Hi, I'm Liam Donnell, a graphic designer studying at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Projects
Archaic — Branding
An online store which specializes in vintage analog audio equipment
Archaic is a (fictional) online store dedicated to providing musicians the ability to buy and sell vintage analog equipment, used by thousands of talented musicians to create some of the beloved tracks of the late 20th century. To a musician, the limitations and quirks of vintage gear is just another tool to generate creativity. In addition to provided gear to musicians, Archaic also offers vintage listening equipment and albums.
The goal of the project is to create an effective branding for Archaic including a stand-out logo that relates to musicians seeking to expand their musical bucket of paintbrushes.
Moodboard
Sketches & Ideation
I spent a lot of time thinking how I can bring the energy of music production and the form of vintage equipment together in a logo to represent the brand. I considered many pieces of gear such as synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, and other instruments. I also considered the other elements of listening and collecting, and how those can be implemented.
Logo
The primary logomark is an "A" using a sawtooth wave as the crossbar. The sawtooth waveform is using frequently in subtractive synthesis (creates a buzzy sound by itself), and represents electronic sound synthesis. However, the brand also represents collecting and listening to music, so a system involving 3 logos is also used—a casette to represent to collecting physical media, and a smiling face with headphones to represent the joy of listening to music.
The colors each reflect the aspect of music they belong to—the primary red being the excitement and passion involved in music production. The yellow representing the permanence of physical media and the happiness of owning music. Lastly, the blue representing the relaxing atmosphere that can be provided by listening to music.
Brand
Monsters Under Your Bed & in Your Closet is part of a project to create two unified posters which target a social problem. I notice that many college students do not get healthy sleep and rely on caffeine, which harms many aspects of their daily lives. I'm quite passionate about sleeping, so I wanted to encourage people to try to exhibit healthy sleeping habits. Therefore, these posters are targeted towards college-aged adults and younger teenagers.My first step was researching and brainstorming. Why do many of my people struggle to sleep? The most front-facing and easily-solvable reason was due to phone use. But the phone and sleep game has been done, so how that can be pushed further? I thought up a combination between the phone impeding your sleep, and a monster under a child's bed impeding them from sleeping. The notification monster was born, and the closet monster offering your phone also spawned. I made sure that the compositions were simple to help draw attention to the characters and simplify the message.
Silly Walks is an editorial spread, to spread the joy of silly walking. The article is from Psychology Today, it's about the benefits of exercising via silly walking, from the Monty Python skit — Ministry of Silly Walks. I love the original skit and wanted to express the goofyness and joy of silly walking.
Simplicity is The Key to Good Design — Print
A poster series that reflects on simplicity
"Simplicity is the key to good design" is a quote by designer Raymond Loewy. The goal of this project was to create posters interpreting the quote in different ways — each poster had different limitations. One poster had no limitations, it could use type and imagery. Another poster could only use typography. And the final poster had to use physical mediums.
Moodboard
Sketches
Posters
The leftmost poster uses both type and imagery, and is a mockery or parody of simple design, but also representing how a message can be given through simple shapes. Often times designers add circles and lines and other nonsense to make their design seem more intricate or mathematical, when it's really just unnecessary embellishment.
The center poster uses only type and is a juxtaposition between a simple message in the center with heavy white space, and loud type on the top and bottom. The type on top and bottom is large and trying to grab the viewer's attention, and the simple type in the middle provides a break from the rest. This is also a reference to the relentless advertising and neverending attention demanding world we live in.
The rightmost poster uses analog methods, and is a redrawing of a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, with the dialog removed. The viewer is able to understand the meaning without dialog as the concept and imagery is so simple.
The Peasant and The Devil — Motion
A video that tells the story of a crafty peasant and the devil
"The Peasant and The Devil" is the tale of a crafty peasant and a devil, from the Brothers Grimm collection of fairy tales. My project combines collage and motion graphics to tell this story.
Axolotls Are Cute. — Motion
A video that explains the difficulties of caring for an axolotl
Axolotls Are Cute is in educational video about the difficulties of taking care of an axolotl (an aquatic salamander often kept as pets). Many people are not aware of the numerous conditions axolotl's require to remain healthy. This video serves to educate and raise awareness about this, in order to avoid harmed axolotls.