SKAGGS Blog - Design

There’s no stopping photographer Kfir Ziv’s unmistakeable talent and ability to constantly change the game.

Kfir approached us in July to design the labels for his very own signature wine, which he created with New York’s famous City Winery. Kfir named the wine after his newborn son, Kai. Inspired by one of Kfir’s photographs, SKAGGS worked with Kfir to create the photograph used on the label.…

The architect most famous for his Sydney Opera House died today at the age of 90. The International Heard Tribune has a good article on him and the issues he had with building one of the most iconic buildings in the world. I think Frank Gehry said it best when Utzon won the Pritzker prize in 2003 saying that Utzon

“made a building well ahead of its time, far ahead…

Pentagram redesigning one of the most iconic hip hop magazines to date…Who’d have thunk it!? It’s not often you see really well designed Hip Hop publications . So when I found out that Pentagram have redesigned Vibe (hip-hop’s premier magazine) for their 15 anniversary, I was pleasantly surprised and even more impressed having seen the outcome here.

Working with Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith, art director Mark Shaw,…

Fubiz turned me on to these beguiling images by Parisian illustrator Jules Julien [note—not work safe]. Does this work imply that within a consumerist culture, we are soon defined by the products we consume? Or that globalization leads to the loss of cultural identity?

Consider just how many brand services and products each of us consume every single day. This…

As the original creator of the concept of NYLON (NewYorkLondon) and designer of some of the most contemporary residential and commercial spaces in New York City (including SKAGGS HQ), Jo Laurie of Jo Laurie Design is the go-to creative, when you’re in need of practical yet innovative interior design services and advice.

We sat down with Jo to find out how she outshone Terence Conran’s London Flagship store…

We have several “Eagle Eyes” at SKAGGS and we totally understand the importance of having work proof read, although you’ve probably noticed a few typos on the blog. I have an insanely bad habit of being liberal with the comma. Not sure why…maybe because I’ve yet to fully grasp its correct usage. Anyway, I came across illustrator David Lanham. He was commissioned to do an illustration for Weiner +…

Ever thought about making your own typeface? Well I have, but font creation software is mad-loot. FontShop has thankfully built a simple (and FREE!) online application that lets you build href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font">fonts out of simple building blocks.

Oh the wonders of the Interweb.

FontStruct lets you quickly and easily create fonts constructed out of geometrical shapes, which are arranged in a grid pattern, like tiles…

Science Machine from Chad Pugh on Vimeo.
How long does it take to create a complex illustration? Chad Pugh documented the process and put it all together in a very cool video. 

The video is a condensed time lapse of screenshots over a several month period. Total physical drawing time is close to 40…

With their decadent confetti made of diced dollar bills (totaling a hundred dollars) to their S*** From Paris (a company dedicated in collecting, recycling and selling Parisian dog defections), it’s kind of difficult to describe what they do. I guess you could say that French duo Ivan Duval and Jean Sebastien Ides are in the business of ideas. They create/invent wonderfully quirky but well designed products, some of which is…

With all of the recession talk, tightening of belts and general decline of the dollar, talk of currency and finance can be depressing. The Royal Mint positively brightened my day with the announcement of the newly designed UK currency. Who knew 50p could look so good!?

The Shield of the Royal Arms has been given a contemporary treatment and its whole has been cleverly split among…

Everyone has a morning routine when they arrive at work: check email, voicemail, news, etc. Part of my morning routine is checking out what is going on in the design world (and yes every word is a link).

If anything catches my eye I’ll take a look, but most of the time its a click here and there for…

I just remember thinking: “First day of school: Cold, cold, cold” I had forgotten my mittens in NY and my hands were purple when I walked into the schools library to present the assignment. I badly needed my gloves! I drank tea and more tea to warm me up until I started to sweat and stink :-( oh my… that’s exactly what I feared the most; a stinking teacher with bad…

There are many bad mistakes in design, some are unintentional and others are just poor judgment.
designpolice.org aims to highlight these mistakes and bring bad design to justice, with a handy little print out and stick kit, with alerts that include “Run The Spell Check” and Microsoft Word Is Not A Design Tool” you’ll be sure never to make the same mistake twice. Genius!

Wolf Ollins have had their fair share of grief this year. From their much poo-pooed London Olympics 2012 logo and the Wacom “trumpet thing” to their part in the (I will say no more) NYC taxi redesign and NYC Visit logo. I’ll admit I was one of the many grief givers, however time has passed and I’m not gnashing and grinding my teeth as much. Today…

Dear Smart Design,
First of all I’d like to begin by saying my views are not representative of SKAGGS or any of its other employees. Secondly I’d like to say that I’ve bitten my tongue for long enough. The new NYC Taxi Logo is absolutely awful…AWFUL!!!

Not a day goes by where I don’t gnash and grind my teeth about it. The fact that I have to see this big…