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We don't often feature our own designs on our blog, but we love how these business cards turned out so we thought they belonged here! We just completed the business cards for our Baltimore based design client, Stephanie Bradshaw. With a new logo, new brand color (bright gold), and painted edges, these cards are beyond cool. Next up is Stephanie's new website, which we're close to being finished with designing! Check back in about a month and hopefully we'll have announced that it's up and running. For now, enjoy these business cards and have a fantastic weekend!

Last week, we went over to the Aardvark Letterpress in downtown Los Angeles to get our client Jennifer Joanou's letterhead done. It's always exciting to watch the process and see what they can do! Click here to see Aardvark's site and read more about their history.

Studio of The Week goes to New York's RoAndCo Studio - a multidisciplinary design studio that is devoted to branding for clients that are primarily within the fashion and art industries. Sound familiar? RoAndCo is run by Creative Director Roanne Adams, who started her own studio in TriBeCa after being awarded a New Visual Artist award by PRINT magazine. Their client list is very impressive, with names like Loeffler Randall, Honor, Candela, Nike, and Charity:Water topping the list. Check out a small sampling of their art direction, print, and web work below, or visit their website for the full experience: www.roandcostudio.com.

All images via RoAndCo Studio

Recently we've come across some great packaging and branding identities with one thing in common: they're all black, white, & cream.  First is Heydays identity materials from Norway (via September Industry), second is Minni/Ronya ads and branding materials from Finland (via September Industry), and last is an invitation from Sideshow Press in South Carolina (via The Dieline - see our blog post about it here). Who says you need color to make a bold impression?

All images via September Industry and The Dieline, as noted above.

Dutch cosmetics brand Dr van der Hoog recently decided to radically reposition their brand with some new packaging. Creative network nu:amsterdam created the identity for the product line, which has over 60 different items (and 60 different packages!) We love what they ended up with - it's young, fresh, and lovely. 

Article and images via The Dieline

Below, some photos of the grand opening, other branding elements (like an entire fleet of Gaga themed NYC taxis!), and the interior of the workshop. To see more, visit www.gagasworkshop.com.

To read the full article from The Dieline, click here.

Invitation photos via The Dieline

Workshop photos via:

1&6. The Huffington Post  2. NY Daily News  3. Save Delete  4. Fashion Indie  5. Harper's Bazaar

This week we're inspired by the branding materials for jewelry line Guy & Max by the Proud Creative studio in London. They totally stole our favorite font (Gotham) that we use for a lot of our own branding, but we're willing to let it slide because it looks so good with their brand. We're loving the photography and business cards, but it's the storefront that really does it for us. The awning is beveled to look like a diamond - subtle, but it really adds dimension. The addition of the photography in the window (a collaboration between Guy & Max and English photographer Jason Tozer) gives it the finishing touch of perfection. Good work, guys.

Images via Proud Creative via September Industry

This week we're loving a new discovery: BHLDN by Urban Outfitters Inc. (www.bhldn.com). It's basically Anthropologie for weddings and other special occasions, so obviously we're obsessed. Here's how the company describes it: 

"BHLDN offers brides, party goers, and party throwers an inspired alternative for life's most anticipated milestones. Catering to a small coterie of smart, creative women and focused on personalization, BHLDN goes beyond the wedding dress — bringing together inspiration, community, and a compelling, original product assortment."

Launched in February 2011, BHLDN is still really new, but we like what we see! So far, only one physical store exists, and it's in Houston. But more are coming soon (we think Los Angeles is an obvious choice!)

We love the look they've created for their brand. The bride they cater to is obviously not your typical bride - she's eclectic, creative, and non-conformist. 

BHLDN creates moodboards to give brides inspiration - we pulled two of our favorites (above). The photography throughout the whole site is really strong. It's similar to Anthropologie, but it's a little more artistic.

We couldn't resist - here are a few of our favorites!

All images via BHLDN

Bravo, W. You totally got us on this one. Flipping through the November 2011 issue of W, we were surprised (and a little horrified) by a few of the ads we saw. The almost completely nude model for "La Femme" perfume was a little offending, the "Pizzazz Collection" with a Toddlers and Tiaras-esque beauty queen (maybe 6 years old) was unbelievable, but we drew the line at "Tantrum Intimates", showing not one, but five men posing like dogs with big slap marks on their butt-cheeks. No. Just no. We were so horrified that this brand (whatever it was - we had never heard of it) had gone that far for an ad, so we hopped on Google. Searching "Tantrum Intimates" brought us to an article on the W Magazine website explaining that the ads were completely fake - shot by photographer Steven Meisel starring a "who's who" of today's pop culture. Touche, W. Touche. (And take another look at the La Femme perfume ad - notice anything strange? We didn't either. That woman, Carmen Carrera, is actually a man. Holy wow!)

All  images via W Magazine

The guys who are in charge of "tabletop directing" (shooting photos and commercials for big name food chains) would call it "enhanced" photography and video, not straight up falsification. In a $4 billion industry - yes, that's how much is spent on advertising by restaurants and food conglomerates every year - it's essential to make the food in the ads look perfect, by absolutely any means necessary. Or is it?

Tabletop directors will spend hours or even days trying to perfect exactly the right shot to satisfy a client. In an article by the New York Times, writer David Segal explains the extraordinary measures that are taken to achieve so-called "perfection" in food commercials. Tubes (that look like large needles), sauce injectors, clothes steamers, marbles, glue, acrylic ice cubes, silicone gel, and lard were all mentioned as "necessary" equipment to get that "perfect" shot by industry standards (as seen below).

Personally, we find this all to be a little too much. To us, a little imperfection IS perfection. We prefer food photography that is real and looks real: crumbs, drips, and all. Maybe it's because we're designers, but the imperfections of "real" food photographed in a natural setting (like these photos below by Gentl and Hyers Photography) is much more appealing to us than traditional chain photography and video. Don't get us wrong - we'll go to great lengths to get the shot we need for a client, but as far as food goes: why spend a whole lot of time and money trying to fix something that isn't broken in the first place?