http://more.stefanromanu.com Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:10:31 +0000 http://more.stefanromanu.com en http://more.stefanromanu.com/42630/News http://more.stefanromanu.com/42630/News Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:10:31 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 42630 Video interview for the “Society of hungarian graphic designers and typographersˆ is here – 03 September 2009 Web concept for Saol awarded on Design and Design – 24 July 2009 My website featured on Mostcreativeportfolios.com – 18 July 2009 BNB logo featured on Logo of the day – 07 July 2009 Four of my logos are included in the 1st Logolounge Master Series book “Initials & Crests”, due to be published in February 2010 – 24 June 2009 SAOL logo featured on Logo of the day – 11 June 2009 Interview on typography for Typography.ro [romanian only] – 11 June 2009 Mondrian typeface featured on Hatena.ne.jp – 4 June 2009 Mondrian typeface featured on Typography Served – 2 June 2009 Mondrian typeface featured on We Love Typography – 23 May 2009 BU typeface awarded on Design and Design – 31 March 2009 Nord Proiect & Magnum logos featured on Logofi – 29 March 2009 Saol business cards featured on Cardobserver – 27 March 2009 My logos published in Los Logos 4 got featured on Behance – 8 February 2009 Die Happy illustration awarded on Design and Design – 28 January 2009 Attended the To Be or Not to Be discussion forum as a speaker [romanian only] – 21 November 2008 BNB logo awarded by Wolda 2008. Published in the Wolda Yearbook. – 26 September 2008 Nord proiect logo awarded on Design and Design – 17 August 2008 CCI symbol awarded on Design and Design – 18 June 2008 BNB logo awarded on Design and Design – 11 June 2008 Saol business cards awarded on Design and Design – 22 May 2008 Magnum logo awarded on Design and Design – 17 May 2008 http://more.stefanromanu.com/42630/News http://more.stefanromanu.com/37795/Codename-Fabiana http://more.stefanromanu.com/37795/Codename-Fabiana Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:29 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 37795 Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 9)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F_Last.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F2.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F3.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F4.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F5.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F7.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F6.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37795/F9.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="402" align="left" /> Codename Fabiana is still in development. In late spring 2008 I decided it was time to start developing a typeface that will meet my demands by late 2009. The starting point for this type was my love for the esthetics of science fiction movies from the late 70s as well as italian product design in the 80s. The design of this typefamily focuses on maintaining a strong coherence of the 9 fonts, it is composed of, while being highly usable. The different weights focus on the visual qualities of each letter, rather then on them being mathematically correct inside the grid. This allows the characters to stand their ground even if used in small sizes; unlike most display typefaces. http://more.stefanromanu.com/37795/Codename-Fabiana http://more.stefanromanu.com/37785/Allnet-Telecom http://more.stefanromanu.com/37785/Allnet-Telecom Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:26 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 37785 Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 10)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN2.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN3.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN4.gif" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN6.gif" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN5.gif" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN7.gif" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN8.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN9.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="457" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37785/AN10.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="474" align="left" /> http://more.stefanromanu.com/37785/Allnet-Telecom http://more.stefanromanu.com/37792/Typophile-Battle-27 http://more.stefanromanu.com/37792/Typophile-Battle-27 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:24 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 37792 Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 2)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37792/T1.png" border="0" width="670" height="512" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/37792/T3.png" border="0" width="670" height="512" align="left" /> My entries for the Type Battle 27, over at typophile.com. The first entry is one of the winners and is displayed randomly whenever you visit typophile. http://more.stefanromanu.com/37792/Typophile-Battle-27 http://more.stefanromanu.com/36212/Artists-Books http://more.stefanromanu.com/36212/Artists-Books Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:21 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 36212 <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/36212/AB3.png" border="0" width="450" height="608" align="left" /> Artists’ Books is an exhibition of experimental books designed by students of the University of Arts, Philadelphia and the Faculty of Arts, Timisoara. It is the result of a Fulbright course, that took place over the times span of 2 semesters.The exhibition premiered in Timisoara, at the Faculty of Arts’ own gallery and moved to Philadelphia, Leeds and New York after. The event’s poster was used in all locations and needed to communicate on an iconic level. The detailed information about the individual exhibitions was omitted from the poster. Invitations and flyers were used to inform the public. http://more.stefanromanu.com/36212/Artists-Books http://more.stefanromanu.com/33968/Cancer-Sell http://more.stefanromanu.com/33968/Cancer-Sell Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:17 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 33968 Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 3)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/33968/CS1.1L.png" border="0" width="670" height="670" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/33968/CS2L.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="670" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/33968/CS3.1S.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="670" align="left" /> Cancer Sell is a charitable street art auction held at a top London gallery, that gathers funds for cancer research. It also has been created to help progressive global urban street artists to form a connection between local people by allowing them to display their chosen donation in a formal display setting. The event’s visual identity shows an indistinguishable character. The typeface ( Beautifully Urban, named after the event’s coordinator ) builds the core of Cancer Sell’s character, while the overall design illustrates Cancer Sell – a potpourris of different artists & styles. http://more.stefanromanu.com/33968/Cancer-Sell http://more.stefanromanu.com/35595/Webness http://more.stefanromanu.com/35595/Webness Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:13 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 35595 <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE-Old-new.png" border="0" width="670" height="178" align="left" /> Webness is a company in the field of online marketing. Started in 2005 as a web design studio, their list of secondary services ranged from software development to SEO. Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 7)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE1.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE2.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE3_1.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE4.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE5.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE6.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/35595/WE7.png" border="0" width="667" height="265" align="left" /> Process: Starting with the first get-to-know-each other meetings, between myself and their management team, we put the focus on the big picture, not just design wise, but from a strategic and placement standpoint. We organized a focus group with Webness’ employees in order to get to know their insights and tailor an inside / outside course of action, that would position the company in their market niche and would also unite it under one banner. Once we had the insight of both the management / accounts departments and of employees, we started a process of excluding any information, not vital to the company’s values. We then cross-referenced our results with the market’s status quo. Our purpose was to find out what Webness has to offer that makes them unique in their niche and tailor their visual identity and business behavior accordingly. Insight: In the Romanian online niche many potential clients have no true insight into the benefits of online marketing. They lack the education to distinguish between two - manned design studios, working in a garage, from serious marketers that base their approach on research and follow deployment of solutions with more research to optimize ROIs. With this insight in mind we decided to go against the grain and reduce the length of product mix in order to increase brand equity. The alternative route of using Webness’ online marketing service as an image anchor for the rest of it’s product line was considered to be the easy way out and detrimental in the long run. Vision: Webness is internet marketing. Webness is straight-forward. Webness communicates to the point. Webness is efficient. In a grey world … Webness is BLACK & WHITE. Visual system design: Starting with the resulted insights and vision, I started the building process of the visual system with a commitment to efficiency. I decided to focus the color palette on black & white as the primary colors, while using red as a secondary layer of communication. ITC Franklin Gothic is used for headlines, due to it’s simplicity and bold character. The main copy is in Adobe Garamond, to add a touch of respect and a high degree of legibility at small sizes. The logo features a triple - W, hinting at the www - tag and providing a strong sense of direction. Assembling the rest of the system was downhill from there. http://more.stefanromanu.com/35595/Webness http://more.stefanromanu.com/34646/Beautifully-Urban http://more.stefanromanu.com/34646/Beautifully-Urban Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:07 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 34646 <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34646/BUTIT6.png" border="0" width="670" height="55" align="left" /> I designed this typeface to fill the need for visual identity of the Cancer Sell Event, a charitable street art auction held at a top London gallery, that gathers funds for cancer research. It also has been created to help progressive global urban street artists to form a connection between local people by allowing them to display their chosen donation in a formal display setting. Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 3)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34646/3.BU1.png" border="0" width="670" height="409" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34646/3.BU2.png" border="0" width="670" height="409" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34646/3.BU3.png" border="0" width="670" height="409" align="left" /> Design considerations: Cancer Sell is an event that leaves a strong visual mark on the viewer. Its visuals cover a wide range of styles. Featured artists range from Copyright to PureEvil. Street artists from different backgrounds, that express themselves in a variety of ways. As a consequence Beautifully Urban needed to be a street art kind of typeface. I decided to build it as a block font, so it could be spray painted. I chose a basic shape, that all characters are based upon, and started cutting out and adding segments of that initial shape to construct the individual letters. I ended up with a block font, that was lacking a clear personality, being one of hundreds of such fonts. With this in mind I decided to rework it, adding detail to characters to make them unique. The hard part here was to balance the character of each letter so they are unmistakable on the one hand, while allowing them to cohabit the same alphabet, on the other hand. Therefor I kept part of the grid that the letters are constructed on the same throughout the whole alphabet, while constantly changing some other part of the same grid for each letter. The final result is one distinct family of characters that share the same look ’ n ’ feel, but are different enough from each other to communicate what Cancer Sell is like. http://more.stefanromanu.com/34646/Beautifully-Urban http://more.stefanromanu.com/34170/Mondrian http://more.stefanromanu.com/34170/Mondrian Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:05 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 34170 Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 3)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34170/M1L.png" border="0" width="670" height="670" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34170/M2L.png" border="0" width="670" height="670" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/34170/M3L.png" border="0" width="670" height="670" align="left" /> I designed this typeface as part of my yearly Easter mailing campaign. Having lately been described as a Black & White – all business – kind of guy way too often for my taste, I decided to work a bit on that. Design considerations: Mondrian works on two assumptions. 1) Simple geometric shapes can coexist with saturated color. 2) Shades of grey are not necessarily boring. http://more.stefanromanu.com/34170/Mondrian http://more.stefanromanu.com/15607/Logos-Signs-Symbols http://more.stefanromanu.com/15607/Logos-Signs-Symbols Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:04:00 +0000 Stefan Romanu | Design Thinking* 15607 <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L2-Mag.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Magnum, a casino, is presented as a place for soaking up trends rather then spending. It’s more like a hip lounge than a place of working the dice, The young target is persuaded to spend their time with Magnum, not just their bucks. Based on the tagline Smooth as Excitement I built the logo to convey a sense of hipness with a twinge of nostalgia. I designed this logo for a design contest. Unappreciated there, it was published in a number of reference design books. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L3-Saol.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Saol is a printing house with a twist. They print, finish, deliver and do whatever is required to get impossible jobs done. The first step in building their visual identity was to invent a tagline that describes their Unique Selling Point: Print + More.
The visual approach consists of overlaying the company name ‘s characters, simulating an overprint. The colors for S, A & O are CMY + process black, following the rules of mixing colors in print. The capital L is green, as a visual pun for the + More. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L1-NP.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Nord Proiect is a romanian land surveyor, who’s target audience consists mainly of business clients interested in top notch services at premium prices. My research showed me that the basis of their profession is the mathematical reduction of complex shapes of land into geometrical shapes, whose aries can be easily determined. I decided to translate this system into visual terms. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L1_BNB.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> BN Business is a supplier / retailer of office equipment. In short they call themselves BNB. My assignment was to communicate BNB’s area of expertise as clear as possible and to create a logo that could form the basis of a new identity system. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L5-SKB.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> In 2007 the Szeged Contemporary Dancecompany commisioned my friends at Factory Creative Studio to redesign both their online and offline presence in preparation of their 20th Anniversary. I was commisioned to design a clear, typographic - based logo for the Anniversary Gala itself. Therefor I took the type, used in their ID, tuned it to work better at small sizes and combined it with a custom drawn 20, that can be read both as a jumping man and as a carnival mask. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L9-FACT.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Factory, short for Factory Creative Studio, is an owner-led design studio from Szeged, Hungary. They provide a wide range of services to their corporate clients. In 2007 they commisioned me to rethink their image. This is one of the concepts that I came up with, codename The Fashion. The question that started my process was:Why brand a design studio as such? What if we brand it as a fashion label? known sense + different interpretation = A FRESH PERSPECTIVE — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L7-UX.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Uniflux is a brand of aftermarket automotive filters, owned by Intesa Promotive, a mixed italo - romanian company. Uniflux’ competition chooses a macho standpoint, using power and the seductiveness thereof as their key values. We decided to go back to basics. The overall approach is based on facts rather than promisses. The logo illustrates what filters are all about: breaking down nocive substances into benign ones, not racing & chicks in hot rods. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L8-MOD.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Modex Grup is involved in a multitude of industries, bound together under one holding.The unique selling proposition I had to communicate was: Singular diversity. I chose a modular concept; broke the word „modex” into it’s individual letters, each representing a field of activity. Then I reconfigured them using the Fibonacci Sequence, to express the single leadership of the group. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L11-TWO.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Two is a design buro that started as a collaboration of two designers. As design is primarily about communication and is based on insight into the products’ benefits and the targets’ needs, I decided to let the sign communicate (speech bubble) while breaking it down and reconfiguring it as the actual logotype (TWO). — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L12-CS.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Cancer Sell is a charitable street art auction held at a top London gallery, that gathers funds for cancer research. The concept behind the logo is to illustrate the duality between the feeling of being incomplete ( when you loose someone close ) and the proactive hope that Cancer Sell stands for. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L10-GEN.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Genuine Advertising is one of the oldest production facilities in Timişoara. Their services range from personalizing promotional materials through screenprinting to padprinting. In 2004 they commisioned me to redesign their visual identity. As they were the first and only company to provide industrial padprinting to the local market, we decided to use that fact and make them own that market niche. Fortunately the letters of the name were suited to be adapted to the shape of the pads, used in the padprinting process. — <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L6-PJ.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> Peter Janick is a freelance photographer, specialized in product & portrait photography. At our initial meeting he was almost exstatic when explaining the benefits of analogue film, as opposed to digital photography. — Various logos Previous&nbsp;/&nbsp;Next image&nbsp;(1 of 9)<img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/L13-AN.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV1.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV2.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV3.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV4.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV5.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV8_1.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV6.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> <img src="http://c0573862.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/1/0/2100/15607/LV7.png" border="0" width="670" height="448" align="left" /> http://more.stefanromanu.com/15607/Logos-Signs-Symbols