Amplified Graphic Design

One for the history books

2011-09-23T11:10:00.000+10:00

It’s not often one of us mere mortals can say they’ve made history, but it was a nice surprise

to see my early design work in a book depicting the Australian music scene by one of the

country’s biggest touring groups.

I discovered it when I recently helped out my former boss who I worked for in the

early ‘90s designing promotional material for the entertainment industry. He mentioned

that Frontier Touring had put a book together and that I might be interested as it probably

showcases some tours I had worked on. It’s called Every Poster Tells A Story! 30 Years of The Frontier Touring Company and is 286-pages thick, featuring 536 posters of national and

international acts from 1979 to the close of 2010, and he was right, it did feature some of my

very first tour posters such as Stray Cats and Ugly Kid Joe.

Keep in mind these designs were created pre-InDesign (actually, pre-most technologies

used today) with a bromide camera and the good old cut n’ paste technique.

The book contains in excess of 500 concert tours; from small pubs and clubs, through to

massive stadium rock events across Australia and New Zealand. In addition to a foreword

by The Frontier Touring Company co-founder and co-owner, CEO Michael Gudinski,

some of the leading music journalists from Australia and New Zealand were invited to

contribute intros for each era to set the scene of what was influencing the Australian public's

music tastes and concert ticket purchases as well as what was affecting everyday lives - socially, politically and musically at that time.

This limited edition is a real celebration of 30 years of concert promoting, and more than

deserves a place on your coffee table.

Check it out:

First job out of college and first tours (Stray Cats and Motorhead) I worked on, age 19. Circa 1991.

For a Gunners fan, helping to design this tour was radical. Almost as radical as the AAA pass I had.

Every Poster Tells A Story! 30 Years of The Frontier Touring Company is for music fans

of all generations and genres. Get it at http://www.frontiertouring.com/everyposter and

enjoy reliving the memories of concerts (smokey venues, sticky carpet) you went to

over the years.

7 key points to consider before hiring the right graphic designer

2011-03-23T08:43:00.001+11:00

1. What are your needs?
Meet a few designers, its good to make sure that your graphic designer

is a good fit for your needs. It’s also good to have a least some idea of the

direction you’d like to go in, as graphic designers charge for their meeting

times not just design time.

2. What will a graphic designer bring to my business?
You wouldn’t hire a builder to draw up the plans for your house, would you. So use a
graphic designer to design your graphics. A graphic designer will bring a professional
and qualified approach to your graphic design needs.

3. Qualified?
Sometimes a certificate in design isn’t all you need to know. It’s important

that the graphic designer you hire has previous experience in the area of

what your needing to achieve.

4. Cost. Can I afford it?
Can you afford not to have one if it gives your business the competitive edge

when submitting proposals amongst several other companies.

5. Working relationship.
I know it’s hard to believe, but yes, some graphic designers can be difficult to
deal with. So its of the utmost importance that you get to know your designer
to a certain degree so that you can build a solid foundation.
You'll be surprised that most will go that extra mile.

6. Turn-around.
Make sure if your deadline is quite urgent that your graphic designer

is good at speedy, yet very accurate turn-arounds.

7. Accessibility.
You should build a special rapport with your graphic designer? This will lead
to more availability from your designer when something urgent is required.

Fantastic New York architecture

2011-02-22T10:32:00.000+11:00

I recently took my first holiday to the U S of A, visiting interesting and amazing places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and of course New York, New York.
I took plenty of photos of lower Manhattan's architecture (which I was pleasantly surprised in) while cruising the Hudson. I think subconsciously I was expecting something a little more grotesque, perhaps due to watching to many cheesy (tacky) American films.
Below are just a few that captured me.

I'm a fan of bridges, I find them to be awesome examples of engineering and architecture, below are some of New York's finest.

All I can say is, if you haven't been to New York and get even half a chance to go, go!
Or if you have been, go again.

8 Spruce Street. You're not seeing things, it really is squished and twisted. Awesome.


17 State Street. Semi-circle of glass. So clean, so sexy.

Bank of America Tower with the W.R. Grace (curved) building in foreground.

Corner of Old Slip and South street. Love the way that the grey outer is holding the inner crystal in place.

Corner of Wall and South street. The biggest wedding cake I've ever seen.

Thompson Reuters (right), Ernest & Young (middle) and Times Square Tower. Trifecta.

Brooklyn bridge. Opened May 24, 1883. Walked across this one, brilliant view.

Williamsburg bridge. Opened December 19 1903.

Manhattan bridge. Opened 31 December 1909.

The one and the only Guggenheim 'goog' museum. What a place to spend a day(s).

Oh the joy a happy client brings

2011-02-09T12:49:00.000+11:00

I recently completed project re-designing an 18-page A4 horizontal Multiple Residential look-book for Benson McCormack Architects. The brief was fairly relaxed with the main priority to incorporate the company colours in a clean layout with simple fonts. I went for some simple box and line work, and the client was very pleased with the end result – filling Amplified Graphic Design with joy! Once approved, the template was applied across their other architectural sectors including Single Residential, Commercial and Masterplans.
Here is a snapshot of the project. What do you think?

Front cover

Page 2, company practice

Project sheet with horizontal main image. Name, builder, logo and status remain in the same spot to give structure and consistency to the project sheets.

Project sheet with vertical main image

At the end of the project sheets, Capability and Key Personnel sheets were inserted

Back cover to tie in with the cover and complete the look

An album to live and design by

2011-01-29T12:58:00.001+11:00

Times of Grace, The Hymn of a Broken Man

Just bought it. Just played it. Just brilliant.
The melodic and captivating vocals alone took me on a journey, not to mention the beautiful partnership between the power-driven drums and the all-encompassing bass-line. This album broke me, mended me and thrilled me to the core.

The American metalcore duo Times of Grace formed in 2008 in Massachusetts. The group consists of Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage) and Jesse Leach (The Empire Shall Fall, KE and Seemless) while guitarist Joel Stroetzel (KE), bassist Daniel Struble (formerly Point O Five), drummer Dan Gluszak (formerly Envy on the Coast) complete the touring line-up. This debut album was released in January 2011 through Roadrunner Records.

Prepare for battle with this logo

2011-01-29T12:58:00.000+11:00

I came across this logo the other day and totally dig the simple yet clever design.

I love that at first glance you might only see the golfer, but when you look a little closer you’ll see the face and helmet of a Spartan warrior. Pretty cool.

Created by Richard Fonteneau.http://twitter.com/lexlogo

Classic albums

2011-01-22T09:23:00.000+11:00

I just moved into my new house and discovered some old vinyl - wow! Here's a few that should bring back some memories for some, and if you have any of these in your collection (you probably still have a turntable too) gathering dust - get them out and listen to the beautiful crackle. Loud.

The Cult, Electric (1987). My big brother got me into this one, pretty much started my love affair with slightly more stylistic rock 'n' roll to get the ladies. Worked every time. Almost.

GnR, Appetite for Destruction (1987). Wow, what can I say except this one change my life. I consider it the best dirty-rock album of all time. It's still the number-one selling debut album of all time going platinum a massive 18 times. I could go on all day about these guys.

Led Zeppelin, IV (1971). This album takes me on a journey still to this day.

Van Halen, 1984 (1984). Just started high school and the song 'Hot for Teacher' was just right. This was the sixth and final album recorded with the legendary David Lee Roth on vocals. A very sad day.

Fun and inspiring business cards

2011-01-21T09:17:00.001+11:00

Although some people might think business cards are obsolete these days, I still think they're the perfect way to make a great first impression. Here's my pick of a simple but clever idea for a hand made furniture business card, with a die-cut fold-out device which transforms a section of the fold into a chair.

It's Jim Profitt's (furniture maker) card. I'd love to be able to credit the designer (maybe it was Jim himself?) but I don't know who it is although you can click the below link for loads of other great cards to be inspired by.
http://creativebits.org/cool_business_card_designs

Sometimes simple is best

2011-01-20T21:17:00.000+11:00

It's not often a billboard captures my attention these days as there are so many they all just seem to blur together. But alas my fellow bloggers, while walking home (yes I have my camera at the ready most of the time) this one impressed me for its simplicity. An easy to read logo, obvious but effective colour and shape choice and a novelty factor makes this one a real winner.

I think Australian Bananas may have come up with a way of 'getting back to nature'.