What will our little gawcky 'g' be up to this year?

Logos are one of the most challenging parts of a designers job. There's way more going on in a logo design than seen at first glance. One lesson that I remember well in design school revolved around the blending two  items in the desgin so your brain flips the image back and forth and see two different things. Once you see it, you can't unsee it! 

​Here are a few examples from: brightside.me/article/the-15-famous-logos-with-a-hidden-meaning-which-we-never-even-noticed-35405/?utm_source=fb_rd16ce11f9955&utm_campaign=BS_week31_EUR&utm_medium=cpm

Just an arrow? Nope. A smile is what Amazon wants their customers to do, as well as the fact that they sell items from A-Z.

Store initials? Or the number of flavours of ice cream they sell?

Do you see the '1' in the negative space?

And I bet you always thought the Hyundai logo was simply an 'H!'

DesignTAXI created a fun quiz which reveals which typeface best describes your personality. Use the following link (scroll down the page and click the blue 'Let's Play' button) to take the short quiz and reveal your answer! 
designtaxi.com/news/394425/Quiz-Which-Classic-Typeface-Best-Represents-Your-Personality/#?utm_campaign=playbuzz&pb_traffic_source=copy&utm_source=copy

To celebrate the upcoming 2017 Summer Universiade in August, the city of Taipei has transformed several of it's subways into replica sports venues. Laminate has been applied to the floors and walls of many cars to mimic tile, grass, sand or track and has drawn a large following for photos on Instagram. I definitely would want to have my photo taken in the track train! 

Details from: www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/07/sporty-public-transit-taiwan/

Turkey-based designer Efil Türk of Llun creates beautiful (yet still useful) paper clips inspired by traditional motifs. 

I wonder if she'd make our 'gawcky-g' in paper clip form?

llun.co/projects/paperclips-collection/

'Food artist' Gaku creates incredibly intricate carvings from unlikely objects: fruit and vegetables. He uses a simple xacto knife and works quickly while the produce still looks fresh and crisp. See more of his work on his Instagram account.

Story from: ​http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/04/new-elaborate-patterns-and-designs-carved-on-produce-by-gaku/

London photographer Rich 'paperboyo' McCor adds simple paper cutouts to the foreground of famous landmarks and then takes photos of the whimsical result. McCor has gained quite the following on his Instagram account as people wait to see what he's going to do next. 

How cool is this?! At the Lego store in London, you can visit the 'Mosaic Maker' booth which snaps your photo and then provides you with the pieces to recreate your image in Lego bricks!

​From: ​http://www.adweek.com/creativity/this-lego-booth-scans-your-face-and-makes-a-custom-kit-so-you-can-build-yourself-out-of-legos/ and www.digitalspy.com/tech/feature/g24393/you-can-now-make-yourself-out-of-lego-and-its-amazing-heres-how-the-lego-mosaic-maker-works/?

The City of Toronto has proven that there's still lots to do even on the coldest, snowy days of winter. The Waterfront Business Improvement Area and Winter Stations (creators of the exhibits in the Beaches last winter) have created a temporary art exhibition featuring five fun displays along Queens Quay. The exhibit is called Ice Breakers and will be on display until February 26, 2017. www.waterfrontbia.com/event/ice-breakers/

Each year Pantone selects a colour to define the year ahead. They describe it as, "A symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude."

Just released today, the colour chosen for 2017 is called, Greenery, or PMS 15-0343. 

"A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings. Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

Greenery is nature’s neutral. The more submerged people are in modern life, the greater their innate craving to immerse themselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world. This shift is reflected by the proliferation of all things expressive of Greenery in daily lives through urban planning, architecture, lifestyle and design choices globally. A constant on the periphery, Greenery is now being pulled to the forefront - it is an omnipresent hue around the world.
​
A life-affirming shade, Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality."

So, expect to see a lot of green in the coming year in fashion, furniture and design. 

Source: ​https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2017

This month every sign in the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC) Bathurst station was replaced. The new signage pays homage to the nearby Toronto iconic retailer, Honest Eds, which will be closing on December 31, 2016. The decals and directional signs were designed in the immediately recognizable hand painted style of all Honest Eds, complete with matching font, colour scheme and play on words. These fun signs will be in place until the store closes and they are replaced by a smaller, but permanent tribute to the store. Source: ​http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2016/11/bathurst-station-unveils-bittersweet-homage-honest-eds

Tel Aviv designer Chen Bikovski used the pop-up books she loved as a child to inspire the design of magical, multi-dimensional light fixtures. Her three debut designs included a deer-head, owl and peacock which are folded and cut to allow for light to create additional features including antlers or feathers. Her work has won awards and been featured in galleries and design magazines around the world.  Learn more about Bikovski's fixures here. 

Who said typography was boring? This fun use of type by Aaron Kuehn proves differently.  
aaronkuehn.com/

At gawck, we're all about large format items. Kevin Wisbeth, digitally combines man-made and natural items to provide a clearer idea of their true size. www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/09/a-quick-perspective/

Andre De Grasse, the speedy Olympian that amassed three medals in Rio, was just awarded with a new piece of hardware: a large green sign that will be installed in his hometown of Markham street soon.  Markham Mayor, Frank Scarpitti, presented De Grasse with the sign to honour his performance. http://runningmagazine.ca/andre-de-grasse-street/