Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Viva Las Vegas!!


We stayed in the big pyramid!

Last weekend we went to Las Vegas for the second time in three weeks. I know, I know, you're thinking "Isn't that a little excessive??"...but it is just so close (we can drive there), and trust me, there is nothing to do in Palmdale. We probably wont be continuing this trend though, I think we have now seen all of the major casinos and attractions (not to mention, my wallet gets emptied each time we go).

There was so much to look at, I knew I had to do a blog on Vegas advertising when I got back to California...so here are some ads that I liked:

I saw ads for this place EVERYwhere...but I never actually saw the store. I like how the colors of the letters in "factory" echo the colors of the balls (gum balls???), but I don't understand the use of the rubber ducky... What does that have to do with candy?

They used celebrities as spokespeople for their rhinestone encrusted lollypops (here's Whitney Port). There is a series of pictures on the side of a construction walkway depicting various celebs eating the suckers, can you guess which person was the only one who was defaced with a Sharpie? It was Britney Spears, poor Britney :( However, it was washed off the second time we went, so Vegas does care about the Pop Princess.

This display really caught my eye. It is a Statue of Liberty made entirely of jelly beans!

I saw a bunch of these billboards advertising the Monte Carlo along Highway 15. They use phonetic spelling in a very clever way. I reminds me of this game.

Another rubber ducky...must be a Vegas thing...

The ads for Cirque du Soleil's "Zumanity" were my favorite. They featured stock photos of everyday boring items and situations on the top/left and crazy Zumanity images on the bottom/right. The contrast of the colors, content and typefaces was really cool. The show was also very entertaining!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Robot Logos!

Check out this collection of cool robot logos! All were obtained via logopond.

I like the combination of the hand-drawn typeface, sans serif font and the robot sketch. Does anyone else read this as "First One"?

Clueless robot...?...?...?

Mad robot!!! This logo has a retro feel, and it reminds me of Nick at Night.

I like this one a lot...especially the corresponding dots.

This one is really cute. I like how the investment arrow is subtle and not in your face.

This one is my favorite! I love the robo-cow, the colors, and the typography!!!

Is the red background square tilted, or is that just an optical illusion? Either way, it makes me look twice.

I probably would've used the second "o" for the body of the robot, it would make the word easier to read.

Thumbs up! This one is great! I love it when designers omit spaces in words, but also make it easier to read.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Girl Scouts Logo get a Haircut



The Girl Scouts logo recently was upgraded. It got a new brighter color and a haircut, she has bangs! I like the change...it looks fresh and updated. I'm glad they didn't alter it too much, the original message of unity and friendship still stands. Good job! Now...if they could only do something about those uniforms...


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

So that's how they got their names...

Ever wonder where companies get their names? Where did companies like Adobe, Pepsi and Google come up with those catchy names that we remember in an instant? Well, the answers might surprise you...

The name "Adobe" came from "Adobe Creek" which was located behind the house of one of the founders.

It is rumored that Steve Jobs named his company after a farm in Oregon or a record company. Either way, I couldn't picture any other logo on the back of my laptop. This fruit is now synonymous with technology.

Did you know that Google used to be called "BackRub"? Can you imagine getting into an argument with your friends about a meaningless piece of trivia (like Arnold Schwarzenegger's age, for example, yes...my friends had an argument about this) and then having someone say "I'll figure it out, I'll just BackRub it". Haha, that would be hilarious. :)

Intel is short for "Integrated Electronics". I always thought it was an abbreviated form of the word "Intelligent".

Pepsi was crated under the name "Brad's Drink", named after the pharmacist, Caleb Bradham, who invented it in 1893. Five years later, it was renamed Pepsi-Cola after two of the ingredients: "pepsin" and "kola" nuts. Pepsi is WAY better name than Brad's Drink, which would only be cool if you were named Brad.

Did you find these interesting?