Design Book Review: Business Cards 3

Title: Business Card 3 : Designs on Saying Hello
Author: Michael Dorrian
Publisher: Laurence King
Published: 2009
Pages: 272
Price: $38.95 (CDN)

I remember the cold wave of fear that came over me when my instructor announced we were going to have to design our own business cards. The realization that I had to communicate my entire being and purpose in life (okay maybe I exagerate a tad) using only a tiny piece of paper was horrifying. It's extremely difficult to come up with an original business card, although the examples in this book show there's still some room for exploration. Although, flipping through the book I wondered how far was too far, for exmaple, the book features one designer who simply scrawls her contact information on any object that's handy at the time ,whether it's a lighter or an old shoe. Personally I think that's not a business card but a piece of garbage with someone's name on it. If I came across such an object I would think "oh, Jill Williams forgot her lighter, I should return it to her" and that's not clever, it's just annoying.



This business card by Australian designer Quan Payne only reveals the designers name when the card is twirled.



I love the cleverness of this card for the Chocolate Casting Agency in London



Secret: I love cardboard. Hence I love this card by Stephen Owen of the UK. I also love these Hatch business cards which are genius and which I have seen in every single design magazine, website or book. They never get old, thank goodness.

Business Cards 3 features many cards I haven't seen, surprising since I've looked at alot of those "100 unique business card posts" online and they get repetitive after awhile. It features designs from around the world and for creatives working as interior designers, illustrators, photographers etc. One criticism of the book is that the format of the photos is always different which makes it look a tad un-cohesive, also the inclusion of flat art instead of having the cards photographed makes it difficult to judge the scale of the cards.

Book Review: Simply Packaging

Title: Simply Packaging
Author:
Publisher: victionary
Published: 2008
Pages: 240
Price: $26.37 (on amazon, I paid about $60.00 at Oscars)
Simply Packaging


Oh design books why do you have to be so darned expensive. This was a happy graduation present to myself (any excuse to buy an art book) from Oscars Art Books. While it’s a packaging book it’s also a good study of brand identity (including examples of signage and store design). I have seen quite a few of these projects online and in other books, but it’s nice to have all of them in one book, and with the other pieces that accompany them, giving a clearer picture of the brand they support.
I really love these tea bags by Maum, and it’s neat to see the various applications of the simple idea, it shows the concept has legs (well arms really-oh I kill myself). Similar is a self initiated project by designer Elisabeth Soes which is so simple and whimsical, this paper boat tea bag support is beyond cute.

Multistorey Design Studio

Multistorey is a design studio out of London. They have a clean, fresh style that I really like. Their work for a store called Unpackaged is especially interesting since it aims to sell products without the use of packaging, so their identity system had to work around that possible handicap.

Book Review: Gig Posters

Title: Gig Posters Volume 1: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century
Author: Clay Hayes
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pages: 208 pages
Price: $55.95

Gig Posters : Rock Show Art of the 21st Century by Clay Hayes of gigposters.com Includes over 700 poster images and 101 ready to frame posters. Gigposters.com is worth a post in itself, it is (as the books introduction states) "the world's largest historical archive of this art form". The website itself is vast, and at times it's not worth the effort to sift through to find the really good work hidden among the average. The book however contains only the very best.
The designers and illustrators are mostly North American with a few European artists. Each artist's work is featured in the form of one full sized poster and a few smaller thumbnails along with a brief, organized bio including info on their education, preferred mediums etc. Each full sized poster is detachable so it can be easily framed. but thankfully the perforations aren't so deep that the pages will detach by themselves over time. The work is exceptional, especially the conceptual images of artists like Jason Munn of The Small Stakes.
The book is oversized, measuring 13.9 x 10.9 x 1 inches so the posters are seen in a more true to life size, than if they were featured in an annual or your average book.