Studio 7

Studio 7 are based in British Columbia and specialise in creating strong branding for social and environmentally conscious companies.

They differ from many other design agencies as they have a strong ethos in which their business is based on, rather than having these values but incorporating them into the design practice. 

They have many environmental values, they donate a percentage of the profits to myclimate.org and rarely use paper, if they do it is recycled.

The agency has created a unique selling point for itself but could also isolate some clients, but if they believe in what they promote and with everyone trying to become more environmentally conscious, other agencies may be inclined to create a strong environmental ethos.

I was quite surprised by their own website design as it doesn't immediately appear very organic, there are environmental characters such as the earth and the trees but it is a bit strong, in colour and image to seem organic, perhaps they are trying to modernise the traditional characteristics of environmental companies to create a unique branding. The website is good to gain an insight into the things you can do to be more socially aware as a designer and has some good examples of design which has been produced in an environmentally conscious manner.

Peacock

Peacock design are a London based design agency, they work mainly within the music industry and have redesigned literature for many iconic musicians such as The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

They also design for film and TV, including the soundtrack video for Slumdog Millionaire.

I especially like their website, it is really unique and has you navigate it in a playful, interactive way. The images are of an illustrative nature and the moving image can be viewed via a drawn TV, the background scenery subtly changes as you choose different areas to look at. A great idea of how to make a website stand out and be different.

David Airey

I have heard other students talking about David Airey so decided to investigate his website and it is a wealth of information to any graphic design student, it has numerous useful links and some great posts about various graphic design issues and inspiration.

David Airey is an author and a brand identity designer, his website (http://www.davidairey.com) has general information about David Airey and a portfolio of his work but it also has regular blog posts and archives of interviews, links and issues offering invaluable information about the real working environment of Graphic Design as well as tips and useful links for design inspirations in various formats.

You can even download a chapter from his book Logo Design Love, which I cant wait to buy, he shares his personal experiences and combines them with an extensive Graphic Design community to offer advice and to share information.

I find myself checking back to this website every couple of days and am attempting to work my way through the archives and interviews, every time I enter the website I find something new and interesting and has made me think about my own blog and how David has managed to create a personality online as well as sharing some great advice and information.

Spin

I became interested in Spin Design Group from reading a post by Adrian Shaughnessy on designobserver.com titled Listomania, the article was discussing a Spin publication titled 50 reading lists.

The article appealed to me as I probably have a) an unhealthy obsession with lists and b) We were being asked as part of our summer brief to analyse books and other media to 'fuel' our creativity, which led me to wonder what books should a Graphic Designer actually read?

Spin run by designer Tony Brook asked his contributors "what are the top ten books that you believe designers should read? they don't necessarily have to be about Graphic Design..."

this sparked an interest about what kind of agency Spin was, it is intriguing the simplicity of their website is almost like flicking silently through a fantastic portfolio, no flashiness, no falseness just straightforward great design, simply presented in its own glory. There is obviously an intelligent questioning behind the creators and I will continue investigating their presentations and publications.