We are always looking for references and inspiration, it's part of our job as designers. The biggest goal in my opinion is to make something better learning from the materials we collect. Serafin Mendes worked on a visual re-interpretation of the book Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (first published in 1972) for his MA in Communication Design and outcome is simply awesome. Check out a little glimpse of the process below.
The importance of personal projects can never be overstated. I started ABDZ almost 10 years ago and I have learned so much since then. The project that Mark Pearson shared on his Behance page is a good example of exercising skills to improve and learn more about our craft. He played with dots and clever motion design to create super cool animations. I am sure those will be useful for him in the future.
Either that you have a full-time job, contract-based or purely freelance; as designers we should always make room for personal/experimental projects. There's a ton of reasons why it's a great thing to keep that healthy balance with your creativity, your will of making things and finding ways to get away from boredom and eventually burning yourself out. KIDMOGRAPH is a great example of someone who always finds time to explore and keeping his goals on target. Warning, make sure you have a strong internet connection to view this article.
Personal projects are always the best way to practice and evolve techniques. Since I started ABDZ I have been posting a lot of these types of projects, including my own. The interesting thing is that there are always some projects that people love to try and for some reason, the Logitech website is one of them. We feature a project last year and today we are featuring another one from Fatih Ocak.
Our friends over at Ars Thanea have been working with some of the most prestigious clients including: Orangina, Dupont, Lifeproof, HBO, Nike and more. It doesn't stop them to attempt any experimental work, real willingness and determination into wanting to do what they want. So this time we wanted to share with you guys a result of an idea and a great cooperation to make it real.
It's fascinating to see the design direction that most big content-centric sites are following resulting in a simplified look and feel with more white space and big images. A good example of this is the personal project that Paulo Rogerio Ziolle Junior put together for the redesign of the MTV Brazil website. Check it out and let us know what you think. Over the last few weeks I've been analyzing web sites that are portals with content related to music, MTV caught my attention because of its content, so I decided to design it as if it would be on my way.
Pat Perry is an artist and illustrator who calls Grand Rapids, Michigan home. The lands of the north, colorful people, music, and the ordinary streets of the Midwest have always moved him. In between showing his art from coast to coast or working with an assortment of clients, Pat travels as much as possible. Although Pat is happy to be able to speak and have an audience through his artwork, he does his best everyday to listen and learn from the world he lives in.