UMBA :: create

College Basketball starts tonight! Who’s the player or...

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:50:23 -0600

College Basketball starts tonight! Who’s the player or team to watch?

Monday Night #MNF #gymflow

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:05:34 -0600

Monday Night #MNF #gymflow

2012-2013 championship BBall season?? (Robbie, @nxtstpparis -...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:15:31 -0600

2012-2013 championship BBall season?? (Robbie, @nxtstpparis - the fam) #NSUHC2012

S/O to my friend Cookie for getting #NSU apparel at @WalMart!...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 15:52:54 -0600

S/O to my friend Cookie for getting #NSU apparel at @WalMart! #nsuhc2012

On the road… #theend #NSUHC2012

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 14:31:53 -0600

On the road… #theend #NSUHC2012

Ali vs Foreman - “Rumble in the Jungle”...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:34:31 -0500

Ali vs Foreman - “Rumble in the Jungle” #todayinhistory #Congo #1974

Slime making with my niece #hurricaneplaydate (side note -...

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:30:39 -0500

Slime making with my niece #hurricaneplaydate (side note - that’s the hashtag she made up)

When it comes to fitness, some days I’m down for the cause...

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:01:00 -0500

When it comes to fitness, some days I’m down for the cause and other days, my laziness is the cause. Staying active is one thing but staying motivated is another. How is it possible to keep the fitness flow going? I think this video heads towards the right thinking.

Female pro golfer Andia Winslow, introduced #TheFitCycle to me a few weeks ago. The movie and movement as she describes it is “moving at the rhythm of life”.

In the first movie, of hopefully many others, she revamps keeping active daily with doing a common household chore - the painful laundry.

On her website, she writes a letter to Harlem, NYC in regards:

Querido Spanish Harlem,

You keep me up at night. I mean, you really keep me up at night. Why is the dog barking? Why is la música blaring? Take your lovers’ quarrel inside! Put those kids to bed! But then, if I don’t fight it, I count the beats instead of sheep and you comfort me. Your heartbeat becomes my own and soothes me into deep sleep.

Morning. No alarm. You jostle me awake, rudely at times, and I cut my eyes at you. But it’s only fleeting because I feel lucky to wake up to you. You inspire me. Your legacy, your sabor, your passion – en fuego! Your energy is palpable and I covet it on days when I’m away too long. You coo at me on the street and welcome me home. “¡Oye mami!” Yes, I see you, you have a blessed day too!

You dance and parade with me, share your wares with me, feed me and it tastes so good. We’ve broken bread together and you’ve watched my back. Now it’s my turn. The Fit Cycle is for you El Barrio, all of you. A movie and a movement. I’ve made my declaration, this is my dedication.

You know where to find me,
Andia

The video was motivating and it applied the concept of staying active daily perfectly. Watch as Andia moves to her own rhythm. It may wow you! Enjoy.

PUMA is walking a greener path in 2013. The German footwear and...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:39:00 -0500

PUMA is walking a greener path in 2013. The German footwear and sportswear brand announced a collection of biodegradable shoes and clothes. The biodegradable shoes and clothes collection will consist of 22 products - sneakers and shirts, also recyclable plastic track jackets and backpacks.

“While we have already implemented numerous initiatives to reduce PUMA’s footprint on our mission to become the most desirable and sustainable Sportlifestyle company, the PUMA InCycle collection is the first step to help reduce the amounts of garbage that consumer products cause at the end of their lives,” said Franz Koch, CEO of PUMA. “We feel that we are responsible for the environmental impact our products cause and this innovative concept in sustainability is a first step towards our long-term vision of using innovative materials and design concepts for PUMA products that can be recycled in technical processes or composted in biological cycles.

What’s so biodegradable about the collection?

The sole will be made of biodegradable plastic with organic cotton and linen as the upper part. When they’re no longer in use, the stores will put the shoes through a shredder in order to turn them into compost in six to nine months. However, to avoid people burying their shoes in their backyard and hoping for a tree to grow, the shredding process is necessary.

The collection will be available in stores worldwide in February 2013.

Innovative or not?

+PUMA

Months before October, Professional Basketball Player Milani...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:51:00 -0500

Months before October, Professional Basketball Player Milani Malik sported pink. Known for rocking pink Nike sneakers on court and hashtagging #ThePinkShoes, Malik showed support in a pink cause this summer.

The talented philanthropist athlete launched a line with Iceberg Mouth Guards. She explained, “One of my friends from the Knicks worked with Dr. Lee and introduced us. I explained my vision to Dr. Lee and he liked that I did a lot with charity. He has done things a lot for charity and wanted build on that. He gave me the idea to do mouth guards.”

Dentist to boxer Floyd Mayweather and other top athletes, Dr. Well created the mouth guards, which Malik shows her support to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by giving her percent to the foundation.

For non-athlete, she encourages to donate for a child. Stating, “Now the high schools require players to wear mouth guards as a part of their uniform. I worked with Brooklyn Collegiate and Boys and Girls High School who both said they did not have it in their budgets to provide mouthpieces for the players. I felt bad and so now I tell people who don’t play sports to sponsor a mouthpiece for a child. Even when they get one and donate it to the child, they are also still benefiting Breast Cancer research as well.”

Read more about Malik on SlamOnline and watch her new Elizabeth Arden commercial ad above. Support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by purchasing a pink or clear with pink accent mouth guard.

Head North - The True Taste of Nordic Design It pains me to be...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 01:19:00 -0500

Head North - The True Taste of Nordic Design

It pains me to be cliche and blog something such as this, but had to! I found a new and fresh design inspiration to help finish up a logo (congoLogie’s) & Queens Farm mood board.

The book is a collection of Scandinavian designs from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden by Sandu Cultural Media. Tracing the history of Scandinavian design to present contemporary designs.

Characterized by simple elegance, careful use of vibrant colors and space, minimalism, and functionality, Nordic design is also recognized by its heavy application of typography and illustration.

The designers featured are at the vanguard of Nordic design, bucking trends and demonstrating that design can be simple but sophisticated, lovely but not naïve, and cool yet engaging.

Head North showcases all genres of design, from graphic design, printed books, album covers, posters, product design, fashion, and promotional design to typographic and environmental design. If you’re in need of inspiration, Head North! — and discover one of the largest epicenters of design in the world, a region abundant with creativity in every realm of design and art. Available now.

NORWAY

SWEDEN

FINLAND

“Designing and integrating the right sound enhances the...

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:05:00 -0500

“Designing and integrating the right sound enhances the experience of a brand.” - Kenny Kahn

“Hello Tomorrow”

Since my Mom is in Dubai right now, without me, I choose to analyze how a brand in Dubai uses sound to encourage sales. Thanks, Mom!

Incorporating sound to a brand is a lot of times overlooked. “The sound of silence is a has-been, so sound is quickly becoming the next frontier for brand identity.” (Wheeler, 2009) Sounds in brand advertising sends a signal that encourages sales, if applied correctly. Ever noticed the music in the GAP or Starbucks? There are also material qualities, not only in what we see (color and fonts) but also in what we hear.

The video above was Dubai-based Emirates Airlines integrated marketing communications campaign - “Hello Tomorrow”. Two crafts in its first few years to being one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, Emirates is a brand synonymous for luxury and innovation - first to offer inflight telephony across all classes, individual TV screens on every seat, First Class suites and an on-board Shower Spa on its A380 aircraft. Quite of an airline experience much?

“Designed for the age of consumer engagement and empowerment, Hello Tomorrow is about inspiring people to greet tomorrow’s unlimited potential,” EA mentions.

The sounds from the campaign video captured empowering. It had a bit of luxury, but youthful feel to try the unfamiliar, create new ideas, and form new visions. It captured what Emirates was shooting for.

If your brand could speak, what would it sound like?

Reference:

Sambidge, A. (2012). Emirates eyes evolution to global lifestyle brand. Retrieved July 21, 2012 from http://www.arabiansupplychain.com/article-7327-emirates-eyes-evolution-to-global-lifestyle-brand

Wheeler, A. (2009). Designing Brand Identity (pg. 134). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print

Mood Boards I finally completed my three mood boards for Queens...

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 16:25:00 -0500

Mood Boards

I finally completed my three mood boards for Queens County Farm Museum campaign. Finally! My mood boards still need touch-ups, but for the most part I’m over the hardest hump.

My design process is probably longer than many. I put in so much time in figuring out layouts, font type, color, and the way I want the board to feel. All hail to authenticity.

What and why mood boards? - The purpose for a mood board is to focus on the desired elements rather than getting distracted by a variety of different layouts. Mood boards help establish a brand, design components, typography, imagery, and color palettes in the design process. Once the board is done it’s easier (hence on the -ier) to begin the visual process for web, print, packaging, etc. *Look at the pics above for examples.

Reflection: I noticed that creating the mood boards gave me some insights of my own personal style and thought process, which I’m still trying to get to know. Mood boards aren’t necessary for every job, but I can see how it will be apart of my process in the future.

Below is one of my boards for Queens County Farm campaign. Note - it’s still in rough draft mode.

“The character of a typeface changes dramatically with...

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:38:00 -0500

“The character of a typeface changes dramatically with different letter spacing, word spacing, and leading. ” - Matthew Barthlomew

Type Trivia

Catching up on some reading, so, it’s blog time!

I’m examining various typefaces and understand their functionality. Let’s play a quick Type Trivia. A little fun and learning.

Above I have the pictures shown and below here, I will give a short description. Each two pairs is a font. Picture row, new number, font… in that sequence…. remember.

Let’s play:

1. Gotham was used for the Obama political campaign and it was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones.

2. Frutiger was designed for an airport and it was designed by Adrian Frutiger

3. Matthew Carter designed Bell Gothic to increase legibility in the phone book.

AND LAST 1 ..

4. Wolff Olins designed Tate for Tate Modern in London. Olins also designed London 2012 logo.

Olympic Rings + Visual Data Off the subject of typography and...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 16:18:00 -0500

Olympic Rings + Visual Data

Off the subject of typography and still on color, I had to share this neat out-the-box thinking design that Gustavo Sousa created.

Sousa’s ‘oceaniaeuropeamericasafricaasia‘ was a design using the Olympic Rings portraying various global attributes and sizing the rings to indicate the value in each continent- example of attributes: % of household with TVs, child mortality, population and even McDonald outlets.

The only thing I would have to question is the source of his data, but great job in the whole concept.

**rings & color: Oceania (blue), Africa (yellow), Europe (black), Asia (green), Americas (red)

+Visualizing Data

Wordle and I are in a life-long relationship. I can’t say...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 02:27:00 -0500

Wordle and I are in a life-long relationship. I can’t say no to genius tools!

I’ve been playing around with Wordle to get a good color scheme and mood for Queen’s County Farm Museum’s project.

Wordle is a great tool for generating “word clouds” from text.

You just input every possible words that’s incorporated with your project and/or brand. Then the genius Wordle, clouds the colors and typography based on the words. The clouds can be tweaked multiple of times with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.

Question: Which Wordle design best compliments the brand?

+Wordle

Since the Olympics starts soon, I mean today (basically),...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 01:29:00 -0500

Since the Olympics starts soon, I mean today (basically), talking about typeface and the London Games is prefect timing.

I read the article, How to choose a Typeface, which gives good tips on the do’s and dont’s to choose a typeface.

This Sports Guide is a quick guide of the Olympic games. The designer’s design is a good example of how to use typeface, hierarchy, and also breaking the rules. Although the designer mostly used one font type, she nicely positioned each word, and sized up the fonts correctly.

Very clean and very simple!

+Behance

Color 101 for Entrepreneurial Types I agree, color is one of...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 00:32:00 -0500

Color 101 for Entrepreneurial Types

I agree, color is one of the hardest things to decide, even more daunting than font, which is totally my own opinion.

I read Erin Ferree’s article and felt relieved that I was amongst others that find the color search a little vigorous. And, in all honesty, reading Erin’s article is a good resource that shined bright lights and will stop the sweat from profusely falling.

5 elements in the color search

Meaning (+Color Wheel Pro). Contrast. Simplistic. Mixing B & W. and Dullness/Brightness/Jewels.

I wanted to go into details, but I’m kindly directing you all to her article. —> colors :)

__ - _ - _ - _ - __

VA-Garment mastered the art of color picking. In the video below they showcased 3 different colorways to choose from: each having its own emphasis of color mix.

+VA-Garment

Refresh Your Style | VA-Kings of Kings… from VA-Garments on Vimeo.

Beginning this month I will blog several things related to my...

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:40:00 -0500

Beginning this month I will blog several things related to my media design campaign project. (inspiration, research, and all else)

Brand .:: Queens County Farm Museum

Known as one of New York City’s historic and largest remaining farmland, Queens County Farm’s main mission is to heighten awareness of sustainable agricultural and horticultural practices. The farm is a dynamic entity, ever changing, ever evolving, and ever refining. Drawing back to the farm’s early colonial years, to now, the farm has steadily provided modern-day agriculture. Queens County Farm has a desire through their educational programs, events, and museum services, to educate the public on the importance of present-day sustainable agricultural and horticultural practices.

Recognizing the high numbers of obesity in the United States and the low numbers of young consumers interested in sustainable practices, the campaign will design a new brand identity that will appeal to young people.

Stay tune as I’ll be blogging about my research and journey!

Chronicles of Coach T He earned his living bobbin’ and weavin’...

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:46:15 -0500

Chronicles of Coach T

He earned his living bobbin’ and weavin’ and after an illustrious career that included stints in boxing, Mixed Martial Arts and Judo, Tatou, now a coach, is passing on his skills. This Belgian of Congolese descent is the focal point of a documentary that delves into Tatou’s everyday life and more so his coaching exploits in the run up to a free-fight tournament involving one of his students. The documentary is directed by Italian born photographer and art director Gabriele Trapani. Catch a sneak peek of the film below.

via A Sporting Life