DesignThinkers 2011

Last week I attended RGD Ontario’s DesignThinkers. This two-day conference is a mash up of graphic designers, printers, typographers, artists, web developers, photographers, art directors and others all inspiring and pondering under one collective umbrella. Topics ranged from sustainable printing choices, book design, corporate culture, using metaphors in design and, the most applicable to us here at kitestring, using stories to catapult your brand. RGD always enlists such a great cast of characters to speak about design trends and strategies. This year’s DT included keynotes, Eric Ryan of Method, Steve Edge of Edge Design Ltd., and Jessica Hische of Jessica Hische (totally crushin’).

If you’re a graphic designer, especially an in-house designer, it’s easy to get caught up in your day-to-day routine and forget why you wanted to get into this biz in the first place. It’s amazing what a day full of case studies and inspirational talks will do to you to give you that “Oh, yeah, this is why” moment. Here’s a great quote from Eric Ryan, of Method, who started his company when he was 27. The quote is, “have the courage to do it differently”. What a cool mantra for your company to live by. Sometimes different can also translate to memorable. For example, when Method was attempting to break into department store, Target, they teamed up with industrial designer, Karim Rashid (also a past RGDDT keynote speaker), and together created beautiful product packaging that had vibrant personality just like their company. Eric Ryan said that if he and his business partner Adam hadn’t put money into the design of their products they would have never made it on the market.

Another cool thing that I took from this year’s DesignThinkers was (the coolest, most eco-friendliest) paper company, Cascades. Their paper is Canada’s only EcoLogo certified paper manufacturer. Why is that you ask? Because, Cascades makes all of their paper from post consumer waste, in other words, they make paper from our weekly blue bin collections. Along with a host of other reasons why they are the coolest paper manufacturer, their paper mill is powered by biogas made from a near-by landfill’s methane and converted into steam that powers their equipment. WOWZA! Anyways designer friends, start saving up your nickels for RGD’s DesignThinkers now and I’ll see you there next year ready to be amazed.

Did you miss the conference? You can grab some of this year’s highlights from twitter! Just search for the hashtag, rgdDT, and follow everyone’s tweets!

Photos shown above by Spencer Xiong.

Happy September everyone!! I’m super excited to post my blog on the first day on, what I consider to be, one of the best days of the year.

For anyone who actually stuck around for the past few months, instead of basking in the beautiful summer that embraced us, you will know that the kitestring team has been hard at work – “nose to the grindstone” you might say. We’ve actually had a lot of fun working on some amazing projects this summer. Fun as they may be, it was still difficult to ignore the hot temps and cool beaches that were calling our name!

But, as I welcome in September today, I suddenly feel like the very tantalizing summer fever that I had been feeling is finally lifted – hurray!

Today brings a new energy – it’s the day to get ready to settle into the last quarter of the year. Reflect on what’s been, what we’ve checked off of our list and what’s still left to accomplish before the New Year approaches.

So, as the sandal tan fades, I invite you to join in the excitement of the season! The team here at kitestring has been doing just that. We’ve brainstormed, We’ve re-focused, we’re excited, and, believe me, the creative ideas are cookin’! The studio’s a buzz as we work on bringing our latest wacky ideas to life!

Needing a little help coming off of the summer vacation high? No worries, drop by the kitestring studio anytime. We can help you with brainstorming, focusing and re-energizing too (after all, it’s what we love to do).

-jenn

Last night while watching Olympic Ice Dancing, I was fascinated with the technical judging of successful synchronized twizzles and even more intrigued by the “component” score in the new judging system.

Even the commentators have been saying throughout the games that the component score is “just like the artistic mark” from the old system.

Watching the variety of dance pairs, you can sort of tell that pairs from different places obviously subscribe to their own unique vision of artistic excellence.

So the question always comes up: If artistic taste is highly subjective, how do the judges come up with the artistic component score?

This blog totally had a point. I was going to talk about client or organization’s design preference or artistic subjectivity and the delicate balance that needs to be achieved between that vision and the professional opinions of marketers.

Instead, I’m going to try to see the good in every artistic attempt in Olympic Ice Dancing. Instead of saying that I “hate” this team’s costume, or that team’s weirdo lifts, I’ll comment knowing that some choreographer made those artistic decisions with a strategy, vision and voice in mind. Ice Dancing routines have been carefully planned and pulled together with a target audience in mind. And those commentators should do the same.

As a web developer, part of my job is to test each and every website in multiple browsers. With so many browsers out there, that task is becoming more and more difficult. I generally test in Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and the troublesome Microsoft Internet Explorer.

This is where it gets tricky. It seems that most people who use a browser other than IE tend to actually update their browser more than once every 5 years. This helps keep up with the momentum and progression of web technologies and techniques. This would be kind of like renting a Blue-Ray, slapping it into your VCR, and wondering why things aren’t working properly.

I’m not sure why I like this new Cadbury commercial. It’s kinda freaky. But I think that’s part of it’s charm. The song is catchy and you’re just not sure how they got those kids to do that. All I know is I want some melt in your mouth goodness. What do you think?

Here at kitestring, we just wrapped up the design and branding of a new wine label. We are very excited to present it to the world. Take a look below!

What is Leaning Post?
Leaning Post Wines are new vintners situated in the beautiful Niagara Peninsula wine region. Oenologist Ilya Senchuk and business partner Nadia Senchuk have cultivated grapes from the highest quality soil from Ontario`s finest wine region to craft distinctive wine in both red and white offerings. Quality is of utmost importance for the brand in order to successfully compete with VQA Ontario wines.

Logo Architecture
The logo was specifically developed to visually convey a distinctive, rustic, and authentic identity. The logo comes together to produce the look of a cultural, family connection that evokes the essence of a memorable vineyard experience.
The icon works to please your target audience in multiple ways.The illustration subtly mirrors traditional Ukrainian folk art through the use of authentic line work and high contrast. Both the post and the red “i” lean up and to the right to promote feelings of positivity and progress. The perspective angle of the post makes it seem as if it rises into the sky giving it an air of importance and making the piece memorable.

This style was developed to depict the authentic, handmade, and rustic qualities of the brand through the custom, hand-drawn illustration of a leaning post, as well as the high quality and distinctiveness through the clean lines and use of open space. Special attention was taken to detail specific important elements of the brand such as the red “i”.

Chris Farias – Hamilton Ontario – www.kitestring.ca
kitestring creative marketing + design – graphic design, marketing, illustration, web design, creative thinking, strategic marketing, total fun!

“Hire the right professional to do the job and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed“