David Airey » Graphic designer

HP invent

David Airey — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:04:06 +0000

Hewlett Packard set a design brief for the recent D&AD Student Awards, and one result in particular stands out.

Brief:
Present an idea which promotes HP Workstations ability to bring to life anything the creative mind can conceive.

Response:
Focusing on the synchronisation of a range of HP products, printers become an orchestra in an aesthetic symphony conducted by HP Workstations.

Filmed, edited and directed by Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth.

The two designers are recent graduates from the Design Communication degree course at Kingston University, London, and they’re currently looking for experience within the creative industry.

Good luck in your search, guys. Love the video.

HP – invent on Vimeo via Johnson Banks.

Music © Round Table Knights.

Compelling comments and ulterior motives

David Airey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:02:22 +0000

It’s gratifying when I publish a blog post and you leave comments. What I talk about doesn’t always call for a response, but when it does, and you reply, it’s very encouraging. But is an interest in discussion the only reason you leave your thoughts?

The ulterior motive is gathering pace.

In his blog post, Do You Comment Enough To Be Authority, Alex Sysoef advises you do the following.

Locate as many blogs relevant to your niche as possible with CommentLuv enabled

Make it a point that EACH time you publish a new post to comment on at least 10 blogs to get 10 links to your posts

For the unfamiliar, CommentLuv is a WordPress plugin that alters the comments other people leave on your blog. It automatically extracts the commentator’s latest blog post headline, adding it as a link at the end of their comment.

Alex claims his method is proven to boost your search rankings for individual posts, but my standpoint is that chasing backlinks from blogs is time better spent elsewhere, writing your own cornerstone content for example. That’s not to say I advise against commenting on blogs within your niche. Quite the opposite. If you leave a genuine comment relevant to the discussion (regardless of what plugins a blog has installed) you’ll gain a lot more than if you set out with ulterior motives.

The real value from blog comments is when we learn something (a quote, a tip, a different perspective), and I’ve definitely learned a lot from your discussions here.

A couple of years back, Andy Beard published a somewhat related blog post, 32 Forms of Linking Payola, talking about what motivates us to link to other websites. There’s one point in particular that stands out for me:

…your audience isn’t stupid, and if you haven’t attempted to disclose as much as possible, that can have a huge influence on how much they trust your opinions…

In a way, that works within comment sections too.

Do you know what I mean? It can be obvious when comments aren’t genuine, left for a purpose other than to join in the discussion — driving traffic for instance. And moderation can be troublesome enough already.

The thought of leaving comments with an ulterior motive isn’t for me, but I’m interested in what you think. Do you target higher search rankings or traffic when leaving a comment? Do you mind others doing that on your blog? Alternatively, if the comment is relevant does it actually matter?

Something old, something new…

David Airey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:02:51 +0000

Save The Date image by Nick Brue

Although it was grey and overcast on Saturday, I persuaded my girlfriend to come with me for a walk. We drove 20 minutes to a nearby country park, but when we got there it had started to rain, and Catherine wasn’t having any of it, so we went grocery shopping instead.

Thankfully, after an hour in the supermarket, the sky had cleared a little so we drove up into the hills of Scrabo country park. After walking for a while through the Killynether Wood we came to a clearing.

Killynether Wood, photo by S Muir

There was an old wooden bench there, and we sat overlooking Belfast and the green fields of the surrounding countryside.

View from Scrabo Country Park, photo by S Muir

I asked Catherine if she liked the notes I’d been leaving for her all week (scattered about the house, telling her things I love about her). Of course she did, and she asked me if there’d be any more. I said, “Actually, there’s one here”, pulling another from my inside pocket. It was written on a card from the jewelers and had a silk ribbon attached. This note read, “Is it true that diamonds are a girl’s best friend? Let’s find out.”

As she was reading, I got off the bench and went down on one knee in front of her (the scenery behind me). I pulled a box from my pocket, opened it to show the three-stone diamond ring, and asked, “Catherine, will you marry me?” She went all red, not knowing what to say, until I put the ring on her finger and she said yes with delight.

We stayed there for another 15 minutes or so until reality kicked in and Catherine said we should go because the frozen chips would be defrosting in our car.

We unpacked the shopping and celebrated in front of the fire with some bubbly, so as some will already know via Twitter, I’m now a fiancé!

Wedding invite design inspiration

I’ll be designing my own invites soon enough, and thought this was a good time to share a little inspiration. First stop, the wedding category on Beast Pieces — the design and letterpress blog of Studio On Fire.

Woodgrain & Crest Letterpress Wedding (above) by Nick Brue.

Something Old & New: Wedding Type (above) by Ryan Floss, groom.

Black Tie & Black Paper: Wedding In Edinburgh (above) by Field.

A Hamptons Wedding Invitation (above) by Stacey Averbuch, bride.

Mix Tape Letterpress Wedding Invitations (above) by Adam Ramerth.

Tuscany Semi Formal Wedding Invitation (above) by Aya Ikegaya.

Look Mom, No Script Fonts: A Wedding Invite (above) by SEVNTHSIN.

That last one’s my favourite, the sans-serif design from SEVNTHSIN. Plenty more pics through each invite link.

More wedding invitation designs

Hand-made Asian-themed invitations from Kellyn and Daniel Lombardi
Inspiration: Wedding invitations from Mariusz Ciesla
Raised type wedding invites from Beyond the Pixels
our wedding: invitation inspiration from yes, please
Custom letterpress wedding invitations from Bella Figura
{simple + nontraditional wedding invitation wording} from Oh So Beautiful Paper

Your wedding invites

Did you design your own? Do you have any you can share? It’d be great to see a few more ideas.

Imitation vs differentiation

David Airey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:02:46 +0000

Photo by Jill Murray

Starting a business isn’t easy. That’s a given. But when people have tread the path before you, it’s tempting to imitate. After all, if they’re successful, why not do it just like them and be successful too? Thing is, you’re not like the others. People don’t do business with you because you work like someone else. They choose you because of who you are.

A follower, or an initiator?

Think about what makes you stand out. Your higher quality product. Your excellent customer service. Your attention to detail. Use that to show your potential clients that you’re the right choice for them. Not how similar you are to someone else.

If you find that others are imitating you, take solace in these three valid reasons to never fear being copied. Here’s a quick excerpt from Dwight’s timely words.

Chinese automakers BYD (Build Your Dreams, seriously) and Geely have been blatantly ripping-off designs from Mercedes-Benz and Rolls Royce, two of the most prestigious auto brands in the world.

It’s shameful.

It’s undignified.

But does it even matter?

Do you think any of the world’s millionaires will one day wake up and say, “Oh, I’d love to buy a Mercedes-Benz CLK… but the BYD S8 is a cheaper alternative, so let me buy that instead.”

BYD S8

Mercedes-Benz CLK

It’s the brand that people associate with. You know… the story. And if that wasn’t true, we’d all be proud Skoda owners.

Imitation around the blogging circuit

An example closer to home relates to design blogs and the “top whatever” lists that increasingly crop up. Everything’s good in moderation, but say for example you see a post referencing the “top 20 designers on Twitter”, you can bet your life that if you add your own 20 picks and republish as a top 40, it won’t be long before someone “betters” it with a top 100, 200, or 500. Where do you draw the line?

It’s not a competition to see who can copy and paste.

It’s all about you.

As a blog author, differentiate yourself with compelling, personal, unique content so you won’t lose your audience to the next 100+1 list.

As Seth says in reference to the video below (worth three minutes of your time), “guy #49 is irrelevant“. It’s the initiators people remember and forge a bond with.

What do you reckon?

Are you promoting what sets you apart, or are you seduced by imitation?

Northern Ireland’s designer twits

David Airey — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:23:03 +0000

Illustration by Matt Hamm

Increasingly mentioned in the media, Twitter has replaced Delicious as my bookmarking tool of choice. I’m always interested in what local designers are up to, so here’s a “Top of the Twitter Design Charts” for Northern Ireland (be great to get a coffee / pint one weekend soon).

Designer twits in Northern Ireland (listed by # of followers)

6,489 — @gracesmith — Grace Smith (Postscript5)
4,516 — @webcreative — Leeanne Lowe (Web Creative)
4,376 — @davidairey — David Airey (Logo Design Love)
3,020 — @problogdesign — Michael Martin (Pro Blog Design)
2,712 — @leemunroe — Lee Munroe (Lee Munroe)
838 — @webireland — Paul Anthony (Web Distortion)
554 — @acejet170 — Richard Weston (Ace Jet 170)
548 — @davymac — David Macdonald (davymac)
487 — @vectorfunk — Eamonn Murphy (Vectorfunk)
460 — @darrylxxx — Darryl Collins (Banjax Web Design)

Doesn’t seem a lot, does it? Surely there are more.

(Yes, but don’t call me Shirley.)

Find designers on Twitter

Twellow is a searchable Twitter directory that can help you find graphic designers nearby (I’m listed even though I’ve never entered details, so I guess it’s comprehensive).

Twitterholic is another that gives more stats than Twellow. Here’s a top 100 list for Northern Ireland, but I see some users aren’t indexed.

Remember though, Twitter’s not a competition.

I’ve thought about adding an extra field to my comment form, where if you enter your Twitter username it’ll automatically add a link to your profile, kind of like how Darren does it on TwiTip. Can anyone help with that?

Update: 15 June 2009
I’ve installed the Twitip ID plugin, so you should now see an extra field in the comment form. Thanks for the tip-off, Rarst.

Lee also let me know about his new side-project, Tweet NI, which looks like a great way to find twits in Norn Irn.

In summary, can’t touch this.

Blogs, Mad about Design

David Airey — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:01:52 +0000

Blogs, Mad about Design is a new book from maomao publications. It showcases screenshots and brief descriptions from more than 250 blogs that are, well, mad about design.

All blogs are allocated a double-page spread, and what I like most about the collection is how the authors behind each site were asked to recommend three design blogs, also listed throughout the book.

It’s quite a hefty hardback, with more than 500 pages, so wouldn’t fit through my letterbox. I was still in bed when the postman called yesterday, but my neighbour was outside at the time, saving me a trip to the post office HQ (thanks, Steven).

No book about design blogs is complete without Design Observer (on Twitter). These three blogs get a special mention from the DO team:

Brand Flakes for Breakfast

If you’ve yet to visit, Brand Flakes for Breakfast is worth a browse. Author Darryl Ohrt (Twitter profile) is a top bloke, and lists these blogs as some of his faves:

Designers who Blog

Designers who Blog was one of my very first RSS subscriptions, and it’s a pleasure to call Cat (Twitter profile) a friend. She recommends these:

It’s Nice That

It’s Nice That aims to remove what is “nice” in the worlds of graphic design, illustration and the creative arts in general and turn it into something significant and sincere.

The three notable mentions from Will Hudson, Alex Bec and Jez Burrows (on Twitter) include:

Behance Team Blog

The Behance Team blog is there too, though is one of the very few that doesn’t feature a top three.

A year or so back, Behance founder Scott Belsky (on Twitter) kindly invited me over to create a portfolio, but I still haven’t found the time to upload anything. To those with a profile, how is Behance working for you?

Creative Curio

Like mine, the screenshots for Lauren’s Creative Curio were sent to the book’s editor before a site redesign. Lauren (Twitter profile) shares a few of her regular reads:

I Love Typography
David Airey (the money’s in the post)
Freelance Switch

I Love Typography

Who isn’t familiar with John Boardley’s I Love Typography? John (Twitter profile) recommends these household names (as do I):

swissmiss

Tina (Twitter profile) shares some fantastic links / products / resources on her site, and gives these three blogs a mention in the book:

The book contains loads of blogs I’ve yet to visit, and plenty I read regularly. A few more worthy mentions include Andy Rutledge, The Dieline, ideasonideas, Noisy Decent Graphics, Brand New, and AisleOne.

For more recommendations see the top 50+ graphic design blogs.

Both of my blogs (this one and Logo Design Love) were kindly included, and it was humbling to have a number of other blog authors list my site in their favourites. Thank you!

Inside cover

I checked on both the maomao publications website, and on Amazon, but can’t find the book offered for sale. If you know different, do let me know and I’ll update with a link.

Measuring the success, and failure, of branding

David Airey — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:47:49 +0000

Image courtesy of OutProve Technologies

With design, a failure is much easier to measure than a success. Especially when the cock-up costs your company tens of millions.

In the words of someone you know, but who I can’t recall, “Good design is invisible”, so we’re much more likely to kick up a fuss when it’s bad.

Here’s where you come in.

I’m looking for tales of branding success and failure to feature in my book. The search isn’t easy, and you all know a lot more than I do, so if you can share a story that shows how a change of brand identity affected a business (it could even be yours), please do get in touch.

Tropicana is an obvious case study to include. Now sure, there are a raft of external influences that can affect sales — the economy, changing markets, the loss of a competitor etc. — so it’s (usually) very difficult to blame such a sales slump entirely on a fresh company look. That said, this is definitely one of the more “cut and dry” scenarios.

Thanks in advance.

The vendor client relationship

David Airey — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:31:07 +0000

Here’s a sadly all-too-true video that shows what I’ve experienced with a lot of potential clients. I get the distinct impression I’m not alone.

Seem familiar?

Remember, it’s perfectly okay to say “No”. In fact, it can be necessary.

Via iLT on Twitter.

The beautiful Balearics

David Airey — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:10:51 +0000

Following a trip to Menorca (the slowest-paced Balearic island) here are a few amateur photos showing what to expect when you visit.

The bay of Cala Galdana (above) — the area where I stayed, and the view from my hotel balcony (below). I quickly pieced together a 180 degree panoramic shot from the balcony here.

The cosy streets of the Menorcan capital, Mahon (above) and walking through the old capital, Ciutadella (below).

A little section of Mahon harbour (above) and Naveta des Tudons (below) — the oldest roofed building in Spain at around 3,000 years old. The tourist guide I was reading said you can crawl inside, but the iron bars across the entrance stopped any chance. Bugger.

The latin above is inside Ciutadella’s impressive cathedral, and the ceramic tiles below are seen fronting many Menorcan houses.

Where is it?

Menorca is the easternmost of the Balearic islands shown below. Flights go direct to Mahon from Belfast (just under 3 hours).

I finished reading a couple of books whilst away: Made to Stick, by Chip & Dan Heath, and Buzz, by Emanuel Rosen. The first is ideal for anyone who writes — be it a blog, book, or similar. The authors detail what makes ideas take hold, and what makes them come unstuck. For instance, stats are notoriously difficult to remember, but tell a good story and people won’t forget. The second book is useful for those interested in word of mouth marketing, so if you have a service or product to sell, and you want to get people talking, I’d pick this one up.

Menorca’s a gorgeous place to visit, and with more beaches than neighbours Mallorca and Ibiza combined, it’s a great island to chill on.

As I say in the brief video at the top of this post, please bear with me as I read and respond to the 400+ emails needing attention.

Logo design process for VISSUMO

David Airey — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:17:14 +0000

VISSUMO is a provider of next generation touch technologies for industrial, architectural, retail, transportation, instructional, and entertainment applications. The company has recently undergone a name-change, from Infini Touch to VISSUMO, and it was my task to create the new logo and business card.

Design brief

My client expressed concern that it would be too difficult to capture the company technology using an image or mark, and a logotype was preferred from the outset.

This ties in with a rule I like to follow revolving around company names — an interesting or original name (such as Vissumo) should utilise a simple design (think Google), whereas a generic name should show a more complex design (think Sun).

Specific keywords for the project were clean, professional, durable, and technology-based (which gave me thoughts of a sans-serif font).

Brainstorming

Sketching

Logo option 1

A visual slice has been taken from the text, leaving a symbolization of two surfaces — the finger and the touch-screen. The slice doesn’t travel the full width of the company name, with the leading character (V) forming the connection that drives the technology.

The typeface used is Verlag Black, by H&FJ.

Logo option 2

The designer who came up with the VISSUMO name wanted to create a “visual” reference, with “sumo” having a size connotation. This design idea splits the syllables, placing emphasis on the visual, and incorporating a surface-like mark.

The typeface used is Knockout Sumo.

Colour options

We experimented with a number of different colours, with the final decision coming down to either red or blue. As one of the main competitors uses red (3M Touch Systems), the options (above) were decided against, and you can see the chosen blue below.

VISSUMO logo applied to the website

VISSUMO business card design

VISSUMO durability tests

The unique selling point is that users can interface with any semi-rigid touch screen surface — glass, plastic, metal, stone, wood, ceramic, or a combination of materials.

VISSUMO touch screens can withstand the force of a 9mm bullet — impressive (Engadget thought so too).

Test video #54 (spray paint vandalism) is another I liked, and you can view more VISSUMO video demos here.

Client testimonial

Because of a spin-off, our business needed to update our name and logo in a short time period. I was familiar with David’s work, but not sure if he could work with our time frame. To my delight, David accepted the project and quickly completed a fantastic design. We feel he understood our goals and created a great logo we can use for a long, long time. Kudos.

Garrick Infanger
President, VISSUMO

It was a pleasure working with Garrick, and I wish the VISSUMO team every success for the future.

Your thoughts are, as always, more than welcome.

David Airey » Graphic designer

HP invent

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