Raleigh Wide Open 5 is coming up this weekend in Raleigh, NC. This year as part of the downtown festivities, MAXIMUS CIRCUS is making its debut! Gamil Design was hired by the Raleigh Convention Center to brand, promote and produce the circus full of our local talent. Acrobats, hoopers, as well as  fire spinners will all have their place in this circus of MAXIMUS magnitude!

Find out more about the performers and the circus schedule at http://maximuscircus.com.

We spend a lot of time on this blog showing our readers what other great designers are doing. From time to time we think it’s necessary to show what we do. As you can tell, we’re not an ordinary design firm. We launch inventive products, we create events, we do new types of websites with cool brand identities.  A lot of this comes from our enthusiasm to use a genuine grass-roots approach that is as dedicated to our community as it is to great design. Overall we believe our efforts come together in a way that make the unfamiliar familiar and that our efforts are both from the people that it’s for. When is our work for the community? When is it for our selves? When is it for our clients? For us it’s hard to get that separation. That’s what makes our work “sticky.”

The Visual Art Exchange produced the video for the competition, and if SPARKcon wins they will receive a $5,000 award to use in the 2010 SPARKcon festivities.

SPARKcon

SPARKcon is a “creative potluck” of SPARKs or creative themes such as art, music, film, fashion, etc. Each SPARK is put together by individuals who are deeply embedded in that specific local scene. SPARKcon is a program of Visual Art Exchange, a Raleigh non-profit whose mission is to support emerging artists and connect the community to the arts.

SPARKcon is a showcase of creativity, talent and ideas of “The Creative Hub of the South,” the North Carolina Triangle region.

Gamil + SPARKcon

Gamil has been one of the driving forces in SPARKcon since its beginning in 2006. We have worked with the organizational, marketing, & branding efforts of the festival. We will be posting more about Gamil’s 2010 efforts soon.

What Matters Innovation Award

The What Matters Innovation Award is presented by the Triangle Community Foundation. This year’s What Matters Innovation Award will go to a cutting-edge organization using innovation to address our region’s growth and diversity. More about the Award.

Gamil re-designed the package for the Teastick Gems. It is now made of recyclable Polypropylene (#5), uses no adhesives, is made from only one piece of thin material, using substantially less than the prior package.

Although minimal in coverage, this package provides a full view of our Teastick and invites consumers to experience it while providing important protection from damage while in a retail setting.

You can order yours now from Gamila Company

* The Gems made their original debut back in October of ’08 to meet the need of herbal tea enthusiasts.

Oliver Jeffers has come out with a new picture book, The Heart and the Bottle.

Once there was a girl who was full of wonderment at how the world worked. She shared all her dreams and excitement with her father, who always had the answer to every question. That is until one day when his chair was empty, not to be filled again – how would the girl ever find meaning from her life again?
— HarperCollinsCanada

Jeffers creates beautiful stories with his work, which are not contained just to the picture books he has done… the storytelling can be seen throughout is art and making process. If I could spend a day in that studio of his, I’d probably never want to leave.

oil painting, GILDING THE LILY (AN HOMAGE TO FERDINAND BAUER), image from oliverjeffers.com

sketchbook, United Airlines, image from oliverjeffers.com

Valentine's Day Rebranding (via BRAND NEW)

Today over at BRAND NEW (a fabulous site that shows before and afters, as well as sharing of opinions of corporate re-branding efforts) there is a great post about Valentines Day. If you live in one of the countries that celebrates this holiday with all the pink, red, chocolates, and roses… You’ve seen some tasteful Valentines “things” but moreso MANY untasteful, ugly, and tacky Valentines things.

A few of the writers of BRAND NEW took on the challenge of Redesigning Valentine’s day. They tackled the Heart as an icon, the color pallette, as well as Cupid.

Below are the new “Cupids”…

Love Puppy by Jessica Hische (via BRAND NEW)

Chief Valentine Officer by Amanda Woodward (via BRAND NEW)

Heart Worm by Von Glitschka (via BRAND NEW)

What do you think about their effort? Like it or hate it, cast your vote here!

Beautiful Cut Paper video made for NZ Book Council (via Paper Crave)

Artwork “Looking back” (2006. Acid free A4 115 gsm paper and glue) by Danish artist, Peter Callesen (via OK Great)

photo from petercallesen.com

Lastly, an installation, “Corner Forest” by Yuken Teruya using toilet paper rolls (via Design*Sponge, via mandr, via swissmiss, via lushlee)

photo from yukenteruyastudio.com

I often say if you found out your local ‘favorite’ was closing people would flock there. As a ‘local’ business hoping to be a ‘favorite’ how do you convert this love into attendance. The language of The 3/50 Project really resonates with this struggle and communicates the idea without being combative with larger national business. The Elephant is loved but its always great to see him jump to the little mouse. Don’t sell out, buy in, en 2010!

Some of my personal favorite blogs made the list including…

#40 Chez Larsson a Swedish blog written by Benita Larsson on Design/Organizing/DIY blog

#36 Oh So Beautiful Paper Invitation/Stationary/Everything else paper blog written by Nole in Washington, DC

#31 Making it Lovely Chicagoan Nicole Balch, a woman who LOVES pink everything, writes about her house to home renovation style & journey

#2 Design*Sponge Brooklyn writer Grace Bonney features reader projects, artists home interiors and so much more

Last night the nomination list for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards was announced. The album by David Byrne & Brian Eno  “Everything that Happens will Happen Today” has received 3 nominations. The nominations were for Best Alternative Music Album, Best Recording Package and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package.

Gamil Design worked with Stefan Sagmeister to bring to life the deluxe CD package for the album. Check out our post (with video of the package) and our writeup on the project.

below is a full list of the nominations per category:

Best Alternative Music Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
David Byrne & Brian Eno [Yep Roc Records]

The Open Door
Death Cab For Cutie [Atlantic]

Sounds Of The Universe
Depeche Mode [Capitol]

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Phoenix [Loyaute/Glassnote Records]

It’s Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs [DGC Records/Interscope]

Best Recording Package

Back From The Dead
Brian Porizek, art director (Spinal Tap) [The Label Industry/Artist2Market Distribution]

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Stefan Sagmeister, art director (David Byrne & Brian Eno) [Todomundo/Opal]

Middle Cyclone
Neko Case & Judge, art directors (Neko Case) [ANTI]

Splitting Adam
Jeff Harrison, art director (Splitting Adam) [Independent]

Tathagata
Szu Wei Cheng & Hui Chen Huang, art directors (Various Artists) [Wind Music]

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package

A Cabinet Of Curiosities
Mathieu Bitton & Scott Webber, art directors (Jane’s Addiction) [Warner Bros./Rhino]

The Clifford Ball
Masaki Koike, art director (Phish) [Rhino]

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Stefan Sagmeister, art director (David Byrne & Brian Eno) [Todomundo/Opal]

Lost In The Sound Of Separation (Deluxe Edition)
Jordan Butcher, art director (Underoath) [Tooth & Nail Records]

Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963–1972)
Gary Burden, Jenice Heo & Neil Young, art directors (Neil Young) [Reprise]