UX designer Christopher Butler has been killing it lately with his thoughtful and well-explained articles on the foundations of design. Remembering the basics is best practice for any designer, but it can be easy to get swept up in new design languages or the hot new trends. This article explains one the Gestalt principles: Similarity. Text bodies, all the way down to the grid your design is built on utilize this principle, and it’s an innate one that every user will have a reaction to, consciously or not.
Icons are a ubiquitous part of our lives now, they’re on pretty much everything we interact with on a daily basis. And there’s a reason for that! Images can convey concepts in a much more concise way than the supporting text to spell it out would. They’re convenient to save time and space, and improve interactions, whether you’re an illiterate medieval peasant or a cutting edge digital user. In this article, Kyle Blacklock takes a deep dive into the history of our pictorial design helpers, from hieroglyphs to IKEA instructions and beyond.
Unfortunately, even today, there are 40 cities inthe US that explicitly ban the display of the Pride flag. Ad agency Innocean USA and tech company Tool have created an AR filter you can add to Instagram to virtually fly the flag wherever you see fit, whether it’s banned or not. Along with the hashtag #SavetheRainbowFlag, this tool can help users raise and spread awareness of these policies that harm the LGBTQ+ community. And if that’s not enough for you, there’s also a complete toolkit from the ACLU to help make an even bigger impact.
The Cleveland Browns football team have unveiled their new logo! And while at first glance, it just looks like an imposing bull mastiff, the designer selected for the redesign, Houston Mark, hid eight easter eggs in the design that evoke the history of the team and the region. Houston submitted the logo to a redesign competition sponsored by the team in April, and obviously his hidden messages resonated with the people of Cleveland! From a guitar pick that evokes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to a hidden football shape, and more, the hidden symbols help give this logo a solid visual refresh.
Branding a product is fairly straightforward: with a well-defined user demographic, there are a lot of examples and well-known best practice next steps to be able to appeal to that demographic. But how do you brand a city? Think of your own city: you’ve got your favorite neighborhood you love to hang out in, and can’t imagine why other people like other areas. And the people in the other areas think the exact opposite of you, plus add in tourists and business interests, and you’ve got an amorphous and very poorly defined demographic that can make it really hard. This write up from It’s Nice That digs deep into some examples of recent city rebrands, how they hit the mark, and some strategy insights into their design thinking that can give some inspiration to all designers.
The winners of the 2023 Dieline Awards for best packaging are announced! The winners run the product gamut from speakers to eyeshadow to 7UP. Packaging has a quantifiable impact for consumer brands, and it’s the first impression your product gives to a potential customer. It’s certainly not a space you want to skimp on! One common theme you’ll see pop up among many of these winners: sustainability and plastic-free packaging. Check out all of the winners, and be inspired!
