bv02 Creative Digest: Issue 10

Jun252012

Vol: 001 | Issue: 010

The bv02 creative digest is a compilation of thoughts, links, musings, and inspiration that has caught the eye of our creative team. A combined effort from Matt Davidson (New Media), Paul Wright (User Experience), Daniel Bianchi (Creative) and Steve St. Pierre (Creative).

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UX discussion

When approaching a new site design and choosing to make it responsive, there are many more layout patterns that we can employ for how the content responds across devices than the standard, “Well, just drop the sidebar down under the main content for small screen users”. If you want to know more about the thinking side of responsive, rather than just the coding, read Luke W’s, “Multi-Device Layout Patterns“. He mentions a few types of responsive layouts including a final one called “off canvas” where part of the page is hidden off the side of the page (think Facebook and Path’s iOS app). In a new in-depth article, he focused on that one technique and wrote up a post called, “Off Canvas Multi-Device Layouts” that includes demos of each.

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Video


THE MARMALADE Identity: Behind the scenes
The Marmalade, a VFX studio in Germany, takes us behind the scenes with their custom-built robotic high-speed video rig. This high speed robot allows for never before seen slow motion possibilities by panning and tracking items in real time. I always thought shots like these were done in CGI.

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Illustration

The Art of Negative Space

You may call it optical illusion or even visual trick, but if you have ever seen the Rubin Vase image, you are familiar with the idea of visual negative space.

Negative space is the space around and between the subject of an image and it is more intriguing when the space around the subject forms an interesting shape. Like in the Rubin vase example in which some people will see the vase and others will see the faces.

Tang Yau Hoong is a very talented illustrator from Malaysia. He does a great job exploring and expanding the possibilities of the negative space. In his illustrations is hard to identify what is the primary subject because both are always nicely tied to the main message/theme. The result is an enjoyable image that certainly captures the viewer’s attention. Check his gallery here.

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Web Font

Klavika

This one should look a tad familiar. It’s become known as “the facebook font”, but Klavika, designed by the Process Type Foundry is a pretty decent workhorse on the web. A bunch of brands have scooped up this typeface from Process over the years — you’ll recognize it from both NBC and Chevy campaigns — but there’s boatloads of personality in it. And there’s a slew of weights to play with, as well. Works great at display sizes and can even dip into footnote size territory, as well. Solid work from this husband/wife type foundry.

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Inspiration

Canadian Art Database

We’ve got to know where we’ve come from in order to move forward, right? I’m sure someone somewhere has said that. We hear all about the classic designers from the past – Vignelli, Paul Rand, Milton Glaser — but rarely do we hear about the unsung heroes of Canadian history. This site moves past the Alan Flemmings and Burton Kramers and delves a bit deeper in a pool of talent that remains to be unsung. This is a bi-weekly visit for me. There’s a lot that can be learned from the restraint in the majority of these designs. And there’s a lot to be proud of, as well. Canada has a deep history in graphic design, and this is a great nod to it. Check it out.

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Website

Retinart

Sometimes it takes a while for the water to boil. When I was reading the latest edition of The Manual I read an amazing piece by Alex Charchar called ‘The Colors of Grief’ where he goes through the process of losing colour in his life after his newborn daughter passes. Over the course of a few pages, he makes mention of colours slowly creeping back into his life. I nearly wept like a child on a crowded bus after reading it. Anyway — I wanted to read more and so I did some googling and discovered Retinart, the writings of Mr. Charchar. While the site hasn’t been updated in a couple years, the knowledge there has boiled over the edge of the pot and is still relevant. There are some incredible reads in here.
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