Loupedeck is a Finnish startup and photo editing console designed to speed up the image processing in Adobe Lightroom for Windows and Mac users. It is described as an intuitive alternative to the keyboard and mouse, precisely mapped to Lightroom to encourage creative spontaneity and experimentation, suitable for beginners and professionals alike.
To help build and grow their business, the startup partnered with Scandinavian graphic design studio Bond to develop a graphic logo that will run through and link business cards, packaging, websites and promotional materials, including beanie beans, t-shirts and tote bags.
Loupedeck's design leverages the height, shape, texture, arrangement, and motion of the entire console, allowing editors to manipulate images without looking down. This forms the basis for unique printed shapes and layouts, blind imprinted impressions and reliefs, textures of uncoated stained substrates and identification systems used in online movements.
Bond's graphical designs for Loupedeck effectively guide the shape, color, material quality, and interactions of the console to establish a unique visual language and strong continuity between products, websites, and promotional assets. Most of them are fairly simple and easy to understand, and that's what makes it strong. Loupedeck's matte black and silver finishes are achieved by using dyed dark and uncoated plates and silver block foil printed finishes. While the stepped heights of its dials and buttons, and the way these help keep the editor's eye on the screen, are cleverly represented by embossed and embossed impressions and reliefs.
The radial nature of the dial dictates the choice of font – a font with a clear geometric basis and narrow holes – the construction of the logo and the way G, C and Q rotate online as they scroll through content. This animated detail is a small highlight, along with a neat software update icon, but it identifies key interactions with the product and builds it into a unique and recurring set of graphic elements.
The single line, geometry and white, single font selection, illustrations and icons of the logo, combined with a dark background drawn on the surface of the console, form a clear continuity throughout, and use contrasting and recurring forms to make most of the association and establish recognition. Identity does challenge readability, especially when stacked. It acts more like a recognizable confluence of shapes, determined by the arrangement of the product dials. Dials are common in image-editing hardware, but Bond manages to extract a unique and informative gesture from this ubiquity.
Online, bright modern color panels introduce remarkable contrast, creativity and dynamism. They utilize the product's LED lights and connect via video to the responsive control provided to the user by the console, changing colors by turning the turntable.
Conceptually, it's simple. It combines technology and modularity to elevate basic functions, such as the common form of turning the dial and console, into something unique and memorable through static and animation, and finds a balance between creative play and professional use. More work on BP&O by Bond.
Sylvia Plath's bell cover; Designed by Gray318 (Faber & Faber / July 2019)
This is obviously available now (but at least according to Faber's Instagram!). ), I can't find it online. If anyone is willing to share ISBN, I would try one.
The new design was inspired by a cover designed by Shirley Tucker in 1966.
Berta Javier Marias; Designed by Kelly Blair (Knopf / August 2019)
The cover of The Infatuations, designed by Isabel Urbina Peña and published by Kpf in 2013, is an interesting direction compared to the changes.
The source of the publication of Hamesh Hamilton, J Marías, is British.
The case of Donald Hoffman's rebellion; Design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (WW Norton / August 2019)
Catholic schools in Edoardo Albinati; Designed by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / August 2019)
Thanks to the nice guys on Twitter who helped me identify designers and fonts. It turns out that this type is "Lydia" from Colophon Foundry – that's right (you guessed it!). Lydian's bold condensed style revival.
The opportunity is... Richard Russo; Designed by Kelly Blair (Knopf / July 2019)
Hymn by Nell Zink; Design Jack Smyth (Fourth Estate / August 2019)
You can read a recent interview with Jack about his work at It's Nice That.
Evgenia Citkowitz's Ether is designed by Henry Sene Yee (Picador/July 2019) You can listen to Henry discuss his work with Holly Dunn in the latest Spine podcast.
Sue Rainsford followed me to the ground; Design and illustration Beci Kelly (Transworld / August 2019) will be published in January 2020 by Scribner on the cover of the US edition (!) Designed by Jaya Miceli, it contains a collage by Toon Joosen.
Walter A. Brown's Lithium ; Designed by Keith Hayes (WW Norton / August 2019)
Yoko Ogawa's memory police; Designed by Tyler Comrie (Pantheon / August 2019)
Nicholas Blincoe is more noble than war; Designed by Steve Leard (Constable / August 2019) This reminds me of a wall of Henry Palestine on the cover of René Backman, published by Picador in 2010...
Helen Phillips's needs; Designing Rachel Willey (Simon & Schuster / July 2019) Not long ago, I stopped tracking the "flora-intertwined-with-type" cover, but that would be a nice addition to that list.
A big step for Charles Fishman; Designed by Richard Ljoenes (Simon & Schuster / June 2019)
Our Women on the Ground is edited by Zahra Hankir; Designed by Rosie Palmer; Lily Jones handwritten font (Harvill Secker / August 2019) The cover of the American edition published by Penguin was designed by Na Kim.
The perfect plan for Brian Rilden; Jason Booher Design (Dutton/June 2019) I love this cover very much, but for Jason, it's surprisingly not crazy. I wouldn't guess he's a designer!
the remainder of Alia Trabucco Zerán; Designed by Tree Abraham (Coffee House Press/August 2019) Tree also designed the cover of the British edition of And Other Stories, published last year. Not so long ago, she wrote about the process of designing two covers for Spine (they did do a better job than I did, didn't they?). ）。
Joshua Foster's revolutionary; Designed by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / April 2019) I think it's interesting to see both designs side by side...
Kalisha Buckhan kicks off the summer; Design Jaya Miceli (Counterpoint / July 2019) Sadly, images don't fully describe the level of color in IRL. Obviously, gorgeous puzzles are new...
Western Alienation Merit Badge Nancy Joe Karen; Michel Vrana Designs (Buckrider Books / May 2019) If you're willing to support him, Michelle has restarted his comic book business, Black Eye Books. Jay Stephens plans to publish a new book next month.
title of Jess Row; Designed by Oliver Munday (Graywolf/August 2019), this is one of my favorite covers of the year.
Abodo is a New Zealand-based wood specialist that produces high-performance and well-crafted materials for architectural and structural environments and has a catalogue of overlays, decks, shields and wood paneling. Abodo partnered with Richards Partners to better articulate its brand story, clarifying and emphasizing the company's respect for wood; Where it came from, where it was used, and by whom, while also clearly communicating its ambitions to architects and designers around the world through catalogs and website design.
The work Richards Partners does for Abodo has an interesting strategic component. The studio acknowledges the advantages of two different formats and adjusts the content accordingly. Although websites and directories share content and visual continuity elements, they clearly define the experience and audience in mind.
Recognizing the typical linear structure and material cost of binding paper, Catalog responds with generous layouts and primary tactile rather than graphic representations of the entire cover. Online, the website functions more as a direct selling tool and technical utility. The story of the book, in the context of the website, assumes the role of a case study rather than being strung together to form a narrative.
The table of contents is an intentionally slow reading experience, the pace and order are controllable, and the website is efficient and non-linear. It provides a fast and seamless transition between information, with a clear hierarchy starting with an overview and providing increasingly granular insights when needed.
The catalog blends the initial material impact with rich context through the emotional qualities of art direction images and thoughtful text, as well as the technical insight of line drawings and digital details. Their arrangement, and the resulting rhythm, is largely about respecting all aspects of the product, its origins, its craftsmanship, and its use.
Blind embossed cover, its weight, color and surface texture are direct in its association, reminiscent of the origin of the product, the organic rings of a tree. As a cover, the first thing you see and the entrance to the story, which feels fitting, but also hints at the core material craftsmanship that Abodo does, expressed through design craftsmanship.
As compelling as this is, there are many other concise details throughout the process that can extend this initial impression. In particular, the open spine, the exposed stitches and the exposure of the layers of paper, much like the rings of a tree. This material connection, the exposure of architecture, feels rooted in and utilizes the international non-linguistic language of the construction industry that Abodo collaborated with.
Inside the booklet, there is a pleasant interaction between images and text, making full use of the print format. Typography, text arrangement on the page, and use of brown are reminiscent of the texture and horizontal quality of trees, then interrupted by architectural images for their end use. It's an interesting and thoughtful combination of hints and literals, origins and results.
Printed and online images effectively tell a visual story, creating connections between the beginning and end of production, the natural and built environments, structures and residents. There is also an intelligent combination of small detail large panels, as well as smaller images of partial and complete structures, a tool often used in architectural publications.
Without the substantial impact of a brochure, websites tend to use archives and databases to use lines, grids and simple and quick transitions, technical insights and case studies, while colors introduce a touch of natural warmth. Depending on the sensitivity of the context, the site has the timeliness of the news section and the usefulness of searching.
The results are graphically, materially and strategically interesting. The content is diverse, from personable to technical, from emotional to pragmatic. While this is the same in both brochures and websites, it feels modest and implemented in a way that suits the context and segmented audience. It offers different ways to interact with the company. The brochure had an initial impact and had a material beauty. It tells a story and serves as a well-planned introduction. In contrast, the intent of a website is efficient and direct. More work on BP&O by Richards Partners.
Design: Richards Partner. Opinion: Richard Baird.