Half & Half Design

2010-02-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

So I've kinda got a new website up now: gusholtz.com

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Standards Manual Inspiration

2009-04-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

So I know it's a little late, but here's a graphic standards manual that I found really impressive: Artindustria Identity Guidelines.

I really like how clean and crisp it is, alongside being easy to read and understand. Despite the fact that none of it is in English, I can pretty much understand what the graphic standards for this company are through layout and visuals...which is something that I find very impressive

Communications System Update

2009-04-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

So the idea that I came up with for my company's communications system is a information package which will be sent out to companies and individuals who would like to partner with us. What I essentially want to do with this is package everything in this mailer into a test tube/capsule which would include a business card of sorts as well as a formal letter with information about the company. I've also been working on some patterns that I could integrate with the labels and business cards, but the one's I've come up with seem a little to static and predictable.

Inspirational Identity Systems

2009-03-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some identity systems that I found to be rather impressive:

Final Logo Designs (Kind of)

2009-03-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

So here are the final logos that I came up with (the first is the one I settled on, and the second is just something I experimented with). Anyways, seeing how critique went, it looks like I still need some work. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

2 Refined Logos

2009-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Alright everyone, I've gotten mixed reviews on both of these designs...leaving me in an awkward position because I can't make two logos. With that being the case, any suggestions are more than welcome.

* Note: The last two pictures are all designs belonging to the same series.

5 Refined Roughs

2009-03-04T16:29:00.001-08:00

Tropicana Takes a Step Back

2009-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

So I know that pretty much everyone in this class has been keeping track of the entire Pepsi re-branding, considering that about half the class chose one of the Pepsi re-brands for their logo re-design project. Anyways, here's an interesting article by the New York Times on the Tropicana re-brand that I figured was worth putting up.

Logo Rough Sketches

2009-02-18T08:33:00.000-08:00

Note: I'm still working on the name of my company, so it's probably bound to change. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Design Brief

2009-02-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

The Science Discovery Initiative

The world we live in is an incredibly complex and fascinating place. Filled with an amazing variety of life-forms, majestic landscapes, and home to the numerous facets of science such as biology, chemistry and physics, it should be a goal for all to discover and learn about the forces and principles encased within our planet. The Science Discovery Initiative strives to spread this belief by bringing professional scientists into the classroom to work with students in hands-on activities to help spark interest in the science field.

The Science Discovery Initiative works with a number of industry leaders and businesses in the science fields, teaming together to apply their expertise to a variety of different workshops aimed at children and teenagers. These workshops, ranging from biology to chemistry to physics, are designed to mix real-world science with activities that children will enjoy to encourage an increased interest in the vast array of science fields. These workshops are brought into schools as an in-school and after-school activities to make them the most accessible to the students in which they are aimed at.

The Science Discovery Initiative attempts to spark an interest in the sciences early on, the audience that this organization targets consists mainly of elementary and middle school students. The companies targeted for involvement within the program are professional science industry leaders that want to help the younger generation of American students become interested in science.

Alongside working with science based companies and foundations to run school based workshops and activities, The Science Discovery Initiative also works with these companies to raise money and donations to purchase new and current science equipment. This equipment is then given out to schools that wouldn’t be able to afford it, helping the science programs in these schools remain up-to-date.

Company Logo Design: Research & Ideas

2009-02-08T23:02:00.000-08:00

With the economy currently in shambles, a large amount of money is going to be put into revamping (or at least aiding) our education system. Somewhere in the ballpark of 150 billion of dollars will be spent in an attempt to improve our current education system, and we surely need it. With our education rankings plummeting in comparison to other modernized and industrialized countries due to lower graduation rates and test scores, as well as falling levels in reading, writing and math, it's pretty obvious that something needs to be done. Articles in USA Today and The New York Times outline a number of these problems.

After looking into the issues a bit more here are some ideas I've come up with:

1) Book handouts/In-school book clubs:

One of the problems with the education system is the fact that a large number of our children don't really know how to read or right. This organization would most likely be directed at younger children (probably elementary school to middle school) and give books to schools that can't afford textbooks as well as possibly giving books to students at in-school/after-school book clubs in order to give children greater access to books and encourage reading at an earlier age.

2) Promoting Science and Mathematics:

Another area where the US is sadly lacking is science and mathematics education. I'm not all too sure how to do this, but I was thinking that possibly setting up workshops dealing with the two topics as a school/after-school program to help spark interest in those fields at an early age would be one direction to go.

These are just a couple of directions I thought of with more to come. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

My Re-Design

2009-02-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

Here's what I came up with for a re-design:

2009-02-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

So the logo I decided to re-design was ShopKo for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being the fact that the new ShopKo re-design looks more like a chocolate company to me than anything else. This is mainly due to the fact that the letterforms are too thin and the cutesy swashes on the K and P are bit too much...especially for a big-box retail store.

Logo Redesign

2009-01-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some logos that I thought could use some improvement: