It is one of the industries where the lifestyle that each brand seems to offer is as, if not more, important than the taste. Which is why it seems strange that Heineken are re-branding themselves. They’re only retouching their corporate identity whilst leaving their beer brand well alone. Their new logo is now all in upper case with a red spark on the end. The capital letters hark back to their logo when they were first created which was also in caps, and will serve to distinguish it from the beer brand.  The star (or spark as they call it) show their spirit and energy.

Heineken is the largest beer brand in the world, but bigger isn’t always better. When you buy a beer from a corporation it’s sometimes all too obvious how it’s designed to sell, not entertain. For heart and soul sometimes you have take it back to the roots.

Mission Springs Brewery – Blonde Bombshell Ale

Nothing helps a plane fly like having a giant woman sit on top of it. This beer looks logical and delicious, so much so that it won an award. Just be careful with those propellers.

Blackbird – Odell Brewing Co.

This was a label designed by The Tenfold Collective for a competition that the Odell Brewing Co. ran to find a design for their new beer. Unfortunately it didn’t win but it’s too good to consign to dustbin. The absence of the beer from Odell’s website suggests that the beer wasn’t too good though.

Jan Fris Rest in Peace Memorial Brewing Project - Cabbage Creative

This is a very special beer, it is part of a project by the Cabbage Creative as a memorial of their friend Jan Fris. Each bottle is beautifully designed with a small story about Fran on the label. Not only is the presentation visually stunning but each beer’s flavour and taste is linked to one of Fris’s virtues. There can’t be many people who inspire such devotion nor many friends with the determination and foresight to see something like this through. Make sure to check out the labels in their full glory.

If you need something designed then why not submit a brief on the Creative Services Exchange.

The Eames husband-and-wife team were two of the most important American designers of the 20th century. They made innovative contributions to furniture, architecture, and industrial design, as well as photographic arts and toys.

Playful, investigative, imaginative, and insightful, they left a legacy of inspiring design that crosses over into other disciplines, including graphic and web design.

This week, I introduced my Graphic Design 1 students to Charles and Ray Eames by watching their film, Powers of Ten. It was fun to revisit the Eames and pay tribute to them. When I was studying graphic design at Mass. College of Art, our publications design teacher showed us this film. For me, it was a memorable lesson on the concepts of macro and micro.

As designers, we explore the world through a variety of lenses, always searching for a unique way to present information. If we zoom out of a scene to encompass a wider perspective, that macro view may provide essential context for understanding the content. If we zoom into a scene to get deeper into the details, that micro view could offer new information previously not considered or known.

Each unique view can be used in an endless number of ways: graphic elements, grids and other organizational tools, image backgrounds, etc. If you are designing a sports catalog, try zooming into the texture of the basketball and see what interesting options develop. If you are designing an annual report, a macro view of the company’s headquarters might provide an insightful context for why the company is so committed to its resident community. Applying macro and micro concepts can enhance your design with patterns, structures, layers, and metaphors, thereby enlivening the page and deepening the understanding of the material.

Further Info:

http://www.eamesoffice.com/
http://designmuseum.org/design/charles-ray-eames
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames
http://www.eamesgallery.com/
http://www.hermanmiller.com/Designers/Eames
http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/design_icons_charles_and_ray_eames

Many thanks to Anne for sharing this article with us.

Igor Marisko

David Enker

Dina Barbosa

Warren Prasek

James Owen

Glenn Tucker

Want to use one of these designers for your next project? Submit a brief

Product designer James Owen has been in the industry over 15 years and worked with some top clients. His work has been featured in many magazines and books, even winning numerous awards. We are delighted that James took this opportunity to speak with us

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You have worked with many top brands , (Nike, Microsoft, Philips) but do you have a favourite project you have worked on?

There really is no “favorite” project for me. It’s always difficult to be objective about my own work, so I prefer to look forward to the next project, the next experience. What excites me about design is the act of creation and coming up with something new, different, or both. The process is what’s fun. There certainly is satisfaction when a design makes it to the retail shelf, but It’s about achieving and learning something new.

What is your favourite letter of the alphabet & why?
That’s a pretty original question! I would guess that the letter “Q” is my favorite closely followed by the letter “X” as runner up. The letter “Q” isn’t used very often in the English language (not much use for it really) therefore it tends to have more impact when it is used. Plus, it has that hard “K” sound which gives it importance and gets attention. “X” is just a great letter and speaks to mystery and experimentation. It’s always useful to indicate that something is high-tech, advanced, or special.

How did you first get interested in design, specifically product design ?
The usual path that any designer worth their weight takes to get involved with design: lots of drawing and playing with Legos as a kid. Building and re-building. drawing and re-drawing. That tends to hone the creative instinct and one has to be completely devoted to the process of creation to keep drawing, building, and refining an object again and again. That’s the only way that one can achieve any sort of proficiency and skill in design is to practice and hone one’s innate sense of what’s “right” on the page or in 3D space.

Do you have any ambitions as a designer? Or, Is there a project you wished you worked on?
I think you have to be innately ambitious as a designer or you’ll never really make it in this profession. And when I say “ambition” I mean a true hunger for the profession and the craft. If you come at it purely as a means to make a living you won’t really do well and you won’t be happy. It’s not a profession for the faint-of-heart or impassionate. You have to totally love it and devote yourself to it.
There are too many projects to list here that I wish I could’ve worked on or hopefully will work on! I learn new things whenever my company embarks on a product that we’ve never designed before. It’s challenging and exciting and we’ve been successful applying our methodology and philosophy to new challenges. I’ve been fortunate to work on everything from transportation to footwear to furniture. One of my business development goals is to add environmental and interior design projects for retail or commercial spaces. I’m always on the lookout for new opportunities in new categories to express my point of view and myself.

How much creative freedom are you given in a new project? Or do the companies have very strict brand guidelines?
That greatly depends on the client and project. It also depends o n your reputation and how you enter the consultant/client relationship. If you already have a well-established brand name you’re likely to have a greater amount of freedom and you’ll have a chance at the choice projects that many lesser known firms don’t get. However, if you can establish a good working relationship with a client and you’re willing to take chances then doors to better, more strategic projects tend to open up. Sometimes clients will come to us and say “What kind of product do you think we should be making?”. That’s the best of all possible opportunities because you can define the client’s brand and message, it’s persona really, when you have full control over their product or range of produ cts.