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    Hello.

    Welcome to Cultiva Studio a visual communications firm based in Alexandria, Virginia (very close to Washington, DC). We can help promote your brand, communicate your company's mission, and reach your target audience. You can view samples of our work on our portfolio page and read about the studio in our about page. You can also follow us on Twitter. Give us a call or fill out the form to the right and send us an email. We would love to work with you.

    Below is our blog, where we post stories about design that we find interesting and a source of inspiration.

    Wednesday
    Aug182010

    Graphics in Movies & TV

    A friend and fellow designer mentioned on his Facebook page that he saw the movie "500 Days of Summer". He wrote that he loved the movie titles. It is one of my favorite movies and got me thinking about the use of graphic design in movies and TV. I started thinking both about the design of opening and closing title sequences. There are a ton of examples of great design and typography in movies and TV. Since I am a movie and TV nut, I decided to write about some of my favorites here.

    Title sequences are where you normally see some of the most creative graphic design in a movie; but there are times when some very interesting design is done inside the movie itself. One of my all-time favorite movies is "Fight Club". I could write for days about that movie, but I won't. One of the scenes that truly blew me away was when the main character is flipping through his Ikea catalog, narrating about his yuppy existence in voice-over. Suddenly we see the Ikea catalog layout come to life piece by piece, including the typography as the character walks through the scene. (Unfortunately this clip is in the wrong aspect ratio, so it looks squished).

    Fight Club_IKEA Nesting from Jonas Claeys on Vimeo.

    Another movie that used typography and information design in a very clever way was "Stranger than Fiction". The movie itself is very slow paced and for me kind of forgettable; except for those amazing, animated infographics used to illustrate the narration. It is a great way to show a character who is all about data, numbers and order, and who lives in his head. The opening sequence was designed by MK12.

    Here are some of my favorite opening sequences from TV shows. First up, "Six Feet Under" designed by Digital Kitchen. A beautiful use of typography that disintegrates, evocative images up close, and illustration of the tree going through the seasonal changes (terrific music, too).

    Six Feet Under Main Title from DIGITALKITCHEN on Vimeo.

    Next up is "Dexter", which was also designed by the folks from Digital Kitchen. I love the concept of Dexter going through his very mundane daily morning routine, but shot in a way that looks very dark, ominous and evil.

    HBO: Dexter Main Title from DIGITALKITCHEN on Vimeo.

    I suspect the studio that designed the opening for "Nurse Jackie" were influenced by the Dexter opening titles. These were designed by Imaginary Forces, who also designed the title sequence and section title cards for the movie "500 Days of Summer".

     

    Nurse Jackie - Main Titles from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.

    And finally, Imaginary Forces also designed the very iconic opening titles to "Mad Men".

    Mad Men - Main Titles & Marketing Campaign from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.

     

    Friday
    Jul022010

    Bookshelf Lust

    With more and more people buying iPads, iPhones, Kindles, etc. I suppose less and less people will buy actual books. But I LOVE real books and even better I love being surrounded by lovely bookshelves. I dream of someday redoing my living room with floor to ceiling built-in bookcases. So when I came across this web page devoted solely to photos of book shelves, it was instant love. The site is called "Bookshelf Porn" and despite the cute but unfortunate name, it has lots of great photos.

    (Via Swissmiss)

    Wednesday
    Jun232010

    Warby Parker Eyewear

    If you have not heard about this company yet, you will. They've been featured in several magazines, on different sites and many folks are talking about them on Twitter. What makes Warby Parker so special? They offer vintage inspired glasses, that they designed, for $95 and the cost includes perscription lenses and shipping. In addition, for every pair of glasses they sell, they give a pair to someone in need. They have a beautifully designed website, and even the packaging for their glasses is special. You can contact them to try up to 5 pairs of glasses at home to see how they look on you. Or you can upload a photo of yourself and do a virtual try on. I'm going to tell you about my experience buying glasses from Warby Parker.

    First I went on their website and looked at all the styles and colors they have available. From the research I did on WP, I knew that they had trouble keeping up with demand for the home try-ons, so I decided to do a virtual try on. I uploaded my picture and tried a bunch of frames. I liked the Nedwins. In the photo below, the image on the left is my virtual try on and the photo on the right is what the glasses really look like on my face. Big difference.

    I really like the overall style of the Nedwins and for a day or so I loved the glasses I got (which only took like 4 days from when I ordered them to when they arrived). But I think the Nedwins are too big and certainly too wide for my face. This is something to be aware of with the virtual try on, it's not really to the correct proportions.

    So I contacted the folks at Warby Parker and asked if by any chance I could do a home try on. And sure enough, they set me up with 5 frames to try on. One frame (Finn) I absolutely detest, so I won't show the picture here. But the other 4 are nice. And I got the try on frames two days after I ordered them.

    How fun? I loved getting to try on different frames. But honestly, I'm still a little torn. I will return the Nedwins because I think they are too big for me (WP pays for return shipping). I love the style of the Emersens (top left), but I'd prefer the frame in a light amber color and the one thing that bugs me about this style is that the silver hinges on the inside show though the lenses. The Madyson (bottom left) looks nice on me but it is not special enough. The Aubrey (top right) and the Sheridan (bottom right) are similar styles. The difference between them is subtle. The Sheridan frame is a bit thinner overall and comes in a lovely combination of browns and yellow called "striped chestnut" (it also comes in black and crystal). The Aubrey I got is amber color and the shape is a bit different from the Sheridan. The Aubrey lenses are less tall towards the bridge and then get taller as they go the outside edge. So the lense shape is trapesoid. I'm leaning toward the Sheridan frames. I really love the Emersens, but those hinges bother me.

    The glasses themselves are good quality and they got my perscription right. I was surprised to get them so quickly. Also, they package the glasses beautifully. So that even though you only paid $95 you feel like you are getting glasses that cost four times as much. The glasses come in a beautiful grey box with the Warby Parker logo embossed on it. Inside is a clamshell glass case that holds your glasses and also contains a grey cleaning cloth.

    So now I just have to return the Nedwins (WP sent me a postage paid return label) and decide which of the new frames to buy. And of course, return the try on frames.

    Monday
    Jun142010

    World Cup Crayon Carvings

    These carved Crayons represent 6 futbol (or soccer) athletes from different countries: Brazil's Robinho, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Italy's Fabio Cannavaro, England's Wayne Rooney, Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, and France's Franck Ribéry. They were carved by artist Diem Chau for a Nike press kit designed by the agency Wieden+Kennedy for the 2010 World Cup.

    Above are photos of the Didier Drogba Crayon taken from different angles. Diem says she was given 18 days to carve 66 figures (that's a little over 3.5 figures per day). The agency picked the specific Crayon colors to be used for each.

    Above is a photo of the press kit pieces. You can see more pictures and read a little more about the project on Diem Chau's blog.

    (Via Fast Company)

    Tuesday
    May182010

    Artcrank Posters

    These posters were designed by RedBlackBrown (a group of Minneapolis-based designers) for a 2009 Artcrank show in Portland. I wonder if the green in the printed posters is as vivid as it is on the screen. Some of the details that are so fun in this series is that when placed next to each other the bike path is continuous. The background on each is continued as a pattern below (snowflakes, raindrops, stars, leaves). The way that "Artcrank" is set in what looks like smallcaps (T, K) and the rest lowercase but all at the same height (what typeface is that?). Here are larger images of each poster.

    Artcrank is a poster show that is bicycle inspired. Here's the description from their website:

     

    "Bikes are the world’s most fun and accessible way to get around. Posters are the world’s most fun and accessible art form. ARTCRANK brings them together.

    ARTCRANK is a showcase of bicycle-inspired original poster artwork that people can enjoy looking at and afford to take home. ARTCRANK began in Minneapolis in 2007, and has expanded to Denver, St. Louis, Portland, San Francisco and Des Moines.

    Every ARTCRANK show features posters created by local artists from the host city. Admission is always free, and posters are priced to let everybody take home at least one."

    (Via FFFFOUND!)