The more I study the various visual arts, the more similarities I see between and among them.
My fiancee bought some hair coloring today, and noted that the final color will depend on the original hair color of the person using the product. She had chosen a bright auburn shade, and on the back of the package I saw three slightly different final colors based on whether the original hair had been light to medium blonde, dark blonde to light brown, or medium to dark brown.
Back when I was growing up it was the bumper sticker: “Make Love, Not War.” Easy to print in volume and cheap to buy, the bumper sticker was the mainstay of commercialized, personal self-expression—other than protest signs, of course, and some t-shirts (Che Guevara or the Rolling Stones).
My fiancee and I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday to get a birthday gift and card for a friend. We had been advised by a mutual relation that he wanted a particular print book about Christopher Columbus: a paperback best seller.
A few days ago my fiancee and I went shopping at a local clothing store. When we returned home, she tossed me an item of underwear (TC Edge) she had bought, and said, “Look at this.”
I have a dear friend from college who designs print books for government agencies and NGOs. Periodically she sends me mock ups for feedback. She is in the curious position of designing textbooks that have to be readable in both Internet and print book format. After I spent about an hour with her last night reviewing page spreads and making design suggestions, I thought her design work would make a good follow-up article on designing books for Web and print.
Creating a visual identity for a business is a formidable undertaking, rife with visual implications, functional issues, and connotations and nuances in tone. Therefore, it's important to approach it with a sense of humor and play: an experimental approach that allows you to try many things, fail at some, and succeed at others. Being too serious about this will cripple your efforts.