Posted on Nov 3, 2011
Put aside those causes for now...
- Suspend the occupying,
- hold the protesting,
- take a break from freeing Tibet - we need your help.
Companies worldwide are trying like hell to convice you that you need to carry THEIR particular plastic member card around in your wallet, and it's becoming increasingly clear that as our personal collection grows, it does so with a uniformity that gaps every country and culture. Everywhere you go in the world, the "credit card" plastic card is universally understood to exist at its chosen size.
Business cards were supposed to grow extinct in our paperless world, but the reality is that eventhough we may choose not to add them to our Rolodex any longer, they still have the necessary staying power to migrate and often find homes in our wallets.
So why then, are they sized to not co-exist in perfect harmony?
It seems an easy enough problem to solve, but if you go to any printer and ask them for a rounded corner, credit card sized business card, you'll be charged through the wazoo for such an incredible request.
Sharkbite is committed to ending this great divide and will endevour to make harmony in this critical area.
Peace out.
Posted on Sep 21, 2011
Drum roll please....
This was way cool in grade 4 when we would stencil our name using the pencil crayons we ripped off of that Jenkins kid in the back (the one with that scaly recurring rash), but unless Uncles Sarge's Army Discount needs a quick sign for the sale bin - this font needs to die quietly - or loudly, we don't care.
Oh dear god... please take this font and banish it to hell.
OK, so maybe it's not the worst out there, but it was so widely used in the 70s that it is now (even after all these years) overplayed and it must be killed.
Like a savage force moving through my cousin's colon after pork day at the company bar-B-Q, we must unite to strike this tricky little "distress-edge" typeface from our collective memories. Unfortunately, the art director responsible for Avatar resurrected it for their marketing campaign, and now it's back.
Blech... yuck... chunky, piece of turd.
It's widely agreed amoung almost everyone on earth at once that this font needs to be crushed. A favourite article by Mike Lacher says it all (warning, explicit writing if you follow this link. Also there's some swear words): http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-comic-sans-asshole
BE GONE CURLY FONT, BE GONE AND TAKE YOUR UNATURALLY CURLY HAIR WITH YOU!
Affectionately known as "Mr. Al"... you are no longer welcome here. You are hideous and continuously show up at that strange fusion deli two blocks from my house announcing some discount on goat ball soup. Your services are no longer needed.
Admittedly, we have used this font... but we are ashamed and repent all sins for this oversight. Keep moving... nothing to see here. What's that?... sure, take the whole pack.
It's over. The lights are out and the rabble have left. Show's over.
It's our number one choice for bad font, based almost entirely on the fact that the capital letter "B" looks like someone sticking their butt out of the window of the Partidge Family's bus.
Posted on Jun 14, 2011
How did we not see the signs?
We've been doing this job for over two decades now. You lower your guard for what seems like a split second and in it came; the dreaded suck-the-life-out-of-everything client.
Every designer knows this adversary... rash-like negativity, time-sucking sensibilities, "thrifty" disposition... the absolute epitome of despair. Perhaps the greatest issue at hand is how we actually managed to miss the signs.
Let's review:
1. First Contact
Client makes contact through a Google search, emails are exchanged, information requested... all good. Project turns out to be website redesign; all info is available online or through email, but client insists on meeting in person and insists on their office. Not a big warning... we're going to be kind and only give us a little warning here: 
2. Initial Meeting
Check the route to the meeting. It turns out that the location is somewhere just a tad north of Middle Earth.
Arrive and find the "office" is cleverly disguised as some dude's condo.
Condo-office is not office at all, but a true dude pad complete with three extremely dour dudes in there. Tension is tight and all the usual ice-breaking jokes go cold. We're now a cheap six-pack away from a bad night out with the boys.
Offered seat on a blue "pleather" couch. Three dudes take their place in dining chairs directly across. Squishy couch sucks me down far below normal sitting level, feel much like Sid Dithers, but way lower.
Client's business turns out to be manufacturer of kid related products. Dour dudes look way out of place... David Suzuki selling Hummers would be a more natural fit.
Mid-way through meeting, client produces site mock-ups that were done by another company. "Why weren't these used?"... "things didn't work out", they say. 
Meeting goes past 1.5 hours... "president" offers up words like "hmmm" and "mmmm", followed by excessive chin scratching.
3. Project Process
Estimate is approved. Deposit request is made. After 3 weeks, requested deposit for 50% of the project doesn't show up. Order closed.
Requested deposit shows up 2 weeks after project is closed.
Project begins. 
Proofs go out. Phone calls come in to describe requested changes. Suggest email, but client no like email. Client uses phrases like "we want these changes made, but don't feel we should have to pay for them."
4. The End
Proof limit was intended to be 3 rounds, but we go 12. After this many rounds feel like Apollo Creed, but with way better acting lessons.
Hours go WAY over estimate. We eat 20+ hours at next staff get-together. Produce invoice. Client no pay.
Three strikes. Blog post. Cleanse out icky feeling and fall back into bliss with normal clients.
Related post: "Loving Your Clients"
Posted on Jun 7, 2011
With a recent rebranding project freshly behind us, we were told in some casual conversation following the presentation, "I love the logo, but I keep thinking I've seen it somewhere..."
We were then asked if we had done the diligent research to make sure the final logo was indeed, original.
"Of course!" we stated with confidence, "but everyone knows what a challenge it is to ensure absolute originality."
The blank stares assured us that not everyone knows this.
In fact, it was questioned, what with Google image searches and the lot, shouldn't it be way easier to figure this out?
At Sharkbite, we definitely do extensive searches once we get started on an original idea, but you can exhaust your time and wallet trying to comb every inch of the globe; at some point you have to resign yourself to the skill of your searches, the originality of the creative process and settle on your idea.
Here is the new logo we developed for Geoscientists Canada:
Here are the closest images we could source:
Similar, but not the same.
There are some sites cropping up out there (like GazoPa) which claim to be able to match your image against others out there in cyberspace, but they have yet to acquire a universal database to rival Google Images.
CreativeBits.com has some good suggestions that include:
- Post your logo on international design websites for critique - Designers in general pay lot of attention to logos they see in communication and have probably tens of thousands of logos in their memory.
- Search for symbols - If you have a very distinct symbol, for example a horse head or a bell you should try to search by keyword adding the words "logo" or "symbol" to your query. Because google uses human volunteers to keyword the images in its library it is possible your search will come up with something useful.
- Payed trademark research - There are many agencies specializing in researching trademarks. Only issue is cost and limitations to a single country.
- Search for similar images - Use Google Similar Images and GazoPa.
When Logos Look Alike
Taken from a popular post from LogoDesignLove.com, here are some ridiculously similar brands that are in use today:
Want to see more? View the full post here.
Posted on May 5, 2011
Stock photos are everywhere in our business, and as much as we source the good stuff, it's amazing how that old tired reprocessed stuff keeps showing up. You know what we mean...
The Handshake
The Visible Workflow Charts
The Beautiful-ethnically-balanced-no-way-in-hell-they'd-have-this-job Call Centre People
But what we really love is when we stumble on the cheesy beauties that make you spin in your chair and cry out "hey guys, you have got to take a look at this!":
10 Examples of Photo Fromage
Composition Checklist:
- squishy pink ball? - check
- matching banana-hammock? - check
- proud white dude with no shame? - check
It's not the hit-you-in-the-face concept that's bothersome... it's the age of that laptop that's unsettling.
"We're amazingly beautiful, come from 33% of other parts of the world and floss religiously! We rock!"
WTF?
The only thing that might make this worse would be to put black-face make-up on him.
We have no idea what this photo could ever be used for...
Is she upset with the thumb ring? The ponytail?
Probably just pissed about the Chardonnay/Ritz crackers combo.
Oh yes... we not only believe that you're a totally cool, hip band, but can tell for sure that you know how to play those instruments.
Who are six people who will never get modelling gigs again?
OK, not a stock photo (awkwardfamilyphotos.com) - but it's giving me the willies. Did she kill the bird with that thing?