Meta-packaging. I’m into it.

Also, could this package have worked if the type wasn’t set in Helvetica? Hmm, something to think about.

My answer is no, it could not have. Any other typeface would have given it too much personality for the humour to come across. The viewer would have to either consciously or subconsciously digest not only the message but why it was set in that particular typeface. Also, it kind of just works.

via Holy Kaw

Eric Karjaluoto makes a compelling case for the standardization of design education. Well worth the read, if only for his break down of what is required of designers today.

“A capable designer needs [to] command a pencil and sketch out their ideas. These ideas, however, have to come from somewhere. Hence, training in ideation and conceptual development is necessary for any designer. This is how one moves past the belief that any random act is somehow “creative.”

read the rest of The Licensed Designer

2009 is almost over and you’d think the rounding out of a decade, especially the aughts of the future, would bring out the holographic confetti and bedazzled headdresses, but this year seems to be going out with a bit of a whimper. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the disheartening lack of year-end lists. What happened guys? Where’s my best fonts of 2009? My best new design firms of 2009? My best dubbed over 80’s cartoons of 2009? Sure, the music blogs have long made their top 50 lists, but those guys make lists in anticipation of lists they’re going to make later.

I had almost given up hope when, just yesterday, as I was making the rounds I came across Brand New’s Best and Worst Identities of 2009. It’s a beacon of light in an otherwise bleak pre-post-apocalyptic year end. As usual, Armin and the folks at Brand New have put together a wonderful collection of some of the year’s best (and worst) branding. While I’d probably move a few from the best to worst list, and vice versa, there are some selections that are definitely filed away in my inspiring work folder.

Easily my favorite, and number 2 on Brand New’s list is Landor’s work for the city of Melbourne. So much has already been said about this logo, and to be completely honest, I’m feeling a little lazy, so here’s a link to the original post on Brand New.

Second on my list (#6 on Brand New’s) would have to be Underware’s rebranding of MyFonts. How can you not love the little wavy hand in there? I thought we designers had all but abandoned visual puns and witty hidden messages in logos. Nope, and for good reason. Think about the first time you discovered the hidden arrow in that certain mail carriers logo, or the feeling you get every time a certain “a-to-z” online bookseller ships you a box with their smiling logo on the side. It makes a you feel good inside — and not because it’s laced with brandy.