully I will be able to create some possible content for what may go into the magazine, where the layout will also will represent the lifestyle of its readers.

Note. The reason why the collage consists of squares is a personal reference to a a piece of art I wrote about within my dissertation during my degree - Vincenzo scamozzi's analytic diagram of proportions and the human body. Previously I have mentioned the circle as a way of symbolizing heavenly perfection and therefore harmony, Vincenzo incorporated this with the human form where the square symbolizes the four elements which are earth, wind, fire and water. Therefore Vincenzo was implying that the human form is heavenly perfection with the reality we know as the world and earth, this was why I jumped at the chance to create a collage of the human form that referenced the square, to demonstrate a very constructivist way of thinking.

The Constructivist.

Geometric Freedom

Well above is the piece I have created after learning a few 3D treatments to simple shapes from the tutorial by Aaron Miller for Computer Arts Issue172. I have tried to make this a continuation and a development from a previous piece called New Geometry.

I suppose this is self-initiated piece which I feel is a freedom of expression. Where guidelines are there to be followed, but breaking them can lead to new paths. You could apply this to life and also geometric forms, keeping that in mind I have tried to create a piece that appeals to an audience using 3D shapes and gradients, in order to create depth to a space. The above piece I am going to name Geometric Freedom.

The Constructivist.

Isometric Vectors

Well the above is the result of a vector tutorial by Aaron Miller for Computer Arts Issue172. Even though the techniques are simple, they delve deeper in-depth into the features of illustrator, and definitely bring a new dimension to flat imagery. I definitely recommend trying this one out for better understanding of the different uses of the pathfinder palette and different masking techniques.

I am hoping to try another experiment soon, where I can apply my own working style as seen previously in my New Geometry piece with more of the 3D skills as shown in this tutorial to create something thats far more dynamic, particularly with different type. The possibilities seem endless.

The Constructivist.

Eleo's Brasserie & Bar

Well this post is to show you the development on another logo/identity I am working on, for a french restaurant in the heart of Swansea. Eleo's Brasserie has been established for quite sometime, and offer a relaxed yet upscale dinning experience. The original logo was a simple typeface of the hand written type, that simply said Eleo's Brasserie. As they have just changed owners and wish to relaunch, they have asked me to create a new logo/identity that was reflective of the restaurants history, therefore I felt it was appropriate to add the word bar as they also have a wine bar which was not be mentioned in their previous identity.

I did not want the logo to fall into the modern day look of many other restaurants since the restaurant itself has a rustic old charm kind of feel, therefore to create an updated modern feel I kept to simple clean cuts for any imagery. And using easy to read typefaces, such as Futura for a clean modern feel, but I also tried ITC Caslon no224 for a sleek feel that reflects the classic style of dinning Eleo's Brasserie offers. I also tried Caslon Openface as a real nod to the old style of font-faces that are so famously seen and used in actual parisian shop-fronts. If your wondering why one of the logo treatments has the cutlery arranged like a crown, this is a nod to the actual location of the restaurant, as it is situated on a street known as the Kingsway. I have found that many famous restaurants, as a way of keeping their identity consistent but developed, they will keep all layout of text the same but the imagery/identity is tweaked or changed slightly to reflect the branches location, so I am hoping if Eleo's Brasserie does open another restaurant that the imagery of the logo/identity of that opening also reflects its location, in order to differentiate but also co-ordernate their brand.

This is still work in progress, I still can not decide on the logo with or without the black fill in the imagery, Both work just as well. I think I will be able to decide once I start applying colours that connotate the French such as red on white, gold, or blue and white in creating the rest and complete identity. I hope you like what you see so far, I will keep you posted once some good progress has been made.

Update: 19/02/2010

Hi this is another update you show you some more development of the Eleo's Brasserie & Bar logo. All other designs such as menus, letterheads, compliment slips and business cards have also been designed. After looking at the completed designs and the colour palettes used, I finally arrived at this colour way and treatment for the final logo.

The gold was introduced in the menu designs for a decorative purpose, and I felt the same gold colour could be applied to the logo itself, to emphasize the crown aspect of the design which is a nod to the restaurant's location. The gold works very well and makes the crown appear to have jewels on the top, while in keeping with the modern sleek feel, which was the aim of the new identity.

The final typeface choice was ITC Caslon no224 since it had the best of both looks, It had abit of the old but with a mix of the new too due to the typeface having slimmer cuts.

The Constructivist.

The One Cup Stop

Well this post is simply to show you a logo/identity that I am working on (this logo may still change as it is work in progress). The identity is for a local coffee store, but it is no normal coffee store. The One Cup Stop is the only coffee store in south Wales that even though sources their coffee beans from Africa, they do all their blending, roasting and grounding in south wales. They even sort their coffee beans once they arrive into wales, as they explained to me beans of certain size and shape are required to create the coffee they love to sell locally.

Their original logo was quite dated, but I wanted their new logo to reflect their time as a local coffee store, therefore I choose old typefaces such as Garamond and Verdana, but I laid the text out in a way so that the identity has a more crisp and modern feel.

As for the coffee stain ring as part of the logo I decided the simpler the better, and chose a colour way of three colours. Simply because almost every coffee store only offers three types of cup size small, medium or large. I then blended the colours to represent the simply yet complex process coffee beans undergo, to create the perfect blend of coffee that so many of us take for granted.

Update: 08/03/2010

Well I have had some time to go away and play abit more with the layout of the logo, to simply try and improve on what I began with, to give the overall logo a feel that is more dynamic perhaps. This is what I have ended up with after several attempts, and these two above are the most suitable. Both I feel work just as well but I think the logo furthest below wins, as it just seems to have abit more of a edge that the one before it seems to be missing.

The Constructivist.

Polygyne By Efterklang

If there was one thing I could learn how to do it would be creating motion visuals and animations, since it seems to a world beyond my currents skills, however I love to watch and be inspired. The above is the video for Efterklang's song Polygyne which is a great example. I am amazed by the bombarding of shapes and colours, which evolve through the song, quite literally a visual orgasm, and yet it is still so modern even if it is a few years ago.

The Constructivist.