The following have been added to the links on the right (Blogs of interest), but I'll mention them here as well:
21 color palette tools: A list of online color choosing tools
Logo of the day: http://logooftheday.com/
Brand New: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Logo Design Love: http://www.logodesignlove.com/
Yesterday on Midmorning programing on MPR (91.1 FM), guest Lucas Conley discussed his observations and research regarding our culture's obsession with branding. He discusses extreme examples of applying brand identities to humans (i.e., via tattoos or baby naming rights) as well as the symbiotic and almost passive relationship between consumers and brands.
Listen to the broadcast here:
While Google is great, sometimes it's not quite the search source you need to find new and inspiring ideas. Some other ideas for unique search tools include del.icio.us and Twitter search. Delicious is a popular bookmarking system that uses user-defined tags to filter and sort through information. Try searching for "education initiatives" or "money management" and see what interesting links pop up. Twitter search allows you to see what people are micro-blogging about in real time. Often times their posts include links to other interesting articles or sources– see what you can find!
The event Cause for Drinks is a unique initiative (or service) that pairs happy hour with a cause. Noting that many individuals imbibe at happy hour without reason, and recognizing the need for numerous non-profits to raise money, Cause for Drinks connects the dots and donates a portion of the drinking proceeds to a charity of choice (Past charities/events can been seen here)
Not only is this idea novel, but it provides insight into popular, but under-noticed, non-profits:
http://www.plantit2020.org/
http://www.kidcameraproject.org/
http://www.womenforwomen.org/index.php
http://www.thefoodproject.org/
http://prcno.org/programs/rebuildingtogether/
Now that you have been assigned your 'topic' or category to help you focus the creation of your company, start to familiarize yourself with the current conditions in that particular portion of American (or global) culture. Figure out what portion of your category interests you and focus your company around that idea.
Education
http://www.edutopia.org/
Human rights
http://www.hrw.org/
Finances
http://www.kiplinger.com/
http://www.forbes.com/
http://www.marketwatch.com/
Housing
http://www.hud.gov/
Any others? Post them as you find them!
As designers, it is important that you have your finger on the pulse of culture. Knowing current trends and how they are impacting daily life is helps you stay relevant in a quickly changing society. In order to keep yourself abreast of cultural phenomenon, be sure to expose yourself to multiple media outlets and channels of information.
A few good and varied sources:
GOOD magazine: State of the planet, GOOD design, a brainstorming session identifying current conditions and designing solutions to alleviate them
White House agenda http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/
WIRED magazine http://www.wired.com/wired
SEED magazine http://www.seedmagazine.com
Current_ http://current.com
Pop!Tech blog http://www.poptech.com/blog
Others? Please share your resources!
When selecting your *one* primary color for the logo re-design project, you may want to use Pantone (R) color books or other pre-defined swatch palettes to help in your selection process.
See how to view these different palettes, including Pantone books
If you create your own color through a CMYK mix, be sure to create a spot color swatch, using the following process.In the screen that appears, be sure to change "Color Type" to "Spot color" (default is "Process"), which will create a spot color for you in your swatches panel.
As you start to set-up your blog and get in the habit of documenting your process, here are some highlights from last semester's GD2 student blogs:
(Note: Entries are in reverse chronological order (like most blogs), so if you want to start at the beginning, you'll have to navigate there.)
http://alyssastrand-gd2.blogspot.com/
http://elliesketchblog2.blogspot.com/
http://3352progressions.blogspot.com/