Emil Olsson
The idea with my new identity as a whole was to really exaggerate the foundation of my business: code as a design tool, and the harmony in between code & design.
I wanted to underline the way I work, and how my process differs from other designers. Conceptual design and code can play in harmony. Rather than separating the two I wanted to condensate everything and remove all things unnecessary. Keeping colors, copy, and graphic elements to a minimal and by that emphasizing the contrasts of the concept.
The core idea of the site is based around merging contrasts.
- Design vs code
- Black vs white
- Order vs chaos
- Motion vs still
- Small vs big
- Visible vs hidden
The fading animations tie to the scroll action of the user also connects to the idea of changing states between extremes. Show & hide, on & off.
A mono-spaced typeface made sense with references to it’s wide use in computer terminals, ASCII art and more. David Bennett had proposed the Monospace 821 by Max Miedinger. I loved both the look and the effect so we agreed on using it, combined with the commonly used Helvetica. Black and white color combos made that reference to code even more evident. The small text size of the of the mono-space worked in harmony with the large Helvetica text size.
As often when coding, it all started as an experiment, I got obsessed by the idea of creating a structured grid with an organic look so that was the starting point. The tipping point between one state to the other seemed to be the best buffer zone to capture the essence of two contrasting states. I came up with a working title: Falling in Synchro. Gravity Graffiti.
I started out with a tidy and rigid grid, and to that I added an element of gravity. The aim was to get the perfect grid, which immediately started to collapse (due to gravity), and then developed to a more fluid and organic state – as the first drops when ice melts into water. I wanted the user to just get the sense that the grid was a step away from falling apart, but in the same time showcase the work in a structured manner. The visual effect is the feeling that the objects are falling due to the gravity tied to the scroll-bar. But somehow the time stands still meanwhile.
For a long time I had a real problem with the best way to represent digital artwork in portfolios. I needed a way to showcase my work and make it very clear that it was digital, without polluting it with the obvious images of Apple products all over the site.
I found the solution by “condensate and remove” as in so many cases. I narrowed it down to Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone and represented those with a simple outline of the devices. By simplifying the carrier of the visual I could still clearly state the device, but in a more original way.