We’ve just added some work to our portfolio — the redesigned identity of our client and partners, iam8bit. Take a look at the link for more details.
Tomorrow Is A Great Time For Design
Ferris Bueller said it well:
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
It seems like every other day introduces a new platform, initiative, standard or way of working that forces us to question (if not completely rethink) what we do as designers and how we work.
The changes in our design landscape are ubiquitous and cut across disciplines and borders: gestural computing, social media, ePubs, mobile devices, outsourcing, cloud computing, 3D printing, design thinking – but it’s not going to help us to be afraid of these changes. In some small ways, our own moment seems to parallel the seismic shift in technology that began with the introduction of affordable desktop publishing in the mid-80s.
Read on…
Student Spotlight: Gore-Tex Redesign
Within Hexanine’s DNA is a commitment to involvement in the future of our profession, and part of that is working alongside talented design students. We enjoy featuring great student from the classes we teach, so here is some of the latest:
Does Crowdsourcing Work In Design?
Whether you call it crowdsourcing, spec work, community-based design, or participatory creation, it’s fundamentally the same animal. Crowdsourcing is the act of oursourcing tasks (in our case, design) to a large group of people as part of an open call for solutions or deliverables. This might take the form of a contests, RFPs, or clients who want a “test drive” before committing to a creative firm.
In the design world, some examples are crowdsourced logos, tshirts, and a variety of other marketing and design initiatives. While the crowdsourcing concept has worked its way into the business practices of some organizations, the execution is still controversial. AIGA, the professional association for design, has taken a stand against it specifically and also contributes to the ongoing dialogue against its use. Heated comments and criticism always fly in this debate, but most of the questions boil down to one for practicing designers: Is this practice “the way of the future” or is it a deeply-flawed model of working in design and branding?
New Green Energy Reporter Site Launched
The redesigned website for Green Energy Reporter is now live. You can visit the new site itself, and read more about its creation on the Hexanine site.
First ARP Identity Work Online
Our logo design work for First ARP is now live on the Hexanine site. A website redesign is coming after the holidays as well.
New Green Energy Reporter Work Added
Our identity work for the online news site, Green Energy Reporter, is now live on the Hexanine site. Project details are here. The identity will go live (along with more of our work) at Green Energy Reporter soon, so stay tuned.
Our Work In Brand Identity Essentials
It’s always nice to feel “essential”. That’s exactly how we feel after being included in the recently-released design volume, Brand Identity Essentials. This excellent book by Rockport Publishers showcases our work with Nerdcore and highlights the principles that make up successful identity programs. It’s definitely worth the read.
10 Ways To Fail Better
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard … is what makes it great.” -Tom Hanks, in A League Of Their Own
Here’s one of the reasons why I love baseball: Even the very best players, the absolute pinnacle guys — Mickey Mantle, Tony Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, they all failed basically 70% of the time. Hitting .300 for a career pretty much gives you enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but that works out to only getting a hit about 1/3 of the time. That’s a 70% failure rate. These players are the cream of the crop, but they have to learn to live with failure. They breathe it. It follows them around, sleeps in their beds. A 70% failure rate is pretty high, but these guys endure it and push through to levels of greatness, even though failure dogs them at every turn.
Compulsions logo and four others featured in Los Logos: Compass
We’ve drooled over the Los Logos series since it’s debut in 2002, so we’re thrilled to announce that the new Los Logos: Compass features five Hexanine pieces — our Compulsions, Nerdcore, Ocean Dawn, Park Community Church logos, as well as our type-treatment for last year’s Nerdcore calendar, “Horror”. This fifth book in the series sports a new look and editorial approach, but don’t be fooled; Berlin-based Gestalten still dishes out the same cutting-edge, international identity design we’ve come to expect.