BellamyStudio

BLOG: Centre of Attention

2011-08-01T12:50:49+00:00

Web Designer Simon Foster has set up a lovely site dedicated to the artwork, graphics and logos of record centre labels, and has just added a new section all about cover art. Makes for nice tea-break browsing…!

BLOG: Google subtly roll out some elegant refinements

2011-07-01T16:27:36+00:00

Over the last week we’ve been watching the Google search results page subtly evolve into something quite elegant. They have managed to retain their essential google-ness (rich blue text links, plenty of whitespace) but have introduced some new styling to page elements that make the whole google experience feel more aesthetically considered. The different Google services are now presented in a black bar across the top of the screen; previously these were blue link text on white. Underneath these, the Google branding and search box are now in a lightly tinted strip instead of floating on white. Finally, the search refinement options on the left are now grey text on white, with brick-red headings. All in all, the page feels more structured, and more pleasant to look at (and use). So, hats off to the Google design team who have quietly made some great visual improvements to the search.

BLOG: Koloman Moser

2011-06-07T19:43:36+00:00

Koloman Moser (1868-1918) was an Austrian artist who exerted considerable influence on twentieth-century graphic art and one of the foremost artists of the Vienna Secession movement and a co-founder of Wiener Werkstätte. Beyond his graphic work for books, postage stamps and magazines, his designs in architecture, furniture, jewelry, and textiles helped characterize the work of this era. Moser drew upon the clean lines and repetitive motifs of classical Greek and Roman art and architecture in reaction to the Baroque decadence of his turn-of-the-century Viennese surroundings. In 1901/02, he published a portfolio of elegant graphic designs for tapestries, fabrics, and wallpaper entitled Die Quelle (“The Source”). Along with Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann, Koloman was one of the designers for Austria’s leading art journal Ver Sacrum.

BLOG: Julius Klinger

2011-06-07T19:30:33+00:00

Julius Klinger (1876-1942) was an Austrian painter, draftsman, illustrator, commercial graphic artist, typographer and writer. In 1895, he found his first employment with the Vienna fashion magazine Wiener Mode. Here he became acquainted with Koloman Moser, who would later be his teacher. In 1897 he relocated to Berlin, where he worked extensively as a commercial graphic artist until 1915. Together with the printing house Hollerbaum und Schmidt, he developed a new style of functional poster design that soon gained him international reputation. Beginning in 1918, Klinger designed a comprehensive and noted campaign promoting the “Tabu” company’s cigarette rolling paper, that was advertised all over Vienna in 1918/19. Klinger devised a promotional strategy, spanning from small newspaper ads to huge billboards.

BLOG: Web type is coming of age

2011-06-02T08:02:34+00:00

This week Typekit have announce that Paul Renner’s classic geometric typeface Futura is now available as a web font. It looks like a lot of time has been spent on getting this just right, and to many designers it will represent a real milestone in the advancement of designing for the web.

BLOG: Five months of Kinect

2011-05-16T10:21:10+00:00

This short film outlines just some of the innovative ways that creative developers have started to explorer the different opportunities opened up by Microsoft’s Kinect. It’s fantastic to see interaction being explored in so many ways, and that such a relatively inexpensive piece of hardware can make all this possible. Whilst their operating systems may be lagging behind and their browsers often be a source of frustration, Microsoft really do seem to be leading the way in experimental user interaction, which is a hugely exciting field, thanks to Kinect and their latest ‘Surface 2’ touchscreen. Whilst their own interfaces trail behind Apple, by opening up the field to developers worldwide, really exciting possibilities can be explored. We’re watching this space closely. Further excitement comes from news that Nintendo are also set to unveil their new Wii console at E3 next month. Having totally revolutionized user interaction some four years ago, it’s exciting to speculate about what they might have lined up next month.

BLOG: Tom Eckersley

2011-04-15T18:41:33+00:00

Tom Eckersley (1914-97) was an English artist and one of the foremost poster designers and graphic communicators of the twentieth century. In addition to poster making and book illustration he also produced magazine covers and logos. His designs often employed an abstract like quality and collage to convey their message, marring simple text and imagery to relay complex messages in a direct way. There is one of Eckersley’s Transport for London posters in the Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, at the moment. The use of bold colours and simplified form ties in with other posters on show, but the use of Helvetica rather than Johnston Sans gives a more neutral European look to the work.

BLOG: René Gruau

2011-04-06T20:44:10+00:00

Renowned illustrator René Gruau (1909-2004), created some of the most iconic fashion images of the 20th century and influenced the graphic style of a whole generation of fashion illustrators. Gruau’s illustrations for his friend and long-time patron Christian Dior chart one of the most successful creative relationships of 20th century fashion. His bold lines and fluid style were perfectly in tune with the spirit of Dior, capturing the energy, elegance and audacity of the brand. Of his continuing dedication to silhouette and outline Gruau said that ‘with a single line we can express grandeur, nobility, sensuality, the line synthesises sensations and concentrates knowledge.’

BLOG: Creative Choices

2011-04-04T09:36:10+00:00

After several months of planning, designing, user-testing and building, our largest web-project to date went live on Friday! Several hundred articles and 20,000 members have now been re-homed in a totally new site, running on a publishing system that makes it easy for the editorial team to keep the site up to date. We worked with the brilliant team at Creative & Cultural Skills to totally re-think, redesign and and rebuild the Creative Choices website, which is aimed at helping anyone in the creative industries to further their career or develop their business. It’s been a fantastic project and we’ll be enhancing the site as time goes on.

BLOG: Tom Purvis

2011-04-01T19:41:17+00:00

Tom Purvis (1888-1959) was a British painter and commercial poster artist. He studied at Camberwell School of Art and worked for six years at the advertising firm of Mather and Crowther before becoming a freelance designer. Purvis is best known for his bold, graphic, two-dimensional style. He used large blocks of vivid flat colour and eliminated detail. From 1923 to 1945 Purvis worked for the LNER under the direction of Advertising Manager William Teasdale and then his successor Charles Dandridge, who both allowed him considerable freedom in his designs. During his time at the LNER Purvis produced over 100 posters which avoided depictions of the trains themselves, instead portraying the resorts that were the holiday destinations of travellers and the leisure pursuits that could be enjoyed there. As well as his work for the LNER, Purvis also designed posters for the Gentlemans’ outfitters Austin Reed and for the 1932 British Industries Fair. We look forward to the Wolfsonian’s new exhibition Art for All: British Posters for Transport which will explore the evolution of transport posters in twentieth-century Britain, showcasing some of the world’s most recognizable images produced by the London Underground and the British Railways. On view through April 14 to August 14, 2011.

WORK: Examples of print finishes

2009-11-26T17:39:30+00:00

There is a wide selection of print finishes available to complement every project and budget.

WORK: Print projects

2009-11-26T17:38:44+00:00

We have a great deal of experience in print. Whether it be a full colour perfect bound book, two colour poster, foiled invitation or embossed logo we know the perfect solution to fit your style and budget.

WORK: Hawke’s Point

2009-11-26T04:37:04+00:00

Hawke’s Point is a selection of luxury holiday apartments and penthouses that have been beautifully furnished to offer an unprecedented luxury five-star self catering stay.

WORK: Daniel Sørensen

2009-11-26T04:34:12+00:00

Daniel is one of Norway’s most promising fashion designer’s and we were proud to be asked to create his brand identity. His collections deliver sharp lines and attractive details, and now, so do his graphics.

WORK: Dorsch Gallery

2009-11-26T04:27:02+00:00

The Dorsch Gallery is one of the best established galleries in Miami’s flourishing art scene. Based in a large 7000 square foot warehouse in Wynwood, it was one of the first galleries in the area, along with Locust Projects and the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery.

WORK: Examples of our website work

2009-11-25T16:13:13+00:00

We have produced websites for a huge array of clients from the simple to complex. Take a look in the website section to see what we can do.