Signs are everywhere. They tell you what to think of that look everyone just gave you, when to keep quiet, and when you should run away… but they also tell you where to board your plane, where to find food, and in which room you won’t be slapped at a restaurant.

Collins Design’s present of the month is WALK THIS WAY: SIGN GRAPHICS NOW by Matteo Cossu.

No matter where we are, sign graphics find their way to communicate us a coherent message through clear and effective visual images, so design specialist Matteo Cossu presents a collection on some of the most ingenious sign work from around the world, featuring projects and their creators, as well as insight into their creative minds.

A fascinating compilation of photographs take us through amazing signage from museums, libraries, hospitals, theaters, retail, schools and public spaces.

The book also features interviews with sign experts, revealing the inspiration behind their work, the challenges they faced, and their thoughts on the final products. WALK THIS WAY  is a great resource for designers and students because it inspires beautiful visual communication.

The book goes on sale today, August 31st. We think that’s a sign that you should get it.

Images courtesy of Harper Collins Publishers.

Creatives can register for an invite on Two Night Stand’s website here.

Two Night Stand is a creative event where 20 randomly selected Chicago-based designers, illustrators, photographers, developers and idea generators come together for 2 nights to collaborate on a mystery project.

There are “similar” events scattered across the country from 24-Hour Magazine, to Start-Up Weekend, however the actual focus of this event is quite different. Unlike the other events focused strictly on getting deliverables out the door, Two Night Stand focuses on the collaborative process, cataloging and publishing the entire creative process online hourly. We promise NO deliverables, just high level thinking, exploration and fun times.

Even though Two Night Stand is starting off as a 1-site event in Chicago over one weekend, it may expand to different groups of 20 randomly selected creatives working on the same mystery project at the same time. No team will come up with the same answer, it’s up to the collaborative process between the selected individuals.

First event: Sept 24-25, Chicago IL

Creatives can register for an invite on Two Night Stand’s website here.

Location:
Conference Center at 200 W. Jackson, Suite 1320
Chicago, IL 60606

Time:
6pm

1. Simplify.

Remove all visual and informational clutter. Include only the most important elements. No mystery meat.

2. Association.

I used an actual image of Mazatlan, Mexico behind the interface. Custom background images are hot right now and if Wolff Olins can drop it like it’s hot for Aol, we know it CAN be accepted by the masses. Flying to New York? How about a nice image of a hot dog vendor, or maybe a shot of New Yorkers trying to make pizza, ha.

3. Information Hierarchy

What are the most important elements?
Tier #1: Flight number to what location.
Tier #2: Minutes until boarding time, gate # and whether or not the flight is on time.
Tier #3 Have a nice trip. Realistically, there should probably be airline notes here. That would curtail the 100 people coming up to the counter before each flight.

View full size on Flickr

Note: This is only my approach, not a client contract.

Looks like the designer completely ripped off the iTunes interface circa 2002 and resold it back to the Aeropuerto Monterrey/General Mariano Escobedo International Airport in Monterrey, Mexico.

Besides the fact that this interface is essentially stolen, I want to take a few minutes to point out the interface flaws, how they could inhibit the user experience and next week I will design a NEW interface that solves these problems. We will post it on our blog and Jason Schwartz’s Dribbble.

Monterrey airport, if you are out there listening, we are going to do some hardcore free work for you .
Take note.

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Interface Flaws

1. The interface is stolen from iTunes.
Interfaces, like design, are intellectual property. Mr. Ives and the crew over at Apple can take legal action against the airport to stop diluting their visual ID and brand.

2. Board, much?
No matter what time, or what flight, ALL TV screens read “abordaje/boarding” at all times. Not to nitpick, but this is confusing. Can’t wait to board my 9:55am flight at 3:20am three days before.

3. Kerning, spacing, leading.
Dios mio. Centered text, weird kerns, weird spacing, text that is full span in interface elements. Simplify simplify simplify. Airports are confusing enough. No need to confuse people with all the mumbo jumbo.

4. AC 9729? LH 9655? AA 8328?
No idea what these numbers are and why they are important enough to make the flight info screen. No planes connected with our flight and any information from O’Hare in Chicago wouldn’t be available yet to display to passengers, let alone, that info isn’t important enough to display to passengers in Mexico.

Remove please.

5. Motion graphics.
Love that the designer threw some scrolling text in there via the “Que tenga buen viaje!” but as the only element in motion, it pulls the users eyes immediately to the bottom of the screen. Also, might not be the most important element to draw attention to.

6. Related information issues.
2 clocks, 4 flight numbers, 3 ways to say “have a nice trip.” The duplication without ample explanation leads to visual confusion. The information hierarchy is kinda weird and I’m looking where to click the “next song” button to play some Color Me Badd.

A clear information architecture with visual cues will clean it up.

7. General interface gripes.
As a designer, seeing a logo with a white background on another color makes me cringe EVERYTIME. Hello PowerPoint. Either figure out a way to create a vector display, or PNG and drop those bad boys transparent-style. If not, there are a million ways to cheat that effect in the design. I suppose Apple didn’t do it first, so the interface thief didn’t know how to achieve it.

What do you think? Hit us back us on Twitter @bbgchicago

For a good part of the Summer, the various members of Bright Bright Great will be traveling the globe from the good old USA, to Mexico, to France to work on some amazing new projects as well as a few secret photoshoots.

Ah-hem… Carogafoto.
Ah-hem, Italian fashion magazines.

Expect to see a LOT of new projects populate our site in the next two months and watch out for some extremely exciting announcements regarding our team. Suh-weeeeeeeet.

It’s World Cup time! And it’s also Collins Design time!
We must’ve done the opposite of walking under a ladder, because BBG was once more honored by getting an exclusive copy of Collins Design’s newest book: We Are Paper Toys! by Louis Bou.

The book is, of course, about the elegant and somehow mystical world of paper toys, a mix of creativity, curiosity, and a bit of patience.
Since paper toys are so hot these days, this book comes at the perfect time. We Are Paper Toys! is a collection of some of the best toy designs created by famous artists from around the world.

The book is beautifully illustrated and awesomely inspiring. It features 32 designers in 200 pages filled with interviews, photos and design tips for toymakers. The book also comes with a CD with more templates than you’ll be able to make in a summer.

And a special visual bonus, and because here at BBG we firmly believe in the art of experimentation, we decided to enjoy an afternoon of toy making and photography: we printed, cut, folded and glued and went outside to shoot our creations!

Here’s what we made:

Freddy Krueger by Horrorwood.

Rameses Paper Lion by Dolly Oblong.

Carmi by charuca.
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So if this tickled your origami sense, you’re in luck, because the book is out today!
Order here or here, enjoy maybe here, and promote here and yes, here.

Also, if you buy the book and make a toy, let us know here! We’ll be delighted to set up a paper toy duel! Prize is watching Cloverfield at BBG for the 20th time

Now look at some of the pretty pages:

See all the pictures on Flickr.

For the last month Jocelyn has been writing for the Chicago Photography Center‘s website as part of their 2010 online redesign. The big reveal will be sometime in June, but we thought it’d be nice to brag about it now.

Once it’s up, we’ll let you know. Happy rainy Monday!

We did it. After all the hard work put into it, we just picked up a GDUSA American Web Design Award for this very website www.brightbrightgreat.com.

Props to Keith Norman on the code and Jocelyn Ibarra for the copy.

View the GDUSA AWDA Award page here.

The piece is dope. It’s  located at Randolph & Peoria in the West Loop of Chicago. You DEFINITELY need to check it out.

Apparently this piece was symbolic from a scene from The Untouchables, which was shot in Chicago’s Union Station, where a woman is caught in military crossfire in turn pushes a baby carriage down a flight of stairs. Skip to the 6:00 mark.

Update: Piece is still up as of 5/18.