AisleOne. A visual journal on design, photography, film, music and culture.
Walter Ballmer was a Swiss graphic designer who is best known for designing the Olivetti logo. He recently passed away, so it’s only fitting that I mention him here. He amassed an incredible body of work. There’s a great post on Thinking Form featuring some of his great work.
When Paul Rand designed the NeXT logo in 1986 he developed a proposal book for Steve Jobs, that explained the process that led him to the final design. I’m not a fan of the logo, but reading about Rand’s thinking and thought process, and what influenced his decisions, is pretty damn interesting. Damn smart designer, he was.
You can see and read scans of the booklet on Imprint. You can also find some better photos of the book on Paul Rand’s site under “Identity presentations”. Thanks Andrea for the heads-up!
I’ve been very lucky to finally find a copy of the Graphics Manual for the 1976 Montréal Olympics, which is my personal favorite Olympic identity. I’m a little obsessed with collection pieces from these games. I particularly fond of graphics manuals like this because they provide a window into the the thinking and process behind the identity system. It’s the closest you get to having the designer explain the system, in this case Georges Huel and Pierre-Yves Pelletier.
Beautiful packaging and identity design by Atipus for Fruita Blanch. Great color and typography give the identity a certain character.
Inspiring work from designer Karel Martens. He is also the designer of the super-rare, ultra-expensive Wim Crouwel monograph, Mode En Module.
The folks at Pentagram have created this beautiful identity and packaging for ceramics company, 1882 LTD. The identity pieces are business cards, compliment slips, cylindrical packaging, labels and a website.