Being part of the graphic design industry for the last 24 years, I was recently left a bit stuck when my kid asked me, “How do you explain ‘design’?” I could have approached this simple question by a mechanical definition of design being an invention or devising a plan. Alternatively, I could have taken a philosophical approach to explaining the concept of design. Instead I ended up giving a complicated answer….. It was a spontaneous answer so feel free to correct it J

“Design is the aesthetic medium to change the present and shape our future as it contributes the ultimate distinction to our society”

Designing provides distinction to brands and similar to fashion designing, there are numerous contemporary design trends this year. Have a look…

• Swirls and Flourishes:

2009 has seen a lot of swirls and flourishes design patters usually contrived forms of flowers or drip color schemes. It is a definite go for attracting the younger generation as well as visitors looking for a refreshing break from conventional retro looks.

Ginger Monkey

• Cartoon Figures:

No matter what year or season it is, Cartoon figures websites will never go out of style. Cartoon characters are frequently repeated on not only blogs but also in websites. For instance, check the “We are not Freelancers” website. It’s an interesting concept to go with.

We are not Freelancers

• Hand Written Notes:

The Hand Written Notes trend also almost never goes out of style and this year it has been increasingly notices. Even though, this style has been labeled “old” by many designers, there are many new visitors accepting this style. Nonetheless, this style may be too informal for certain businesses.

Time For Cake

• Funky Circles:

The funky circles are more commonly used than ever, it brings a nonconventional and colorful style to the website. This trend helps breaks the monotony of serious and traditional designs.

Matt

• Splatter Ink and Drips:

The Ink drips and splatter trend is one of my favorite and has always made websites more attractive, edgy and certainly worthy to be mentioned. Here’s one of my bookmarked ones.

Radu Ceuca

• Woody and Dusty Pattern:

The wood and dusty style pattern offers a grungy look and gives the design a modern and contemporary feel. Check the “Bunker” out and you will know what I mean.

Bunker

• Rising and Scattering Rays:

Though, I am not a big fan of the scattering and rising rays pattern as in order for it to be effective it has to designed in an appropriate manner. Honestly, most designers just mess it up. But it is nonetheless a rising trend and here’s one of the best examples.

Ultrasonata

• Smoky Effect:

You may not have come across that many smoke effect websites, but this year they have been appreciated and accepted as the newest trends of 2009.

NOE Design

• Retro Designs:

The vintage and retro designs are being used now more than ever. The classic style has always been a fascination for visitors and I have received many suggestions from clients to go with a retro style instead of a contemporary one.

Charlies Loan

In 2009, we have seen the old and new styles become the hottest trends in web designing. If I missed any, then, write a comment.

The Olympic Games started as nothing more than a sporting contest but today, has become the largest sporting event receiving worldwide coverage. Every Olympic game has had a specific tradition, location and of course, a professional logo design. Even though, there is a new Olympic Games logo to please the eye every four years, some have been more aesthetically appealing than others.

1. Germany, Garmisch-Partenkirchen – 1936 2. Norway, Oslo – 1952 3. Italy, Cortina d’Ampezzo – 1956 4. United States of America, Squaw Valley – 1960 5. Austria, Innsbruck – 1964 6. France, Grenoble – 1968 7. Japan, Sapporo – 1972 8. Austria, Innsbruck – 1976 9. United States of America, Lake Placid – 1980 10. Yugoslavia, Sarajevo – 1984 11. Canada, Calgary – 1988 12. France, Albertville – 1992 13. Norway, Lillehammer – 1994 14. Japan, Nagano – 1998 15. Italy, Turin – 2006

The main thing to consider when picking out the best “Olympic logo” is that in reality the “best” logo needs to have all its elements in harmony. All elements should fit as if separate parts of a puzzle. The Olympic logo design has to carefully represent the organization, nation, time whilst, appealing to the wider audience.

However, the success of the Olympic Games cannot be simply determined by any logo. Olympic Games logo should represent the millions of people who participate in the games through diverse roles. This international sports event brings the entire world together in spirit of competition with its logo being the ultimate symbol of that spirit.

Well all need a daily dose of inspiration to get our creative juices flowing. In accord, instead of a random collection of logo designs, today I have assembled 15 creative logos that will truly inspire you. Regardless of the industry they belong to, they have been designed to the current trends being followed in this year. The following 15 logos were selected and then, optimized to better quality for the Web.

People usually confuse logotypes, corporate identity and graphic logos, even though, they stand for much the same meaning, they have minor differences. For instance, logotypes represent a corporate identity while, graphic logos can be of many types in their own right such as text-based logos.

However, at the core of this lingual debate lies the basic context that the higher quality of your company logo will increase the probability of securing a potential client. In order to achieve this, designers have to be creative and relentless in their efforts to provide you with unique, beautiful and catchy business logo designs. The consequences of such hard work take the form of stunning and spectacular designs both in web designing as well as graphic designing.

Without any further words, here are 15 inspirational logo designs:

1. Prank Express 2. Cinema Café 3. Families 4. Playground 5. Office Strategies 6. Infinitum 7. Fine Liquor 8. Shocked!!!! 9. Jott 10. Pathfinder 11. Dental Logo 12. Frogami 13. Al Capone 14. Twins 15. Swan

So what makes these logos so special? At a closer look, you will notice that the ingenious methods used to portray their brand are nothing but clever and creative methods of using shapes, typography and color.

No matter which industry we belong to designers everywhere require a source for inspiration to vehemently fuel their creativity. These 15 creative logo designs have been carefully selected to showcase a wide range of trends, for instance, you will notice origami shapes, transparency trends, coloring trends and much more. Let us not forget that these complex trends are all based on essentially simple shapes.

Photo manipulation is the process of editing of photographs in order to create an illusion through means of digital editing techniques. Photo manipulation is the intermediary or a combination of the two fields of photography and graphic design. This grouping has created a unique image that can provide illusions that would baffle even the most trained eyes and certainly requires skills to accomplish. Below are the top 10 I collected over the weekend.

Photo manipulation can create some of the strangest images out there and while, I was searching for this collection, I came across some of the more weird Photoshop pictures and have also included them in the list. Likewise, there are various funny Photoshop manipulations as well. It was hard to eliminate so many awesome works but here is the top 10.

The manipulation of an actual photo gives a surreal and unrealistic picture that can provide a completely different view of the picture. These are a source for inspiration that helps to get the creative juices flowing. Many of the 10 Photo manipulations here have an illustrative approach while others have surreal and unrealistic feel.

Photo manipulation is perhaps one the best forms of art emerging from digital age and if it is executed in a fine manner, then, it can create powerful and inspiring images. There is a wide range of Photo manipulation art present online; however, I am sure that these will leave you awestruck and inspired. Nonetheless, these images will certainly affect you, so without further words, above is the final top 10 image collection.

If you want to add more to the list or have found an exception Photoshop Manipulations then, I will include them in my next post.

I remember when the London’s 2012 Olympic logo was first revealed on BBC and I was certainly cringed for a second. It has not only been a sports disaster but an international disaster! The strange choice of color palette and rugged design almost makes it look like child graphic images that are just way over the top.

In contrast, to the view of most professionals, the chairperson of London 2012 Olympics commented “This is the vision at the very heart of our brand”.  It only leaves you wondering, “What vision? What brand?” is being talking about. Further it is said, “"It is an invitation to take part and be involved.” How exactly are the jagged edges supposed to give an inviting message?

What It Represents:

At first I thought that the entire design makes a “2012” with the dot in the center being the continuation of the lower “2” but that would not explain why the above “2” does not have a similar dot. The entire logo makes little sense!

What It Hopes To Achieve?

Seb Coe further said that “It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.”

If we actually consider how the rugged design is an attempt to reel in “young people” globally, why would they use the color pink? And what sort of message is being given by the jagged and rough surfaces?

Technical Drawback:

A major flaw in this design is that the original 5 rings are not clearly visible when the logo is scaled down. It really makes you wonder why it was approved in the first place.

ALTERNATIVE LIST OF LONDON’S 2012 OLYMPIC LOGO

Seriously, how are they going to accomplish their entire goal through this ostensibly confused logo that hardly makes sense. Check out this list of alternative logos for London’s 2012 Olympic Games. You will see that most of these logos make far more logic than the actual one chosen. In fact, there is even a petition to get the actual logo changed.

COMPARSION WITH BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS LOGO

The 2008 Beijing Olympics logo is a certain winner as it truly represents the country hosting the games. Moreover, the dancing figure is a stylized version of the work “Jing” that means the capital and better represents the overall hosting Chinese city. The logo appears to be alive and joyful and it is the exact image conveyed by China. The color scheme is similar to the Chinese flag and the fonts for the name and year are in distinct cultural Asian fonts which are both appealing and readable. The logo is of unique design that clearly brings the East and West on the same platform.

The logo features a block numbers being highlighted by yellow shadow. However, the present shortcomings of the logo will certainly bring a less turnout in the coming two years.

FINAL WORD

London’s 2012 Olympic logo has been a controversial logo being criticized for its untraditional and baffling use of bright colors as well as it’s somewhat resemblance to a swastika. Some people have also claimed it to have inappropriate figure within the shapes while, most have termed it as a logo disaster.

Yet, the London’s 2012 Olympic logo has set off more discussions in comparison to all previous Olympic logo designs since 776 BC.