
Also in this week’s Design Diary, our roundup of projects, events, and general design world news, we bring you some modern visual identity designs for a sparkling water that take cues from Canadian nostalgia, the newspaper that aimed to present the impartiail policy truths ahead of the recent UK general election, and more. For more along these lines (and so many others) you can follow along all day, every day on Instagram @AIGAeyeondesign, Facebook, and Twitter @AIGAeyeondesign.
Seasonal Shift is the first collection of Lala Albert’s illustrated short stories, created between 2013 and 2019. The Brooklyn-based artist and textile designer’s work presented here often looks at how sci-fi and erotica intersect. According to publisher Breakdown Press, Albert’s comics are an expression of her “corporeal ambivalence”—feeling at odds with her body—and are underpinned by an examination of the masks we each wear to present ourselves to the world. “Depicting vulnerability, touch, and tender moments of contact between characters injects a sense of realism to Lala’s otherworldly imagery,” says Breakdown Press. “Ethereal, unsettling, and intimate, these genre-hopping examinations of identity and nature demonstrate that Albert is a master of the formally-inventive contemporary comic.”
DutchScot, Orrery branding
Vanderbrand, Sapsucker branding
Toronto, Canada creative agency Vanderbrand recently launched its new work for Sapsucker, which is an “organic, plant-based, all-natural, and sustainably sourced tree water with no added sugar,” apparently. The agency looked to the fact that the drink is tapped from Canadian trees for its look and feel, which aimed to help it stand out in an increasingly competitive sparkling water market while being consistent across the brand identity, product naming, packaging, copywriting, digital applications, social media, and art direction. It decided to align the brand with the health and wellness markets, using “a witty tone and clever messaging” to establish a no-nonsense visual language.
“The brand identity for Sapsucker is strongly informed by its Canadian roots. The wordmark takes cues from Canadian nostalgia including local sport apparel and retail packaging,” says the team. Pairing the more historical-leaning Central Ave by Colophon Foundry with the modern edge of the Favorit Std Family by Dinamo meant the graphic language is appropriate for numerous scales and applications.
Rory Stiff, PoliticsvPolicies
We’d hazard a guess that December 13 really did feel more than unlucky for most UK (and likely global) readers of EoD with the re-election of Boris Johnson as PM, but that isn’t to say that numerous designers hadn’t been trying their damndest to make sure people were aware of the realities of the Tory (and other party) policies. One such creative was Rory Stiff, who decided to take things into his own hands upon realizing during his commute that “everyone around is being force-fed the same one sided politics from their billionaire-backed newspaper of choice.” He recognized that, in his words, “in reality this election was going to be decided upon lies, slander, and accusations rather than actually focusing on what the parties are promising to deliver to us.” As such, he pitched his idea for a simple publication that, as its name suggests, is focused simply on party policies. The only way he saw to take on the tabloids and biased free-sheets was “to fight them on their own ground.”
Obby&Jappari, work for Nike sportswear
Based in Frankfurt, studio Obby & Jappari is—despite initial appearances—in fact helmed by a trio of designers, Obby, Jappari, and Pia Graf. The team works across graphic design, art direction, 3D graphics and some typographic projects that align very nicely indeed with this year’s mania for all things metallic type, but we’re digging this recent work for Nike’s Vapormax campaign. Like much of its work, it aligns a smart approach to photography, merging it with slick typography and elements of simple patterning, as well as abstract 3D images that take the flat basics into a whole new realm.