Saludos! Rodrigo Fuenzalida is a graphic designer from Caracas, Venezuela who creates striking, powerful fonts focused around “the investigation of basic geometric forms”. He was kind enough to share some of his work and tell us a little about himself…
Rodrigo, who’s been designing since 2004, took an odd path on his way to becoming a designer. Before enrolling at Prodiseño, where he earned his degree in design, he studied dentistry for 2 and a half years before growing bored with grinding teeth and dropping out. I can’t really fault the man for that decision.
In his own words: “Because I had some skill at drawing, I started studying graphic design.”
Rodrigo says he draws a lot of his inspiration from the fathers of Venezuelan design: NEDO. M.F. and Gerd Leufert. He’s even named the above font, “GERD” after Leufert.
You can see Rodrigo Fuenzalida’s full portfolio at his new (albeit a little slow) website.
There’s a little part of me (okay, huge) that wishes I grew up in NYC in the late 70s/early 80s during the rise of hip hop and breakdancing. And I’ll be the first to admit I LOVE a good dance off. So when I recently came across the site for Nike Troupe Battle, calling ‘all new and old style hip hoppers, freestylers, poppers, lockers, b-boys and b-girls and design freaks,’ I was intrigued. Turns out it’s a website showcasing the new Nike Air Troupe, a shoe designed, engineered and tested for freestyle and hip hop dancers.
The cool part? You can design your own Nike Troupe, judge other people’s designs, see the galleries of other designers who are of course dancers, and learn some about the vast world of modern hip hop dance.
Like any good marketing machine, there is of course the end goal here of selling shoes and Nike is quite clever in the way they use a cutting edge flash site and make it super interactive. I love the part on the site where it explains the Troupe ‘is not only exceptionally cushioned, it contains specific innovative technology to maximize your spin, allow for a smooth freeze and to a glide without problems whether indoor, or outdoor on the streets.’ Whoa (For a second there I started thinking this shoe might increase my odds and help me overcome a late start into my dancing career). So the question is, is this the cash cow continuing to capitalize off of street culture? Or is this marketing brilliance and overdue attention finally showcasing an amazing talent? You be the judge. In the meantime, I’m going to pop in Breakin’ and hope that my design scores some points. That’s right, CAbbeyAir.
Recently we’ve been in contact with several breweries in the triangle area in hopes of getting some design work from them. I’ve been doing some research on bottle design, and here are some of my favorites:
Does anyone else have any favorites?
One of our readers hipped me to Richard Perez, a designer & illustrator living in San Fransisco. Says Richard about getting his start as a designer, “I fell in love with graphic design through old album covers and film posters…” And you’ll notice on his site, his best work comes in poster or album format. And since we’re still celebrating the vinyl record’s 60th, Richard’s a fit.
Check out his portfolio site here, his Flickr here and that first set of prints on sale @ oksunshine’s Etsy here.
Thanks, Michael!
Kristy is amazing! She was so inspired by my rainbow cake post last week that she made one this weekend.
Today is the 60th anniversary of the release of the first vinyl single–a momentous anniversary for all of us record nerds of the world.
So, for all of you that will never be completely satisfied by spinning an iPod wheel, throw a record onto your player, drop the needle and celebrate! You’re the reason records are still being pressed (over a million records in 2008).
Photos via bradleyloos’ Flickr and his amazing record collection.
Today is the 60th anniversary of the release of the first vinyl single–a momentous anniversary for all of us record nerds of the world.
So, for all of you that will never be completely satisfied by spinning an iPod wheel, throw a record onto your player, drop the needle and celebrate! You’re the reason records are still being pressed (over a million records in 2008).
Photos via bradleyloos’ Flickr and his amazing record collection.
Ignore the fact that Christopher David Ryan has three first names and therefore cannot be trusted and check him out: he’s a graphic artist out of frosty and unforgiving Portland, Maine that runs one-man shop Atmostheory.
His website is host to a single piece of his work, everyday. Everyday. That’s a lot of days to have something new to put on a website.
And although Mr. Ryan’s work may not change your life you’ve got to respect it if for no other reason than the sheer quantity and frequency. Whoa, dude.
It’s kind of like photography: you shoot 500 photos to get one great shot. Poke around his site and you’ll probably find something you’ll enjoy, if not today, tomorrow.
I stumbled on an awesome Flickr pool dedicated to photographs of chairs outside. It’s a huge set of awesome images and an easy way to lose an hour.
Credits in order of appearance… Julio López Saguar, 宝 宝, *molyte, Buzzy Girl
This Friday is First Friday!
The Fish Market will be honoring the graduating Art and Design seniors on Friday, April 3rd by holding a special show entitled “Fin”. Each of the sixteen seniors will have a collection of their work displayed; collections range from paintings, animations, fibers, and sculptures. Stop by between 6 PM to 11 PM to become a part of downtown Raleigh’s First Friday festivities. If you are unable to attend Friday, feel free to stop by the gallery the following Saturday and Sunday, April 4th and 5th, between 1 PM and 4 PM. The Fish Market are located down the stairway at the corner of Fayetteville Street and Hargett Street.
