Art/Design | Geek in Heels

The world of Star Wars is beautifully designed and rendered - a haven for scifi enthusiasts and a mecca for creativity. As always, behind every good design is an inspiration. So here is my choice of the top 5 best designs from Star Wars and the inspiration behind each design. 1. Leia's Bikini Leia's gold bikini is one of the most popular costumes in pop culture. The image, burned into the minds of thousands of adolescents who had flocked to see Return of the Jedi in 1983, remains a phenomenon even to this day, with websites such as Leia's Metal Bikini celebrating the famed slave costume. The original had two versions, both of which were custom-made from a cast of Carrie Fisher's...

Art/Design, Colors, Marketing/Advertising

Color Association

Jun 20. 2008

One of my favorite blogs, ColourLovers, posted an entry today titled "The Colors of Global Brand Identities." As a self-confessed color freak, I naturally found the post utterly titillating and delightful. Some of the color palettes were immediately recognizable: If someone had blocked the titles of the above and asked me to name the brand associated with each palette, I would've been able to answer immediately. Others were not so obvious, and I must admit that I was disappointed with myself to not be able to recognize them at first glace: I was especially bummed to not recognize this instantly: How many times do I access Google's main page and use its applications every day? Heck I go to their office so...

Art/Design, Fonts, Geek

Fonts & Web Design

Apr 07. 2008

In my last post, I talked about the power of a typeface and the impact it can have on your audience. Today, I will discuss the role and proper usage of fonts in web design. Let's start with the basics. Fonts can be divided into two categories: serif and sans serif. To put it simply, serif fonts have little tails at each character's points, while sans serif fonts do not have these extra marks ("sans" is the French word for "without"). Here, you can see a serif font (Georgia) next to a sans serif font (Verdana): Believe it or not, there has been much research and debate on the two type categories, but the general consensus seems to indicate: When viewing the document on-screen, sans serif fonts...

Art/Design, Fonts, Geek, Logos/Branding

The Power of a Typeface

Apr 05. 2008

This week's NYTimes had an interesting OpEd titled To the Letter Born, discussing the impact that branding, especially the typeface Gotham, may have on Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency. For this piece, Stephen Heller interviews a branding expert named Brian Collins who explains: