Wow, this is lovely. Panasonic Note headphones packaged by Scholz & Friends.

Wish I’d thought of that…

…found via 2modern

When bad tracking and bad naming collide the results really can be horrific.

Almost as good as this URL…

Happy New Year everyone!

What can I say? The general design opinion online seems to be almost totally negative. While I do think they’ve missed a trick by contrarily not doing a Coke and just stripping it back to a beautiful essential mark from their history, I have to be honest and say I like it. It’s easy to criticise it on a blog when you’ve just got your graphic design degree, notice it looks like Korean Air, say it’s just like everything else these days, HOW much? etc etc… (yawn) It’s not perfect, but it’s clean and simple, it’s new and fresh and it’s got some honest to goodness shapes and form. Relax everyone, it doesn’t have to win a D&AD you know.

It won’t last forever by any means, but what does these days? It’s brave and time will tell how it works. Adding dynamism to the logo is great, varying the thickness of the white stroke is a good idea, I just wish it looked a little less like a builder’s bum crack. (Is that just me…?) Apparently it’s a smile and there are varying versions of it, so in the true tradition of the 21st Century, the logo alters and flexes in use.

I love the way it is fat for the Max stuff, normal for the regular product and then thinner for the diet version. It’s also unfair to tag Pepsi with the current ‘spit-shine globe’ logo epidemic that’s going round, they’ve always had one, so they’re allowed. And besides, they’ve flattened it and removed all the Photoshop wizardry which has blighted their cans for the last few years. It’s progress for them at least.

One thing that people aren’t talking about much (the bum crack is getting all the press) is the type. I think I’ve seen it before, and yes, it turns out I have.

I like it, although I wish they hadn’t shoehorned the wiggly line from the old logo into the letter e. Less is more remember?

It’s also worth having a look back at the rich logo heritage that they could have chosen to investigate. I wonder if they went down any of those roads?

Of course this is all academic anyway. As every good Back to the Future fan knows, Pepsi is ultimately destined to redesign again, and will look like this in 2015…

…around the time Pasta Hut change their name back.

Yes, that’s what it is, USB Port… J Pegs? Four candles?

When the worlds of Back to the Future and Graphic Design mix, you can be sure I’m all over it like a rash.

Neon Neon, Boom Bip’s collaboration with Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals has resulted in the album ‘Stainless Style’ with accompanying picture disc singles following the theme. Stainless steel, diagonal lines and lovely ladies. I’m off to their site for a listen…

This site experienced a traffic spike after I posted about 100 Best Boobs, and I’m still the lucky recipient of many a dissatisfying Google Image search, so I can only imagine what mentioning the word ‘porn’ here is going to do…

Blimey…

I just had this video sent to me and it made me smile. It’s funny ’cause it’s true, but I think the music is definitely a contributing factor to the comedy.

For the sake of fairness, I thought I should point out that Microsoft DOES make an iPod, it’s called the Zune. Here’s what the two box designs look like next to each other…

So, apart from the strange fascination with brown, it isn’t all that bad. Of course there may well be a PowerPoint-bulletpoint-lifestyle-fest going on on the reverse. It’s interesting that it isn’t as product-centric as the iPod packaging, although perhaps it’s to be expected, the Zune is hardly going to win in the product design stakes against the effortlessly iconic iPod.

One thing I have to admit that I like is the logo:

Lovely.

Noticed the new Coca-Cola cans in a shop this week, they’ve gone back to a more classic look which is far nicer than the Nickelodeon-esque way the designs were going. Those beads of moisture are real, not printed on the can to fool us! Coke is a classic piece of graphic design, nice to see someone has realised it doesn’t have to try too hard.