What’s New

Stranger Things: Typography Sets The Tone video

If you’ve habitually binge-watched the Netflix series Stranger Things, then you are no doubt familiar with its iconic opening title sequence. It’s just SO good that you can’t fast forward over it. The droning, pulsating, retro-techy synth track pulls you in as the glowing letters slowly come into the screen to spell out the title. There’s something about it though—it feels just right for the early 1980s sci-fi setting that the series takes place in. This is a perfect example of how carefully selected typography can evoke so many subtle undertones. Designed by the agency Contend, and animated by Imaginary Forces, the typography is carefully set in ITC Benguiat which evokes the 80s, influenced from book covers and videotape anti-piracy ...

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20 years of Killer Creative standard

Crikey, this month marks 20 YEARS of Killer Creative in the Raleigh area! It’s been a privilege working on some truly amazing projects over the years, and being able to share in some great visual identities all over our great city and beyond. Looking forward to another amazing 20. Cheers and thank you to all our awesome clients.

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The Art of Logo Design video

Have you ever wondered what the process is that goes into designing a successful logo design? The most successful logos can convey a complex mixture of tone, identification and  positioning in the simplest of ways. Some of the most memorable marks ARE the simplest. But arriving at a design, as a successful designer will tell you, is no simple task. This short 6-minute mini-documentary from PBS explores the history of logos, how they evolved, and some of the process that today’s top designers go through to develop them. Video features Stephen Heller, Sagi Haviv, Kelli Anderson, and Gerard Huerta.

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Think Small. video

"Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?" from Dial M Films on Vimeo.

Lemon. Think Small. This fascinating mini-documentary (18 mins) takes us behind the creation of one of the most iconic advertising campaigns of all time. And over 50 years later, they are still among the greatest. More background on the film at Adweek: This Short Documentary Tells the Story of the Great Volkswagen Ads of the ’60s

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Say No to Spec Work video

Spec work, short for Speculative– is asking a designer or agency to create work on the contingency that you will pay for it… if you like it. Sound nice? Think again. Do you go into a restaurant and only pay if you enjoyed your meal? Do you ask an architect to design your dream house, then not pay because you changed your mind? Would you hire a landscaper redo your yard but then not pay because you now want flowers instead of shrubbery? Of course not– that would be absurd. And frankly, unfair. Unfortunately there is a perception to some that design or advertising professionals shouldn’t be treated the same way as other professionals– sites like 99Designs pit starving artists ...

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Test Your Typographic True Grit link

Raleigh designers, think you know your typefaces? Get ready to smack down on your knowledge of subtle nuances between Perpetua and Palatino, Bell Gothic and Birch: it’s The Rather Difficult Font Game. Thanks to the always enlightening folks at I Love Typography, this one will keep you trying to keep outdoing yourself…and every round is different which keeps it fresh {and slightly addictive to the typophiles out there…} Looking for great type for your next great marketing project? Give Killer Creative a call, or check out these great sources: MyFonts the Largest Selection of Professional Fonts For Any Project Explore Today Fonts.com has Thousands of Fonts with Classic to One-of-a-Kind Fonts from Helvetica to Ambiguity Start Creating

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Old Life for New Appliances image

Freeze-O-Matic logo

I admit it, I like rusty old signs and tins. Especially nostalgic ones with old logos or advertising from bygone days– one of my favorite possessions is an old wooden ‘Burma Shave’ sign, one of the remnants of the original low-speed rhyming highway ad campaign. There’s just a beauty, charm and innocence in them that you don’t see anymore that’s hard to put your finger on. Maybe today’s ads are too ubiquitous, too in your face, too impersonal… insert numerous reasons here. So when I saw this faded, paint-chipped, rusting old tag off of a long-gone refrigerator on a table of mish-mashed parts at the Raleigh flea market– I couldn’t put it down. $2 later it had a new home- ...

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Linotype: The Film video

"Linotype: The Film" Official Trailer from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

In 1886, an inventor named Ottmar Mergenthaler was the first to realize the vision of an automated typesetting machine, speeding up exponentially what had been until then a slow, tedious hand process of setting lead type one single character at a time. This machine would nothing less than revolutionize the printing and publishing industry, uncorking a new wave of communication much as the internet revolutionized our generation. The cutting edge machine that Mergenthaler invented became known as the Linotype (Line o’ type), referring to it’s ability to set metal type an entire line at a time. It was incredibly complex, with many moving parts and took a skilled operator to work it. It immediately became ubiquitous in publishing and print ...

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