Papyrus...ew, Music, Barcelona and ...A Couch?

Middle C Music Store

While I was in Washington DC last weekend, we drove by this cute little music store with, what might be one of the most clever logos I've ever seen (for a music store). Though I wasn't able to snap a photo from my street view I was able to find their logo online. It was centered in every window pane that bordered the sidewalk. So let's just point out the elephant in the room- how the C is used to create the musical note. Though it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing design in the world, it was still unexpected, which made it memorable. I didn't have to write down the name of the store...I just remembered it because of the logo. It's simple & it's concrete. Everyone knows what "middle C" is. This logo, in a way, brings it to life.



 Major City Buildings

I was surfing around online and found these bad boys the other day and I thought they were incredible. I say "these" because there are several; one for New York, Tokyo, London, Sydney and a few more. What I really liked was the simplicity of the layout and the layer blending mode/s that allowed you to see the entirety of a building, even if it was behind other objects. (Although after playing with my own, it may be as simple as 60% opacity on all the layers with no blending mode involved) But the overlaps create extra contrast and really make the items pop off the page. There is consistency among the nine city designs, in that they all follow a similar color scheme, all stay within certain measurements on the page, and even the kerning of the city names changes to fill the space at the top of the page. Notice the little ruler on the right that gives you the approximate height. Clever and well-made designs.





The Floorscape.

Oh. My. Goodness. When I saw this thing, I instantly wanted it. Though I must admit, I can't speak for it's comfort and/or function, it is SUCH a neat design! One color, black. One shape, the triangle. Functions? Many. Frame and body are one, and there really isn't detail there that doesn't need to be. It's Simple. Let me play the sales-person and assume it's as comfortable as a couch. What would I try to sell about this piece of furniture? Obviously function. Which is why it was designed in the first place. The two, I feel, go hand in hand. The form speaks of the function and reaches out to the type of person who seeks both for a "modern" "chic" home.
Will I remember this because of it's design? Yes.
Would I buy one of it's comfortable? Yes!



Business Card of the YEAR.
I'm a nerd in love. I found this business card online and I gotta say...it may just be the best card design...I've ever seen. The design is SO simple. Squares. Circle. Even a triangle. (but you don't realize it at first) A few fantastic shades of orange with a couple shades of grey. And the BEST part- the front and back of the cards creates the complete design. Thats what did it for me. It's one of those little hidden tricks that until someone SEES them side by side, they may not even know.
But YOU know.
In my own humble opinion, the circle could be brought to the right a bit to bring it back onto the card completely, but maybe that was tried and seems too expected.
Oh...but one other thing I JUST noticed...I think the contact font is Papyrus.

But you won't find that on MY next business card design!