Brian Paul Nelson – Branding / Design / Illustration">Brian Paul Nelson

Hundreds of timeless mid century modern advertisements are collected over at this flickr set. Most of this work could still be relevant today which really speaks for itself it terms of when something is done right, it can last a long time. It would be great to see some of these companies go back and pull designs like this for some of their ads today.

MCM Ads flickr

Some nice collage work from Paris based Laurindo Feliciano. I enjoy how each piece contains a range of emotions when you spend time overlooking all of the elements.

Great flickr set of Golden Guides. I remember these gems from my childhood and always thought they had something special to them. The covers are straightforward and streamlined like they ought to be and the texture of the paper coming through on the covers definitely seals the deal.

Some nice work from Scott Campbell out of New Orleans. I particularly like his use of halftones in his work, they bring out a nice but not to heavy texture. More great work over at his site where most of these posters are also available as prints.

Above is the poster I created for this year’s AIGA Always Summer Poster Show held in my hometown of Jacksonville, FL. For the event you’re asked to choose a song that reminds you of summer and design a poster around it. I chose the song “Nightcall” by Kavinsky which also features Lovefoxxx from CSS. This poster was a lot of fun to work on because it’s a departure from my usual style. Also, I wanted to choose a song that made me reminisce of summer nights instead of the days like I created last year. This song and poster reflects upon nights just driving around the city listening to music, lying on a beach or just looking out at the stars. I referenced such things as 80′s horror movie posters and the classic Goosebumps books that I used to read when I was a kid to give it a mysterious movie poster type feel. Be sure to listen to the song below.

Kavinsky feat. Lovefoxxx — Nightcall

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Being the space geek that I am these NASA mission patches are true beauties from the past. I love the simplicity of the illustrations and the textures of the first two. There are plenty more over at this flickr set.

I’ve really been enjoying the work of Austin design firm McGarrah Jessee lately. The Shiner, Whataburger and Central Market projects are my favorite. Great overall execution and consistency throughout each brand.

A nice array of Belgian design work dating back to the late 19th century and up through the 1980′s courtesy of Veerle. It’s awesome seeing the variety of style and approach throughout different decades and how different time periods influenced specific trends and techniques. What’s great however is that most of the work looks like it could of been created yesterday. Quality design is that which can stand the test of time.

Check out more work at Veerle’s Belgian design gallery.