I recently went to the RIBA bookstore with an architect friend and we found ourselves both looking through books, but for different reasons. My friend was looking at the books which he felt offered him the best value in terms of architectural knowledge, whilst I on the other hand was trawling through book after book trying to find that perfect specimen of good print and editorial design enfused with beautiful typography. Alas, it is much harder than I thought.

Just as I was giving up hope, having criticised either the kerning, leading or rag in half the books in the bookstore, then I found it. THE book! It was hidden away under a desk but what a book! The uncoated recycled dust jacket, which when removed reveals a beautiful hardcover which has been spot uv’d! Ahh finally this was someone who had some pride in their work! So it passed the first test, but did it pass the second? I hurriedly opened the book to find some examples of typography! And voila, everywhere I looked there was example after example of experimental typography mixed with beautiful bodycopy, which had the ideal leading, beautiful rag and decent kerning! My day was made!

If I was to be a bit harsh the body copy was 2 point sizes too big but I reminded myself that in terms of RNIB guidelines it was perfect! So I picked up my wayfinding books, and this gorgeous example of a dissertation (which was only two pounds!) and wandered to the counter smug with myself! It hadn’t occured to me to check the sleeve to see who had designed it, as I assumed if it had been anyone famous the book would have had a prominent space on a bookshelf, not under a desk!

Once we had painfully coughed up some extortionate amount of money, the rest of the day was spent doing usual things. It was only on the way back home on the tube that my mind was allowed to wander back to the wonderful piece of design I had found. Remembering what Michael Bierut had said, in the talk he gave us when we visited Pentagram NYC, about complimenting designers as there was too much competition in the industry, I opened the sleeve to see who had designed it. And then my smugness vanished… “Designed by Frost”

I was truly gutted! My little piece of unknown design happened to come from one of the most prominent and famous design agencies in the world. And of course I had heard of Frost*, who hasn’t!!! I love all the previous examples I had seen of Frost’s work, and so as soon as I got home I went on their website to find that my book was on there.*Sigh*

Taking nothing away from the piece of design, it is still every bit as well designed as it was when I first saw it! It was still beautifully made and worth buying. The problem is not it is made by an agency or by Frost, whose work I love and as a designer I’m pro-agencies. No, the thing that really got me and slightly diminished the purchase, was that for a few hours, it had felt like I had discovered some hidden talent. But alas it was not to be!

Hey boys and girls,

Just thought i’d let you know that the site is now fully functional on all resolutions, across the major browers (i.e. firefox, safari and now IE 6-8!) So hopefully no more problems

Also the navigation has been moved left, just fot ease of use.

Note: These changes have not affected the blog, which was already cross browser and resolution friendly

Thanks,

Rishi

There’s a great article over at creative review on the relationship between D&AD and graphic design, especially through the professional awards

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/dad-and-graphic-design-what-next/

www.rishisodha.co.uk has been featured at portfolios friend alongside the likes of Pete Harrison (aeiko) and Alex Trochut, both two designers whose work I admire and respect.

So thanks to portfolios friend for putting me on their site, it’s a real buzz

Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

Video by James Houston

jim@1030.co.uk

“Radiohead held an online contest to remix “Nude” from their album – “In Rainbows” This was quite a difficult task for everybody that entered, as Nude is in 6/8 timing, and 63bpm. Most music that’s played in clubs is around 120bpm and usually 4/4 timing. It’s pretty difficult to seamlessly mix a waltz beat into a DJ set…

…It doesn’t sound great, as it’s not supposed to…

Sinclair ZX Spectrum – Guitars (rhythm & lead)
Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer – Drums
HP Scanjet 3c – Bass Guitar
Hard Drive array – Act as a collection of bad speakers – Vocals & FX

In order to be DDA compliant, I relaunched So-design.org as an html version site, now using www.rishisodha.co.uk as my main domain. This coincided with all new work, and a new blog look as well. Please take your time to visit the site as it offers alot more images and detail than the blog does

Cheers,

Rishi

CATEGORY

Print, Packaging

CLIENT

Self Expression Magazine/ D&AD student awards 2008

ABOUT

The brief for this project was to make a double page spread, a contents page and cover for either a magazine which existed or was ficticious. I chose to make my own magazine, called self expression magazine. The premise behind is it was a magazine for designers by designers.

All content would have been user submitted online, with the editorial team merely editing the content. The magazine would contain design news, reviews and tutorials with the main feature of each magazine being 3 articles to showcase designer’s works.

Designers would have been invited to send in their work and the best 3 each month would be chosen. These 3 designers/artists would be given a topic, for example this issue had the theme of design and music, and would be interviewed on their views. They would then have the chance to design these articles

The magazine is printed on single sheets, allowing the reader to view it as if proofing their own work. Furthermore there are competitions on the back of the pages, adding extra interactivity. The packaging is laser cut, and the each month would come in carboard, a sustainable material, acting like part of the brand and adding strong shelf presence. The sticker on the back is a nice little touch fellow designers would appreciate.

CATEGORY

Print, Packaging

CLIENT

Audi Design Foundation

ABOUT

This was part of a YCN awards 2008 brief for the Audi Design Foundation. The premise was to create a piece of design that could communicate worldwide without using words

My premise was to make a designer’s first aid box. I asked myself what is the one thing all designers need the most, and the idea was inspiration. The cover is spot uv’d with the basic geometric shapes which are the foundation of design, and this is the design element, whilst the dye cut cross revealing the red box is the aid element.

Inside the packaging is a pocket-sized booklet which is filled with double pages of colour, all of which inspire by evoking different emotions through various chemical and psychological changes in the viewer. The second, larger brochure, was the part of the brief where we had to write a few hundred words which described how the piece works and the detailed analysis of colour theory and colour and its biological/psychological effects.

CATEGORY

Print, Packaging

CLIENT

Ravensbourne. N.B.THIS IS A FICTICIOUS BRIEF!

ABOUT

N.B.THIS IS A FICTICIOUS BRIEF!

The Brief for this project was to create a piece of promotional experimental design for a paper comapny. We were to choose a paper company and a range of stock they carry and use their brand and the paper in the piece. We also had to base it on a fact about paper and I chose to look at the relationship between paper and play

As the audience was designers and design agencies I thought something interactive and playful would make a nice change. So using the idea of pass the parcel, I wrapped the brochure in 4 layers which explains about the company, Howard Smith Paper, about Greencoat which is 100% recycyled, and why uncoated. The reason I chose uncoated as it is often overlooked for matte and gloss, and as the latter are overused it offers a nice change of texture without losing the versatility. The layers were foilblocked with orange foil and therefore once removed can double up as posters. Inside the brochure are 6 chapters, one for each weight of paper. In each chapter there is a game, with a template and visual instructions on how to play. For example, Noughts and Crosses is on 80 gsm as it is the most common paper and the most common game.

But again keeping the audience in mind I realised that they would like to get hands on with the stock, so for 180 gsm, the most ideal for print designers, I chose to have 5 paper aeroplanes, with the idea that on a dull friday afternoon in the studio the design team can wip out the brochure and race them. This not only tests the paper but their craft skills and is a nice way to relate to paper.

The main booklet is A5, so that it is easy to store and can be flicked through. Due to the paper size it meant that a two column grid was ideal as three would removed all negative space. Furthermore the colour palette was used in conjunction with black and white in order to meet RNIB guidelines. Lastly the font used was Haelvetica, as HSP use Helvetica in their promotional material

More links: http://www.rishisodha.co.uk/hspguidelines.html and http://www.rishisodha.co.uk/hsplog.html

CATEGORY

Print

CLIENT

Youth Music

ABOUT

This was my answer to the brief set for YCN Awards 2008, where the brief was to create a campaign which was relevant for an audience of 11-16 year olds which attracted to them to the possibilities in learning music. I took a much more illustrative take on the aesthetic tones for the piece, and the campaign was a fusion between traditional mediums and more interactive mediums, e.g. billboards and facebook.