Madrid 2020 logo design

Never has a logo had so much criticism in such a short time. I'm referring to the one created for the 2020 Madrid Olympic bid.

The winning design, and its subsequent amendments, have managed to distort the original design until all its meaning is lost and rendered it almost unrecognizable. It is unclear whether the logo says M20 or 20020, due to the unfortunate use of a curved typography and the way the letters have been cropped at the bottom.

Here and here (ESP) you can see the other designs that were submitted.

The use of lively colours and rounded ellipses make the logo look like it's selling flip flops and not a city's olympic bid. The initial concept was not that brilliant in execution, but had a foundation and a sense that the re-design has managed to erase completely. This has raised heckles in the field of Spanish graphic design, of course, as it does a disservice to the profession.
Judge for yourselves and draw your own conclusions.

Renault 4ever

This is an old post of my principal field: industrial design. AS the title say, it is about a redesign of the is a legendary model 4 of Renault. I remember with special affection, as my uncle (rest in peace) had the same car when I was a child, the good times that have lived in that car, trips to my grandparents' house, the beach, etc.

I would like to participate, but unfortunately I have no time now. Take a look of the results and winners and make your own decisions ;)

Here and here.

Rebranding

Today, a little bit of re-branding, specifically, two Spanish brands: Unión Fenosa (National Gas Company) and Cadena 100 (a radio station).

As we can see in the picture above, the first logo is the oldest, and the new face is the last one. IMHO, the new logo looks like a ring of red wine on the tablecloth, I can't see what is the relationship between the gas and that tangle of circles. You can see the rest of the applications here  (spannish) and judge by yourself.

One of the most popular Internet radio stations and the first Spanish radio available on all mobile devices. This momentum led to both its programming and its audience evolved dramatically over the past five years, keeping - with minor modifications - its traditional image and visual identity. A picture is far from the real atmosphere Cadena 100 transmits on the air.

 

Apparently, the chain was looking for a more friendly way to reach their listeners through their identity, for this reason the company that commissioned the work, attempted to work these brand values​​: dynamic, friendly, spontaneous and natural.

 

I think that they went too far, because the "100" is barely recognizable, and I'm not sure about the color palette too. What do you think?

 

Seen here (spannish).

The Google Cooktop

By Sarah R. L. Johnson

When I saw this concept I was very impressed, because I though how did not anyone invented this before? It's quite useful, specially for those who didn't know so much about cooking (including myself).

The Cooktop comprises of smart screen on your kitchen countertop, and for using it, you just have to activate the screen and select your recipe.

This gadget either be connected wirelessly to the users’ computer or to the Google Cooking App on the users’ iPhone to access a catalog of the ingredients the user has in their home. The Cooktop can then suggest a recipe or the user can search the internet for a recipe of their choice.

I don't want to explain more about this wonderful object, see it for yourself here.

Kitchoo compact kitchen

Kitchoo K 1 kitchen is an emerging kitchen design that is stylish yet compact for the new lifestyles of today and the future ones: monoparental homes and 30m2 flats are the mainstream. For this reason, it think this kind of concepts are perfectly suitable with them, because it occupies very small space and can fit in any enviroment.

When I was at the Design School, I have to made several proposals for the Kitchen of the Future, and it was something similar to this, not so cool, of course, but I wanted to investigate more about the theme and when I saw the post I couldn't resist to share this with you.

There are also a lot of interesting kitchen concepts in the same page, highly recommended ;)

Seen here.

Pinch Bench

The post of the day is about the mixture of tradition (arts & crafts) and modern design. It has curvy and organic forms, and it's made of wood and it reminds a little the structure of a boat. Personally, I like the bench as a piece of art and something to decorate a place, but honestly, I doubt about its comfort. What do you think?

by MATTHIAS PLIESSNIG

It has curvy and organic forms, and it's made of wood and it reminds a little the structure of a boat. Personally, I like the bench as a piece of art and something to decorate a place, but honestly, I doubt about its comfort. What do you think?

Seen here.

Illustrations of Ruben Ireland

Today, a brief post about the artist Ruben Ireland. I discovered it surfing on the internet and I found it very interesting. You can see a sample of his work here.

Less is more

I want to start this post with the famous quote of Van der Rohe, because a Japanese architect called Mizuishi Kota turn it into reality with the narrowest house in the world.

As you know, Japan is a crowded country where a piece of land can cost a fortune.Therefore, any space is utilized to the fullest extreme situations lead to extreme ideas, and here is a good example. I invite you to see all the photographs and check the amazing distribution of the space, clic here.(It is in Portuguese language, but you don't need to read, just enjoy the pics)

Think twice the next time you'll complain about the size of your house or flat!!

Puxxle

Yep, another post from Lovely Package ;)

In my opinion, it is a cute and original form to present a puzzle and it comes from my country, Spain. I'm really glad to see that there are such a good professionals in the package and graphic design field here.

Puxxle, by YOYO

The Puxxle is obviously  a game, a mixture of the words puzzle and pixel. The collection has 6 puzzles formed from adhesives that can be placed on different surfaces and create stories.

Seen here and here.

If the logos were honest...

Today, I'm going to put a classic post seen in designboom. It is about what if the logos tell us the truth about the brand that are representing. His creator is the Sweddish designer Victor Hertz and revealing the actual content and truth behind the company at hand and its products. Enjoy it!!!

Industrial design and a little bit of package: Breeze Rack, Instant Feeling and Zuchna

Once you've seen it, you'll want one just for your bathroom.

 

I’m talking about the Breeze Rack – a futuristic gadget which a lot of functions such as towel rack, hair dryer, bathroom ventilator and sterilizer! it blows air through its many perforations to help keep the bathroom environment fresh. It can also be used as a towel rail. A sterilisation function can be activated to dry and sanitise towels. The hair dryer detaches from one end of the rack, making it the perfect bathroom device.

Breeze Rack is a 2011 red dot design concept winner and its designer is Jo Jae Young.

Seen in Yanko Design.

She loves me, she loves me not

The old tradition of plucking daisy is renewed with this concept called Instant Feeling.

Simply rip off each petal one by one muttering you indecisiveness and let the last petal standing be your answer. 

It’s supposed to stimulate a person’s sensitivity with an unorthodox reaction because each petal bursts into flames after pulling it out. A reminder that once a decision is made, there’s no going back.

Designer: Cung-Young Chu. Seen here.

And finally, a mention of my beloved page of packaging, this time  a Polish studio called Zuchna present us 3 concepts of colorful and pop cans . From my point of view is original and simple at the same time, and I would feel sorry opening a can as pretty as that.

 

 

 

 You can see it here. Thanks John Williamson for helping me with the translation ;)

Dearly Beloved

Today I' m going to tell you about one of my favorite packaging pages: lovely package. In the reader of this morning I found these wonderful label designs for bottles.

I found it very original, especially the first one, made by the study of Stranger & Stranger, in UK, mixing organic elements such as flowers and leaves, which are slowly forming a skull.

 

The second belongs to a Moscow studio, Studio In, which shows a label for a corporate gift, referring to the Mayan prediction of world end of this brand new year.

Seen here and here.