Posted in Art & Design, Birds, Designer birds, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged birds, design on June 24, 2012| 10 Comments »
This beautiful swan and its reflection is available as a fine art print from Fotoviva – click on the image…
I think it’s time we looked at another iconic bird, this time the swan. You may already have seen my earlier posts on the design appeal of penguins and peacocks and owls.
What makes a swan? It’s big, usually (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, Birds, Designer birds, Traditions & Superstitions, Uncategorized, tagged birds, design, halloween, traditions on October 30, 2011| 9 Comments »
Blue owl by Fluro-Knife – love it, the colours are so cold and alien…
I heard a tawny owl (Strix aluco) in the garden last night, for the first time in months. It’s an eerie sound and how appropriate for this Halloween time of year.
But this post is not a nature ramble but a collection of modern images of owls – see also my posts on the art of penguins and peacocks.
In this post I will mention the goddess Athena, witches and wizards and share with you some owls depicted using various media. In most cases clicking on the image will take you to the source of the picture.
Owls are surely (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, Birds, Designer birds, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged art, birds, design on May 4, 2011| 6 Comments »
Penguin of Arabia by Ursula Vernon...
Penguins are beautiful. Although they are birds, they fly through water like fish. In our human imaginations they are slick, smart and intrepid. They are humorous, they are cute. But they are also edgy and can play sinister when required. Their sleek outline makes for excellent logos (think books and biscuits). In short, they are iconic.
They are (more…)
Posted in Art & Design, Birds, Designer birds, Uncategorized on January 27, 2011| 8 Comments »
A peacock by Paul Evans
I love birds and I love design, so here I am beginning an occasional series about birds that have become style icons in some way. This includes their use for company logos and their place in art. I am starting with the peacock…
There are many peacocks in captivity at stately homes in the UK and they can be seen in the grounds of our own Cardiff Castle in the city centre. They occasionally escape or sit on the outer walls and make a racket with their loud cries.
The peacock is the wonderful show-off male of the blue peafowl (Pavo cristatus), which is the national bird of India and regional bird of the Punjab.
The original NBC peacock logo, left, and as it is today
Perhaps the most widely known peacock logo is that used by NBC. It was created in 1956 by John J Graham and was first used on a black background for effect. The idea was to publicise NBC’s colour TV content and parent company RCA’s colour TV sets. Read a lot more on Wikipedia here.
That’s one of the main selling points for the peacock in design – it’s SO colourful. Trawling the web, I found quite a few peacock logos. As usual, click on the picture to go to the source…
Thomas Swain's logo for the Peacock Players gaming casino
The logo of event planners Peacock Marketing Group
The Squirrelbasket 