How do you create a distinctive look and feel for a website that helps set it apart from the rest of the marketplace? Type, font, colour, image choice? Where does the inspiration come from for creating the best solution at the right time for the right client?

I recently found myself asking just that after finishing a project. Before I started designing I knew that one of my key tasks was to find a typographic style that would not only unify the site’s content but also make the site feel different from its well established competition.

Here’s an example of the typographic style we put together for the site: (I’ve used a background image and font colour a mile away from the content of the original site so as not to cloud the issue)

The idea for using type in this way — at an angle on a white background — seemingly came fully formed. However, when I step back, I’ve found it very intriguing to ask myself where the inspiration for this part of the design came from.
Read the rest of this entry

Notes from an internal review meeting. It’s possible that the design may need more work.

I’ve been amazed by these photos ever since I first saw them a couple of years ago.

They’re of an art installation in San Francisco called ‘There is Nothing Wrong in This Whole World’. Chris Cobb, a local artist, rearranged every single one of the 20,000 books in the Adobe Book shop by colour.

Read the rest of this entry

Last weekend I found myself ambling through Southwark, walking off a large lunch. As I turned the corner of the street I saw this great sign fixed to the side of a building:

Being a lover of typography and signs that fascinate and intrigue, I couldn’t help but take a picture. This started me thinking about how the language of street signs has changed over the years and how much ‘street furniture‘ contributes to the defacto visual identity of the UK.

Read the rest of this entry