A Commerical That Made Me Stop in My Tracks!

31 seconds is so short - but you can do so much within that tiny little time frame can't you?

Indeed.

This commercial for Amazon Kindle does a wonderous job of capturing the magic of the written word and the imaginations of us all as we travel through the pages and places of a book. Directed by Angela Kohler and Ithyle Griffiths. Starring Annie Little who also sang the song "Fly Me Away"

A Designer's Marketing Mayhem

I've been reading this great book...The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing...very informative! It's also a kick in the booty for a small business owner like me. I am a creative. I am not a numbers cruncher. I am not alone in this. As the head dreamer/designer for my firm I would much rather be meeting with clients and working on their design needs than drumming up more business.

Sound crazy? It's simply because I don't want to analyze :) I want to CREATE! But thanks to the book above I am learning how to attack the "building my business" side of my company without losing my designer soul.

I'll let you know how it goes. I've already identified my three desired markets and have begun assembling my prospect list. After Thanksgiving...the cold calling begins!

Go get those clients!

Technology's Affect on the Advertising Industry

Really interesting video! Kind of mind blowing actually.

Veering into Inspiration's Path

Veer.com had a competition. I just saw the winning entry - what!?! It's amazing! Just had to share it :)


Veer Contest Submission from J.D. on Vimeo.

The CMYK Christmas of it All

It's that time of year again. You know, the time to start making your wish list for family and friends. Laugh if you like, but my family does this every year (now that we are all grown up and don't believe in Santa anymore).

The plus side: I like to get lists from my family that inspire me.

The minus side: I have to write a list too! Buying things on a budget for a graphic designer (that's me!) is not the easiest job in the world. Of course, any time my fam decides to go in together and buy me a Mac or iPhone they are welcome to it! But what other options do they have...hmmmm!

Like most graphic designers, I like unique items that you can't get at Wally World or the mall. You more than likely could find some of my favorite gifts at a junk yard, thrift store, used furniture shop or antique store. Then all I would need is a can of paint and I'm totally in love with my find for the day.

But how do you buy things for us - we graphic designers of the world - with our kooky sense of design humor. I delved into the internet and found some really noteworthy items. They may not make sense to the non-designer individual, but trust me, they're fabulous!

1. Kern Jacket from Veer: If you don't know what kerning is it's because you don't speak "designer"

2. Typography Coasters from Veer: You have to be a type geek to truly appreciate the beauty of these coasters


3. CMYK 95-0-85-25 Jacket: If these letters and numbers mean nothing to you - just take my word for it - this fantastic!

Now I shall veer away from Veer.com. Next item:
4. Pantone mugs! and they have plates too!


5. We use USB drives all the time. Some lose them - others...um...hit them with their foot while it was plugged into a tower and well, it got a little bent out of shape...oops! But maybe if it was really special we would take better care.


Websites with a wealth of design paraphernalia to keep your design geek plenty happy!
1. Graphic Tees, Clocks, Calendars and more at CafePress.com
2. Etsy.com has amazing AMAZING stuff created by all kinds of artists
3. Zazzle.com has some pretty cool CMYK shirts
4. For some art inspired pieces go to MOMA.com

And make certain you find out what makes your creative individual tick, what inspires them and what makes them smile even when no one is around. These answers are sure to lead you to ebay or a thrift store in search of that illusive item that will totally surprise and thrill your graphic designer on Christmas morning.

Business Cards are Be-you-tiful!

I always begin designing a corporate identity package by working on the business card first. I love the challenge a business card can present. Traditionally it's just 3.5" wide by 2" high. Then there is the space needed for the margins (and thumbs!) and ALL that text the client wants/needs on it. But, if you imagine total freedom within the space that is left - well then - there are no limitations really :)

My students often complain about the "restrictions" I give them on their assignments. To a professional designer they are the norm. I can only laugh when they say things like "but there's not enough room for all that" - I then pull out a business card I made several years ago for a client. It has three doctors names, two separate offices locations with addresses, phone and fax #'s along with the license number for each doctor, it's single-sided, one color and...wait for it...the client was an optometrist! Now mind you, though this card in too outdated for my portfolio, it still comes across as clean, easy to read, has white-space for the eye to rest and boldly defies the statement "there's not enough room."

I love the "restrictions" we have as designers. What fun would it be if four-color printing was so cheap that we never challenged ourselves to produce an amazing-outside-the-norm one-color design? A business card being a prime example. You (and I) can get full color BC's printed online at insanely wonderful prices! But that does not mean that every BC I design should be full color. It also does not mean that I shouldn't take advantage of those prices though when I need to print full color cards :) I'm just sayin'!

So, in my humble effort to raise a banner of independence for the business card I direct you to this amazing source of business card images that have been compiled on Flickr. Almost everyone of them screams at me "I'M AN INDIVIDUAL!" The designers have embraced the "restrictions" and created within that 3.5" x 2" space something that is indeed "be-you-tiful."

These, my dear, are not your father's business cards :)

P.S. Offset printing cannot be beat - stop whining and pay the extra.

I Have This Compulsion

I want to fix all the signs in the world. I dream of one day driving down a street that is filled with well designed company signage. Ahhhhhh. That would be nice.

In the meantime, I just wish people would at least spell things correctly! You know the signs where you put up the letters to advertise different things different days. Or gas stations that change their signs to reflect the current gas price. Those are the signs I have a beef with the most. Since when have American's become so illiterate that they put the letter "N" backwards on a sign! And then there are the numbers "3" and "8" that get put upside down all the time....grrrrr. The bigger part goes on the bottom!

So what is my compulsion? To call each place that I see has the sign done incorrectly and demand they fix it. What do I actually do? Write about it in this blog and leave the sign people blissful in their ignorance.

One day...one day...a street will be made perfect by OCD people like me. Until then we rant.

We've Planted Our Flag

We started this new thing called a blog. Okay, so we weren't the first. But hey, if Al can say he invented the internet why can't we claim blogs? Movin' on...

At Gamut Design Group we try to take time in our overcrowded minds to appreciate the beauty in life, as well as make fun of the ridiculous. Some might think this a wasteful use of time - but not us!

Today's Good vs. Bad and Ugly

Target Commercial



GOOD: I can hardly say anything but positive things about Target's commercials, advertising, branding, et al. They do a great job, reach their target audience perfectly, stay current and hip without being too trendy. The songs are catchy, the timing is quick and the message is always clear. Gotta love 'em.

McDonald's Chicken McNugget Commercial



BAD: WHY! Why would you ever have Chicken McNuggets jumping into a swimming pool full of chlorinated water? and a belly flop!?! This is by far the worst commercial I've ever seen. It's nightmarishly ingrained in my mind. Since seeing this years ago, I've referred to it many times as a prime example of stupid branding/marketing done by an overpaid executive/firm. FYI: The folks in charge of the account got fired a few weeks later. There is justice in the world.