hello, my name is brian gartside. welcome to my portfolio!
I am currently available for freelance, so feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to talk to you about your project.
VCU CYCLING | TEAM KIT DESIGN
Created in 2011, the redesign of the VCU RAMS collegiate cycling team kits (uniforms) aims to create a classic and unique aesthetic that will cause VCU riders to stand out in the peloton. Previously the team had been riding in what was, in essence, a Columbia HTC (a pro team) kit from 2005 with all the logos replaced with VCU branding. Unfortunately this is all too common in collegiate cycling, so when the project of redesigning the kits came up, the primary goal was to create something fully custom that would stand out amongst the sea of copies. Download this pdf for more information on this project.
HARRY POTTER | BOOK COVER
This redesign of the Harry Potter book jackets represents an effort to treat the writing in such a way as to appeal to an older demographic of readers. By contrast to the original illustrative cover, the redesign focuses heavily on the use of hand-lettering and custom typography to create a solution that references classic book design while still maintaining a contemporary feeling. The jackets also incorporate elements from the books into their layouts, creating a series of interesting discoveries for the reader as they progress through the story. This project was recently awarded a Certificate of Typographic Excellence by the Type Directors Club, and will appear in Typography 33
BARTALI | TYPE DESIGN
Inspired by classic cycling typography, this bold sans serif typeface takes its name from one of Gino Bartali, one of the sport's all time greats. Bartali is my current and on-going type design project, which will see completion and release during the summer of 2012.
KRIEGER | TYPE DESIGN
This bold, sturdy, vertically accented geometric slab serif face was my second typeface. I am a big fan of the slab serif, however generally find them to be a bit too wide and a bit too inconsistent for my personal taste. With Krieger I wanted to create a slab serif face which immediately connotes authority with its geometry, creating consistency by relying on the geometry of the square rather than the circle. Krieger is also the first project I've done with multiple language support (most Latin-based languages), alternative characters, lining and old-style figures, and a full f-ligature set. The final type family includes 5 weights, each with a matching italic.
GABRIAN | TYPE DESIGN
This project is the result of my first successful foray into the world of typeface design. The type was inspired by the sturdy sans-serifs present in early boxing posters. I admire the bold, no-nonsense nature of that particular genre and attempted to bring that feeling through with my type.
"42" | EXHIBITION COLLATERAL
Created for the VCU Graphic Design Department Senior Show, this collateral set celebrates the 42 graduating seniors who will be headed out into the workforce in the Spring of 2011.
SIMPLY DROOG 10+3 | POSTER
This promotional poster for Droog 10+3 was created in keeping with the droog principles of "form follows process" and "repetition." Inspired by the do hit chair, simple materials were affected by a sequence of destructive physical processes (photograph, print, shred, repeat) and layered digitally to produce the result, which was then layered with type in keeping with droog typography.
ESCAPE FACTORY | IDENTITY
This identity for a small Vancouver-based film production company combines the company initials (E and F) with a pictorial representation of a factory. The resulting mark is contstructed keeping within an aesthetic that references the industrial nature of the business of film production.
PODIUM | LITERARY JOURNAL
This 92 Page perfect bound book was designed for Richmond area non-profit "Podium" in collaboration with Alyson Aversa. The journal is a showcase of writing and art produced by students of the Richmond Public School system, produced annually by a privately funded organization. The design of the piece stems from an effort to treat the work respectfully, while maintaining variety/visual interest throughout. A small group of students from Richmond Public schools served as liaisons to the organization throughout the process, and were actually able to participate in the generation of materials for the book through the letterpressing of a portion of the titles for the writing pieces.
FASHION SHOW | TICKETS
I designed this set of tickets for the 2011 VCU Fashion Department's annual student show. The tickets were individually numbered and digitally printed, then hand-stamped with metallic ink to denote the distinction between the general admission and all access passes.
SCIENCE MUSEUM OF VA | IDENTITY
This mark (and accompanying system) for the Science Museum of Virginia stems from an effort to create an identity that reads immediately as inherently scientific. To achieve the effect, I've based the form of the mark upon the well-known vernacular of the periodic table.
SELECTED MARKS | IDENTITY
To the left are a few identity marks from the past year. Each makes use of custom type to provide a more unique solution for the client. Whenever possible I like to do custom type for identity projects, as I feel that it is one of the best ways to ensure a lasting result. Having to individually design each character in a mark ensures that every typographic decision is carefully considered for that specific project.
INGRID MICHAELSON | TYPE/POSTER
This poster was done in collaboration with Alyson Aversa for folk-artist Ingrid Michaelson. The imagery of the piece reflects the cool intellectualism/hopeful idealism of her music. The project was also a good opportunity to do some more custom lettering, which I have taken quite an interest in lately. All the type on the poster was first hand-drawn, then digitized and redrawn in fontlab, and represents an effort to create something friendly, approachable, and a bit more evenly colored than most type found within the clarendon classification.
PRINTER'S CONFERENCE | POSTER
For this promotional poster I really wanted to create something eye-catching, yet appropriate for a convention of commercial printers taking place in Miami, FL. To achieve the desired effect I've juxtaposed the familiar CMYK color scheme with a distinctly Miami-an iconic image, supported by simple typography.
VCU FINAL FOUR | LETTERPRESS
This letterpressed poster commemorates VCU's 2011 Final Four run, layering the VCU Rams over a block of all the teams VCU had to beat to reach the Final Four. The poster is a result of a collaborative effort with Dominic Butchello, Cody Whitby, and James Gillette and is currently available at Quirk Gallery in Richmond, VA.