In this quick tip I show you a cool and quick shortcut for selecting hex color codes in Photoshop.

I’m starting a new regular weekly post so you guys don’t miss out on the best of the random cool stuff I find on the interwebs! I’m picking 5 of my favorite finds from the past week that inspired me, made me smile or are just worthy of your attention! If you like what you see head on over to Daily Design Bits and grab the feed!

Meatscapes!

Landscapes are boring… check out this meatscape by Carl Warner.

Clever Paper Logo

Clever logo – Recycled paper printing. Just in case you don’t see it – its a piece of paper curled at the corner to form an R

Beardhead!!!!

Beardhead! http://beardhead.com/ – i’m totally getting one of these this winter…

Plant Lamp

Plant Lamp by Ana Chillida. Made me smile

Line Lamp

Another interesting lamp concept by Dima Loginoff. Love the emphasis on the line!

I’ll admit it – I had a HUGE design crush on El Lissitsky when I was in school. I had just discovered Russian Avant Guard work and was in love with the red and black color scheme, harsh angles and visual punctuation, and geometric simplicity. Whats not to love? We can learn a lot from El Lissitzky’s work and apply it to our own designs.

Visual Hierarchy

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Visual hierarchy is the grouping of elements arranged according to emphasis.

Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919) This is one of the most famous examples of El Lissitzky’s work. The design of this poster utilizes direction, movement and hierarchy. Through the use of geometric shapes, color, and size your eye is directed from left to right in the poster. Your eye is first drawn to the large red triangle, and then to the white circle and then the remaining black area surrounding the circle. After this you notice the text and all the secondary elements of the poster.

When designing consider the placement of elements in your composition. Do you want your viewer to see this element first? Consider placing it in the top left. Is it the most important element? Consider making it bold, or large, or using a color that stands out from all the other elements. In the same fashion consider the importance of secondary information.

Not sure if the hierarchy in your design is working? Print out your design, take a step back and squint and see which elements stand out to you. You can also ask others not involved with the design to tell you the order in which they see things.

Visual Punctuation

For the Voice 1923

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Suprematicheskii Skaz (About 2 Squares) 1922

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Visual punctuation can include space intervals, rules, or pictorial elements to separate, connect, and emphasize words or lines.

Another design element Lissitzky is known for is visual punctuation. In the book and magazine layouts above Lissitzky uses large type, horizontal and diagonal rules to direct your eyes around the page.

When designing consider where you want our users eyes to go and pause within the composition. Add visual elements to direct your user and make sure the direction is clear. Make them stop and read important information with design elements.

Texture & Depth

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Texture and depth are another way to add visual interest and direct your users attention.

The Constructor (1925) is a photo montage that features movement, contrast texture and depth. (Can you believe this was all created BEFORE Photoshop?)

Depth adds detail to composition and draws a user in. The users eyes pauses at the illusion of depth created where the hand intersects with the eye. The strong lines and texture of the graph paper also cause the users eye to be directed in a vertical or horizontal motion.

When designing consider adding depth by layering photographs using blending modes in photoshop or through some other means. Add texture that directs your users eye around the composition and directs them towards important design elements.

Looking for more Avant Garde inspiration?

I know I know! I can’t seem to get enough of the dymanic geometric design either! For more inspiration from Russian Avant Garde artists visit: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2002/russian/

Also check out this flickr photoset of avant garde books: http://www.flickr.com/photos/migueloks/sets/72157612436281954/

What have you learned from designers that came before us?

Share what you have learned from designers past! Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

In this quick tip I show you how to use the fastest, easiest, and quite possibly BEST ie6 png fix out there! (DD_Belated PNG Fix)

Leave a comment and let me know what you think! And don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes.

I was feeling a bit stumped when it came to color and design this past week. I was browsing web galleries and looking through flickr – Nothing seemed to get me out of my design slump. So, I decided to just take a closer look at all the everyday objects around me in my house and in my neighborhood for inspiration. This is what I found:

Flowers in the public gardens

I love the color and shape of these flowers – this picture does not do them justice! There are such a vibrant purple.

Waves at the beach

I love the way the tide foams…The texture of the bubbles in amazing.

The little garden in front of my apartment building

I find the symetry of this little garden area of my building inspiring. It feels so balanced and peaceful.

Fireworks

Again this crappy picture does not do these fireworks justice, the colors and sounds were so crisp, bright and vibrant.

Striped pattern on my silverware

So I’m a nerd and bought striped silverware, but I LOVE the way the light reflects off the shiny and dull stripes – especially when its in this red container. This makes for a great color scheme.

Pattern on my hat

I am a stripe person if you couldn’t tell – i love this minimal blue stripe pattern on one of my hats. I would love to use this as a color scheme or background pattern for a website.

Plaid shirt

Again with the patterns, i’m also in love with plaid. This shirt has an interesting 80’s-ish color scheme.

Sometimes you just need to open your eyes and realize that you are surrounded by amazing and beautiful things!Even the most mundane things like silverware can be inspiring!

What everyday things are YOU inspired by?

Leave a comment and post a link to a picture! Let me know what you think!

I’m on vacation for the next few days so there won’t be any posts for a week or so. But… I thought I would show you what I was up to This is what nerds do on vacation!

Btw- if you are looking for color inspiration take a look at kites! Lots of bright and shiny color schemes!

I was at Target this past weekend ogling over lovely packaging when I found Mt Dew and Pepsi throwback! Looks like they are taking a cue from the General Mills retro cereal packaging! I was a hardcore Mt. Dew drinker as a kid and its cool to see the vintage packaging again. For some reason I only thought of taking pictures with my cell phone instead of actually BUYING some…The new ‘throwback’ is supposed to be made with real sugar instead of that corn syrup crap!

Pics I snagged at target:

Advertisement announcing the new retro throwback packaging:

Really….really retro Mountain dew packaging! Way before my time!

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Check out the progression of the Mt. Dew logo from the 70’s to today:

Check out this mid 90’s Arabic Mt Dew can:

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I used to buy glass bottles of like these at the gas station when I was a kid!!! And….anyone remember mellow yello???

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Not sure why anyone would want this…but apparently Mt Dew code red has chap stick…

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And last but not least…there are aparently other ‘perverted’ flavors of mt dew out there (besides the red and orange crap…) who knew! I’m totally a purist when it comes to Mt Dew – original only please!!!

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What do you guys think?

Are you digging the retro packaging? Is this just a silly marketing ploy or is it cool? Chime in and let me know what you think!

Color is everywhere and inspiration can be found in anything. I was recently shopping for new running shoes and was amazed by the color pallets that I saw! So may bright and shiny colors! Hope you enjoy this inspiring color round up. (and yay! Its marathon Monday!!!)

Newton

I was blinded by the pinkness of these ultralight newton shoes. The pink and bright yellow give me a very feminine, Easter color vibe.

Nike

The color scheme of these Nike shoes are calm, cool and collected. I’d love to use this color scheme in a business setting.

Brooks

Brooks makes rugged running shoes. I love the bold combination of complementary colors red and green paired with a muted gray/green.

Asics

This is the most colorful pair of shoes I saw when I was out shopping! Not really sure where I would use this color scheme, but it definitely gets your attention.

Brooks

This color scheme screams ‘pay attention to me’. The black/yellow combination i used in construction for this reason.

Nike

I love the blue, green. bright  yellow combination on these shoes. This color combo screams spring.

Adidas

These Adidas shoes have a stark – black colorful pallet that shows power and masculinity.

Newton

Another bright pair of newton shoes – this is the mens verzion of the of the pink shoe. The color pallet of this shoe screams ‘fast’ to me.

New Balance

I love the retro purple, black, orange color scheme of these shoes. Reminds me of my favorite backetball team as a kid – The Phoenix Suns.

Asics

Last but not least – these shiny orange running shoes scream ’speed’ and ‘masculinity’.

What’s your favorite colorful shoe?

Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite shoe color scheme is! Thanks for reading!

I spent a semester abroad in Rome, Italy when I was in school. While I was there (studying very…very hard) I took a trip to Zurich where I visited a poster museum. Much to my surprise the exhibit was displaying Italian poster design from Milano. Check the pics I took and keep in mind that these were all designed before Illustrator of InDesign were invented!!!!

Barilla Pasta by Erberto Carboni 1952

Sirenella by Max Huber 1946

I love the dynamic elements in this radio poster by Heinz Waibl 1959

Max Huber 1957 500 Miglia di Monza

Italia URSS by Max Huber 1966

Olivetti Poster by Anna Monika Jost 1966

Love the playfulness of this Olivetti poster by Giovanni Pintori 1950

I love how the type overlays the city map in this poster.

Max Huber 1958 Bergamo 1 Grand Premio

Max Huber

I love the color and warmth of this poster by Silvio Oppola

Salvatore Gregoriete 1969 Mare Grande Mare

I love the simple juxtaposition of image and type in this poster

Pirelli Tires Poster by Bob Noorda 1959

I love the play between the foreground and background typography. I also love that you can see through the black a bit. Nothing digital can ever simulate this printing process!

Pronto by Franco Grignani 1958

Franco Grignani 1957

Fiat Car Posters – Felix Humm 1970

Bonus!!!

I also snagged some pics of some vintage and non-vintage posters in Zurich, and northern Italy.

These last 2 posters mean a lot to me. One of the first graphic designers I was inspired by was A.M. Cassandre. In order to get accepted to the graphic design program at my school we had to go through portfolio reviews and write a lengthy paper on a poster. This was the poster I was assigned: The Nord Express! Needless to say I about shat myself when I saw the original poster in the studio of Rosmary Tissi and Sigfriend Odermatt (famous Swiss graphic designers…go look them up!)

Another famous A.M. Cassandre poster!

What’s your favorite vintage poster?

Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite (pre-computer designed) poster is!

So I randomly stumbled upon a few commercials last night while watching CNN. Both commercials are very interesting in…their own way. I love seeing bananas being used in advertising . Click read more to view the videos!

The first is a Sprint commercial with tons of lovely data-info-facts. I think this is a really well done commercial that throws a lot of facts at you but is still memorable. What do you guys think?

The second video is a crazy Japanese commercial for Dole featuring the Banana Man! Not really anything of substance here, just thought I’d throw this in for laughs. Although, this commercial did prompt me to go out and buy bananas!