http://christophermeeks.com/

This website is a portfolio website design by Christopher Meeks who is freelance website designer, logo designer and front-end developer. The website perfectly use minimalism as main design style. It clarity and simple without over decorated.

The website use grey and white as domain colors and only one text font that make the whole interface comfortable and clarity. All the main contents located in the center of the pages, empty spaces emphasis the contents and logo. Sometime overload contents or technique effect is equal to no contents. Audiences cannot pick up the significant point from clutter information and messy organization. Compared to complexity web design, this minimal design has deeply impression to the audiences.

The contents are well organized into three parts that including About, My Work and Contact. Christopher Meeks use just 3 slices symbolic to introduce himself in the About part. In the My Work sections, he used same style icons to represent his work instead of the whole original copy. When you want to view the details, readers can simply use mouse to click in each icons and there will a light box pop up to display.

What I like this portfolio website most is the negative space and contract design using on the layout. The main content and the background contract, the hallow logo by using the white color and the grey background conflict, the icons color contract, all these designs are consistency and create its own style which enhance people to memorize this web.

Absolut vodka!

Absolut Vodka, one of the famous swiss vodka brand in the world, is known as extraordinary bottle design. Every special version coming out, the bottle design is so tempting that sometime I think Absolut Vodka is more than a spirit brand but a art product.

Absolut Vodka bottle have its single design concept, depends on what favor is it, what is special event for the branding etc. For instance, for the Absolut Disco, the bottle designed as a disco ball surface. The press ad was also reflect to disco or clubbing life concept. For the different favors vodka, the bottles design will have equivalent colors of the favors. The bottle design utilise people moral concept approach target audiences, when they look at the bottle will connected to the real life and the brand personality as well.

Over the years Absolut has commissioned not only over 300 painters, but leading artists in all fields, including sculptors, glass designers, musicians and fashion designers.-Wikipedia

Absolut Vodka design is not limited in one style. Mix design elements like the bottle shape, color, texture, painting and patterns will never get costumers feel bored. Great branding designs sometime stand louder than a great product. Absolut Vodka successes is its design stand out in the crowd even with the brand label on. For those people not drink vodka, they may want to purchase it for the stylish bottle.

Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards

Cannon AIPP travelling exhibition was on Melbourne Federation Square. There are over 100 photo works by Australian photographers showing in this exhibition.

This photo is one of my most favourite one. I just love the overlook angle and the fantastic lighting.

The shadows of the people created the lines interacted with people and whole photo.

Dots, lines and plane composed to a interesting photo. It looks great in black and white as well.

This photo was shooting in a interesting angle. When people photograph building will usually from horizontal level or a little bit lower angle to construct a architecture landscape. Peter Rossi chose a totally different angle,which the lens was vertical up, the building and the sky compose to a circle shape. Thus whole photo would not be too hard and straight because of about the architecture building. When first sight on the photo, it appeal to me as movie poster instead a pure architecture photographic.

This photo taken by photographer Peter Coulson win the commercial Gold Awards.It is just so America style. The background, photo tones and colours hue (red, dark yellow and black), model make up and gesture are all point at America 50s or 60s style. Blonde hair and red lip, the model's make up like Marilyn Monroe, the sexy Goddess in America histroy. However, she was holding a baseball bat, a typical masculine sport in America. Feminine and masculine conflict inspire audience to think when they look at this photo.

The other photos by Peter Coulson showing in the exhibition are all present the contraction between soft feminine and masculine.

Process Journal

Process Journal is a design magazine publishing by quarterly, showcasing the best of Australian and international design.

When first saw this magazine in Mag Nation, it just capture your first sight. The lusciously fibrous printing stock you cannot help to get your mitts on. The cover of Process Journal use 2 PMS colors with blue foil and utilised a large overprint black foil texts. Prefect bind and high quality paper print that helps the whole magazine looks high-ended press.

Browsing inside the magazine layouts, it is easy to find that all the interface and element arrange are in the same strong style. Wisely using negative spaces, texts and the photo interaction, the colors using, all these design highlight Process Journal as outstanding design magazine.

Two columns layout and wide margin and padding appear organised and professional.

The white space look appropriate in overall frame.

Pictures are always utilised double pages spread or 3/4 page printing.

Typical design and fashion magazine layout arrangement.

Process Journal is a very interesting magazine to read, there are all best design in Australia and international. Until now Process Journal has published 4 issues. Those press insisted in same style and improve every single one.

The Power of Paper in Graphic Design

"Even with the growth of CD-ROMs, DVDs, and the World Wide Web, printed design is bigger than ever. There’s only one design element that separated digital from print: paper. In the world of print, paper choice influences every design project.”-Back cover of the book

Catharine Fishel, whom runs a full-service editorial company that specializes in working with designers and related industries, writes the Power of Paper in Graphic Design. The book illustrates how paper can act as the driving force behind the design and also how the paper choice influence and incorporated into design. It would be really useful to read for its significance. When designer finish the artwork, paper choice will always need to be considered. For instance, product package may need to choose hard paper in order to flow into shape; glossy paper looks nice and high quality for magazine printing etc.

There over 200 inspiration paper examples to show how paper been designed and formed. Page layout set as one example photo with some detail to explain the work. There are no overload texts but visual showcase and good use empty space that makes the book readable and enjoyable.