Christmas Ideas For Branding Geeks

And I count myself as one of them, so no offence meant.
Txx

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Logotype by Michael Evamy

Logotype is the definitive modern collection of logotypes, monograms and other text-based corporate marks. Featuring more than 1,300 international typographic identities, by around 250 design studios, this is an indispensable handbook for every design studio, providing a valuable resource to draw on in branding and corporate identity projects. Logotype is truly international, and features the worlds outstanding identity designers. Examples are drawn not just from Western Europe and North America but also Australia, South Africa, the Far East, Israel, Iran, South America and Eastern Europe.

Contributing design firms include giants such as Pentagram, Vignelli Associates, Chermayeff & Geismar, Wolff Olins, Landor, Total Identity and Ken Miki & Associates as well as dozens of highly creative, emerging studios. Retaining the striking black-and-white aesthetic and structure of Logo (also by Michael Evamy) and Symbol, Logotype is an important and essential companion volume.

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The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier

THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand-building. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a “charismatic brand”—a brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:

• the new definition of brand
• the five essential disciplines of brand-building
• how branding is changing the dynamics of competition
• the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand
• why collaboration is the key to brand-building
• how design determines a customer’s experience
• how to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply
• the importance of managing brands from the inside
• 220-word brand glossary

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And while you’re buying all those Christmas presents online, why not effortlessly do some good – visit Give as you Live to find out how.

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‘The Book That Can’t Wait’ – A Book That Demands Our Attention

I love the idea of this – a book whose ink disappears within two months of it being opened. It may seem throw-away, but the short time-period of it would actually make you pay attention and read it…before it’s too late. And maybe it will reignite our passions for printed material rather than electronic.
Txx

Buenos Aires-based bookshop and publisher Eterna Cadencia has released El Libro que No Puede Esperar – which translates as ‘The Book that Cannot Wait’ – an anthology of new fiction printed in ink that disappears after two months of opening the book. Silk-screened using a special ink, the book comes sealed in air-tight packaging that, once opened, allows the printed material to react with the atmosphere. The result is that after two months, the text vanishes. With much discussion currently centering on portable electronic readers and e-books, deemed to be bringing about the death of the physical novel, the creators aimed to add a bit of magic to the anthology, as well as encourage buyers to actually read it once they’ve received it instead of leaving it in their ‘to do’ pile. As the authors inside are all previously unpublished, the concept, developed with help from ad agency Draftfcb, acts as a way to ensure that readers engage with as much of the material as possible while they have the chance. As the video below explains: “If people don’t read their first books, they’ll never make it to a second.”

Via Springwise

Book / Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude As It Gets

A stunningly inspirational book for all image-makers and/or lovers of true creativity.
Txx

Jean-Paul Goude is a modern legend in the world of commercial art. From his New York days with Esquire magazine to his latest work for Galeries Lafayette, he has consistently provoked and delighted those who have encountered his work. He was Grace Joness Pygmalion, creating unforgettable images of her, from androgyne to cyber-superwoman to supreme diva. This volume, published to accompany a major retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, is a celebration of his creative zest and perfectionism, and his unique affinity for making fresh and engaging work. Around 600 images are on show, including many working documents published here for the first time, from inspired doodles to final images that sparkle with creative vigour. Selected and arranged by Goude himself, they present a gallery of artworks that have redefined advertising and brand photography as we know them. Sexy, irreverent and full of humour, this book will inform and instruct all those concerned with the art of image-making, whether professionals or simply those prepared to be entertained by chic, witty images that work.

Available here.

Christmas Ideas For Designers, Or Food Lovers, Or Designers Who Are Food Lovers

I really don’t like to give much away with my short, succinct post titles, do I?! These are, in fact, 3 books I have earmarked for myself but would make great gifts for the designer/food lover in your life.
Txx

First up is 1000 Fonts by Bob Gordon, a great resource book for young and (ahem) advanced designers – each typeface is displayed in its entirety with a brief introduction and suggestions for use, and there are hundreds of real-world examples of the fonts in action. Covering everything from serif and sans serif text fonts to ornamentals, dingbats and display fonts, this chunky, practical reference will prove itself invaluable to any graphic designer – or to anyone who wants to look beyond Times New Roman and Arial.

Available here.

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Next, for a bit of daily inspiration, is It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be, by Paul Arden. Lovely book, nicely designed and a quirky way of making you think laterally – a handbook of how to succeed in the world – a pocket “bible” for the talented and timid to help make the unthinkable and the impossible possible. Advertising guru Paul Arden offers up his wisdom on issues as diverse as problem solving, responding to a brief, communicating, playing your cards right, making mistakes and creativity, all endeavours that can be applied to aspects of modern life.

Available here.

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Finally, it’s The Flavour Thesaurus, by Niki Segnit. I love this food resource book and so will your favourite foodista – The Flavour Thesaurus is the first book to examine what [food] goes with what, pair by pair. The book is divided into flavour themes including Meaty, Cheesy, Woodland and Floral Fruity. Within these sections it follows the form of Roget’s Thesaurus, listing 99 popular ingredients alphabetically, and for each one suggesting flavour matchings that range from the classic to the bizarre.

Available here.

Can You Believe The Unbelievable?

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Excerpt from Through the Looking Glass

Here’s a great book that can help keep your brain and imagination active by imagining the impossible! Txx

Could there be a knife that never dulls? A gun with no moving parts? Could you use a broken clock to tell time? Can you believe in these apparently impossible things? Michael Laufer, John Nolan, and Jeff Remer show you that with a little mental agility, even the knottiest problem, even the most impossible dilemma, is capable of solution.

Available here.