helenguttridge.com

Win Adobe CS5 Premium edition!!!

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:39:48 +0000

The folks over at Graphic Design Forums are giving away (amongst other fab prizes!) a copy of Adobe CS5 Premium Edition, worth in excess of £1500 (approx)

Also up for grabs is…….
A Pantone Color Cue® 2.1 (worth in excess of £330 approx)
Two Design Week Magazine Subscriptions (worth £85 each approx)
Three Pantone Coated GoeGuides™ (worth in excess of £70 each approx)
Two Creative Review Website Subscriptions (worth £64 each approx)
Ten Pantone Tea/Coffee Mugs

To learn more of how to get your mitts on one of these great prizes, head over to Graphic Design Forums CS5 Giveaway

3D websites…… the future?

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:07:47 +0000

Anthony Nolan Trust launches UK’s first 3D website

Lifesaving leukaemia charity The Anthony Nolan Trust will next week unveil what it believes to be the UK’s first interactive 3D website.

3D technology has become increasingly popular and accessible over the last year, with films such as Avatar helping to ignite public imagination and generating massive revenues. Earlier in March, a newspaper in Belgium, La Derniere Heure, launched a 3D print edition in what it claimed was a European first.

The new Anthony Nolan site will deploy the latest computer technology for a vital cause - the charity finds matches for leukaemia patients who need a lifesaving transplant.

Chief executive Lila Froop said that the site would be break new ground in the battle for public awareness.

“We felt it was time to try something totally new to help us reach a younger and more technologically savvy audience,” she explained. “We hope that this new site will be really exciting and fun, and will ultimately help us raise awareness among a much wider audience.”

Full details, including how users will be able to see the site, will be revealed on launch day, this Thursday.

www.anthonynolanin3d.org.uk

Cake for the birthday boy

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:24:37 +0000

It’s my youngest’s birthday on Wednesday, and being the lego mad lad he is, he wanted a lego cake. Feeling rather inspired after watching some amazing cakes being made on Ace of Cakes I decided to make my own.

It was great fun making (and eating what was left over!) the lego cake and I am pretty proud of my first real decorated cake.

So I have decided to have a look around on the internet, and see what amazing cakes I could find!

The hotdog cake looks to real to be a cake, and would surely confuse the person eating it as they take their first bite. My favourite has to be the iphone…… definitely one for all the applesnobs out there.

Cool cardboard furniture

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:12:29 +0000

In today’s throwaway society, what is more perfect than environmentally friendly furniture that is 100% recyclable?

I’m not talking about empty boxes that double up as chairs either, but beautifully designed and crafted pieces that you would be proud to show off in your home.

Now all you need is something to hang over your fireplace……. lets hope it’s flame proof!

Logo innuendo……..think about what you have just done!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:06:24 +0000

You have just put the finishing touches to your newly designed logo and are ecstatically happy with it. Just as you hit send and post it off to the client, you tilt your head to one side………….

Is it just me, or does the logo remind you of something else?

Looks fairly innocent, just an O, G and a C….. ’till you turn it through 90 degrees. - Believe it or not, this logo is a government one!

Is that what the kids are calling it these days? - This logo was actually designed on purpose for an Italian clothing company.

Just 2 kids dancing right?………….look again.

Not sure if this Pharmacy offers the same remedies as the high-street.

A new method for pain relief maybe?

………………………????

The bank to use when you need to make a *ahem* deposit?

These guys obviously REALLY like computers!

When I see this logo, I can’t help but see part of a females anatomy.

This logo is for a baby changing room!

The 1973 design for the Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission - What really went on?

Might want to steer clear of the “special dressing”.

Nice balls, but a little spiky for my liking.

Errrm……….

Again, this list is not exhaustive, I will update as I come across more logos…………….enjoy!

Colour detector

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:39:18 +0000

I’m forever looking at web pages thinking “ooo! I love the colour they have used there!” But when I come to try an replicate it in a graphics program, it looks nothing like the original colour.

So I’m sure you can imagine my joy (yes I do lead a rather sheltered life!) when I came across this colour detector.

Basically once the program is open, you hover over the colour with the cursor and BANG! there’s the hex code (or the RGB if you prefer).

I have found it most handy when doing re-designs of web pages, and the client hasn’t supplied any images…… Or when I simply must have that colour!

Let’s all get naked!

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:58:08 +0000

In honour of International CSS naked day, I have stripped my site (though not my blog, as it took ages to perfect, so I don’t want to balls it up) right down to it’s bare bones.

It’s a day created to raise awareness of web standards, so for more information, or to join the list, head over to http://naked.dustindiaz.com/

So c’mon everyone……let’s see your

Looking at logos - Text only style logos

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:59:17 +0000

Text only style logos

Here follows a small collection of logos that are totally text based - no images, just type. Text logos are the simplest and yet probably the most difficult logos to design, as the designer is somewhat limited and the logo also runs the risk of being bland and boring. Yet, if done right, the logo can be both memorable and unique as shown here…..

The 3M logo is derived from the companies original name - Minnesota mining and manufacturing company. After no longer relying on industrial abrasives and tapes as it’s core products, it therefor required a new logo to match it’s innovative products. In 1977, Siegel & Gale (S&G), a New York design firm, was hired to create a new simple yet vibrant logo and this is the logo we now recognise.

Avaya

(Details and history to follow)

ebay

The original ebay logo started out a lot different to the one we recognise now. The current incarnation was designed by Bill Cleary of CKS Group in 1997. The primary colours and the baseline shift suggest fun and excitement, whilst the overlapping letters depict bonding of the community.

Google

The current google logo was designed in 1999 by Ruth Kedar. The use of different colours for each letter was said to suggest that google ‘didn’t follow the rules.’

Microsoft

Designed in 1987 by Scott Baker. Originally known as Micro-soft in the 70’s, he slash between the ‘o’ and the ’s’ whilst conveying motion and speed, also serves to provide emphasis on the “soft”.

NEC

The logo was taken from the first initials of Nippon Electric Company. Designed in 1992 by Landor Associates.

Philips

Designed in 1938 by Louis Christiaan Kaliff.

RAC

The current logo was designed by North Design in 1997. The logo was re-designed as the old livery was dated and no match for the bold lettering and bright yellow of their closest competitor, the AA.

Victoria and Albert museum

Xerox

Designed in 1961 by Lippincott Mercer. Went under a series of changes in 1968 and 1994 when the letterforms were modified and letter spacing and colour changed respectively.

The list is not exhaustive, and I will add to it as I come across more logos in this category.

Welcome!

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:41:55 +0000

Welcome to my new site which I have cleverly named……Helenguttridge!

I wanted to keep my site personal, and not be some faceless corporate identity, like so many I have seen on the web. The best way to do this, I thought, would be to base the design (and therefor the name) around myself.

Some may say that this is pure vanity, but I disagree…I just wanted visitors to the site to be able to put a face to the name and after all, what better identity to have that my own.

Anyway, I digress…. the aim of my site, and indeed this blog, is to discuss my love of all things design. To share some of my design tips and tricks, and also to provide simple HTML/CSS tutorials aimed at complete beginners.

The site actually started life in a very different form and was orientated around a retro design (which I have a bit of a thing for), but because of a lot of trouble with wordpress plugins, (which was essential for the design) I had to go back to the drawing board. It looks very different to that idea I once had in my head, but the heart of it still remains.

From conception to the glorious birth, it’s been an emotional journey for me, having never touched a wordpress theme before, I was, to say the least a little scared and felt completely out of my depth. But after finding a great tutorial here which explained step by step how to create your own wordpress theme, I happily jumped in. Now I feel I can do anything!

So, more about the content. Time permitting, I plan to publish some HTML/CSS tutorials from my own notes, aimed at complete beginners (basically what I would have loved to have found when I first started out) I will also offer up some tutorial for design, using programs such as photoshop and illustrator. Though I must point out, these will be my own version of tutorials, not copied from other sites like most I have seen. I will also be discussing all manner of design things from trends, news, inspirations and also just stuff I like.