Lin Shaobin

This is a beautiful branding and packaging design by Lin Shaobin for the Xinlin Tea House. The branding identity is very traditional, cultural, and rustic with the feeling of sophistication. This gives a sense of very refinement and elegance to the tea that is being made. This also makes consumers think of high-quality and fine ingredients. 

There is consistency in the branding with the wooden textures, hand character drawings, and minimalistic aesthetics. These particular aesthetics help to complete the branding identity by providing value and a certain personality. In addition, the packaging perfectly mimics the architectural design of the tea house, which keeps to the sophistication of the brand and gives unity to all the designs. I also love how the packaging has very simple illustrations of the landscape and tea house itself. The cover of the package seems like to have a story to make the product more relatable to the consumer. I think this helps to build trust with the clients and gives authenticity to the merchandise. 

Pedersen, B. Martin. "Lin Shaobin, Xinlin Tea House." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 56-57. Editorial.

Studio C

This is an editorial by the creative consultants in Studio C for Konica Minolta Business Solutions. The purpose of the book was to celebrate their new printing system and the concept was to relate it with speed and power that is seen in technology and nature. The printing unit is a high-speed, high-volume, black and white digital press. Therefore all the images are in black and white, and have different concepts to portray speed. All the concepts are visually creative and stimulating. All the images have a sense of movement with the usages of lines and cropped figures. The way that certain figures are cropped allows the mind engage in the design and to intuitively connect the picture, which helps complete the illusion and idea of movement. Specific pictures were also chosen so that viewers can easily reference and connect the idea of speed. The intentional curves and misplacement of type helps to complement the concepts as well. It completes the random unity within each composition. The random and asymmetrical balance makes each concept more aesthetically appealing to draw the eye of the viewers and is necessary since movement is spontaneous and chaotic. However, all the page designs are wonderfully done so that the there is enough balance between contrast and weight so that there is still unity and understanding. 

Pedersen, B. Martin. "Studio C, Creative Consultants. Konica Minolta Business Solutions." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 179. Editorial.

Starlight Music Series

This is a collaboration project between Michael Gericke and Tishman Speyer for Pentagram. The concept is simple and abstract but gets the message across as well as the spirit and ambiance of the concert. The choice of being black and white also gives the poster a more upscale and nighttime, elegant vibe. The straight lines add to the gracefulness of the design and provides symmetrical balance. Additionally, the lines provide a sense of unity to the design. Whereas, the circular stars have a random balance to make the composition more interesting. The heaviness of the microphone helps to create weight to stabilize the design and the stars create depth to form the sky to make the building look like it's floating. This slight illusion with the opaque stars also lets the microphone and building to stand out more to bring the viewers focus to the center of the poster. In addition, the typography is able to complement the line design and provide more unity to the composition by having the same thickness and straight angles. The san serif is very modern and sleek to complete the city night feel.  

Pedersen, B. Martin. "Starlight Music Series." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 151. Editorial.

Gene Siskel Film Center Poster Invitation

This is a poster by Jamie Koval for the Gene Siskel Film Center honoring Morgan Freeman for winning the Renaissance Award. The design is simple and elegant, but till very dynamic and engaging. The coloring, lighting, contrast, and strong portraiture of Morgan Freeman brings about a strong presence and personality to the poster. It definitely grabs attention and gives a sense of Freeman's character. The photo really grounds the design and gives stability. Whereas, the typography brings movement and rhythm to the composition. A serif font was chosen to complement the elegance of the concept. However, Koval does a beautiful job in making the traditional typeface a bit more modern and fun by adding thin diagonal lines to create a sense of motion. To further the perception of motion, Koval purposefully cuts the words in half, but in a subtle way with the lines so that it would not take away from the photo. I also thought the way the typography was done was a great concept for a cinema poster because the moving words feel like a movie reel or title sequence. Overall, this is a very effective design that is able to feature Morgan Freeman for his award in a very stylish and sophisticated way. 

Pedersen, B. Martin. "The Gene Siskel Film Center Poster Invitation." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 147. Editorial.

Renwick

This was a collaboration project between Toshiaki Ide, IGI USA Core Group, and IF Studio. They created this beautiful brochure for the Renwick American Art Museum in Washington, DC. They did a wonderful job with the concept of adding a modern touch to history. It definitely appeals to the younger crowd. The photography shows diversity and simplicity with the white background so that it only focuses on the people. Therefore it maximizes the display of their outfits and hairstyles to effectively portray the style of that era. They also chose a very fun typeface with a lot of personality that feels both traditional and modern, which complements the characters very well. The way the numbers are enlarged with vibrant colors makes the design very friendly and welcoming as well. It helps to easily guide the viewers' eye to specific information on the brochure and provides the design a lot of movement with the asymmetrical balance. Overall, the imagery and placement of the information makes a very interactive design that helps to engage the audience and attracts them to what the museum has to offer.

Pedersen, B. Martin. "Renwick." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 62-63. Editorial.

Target

Of course Target would have an amazing design and marketing team. I am constantly blown away at how creative they can get with their logo and how they cleverly incorporate it into different contexts. The possibilities are seriously endless for them. The designs are usually very playful, trendy, and modern. The color palette is typically limited to red and white with one or two additional colors occasionally. This provides consistency for their brand. The chosen red is very vibrant, which grabs a lot of attention and gives off a very happy and energetic feeling. The creative usage of their logo or how they use different techniques to complete their logo also makes their designs very distinct. The shape of the target is very captivating and guides the eye directly to the middle. Additionally, the target logo gives all their designs a sense of unity with the repeating circles and colors . All these qualities make their designs very effective and unique.

Pedersen, B. Martin. "Target Creative - Self Initiated." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 216. Editorial.

Jorge Calleja

This is an Oreo campaign by Jorge Calleja. I thought this was a clever and creative concept with a very well executed composition. The whole theme of the poster is very trendy and fun that aims towards a younger audience. There is a lot of playfulness incorporated into the texture of the milk and type. The milk forms abstract bodies to the oreo heads, which provides a lot of rhythm and movement to the characters. The hand generated type is made from the same texture to give unity and to complement the image. Additionally, the light blue background helps add to the friendly imagery because it is a very cool and soft color. It is also a nice contrast to bring out the milk men figures. Whereas, the bright orange basketball makes a good spot color that quickly draws the viewers' eye. It brings attention right to the middle of the design and guides you towards the milk men playing basketball to quickly understand the concept. Lastly, the play on words with the imagery and the brand identity completes the whole composition. The brand is well known for dunking the cookies in milk, and placing the cookies in this creative context helps the viewers to better relate with the product. 

Pedersen, B. Martin. "Jorge Calleja - The Martin Agency." Graphic Design Annual 2016: 217. Editorial.