So I recently watch a documentary called "Catfish." It was a pretty interesting indie film. I can't really describe it without giving too much information. In fact if you watch the trailer it won't tell you much either. I don't even think the title is significant to what the documentary is about. But, that's not what this blog post is about. I decided to do my blog this week on the poster for the movie.

So the poster is mostly the black background. In red on the bottom are the names of the production companies involved, the release date, and the movies website. In the center is an image of what appears to be a painted catfish. Unpainted on the fisher are letters spelling out "CATFISH." What's unique about the poster is that includes the image of the mouse arrow and the text in white that says "Don't let anyone tell you what it is." The arrow is significant because the movie makes use of computers a lot. And the text is significant because not knowing what the film is about seems to make people want to see it even more. And being white makes it stand out even more.

It really seems like and odd way to promote a movie. They don't tell you what it's about and give it a title that has nothing to do with the movie. But that's really what draws you in. The image attracts you and the text leaves you wanting to know more. And it really was a good movie.

Starbucks

I am not a fan of coffee, but this week I decided to make my blog post about it. More specifically Starbucks. I noticed a few years ago that the were using a different logo on the cups that what they normally use. I decided to look into it and discovered that it was the original logo. What is currently being used is actually the third version.

In this one we the Starbucks name as well the names of a few products that the sell. I believe that the typeface used is Helvetica. The works are encircled around the image of a mermaid. The image is actually based on a Norse woodcut. And they only colors used are brown and white.

And here is the third, and current, version of the Starbucks logo. The layout has stayed the same. But they left out the words Tea and Spices and just left coffee. The image of the mermaid has also changed. And you see a lot less of it than in the original. And instead of brown and white it uses black, green, and white.

I'm not too interested in the logos themselves, but I am interested in how it it went from the original to the current one. What made them decided to the the design into the direction it went? Was it too inappropriate?

Studio Ghibli

I realized today that I haven't posted anything that could be considered Otaku. So my post this week is the logo for the Japanese animation film studio "Studio Ghibli." It features the name in both English and Japanese Katakana. I'm not familiar with Japanese typeface but the English appears to be in San Serif. In the background is an image the character Totoro from the movie My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ Tonari no Totoro). I really like it's simplicity. It's just the name and a familiar character. It's not complicated and easy to understand.

Captain Crunch: Retro Crunch

One of my earlier posts was of the Throwback Mountain Dew bottle. The same thing was done for Pepsi. The older logo was used for a limited  time. Quaker has done the same thing for Captain Crunch cereal. For a limited time they're using a box design similar to the one from the 60's. So my post this week is a picture I took of a box of Peanut Butter Crunch (Best cereal ever!). It features various typefaces, a photograph of the cereal, and well as cartoon pictures of the captain and an elephant. It also has the catch phrase "Stays crunchy...Even in milk" on the front. I guess I like the retro look because it's different. Something I'm not use to seeing. It's an eye catcher to those familiar and unfamiliar with the old look. I guess retro is trying to make a comeback.

Super Mario 25th Anniversary

This year marks the 25 Anniversary of the Super Mario franchise. Mario is by far the most recognized video games character ever. Nintendo is of course celebrating this by selling various themed items. But they've also made a special logo which is what my blog is about. The logo has the 8bit version of Mario top center, 25th Anniversary in the Center, and Super Mario Bros. bottom center. And it's closed of with the leaves on the sides. It's a very simple design but the message is clear. I think even without it saying Super Mario Bros. you could still tell what the images was about. But Nintendo clearly thought this through and made it so that people who aren't familiar with the Mario Bros. franchise could understand what it's about. I like it cause it's nostalgic. It's a modern logo with a reference to the older games. And now I want to play some Super Mario Bros. Obviously it's working.

So this week I chose the cover for Drake's album "Thank Me Later." This reason I chose it is because it has a  lot of references to the Early Modern style. I makes use of photography by having a picture of drake on the cover. The font of the text is Sans-Serif. And it uses the colors red and black. All three of these elements were common in the Early Modern style. I feel that this images gives off a sense of power. Drake has such a serious look on his face. And I fell that this simplified image give off that effect even more. I also like how the different colors with the text is used to separate the Drake's name with the title of the album. I haven't listened to the entire album. And "You can't judge a book by it's cover." But I really do like it.

Cartoon Network logo

This week I chose to do another logo. But I also chose to do a comparison. Cartoon Network is a popular television network I have watched for years. When I was younger their network looked like this:

It was a simple checkered pattern design that clearly displayed the name. Now there logo looks like this:

It stills shows the name at the bottom. But there than the entire checkered patter, they emphasize the "C" and the "N." If you're familiar with Cartoon Network, you instantly recognize with it represents just by seeing the two letters. I actually like this modernized logo, but I still prefer the old one.

This week I chose to blog about the Mountain Dew logo. I specifically chose the logo for the throwback. The reason I chose it was because it's modeled after the original Mountain Dew logo with the hillbilly caricature. It was used to promote a limited time offer of original Mountain Dew made with sugar. I found this bottle at a County Market. Of course you can probably find it at most places that sell Mountain Dew. Like many graphic design styles, it borrows from and older style. It uses the same colors and the original font type. It's not as bold or as loud as the current logo. It's more simple and calm. I like it because it's different and not what I'm used to seeing. I like this older logo. It's classic and very "old school."

Box Art: Halo Reach

Being a gamer I decided to post the box art for a video game. I picked the box art for Halo Reach because it recently came out and is one of the most recognized video game franchises. I found the image online, but it can be seen anywhere this game is sold like Gamestop or Best Buy. For those that don't know Halo is an FPS (first-person shooter) games franchise that revolves around a war of Humans against various alien species. The main function of the image is to grab the consumers attention. With it being a well known franchise it uses recognizable images such as the Spartan figures in the images and the specific font used for Halo.The cover for the new game has a very cold and aggressive look to it. This give it a very war-like feel. But at the same time it seems very quiet with the use of dark and cool colors. The quality of the image is great and very professional. That is expected from a game with such a serious image to it. Overall I think that it's a great piece of artwork and hopefully I will be able to get my hands on the game very soon.