Seattle's Best Doctors

This is a placard given to Seattle’s top doctors as voted on by their peers.  I was in Seattle last week and noticed this well-designed award.  The purpose of this is to advertise that this particular doctor was voted Seattle’s Best, thereby showing his competence as a physician and promoting good feelings in his patients.  The title, Top Doctors, and the words, The Best Doctors, are all in a san-serif font (perhaps Arial) in all uppercase letters.  The font has a drop shadow in black for emphasis.  A serif-type font is used for the subtitle Seattle and As Chosen By Their Peers.  The artwork is what attracted me to the piece. The Vitruvian Man by da Vinci, the snakes curling around his body (just as in the doctor’s symbol, the Aesculaphis), and the wings superimposed on the body create a fascinating image.  The layout of the piece is also quite effective.  It definitely shows the viewer that this is the "Best Doctor" with the color and placement of the title.  The simplicity of the font goes well with the detailed artwork.

International Violin Competition

This is the program cover from the Eighth Quadrennial International Violin Competition in Indianapolis (past winners include Joshua Bell and Stefan Milenkovich). My family and I were privileged enough to see two of the semi-finalists perform. The purpose of the program is to introduce the jury, collaborative pianists, and the competitors. The selection of program art is a competitive process. Artists from around the world are asked to submit works which represent the spirit of the event. Michael Graves was the winning designer for 2010. The cover art is in a modified cubist style. I was instantly attracted to the piece because it reminds me of Picasso’s “Three Musicians.” I like the earth tones and the contrast of the cubist angular lines with the curves of the f-hole of the violin, the soft graininess of the wood, and the strength of the black and white piano keys. While the artwork is very modern, the typeset is a classic serif typeface like Garamond, all uppercase lettering. The most important words (International Violin Competition of Indianapolis) are emphasized through the use of a dark blue color. The others are in a muted green. The layout of the title draws the eye from upper left to lower right while font size emphasizes 8th, Indianapolis (promoting the city), and 2010. Because of the simplicity of the title block, the artwork takes the top billing here which I think is appropriate.

Women's Health Practice Brochure

I picked up this brochure at a recent visit to the doctor’s office which describes the facility, physicians, and function of the office. I was attracted to the colors, balance, and the use of various fonts. My eye was instantly drawn to the title of the practice and the website bar at the base – obviously important in an advertisement. But then I noticed the earth tones on the body, the fading of the indigo, and the cleverness of the actual logo (the H and P intertwined to make the individual letters and the circle/cross female sign). I like the use of the upper and lower case fonts and the vertical script along the side. I feel that this is a very professional, effective, and well-designed piece of artwork which works to promote the facility.