Jason Adam Talks Creativity With Ventito

Jason Adam Interviewed by Ventito - Hexanine

Inspiration is at the heart of what we do on a daily basis at Hexanine, and it’s something we love to talk about. That’s exactly what our co-founder, Jason Adam, did with the great folks at Western Digital’s Ventito in a wide-ranging interview. Here’s a snippet:

“My attitude now is the same as it was before: Opportunities need to be uncovered. And the best way to do that is by consistently making unreasonable requests. There’s almost always nothing to lose, and wild and incredible experiences to gain.”

You can check out the rest of the interview at the link above, and hear from other experts in creativity at Ventito.

Musings: Sexy Strategy

Our short musings on design, branding, business and the human condition.

Some people think strategy in design isn’t sexy, but that’s just wrong. You have to know how to see the beauty in purposeful design choices and methods. Great aesthetics without strategic underpinnings are like frosting on a meatloaf. Strategy isn’t sexy like the tipsy girl who flirts with you at the bar. Strategy is the sexy you bring home to meet your Mom.

The Group Typeface Experiment

Last week AIGA Los Angeles hosted The Group Typeface Experiment at TypeCon2010: Babel here in LA. During an unscripted hour of collaborative design, attendees were given the opportunity to create a typeface on the spot using nothing but square and triangle stickers.

I had the pleasure of concepting the event, and the honor of helping produce it, along with numerous other intrepid AIGA LA members including the incredi-awesome Heather Parlato, whose design blog is regular reading here at Hexanine.

We were pretty pleased with the results, revealed here in the video above, filmed and produced on-the-spot by our friends at i am 8-bit (we’re looking at you Taylor Ragsdale). Watch away!

Brand Manifestations: Timbuk2 & Domino’s

As designers of brand identity and strategy, the first part of our work is an excavation into a brand, digging deep to understand what makes that organization great and unique. When we find these nuggets, it’s our job to polish, fashion, and rework them into visuals, strategy and ideas — a cohesive voice for each client. This is challenging and satisfying work that not all designers get to do, so it’s exciting for us to see other examples out in the world — manifestations, if you will, of the nuggets we all search for.

Read on…

Color My World: A Designer’s Guide To Pantone, Part 2

Color My World: A Designer's Guide To Pantone Part 2: Plus

Note: In our last installment we walked through the release of Pantone’s Goe system, and the lessons learned from that product’s lackluster launch. Those insights fed directly into changes to the Pantone Matching System (PMS) that culminated in this year’s launch of Pantone Plus. Now, we’ll dig into the details of the this brand new system, and what it means for designers, printers, and anyone else involved in laying ink on paper.

Read on…

Color My World: A Designer’s Guide To Pantone, Part 1

Color My World: A Designer's Guide To Pantone Part 1: Goe

What is Pantone?
If you’ve ever held color-printed piece in your hands, there’s a good chance you’ve been touched by Pantone. The self-described “authority on color”, Pantone has become an integral part of graphic design and printing, greatly influencing the color of our world. Since 1963, Pantone has been the force behind the printing industry’s color standard, the Pantone Matching System (PMS). PMS is a standardized color reproduction system whereby different manufacturers and printers can accurately reproduce the same set of colors without direct contact with one another. This is significant for brands, because of the importance that consistent color reproduction has on brand identity and packaging. Color plays such a crucial role in brand association that some companies even commission their own colors. (Tiffany’s, well-known for its signature teal blue, actually has its own custom, trademarked Pantone color, PMS 1837.)

Read on…