Les Garçons is based in Montreal and focuses on food photo, video, and culinary concepts. They position themselves as visual storytellers and combine photography with design elements and text as well as strive to master light and shadow, nuances and atmosphere, real and surreal. So, let’s check that together in their projects and explore the photography impossible to pass by.

Spring Geometry Project

Essence of Summer Project

Rosélys Project

Distant Dinner Project

Elevate Your Cheesburger Project

Check more photo designs by Les Garçons Behance portfolio.

For more inspiration, check the examples of awesome packaging designs, impressive food and tableware photos, dog illustrations, childhood illustrations, 3D illustrations, and other posts from our D4U Gallery where we gather impressive creatives to share their art with you

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Shell Fuel Save

Campaign Craft Certificate in Loeries 2018 award in the category Print Crafts – Illustration

Forcam

Design for FORCAM global brand relaunch. The main idea was to show Human-Machine Interaction through organic living lines in harmony with the metal parts of the robotized structure.

Penguin Audiobooks

The collection of sophisticated artworks based around the same composition but reflecting different themes and times.

The Greek Classics

From the author’s description: We wanted to convince people that can bring alive the world book, making for deeply immersive literary experiences. And we chose ‘The Illiad’ from our range of Greek Classics to illustrate this point. We put The Illiad’s ‘Trojan Horse’ episode center-stage in an ear-shaped arena in Ancient Greece; which was brought alive with careful attention to the crafts and architectural patterns of the time’ the city planning, the daily costumes of the people, the class divisions in society visible in the arena’s seating arrangements, right down to local rituals like the burning of incense to appease the Gods. 

World War II History

From the author’s description: …We chose ‘The Third Reich Trilogy’ from our range of World War II History titles to illustrate this point. We put Hitler center-stage giving a rousing speech to the Nazis in an ear-shaped arena in the center of Berlin. This was brought alive with careful attention to the architecture, costumes, and the mileu of the city at war. From the Nazi motifs to the city-center cleared for Der Fuhrer, to the crisscrossing tram-, telegraph- and electric lines to the dark and foreboding atmosphere of a world at war.

Indian Mythology

From the author’s description: we wanted to convince people that Penguin Audiobooks transforms titles based on Indian mythology, into deeply immersive literary experiences as well. The title in question: JAYA by Devdutt Patnaik. Inspired by the mythos of the Indian epic, Mahabharata, depicted here is an episode from it – Draupadi’s Marriage. To win princess Draupadi’s hand in marriage, suitors have to shoot an arrow through the eye of a golden fish attached to a revolving chariot-wheel. Just by looking at its reflection in the water. Taking center-stage in the ‘ear arena’ is Arjuna, who succeeds. The arena is faithfully recreated in a mix of the Hindu and Buddhist architecture styles of India and South Asia. Including the profiles, recesses, design motifs on stone and other details. The costumes, tropical vegetation, and the ceremonial elephants are based on medieval Indian paintings, and they enhance the overall drama. 

Coca Cola Olympics

Visualization of Coca Cola in the Olympic Games theme.

Time Machine Project

Harmony of Hardcode

Aren’t all those artworks stunning? Keep up with the new inspiring design collections coming soon.

Check Alexander’s portfolios on Behance and ArtStation

Don’t miss the collections of digital illustrations about childhood by Pascal Campion, awesome animal illustrations by Therese Larsson and other D4U Inspiration posts.

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What’s a poster?

A poster is a usually large sheet with images and text which aims at conveying certain information and making it noticeable for the target audience. Also, they can be presented small sizes, for example, digital version or postcards. Posters are thought to be one the first directions of visual advertisement which appeared in the 19th century. First posters were politically oriented but in a short time people came up with an idea of using them as product ads.

As posters grew their popularity, people started to apply them in many different fields and created numerous styles and directions for poster design. Let’s see what common types of posters are and which directions designers follow to create unique works.

By Studio JQ

Common types of posters

Advertising posters

Posters are most commonly applied in the advertising field. One of the earliest types of advertising posters were political posters which appeared during the First World War as means of recruitment. Today political posters are mainly used before the elections to encourage people to vote. They are usually based on typography which delivers candidates’ slogans.

There are also commercial posters which serve as the main tool helping to catch people’s attention and transfer the message of an advertised item. The major profit a poster is that it can be placed even in the most crowded places still having great chances to be noticed. Moreover, posters can be put on various digital and print media resources rising chances to hit the wider target audience. Advertising posters are designed that way so that they could present an item effectively and make people want it. In addition, posters wield a significant level of recognizability which means they can be helpful for branding.

By FOREAL studio

Movie posters

One of the most popular and beloved types is a movie poster. They are usually original images or illustrations which give a quick glimpse at the idea of the film. Designers need to emphasize the important details about the plot still keep the intrigue uncovered. Also, movie posters often contain the name of director and starring team so that film lovers couldn’t miss new masterpieces of their favorite actors.

By tubik

Motivational and social posters

This kind of posters brings a great value to the society. Motivational posters are meant to encourage people to do something. They are often applied in big companies for employee’s motivation. Also, motivational posters can be a part of a social program helping people to overbear difficult life situations.

Social posters aim at uncovering different problems including environmental, political and social. They show the problems in different ways: they may be obscured via abstract ideas or irony as well as designers can present them in the most vivid ways which sometimes may seem shocking.

By Wesam Mazhar Haddad

Event posters

The objective of event posters is the presentation of upcoming events, be it a music concert or theatre play. To provide effective promotion, posters have to be eye-catching and original, so designers often try to apply creative solutions. For example, to advertise a music concert there is no need for concentrating attention on the band’s picture. Many concerts come with a slogan which is usually based on the name the latest album. It may be a good idea to create a custom illustration or original photo which would reflect the mood of coming concert.

By DKNG

Directions of poster art

There is no accounting for tastes, the reason why a great diversity of the poster art directions appeared to hit any target audience right into the heart. Let’s define the most common directions of the poster art.

Typography posters

For non-designers, this direction may seem easy and fast but typography is a complex science which requires deep knowledge to make things work effectively.
All the goals of a poster are gained via typographic elements including fonts, alignment, and whitespace. It is vital to pay attention even to the smallest details since in typography posters each component has its value.

By Steve Wolf

By Jota STD

Photography posters

Photography is an art itself and if it’s combined with modern design technology, it can be turned into a unique poster. Nowadays people are obsessed with beautiful high-resolution photos, the reason why this direction is really popular, especially in digital variants.

By Studio Otwarte

Graphic posters

This is the direction which uncuffs designers hands and let their imagination go as far as it can.Graphic designers experiment a lot on poster creation following modern design directions such as flat design and applying various techniques. Digital artists make original posters which accurately bring people into the atmosphere of the films, cartoons, and other performances or events.

By Tubik

Blacklight posters

This direction appeared at the end of 1960’s and became a part of a modern pop culture. They are posters made phosphor inks which glow under a blacklight. Commonly used in nightclubs and pubs or as an outdoor decoration, they often apply abstract illustration creating an effect of hallucinations.

Creating posters designers are free to experiments with styles and directions. The essential thing which they need to keep in mind is the preferences of the target audience. If a poster is designed according to the tastes of the public, it has high chances to be on the top.

Сообщение The Art of Poster Design: Goals, Types and Directions появились сначала на Design4Users.

Wonderful World of IKEA

Sand Of Time: HBO Asia Commercial

Geoff

Audi A5 2017: Pure imagination

temi – Breakthrough Robotic Technology

Tough day: Leo’s amazing day and his breton top

Monster

The Race from EDF

iPhone X

Little moments from HP

If you want more nice and stylish commercials with great stories, check our previous set of Christmas commercials and catch some holiday vibes.

Сообщение Art of Video Design: Beautifully Crafted Commercials появились сначала на Design4Users.

So, let’s get inspired with this artistic animal kingdom.

Therese Larsson Portfolio on Behance

You may also like the collections of love illustrations, spring illustrations, winter illustrations, summer illustrations, autumn illustrations, and other D4U Inspiration posts

Сообщение Animality: Awesome Illustrations by Therese Larsson. появились сначала на Design4Users.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Charles Dickens

Christmas has always been a special holiday, full of coziness, kindness and love, family warmth, and the flavor of a fairy-tale. Lots of people all over the world look forward to it as the most desired holiday full of rest, pleasure, nice meetings, beauty, and gifts, for sure.

Still, there are also people for whom Christmas starts much earlier, and advertisers are obviously among them. Advertising created for Christmas takes its highly special place applying a wide variety of artistic and branding techniques to amaze viewers and make their brand recognizable. It has to be mentioned that the best of them do not just present the brand, company, or service: they tell the stories and show the amazing graphics close to our feelings and making us believe in better things on this wonderful day.

Today’s post also opens the Christmas season here in Design4Users with a collection of stunning commercials, aka advertising videos, mostly from brands famous all over the world. It seems like they already see it as their responsibility to amazing their clients with new touching and bright stories of higher and higher quality. And we thankfully take that for granted and get amazed and touched as it actually was intended. So, let’s catch those vibes of Christmas magic wrapped up in the form of short and moving videos.

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 – BusterTheBoxer

This commercial is the short story of a little girl called Bridget who loves to bounce. When her mum and dad buy her a trampoline for Christmas, they soon discover that she isn’t the only one with a passion for jumping.

Sainsbury’s OFFICIAL Christmas advert 2016 -The Greatest Gift

This Christmas advert is a joyous Christmas musical created in stop frame animation featuring vocals by James Corden. It tells the story of Dave, a hard-working and devoted Dad, who realizes that the greatest gift he can give people this Christmas is his time.

Lidl Christmas Ad 2016: Homecoming

This video shares the latest Christmas campaign for Lidl. Homecoming captures the deep sense of place that each of us associates with Christmas, as grown-up siblings come together to reinvigorate the old family home as a surprise for their elderly father and soon the old home is filled with long-absent Christmas joy, as new memories are created and poignant ones set aside.

Seanytunes – Harrods Christmas Advert 2016

The commercial presenting an adventurous cartoon in British style produced for Harrods advertising campaign.

BBC Good Food’s Christmas Advert 2016

Funny Christmas advert from BBC Food fully loaded with extra cuteness of kids interviewed about this special celebration.

M&S 2016 Christmas Ad: Christmas with love from Mrs Claus

Epic and classy commercial “Meet Mrs Claus” for Marks and Spencer. This year the company launches the Christmas 2016 TV Advert campaign with a modern twist on the much-loved character Mrs Claus.

Lily & the Snowman advert for Cineplex

A little Christmas story about a magical snowman who annually puts on a show for a little girl. Still, over time, life pulls them apart. Will she remember to take the time for what she loved?

Holidays are coming – Coca-Cola Christmas

This is a classic and eternal commercial for Coca-Cola and it definitely couldn’t miss this list. Holidays are coming! See the famous parade of Coca-Cola trucks as they come to share the Christmas happiness.

Very.co.uk Christmas Advert 2016 – Get More Out of Giving

This one presents the story of a big-hearted woman as she makes her Christmas journey home from work. She spreads festive cheer by giving gifts and is accompanied by a flying heart. With each gift she gives, her heart reacts delightedly; growing in size as the faces of the men, women and children she gives to light up with Christmas glee. Once finally home she is awoken with a present from her little girl, and she sees that her daughter has the same love of giving as her.

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2014 – MontyThePenguin

Another funny story from John Lewis about the sincere friendship making people decide on the best possible Christmas presents.

Heathrow Airport Christmas Ad 2016 Coming Home

The fresh Christmas commercial for Heathrow Airport deeply positioning family values making people come home for Christmas as there is nothing better.

Cartier Christmas Ad 2016 – Winter Tale

New Light New York and Paris – the epic commercial created for Cartier Christmas Campaign.

Mercedes Benz Christmas Ad 2016 – Snow Date

Another romantic and touching story from Mercedes Benz showing that there is nothing that could stop love and devotion.

“The Wish Writer” – Macy’s Christmas Film 2015

Just when a young girl is finding it hard to believe in the spirit of the holidays, she and her brother discover a pen with magical wish-granting powers. The video lets us watch how they spread the magic of giving and generosity throughout town — one wish at a time.

Hopefully, this day got its dose of magic for you. Merry upcoming Christmas, don’t miss the new posts on the theme!

Don’t miss the inspirational collection of Christmas and New Year illustrations, atmospheric winter art, and another set of impressive commercials

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Every field of human activity witnesses the people who become Big Masters of the trade. Due to their talent, hard work and devotion they create, discover, invent something that starts a new epoch of the industry and inspires plenty of other professionals. Talking about advertising, among those remarkable people, whose names are remembered on the top of the list, is David Ogilvy, one of the most famous advertisers all over the world and the author of the books now called the Bible for the advertisers. Being an experienced specialist and the head of the advertising empire, he was deeply acknowledged in mass trends and narrow peculiarities of human psychology and methods of influence on human behavior.

Here we have gathered some well-known professional tips David Ogilvy gave to professionals in the advertising sphere. Let’s try to consider if they are applicable and if so, how deeply they can be implemented into the field of web and app design.

1. Advertise what is unique.

To make advertising campaign successful, it would be great to advertise a product that is completely unique. However, with more and more development, there are relatively fewer and fewer unique things, so there is another side of this trick: find something that is unique about the product and make the customer know about it; make the product look original or feel original. You can create the product which has nothing extremely original in its heart, but having a tailor-made feature will make your product stand out of the crowd. This could be new operational feature, interesting elements of design, interactive elements, thoroughly thought-out logic of user experience. If you design a fitness app, a reader application or a messenger, you must be aware that the product is not original itself and it is vital to create (find, discover, invent and so on and so forth) the feature which will make the product standing out of competition. Otherwise, you will not succeed in getting and retaining your audience.

Therefore, two things are to be included in the bottom line here: analyze your competition and find the unique side of your product before you start your work on design.

Singify App

2. Every word in the copy must count.

Talking about the sphere of web and app design, it depends on the essence of the content you analyze. However, in most cases, it really works like this. If we are talking about the elements of layout which contain copy (buttons, links, menus, and the like) as well as the headlines, bullet points, copy of the landing pages, and calls to action of any kind, that is absolutely right advertising rule to follow in web and app design to create pleasant, easy and positive user experience as well as high conversion rates.

On the other hand, if we are discussing a sort of longer content with more copy, like blog posts, for example, you may need to reconsider this rule a bit. Here you should remember that the so-called “dehydrated” texts created only for search engines but not for living readers will definitely make every word in the copy count; nevertheless, they won’t create a positive user experience. This sort of copy will be too mechanical, too non-human, to make your readers get interested in the content you provide, even if the information you offer is really meaningful. So, in this case, analyze your target reader and add a little “water” – some words, which will make your text not only full of keywords, but also natural and involving.

So, the bottom line here is like this: For short copy in short and key elements of the layout, follow the rule and never forget it. For longer copy, let every possible word count unless it makes your text unnatural, boring or lacking in readability.

Moreover, for web and app design this rule can be observed wider, beyond the limits of copy. It could be transformed as “Every element in the interface must count”. And that will be one of the vital things to bear in mind for any designer working on any project. The most successful interfaces with efficient layout and encouraging user experience always hit the point. If there is something in the interface that does not fulfill any need, aim or function, don’t apply it in the app or website and you’ll make your users happy.

Toonie Alarm Tutorial

3. Never write an advertisement you wouldn’t want your own family to read.

This position is rather contradictory when transferred on web/app design. Being a designer, you can get involved in a project which you cannot even imagine in connection with your family. Honestly, it’s sometimes hard to imagine your granny building up online civilizations or using the fitness app, and that is not the reason why you shouldn’t be involved in creating them. However, the basic message here could be much broader: creating a product, try to work it out so thoroughly and passionately as if you were making it for close people. In this case, you will create something having a part of your soul, and the user will feel it.

The bottom line here: You wouldn’t like your close people to use a bad and low-quality product, would you? Then don’t make other people’s families try bad products as well.

Organic Landing Page

4. On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.

The numbers can be a bit different, but the core is the same. People usually do not read text blocks immediately; they first scan the pages to get a general impression. In case of a web page or application screen, the term “headlines” transforms into a range of layout elements, including not only headlines themselves, but also call-to-action elements, links, forms, branding elements (like logo and/or lettering compositions for names of products) and bullet points. All their features (copy itself, form, color, location, surrounding elements) influence a lot on the efficiency of your product and the response you’ll get from the users.

One more thing Ogilvy emphasized about copy was about style and vocabulary: “Don’t address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client”. Obviously, it is right for the stuff created by app and web designers. Success usually favors the ones who create something practical, useful and stylish rather than pathetic and immortal.

The bottom line here: all the content on the page is important and precious, but not all the content is instantly perceived. Optimize the priorities like headlines and call-to-action elements if you want to involve the audience into the rest of content.

Slopes Website

5. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.

In one of our previous articles we have already mentioned the stereotype about designers when people expect them to be the specialists who give out the best result working alone. Sure, there are professionals for whom that is the only right way to work. If you are one of them, you can miss the rest of this paragraph. However, our experience shows that techniques of collaboration, discussion, brainstorming and teamwork increase the productivity and quality of the projects. So, in web and app design this secret works the same way: if you think not only about yourself and your own fame, but also about the general success of the company whose part you are, working together with other keen designers can give unexpected and amazing results. They – that is most important point! – will satisfy your customer and create interesting experience for users. Everybody is happy, period. Sure, this secret works only in case, when you work in a real team, not in a can of worms, so there can be deviations from this rule.

The bottom line: working in a team of soul mates, don’t hesitate to collaborate and ask for advice. Keeping deadlines, satisfying the customers and creating high-quality final product – it’s not only about you. It’s about your team, your company, your reputation.

Brainstorming session at Tubik

6. The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST. Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.

Time changes, media change, activities change, but the significance of testing never dies. Talking about web and app design, Ogilvy’s words seem to be the pure truth. Creating the product is not the end of the road. It’s only the start, after which you need to test your product through numerous iterations and only testing will make improvement possible. Creating and supporting a web site or an application without testing it on real users is just a theory and you will never be able to tell if it’s successful or not before people start using it, making mistakes, revealing bugs, being confused by unexpected schemes or overwhelmed with abundant content and providing you with more and more hints how to improve your work.

The bottom line: It’s not easy to create the design which is close to perfect. But, be sure, it will be inaccessibly far from perfect if you don’t test it both before the launch and afterwards.

Tubik developers testing the screens for a mobile application

7. Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.

Again, it is one more thought by Ogilvy, which is totally truthful for the sphere of web and app design. Designers who start creating a product just at once when they get the task are quite risky guys. There are plenty of things to do before the designing process itself. Ignoring those things can give the interesting but not viable result. It’s important to analyze the competition, to understand the target market, to find out the sources of traffic and potential expectations of the users before setting off. Otherwise, you can waste much more time on loads of inefficient variants.

The bottom line: don’t be lazy to research vital points of the project before you start designing. Don’t fancy doing the research? No problem, go to duck and dive in loads of baseless concepts instead of going along the solid path of understanding the user’s needs and wishes. Just don’t forget: it’s not you who decides that the product is successful; it’s not even other designers. It’s users.

Researching, analyzing, optimizing

8. If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.

The famous advertising genius explained: “When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product”. It is a precious thing to remember in web and app design as well. You can create an absolutely fascinating concept, deeply artistic and highly aesthetic, it can look stunning and stylish. It can be unique, original, creative and a hundred more positive characteristics. However, if it doesn’t work properly, if user doesn’t understand how to use it, all the other positive features of the product die immediately.

The bottom line: don’t forget the eternal verity by Steve Jobs, who said that design is not how it looks but how it works. Going too far in creative search can take you too far from the users of your product. If the product doesn’t sell, i.e. for design doesn’t function properly, not giving you desired conversions, you risk to become the only person who will understand all its greatness.

Restaurant app

9. The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.

Applying this idea to the sphere of web and app design, we can be sure that it works the same way. The more applicable and practical your product is, the more persuasive and therefore self-promoting it will be. It doesn’t matter if you create a site, a landing page, a UI/UX for the mobile application. All the cases will show you the same: make your product useful and efficient – and it will make itself desirable without any other persuasion.

The bottom line: don’t use the words to convince people you are talented and your product is great and efficient. Informative product with high level of usability will do it for you, so let this be your aim.

Sport App 

10. I never assign a product to a writer unless I know that he is personally interested in it. Every time I have written a bad campaign, it has been because the product did not interest me.

Somehow, this is the thought to consider for the sphere of web and app design as well as for advertising. Sure, we all occasionally have had assignments that are not from the sphere of our interests. However, it would be better if those projects remained the occasional accidents rather than your designing routine. No doubt, designers can be and should be versatile, and responsive and there is nothing impossible for talented people, and so on, and so forth. But it is vital to remember that creating good design (as well as a good advertisement or commercial) in its best expression means putting a part of your soul and passion into work. It is very hard for the vegetarian to put his soul and passion into the application about cooking different kinds of meat as well as it is not easy to make an efficient library application for a person who hates reading. Sure, it is not so simple like that and even in this case a designer will be able to adapt and give the result. Nevertheless, it is under question if it is going to reveal all the depth of their talent. So, in this case designing teams have a kind of benefit, as more designers in a team mean more interests, more outlooks, more ideas and thus more efficient design.

The bottom line: Be confident that you are talented enough to do anything you are assigned to. However, if you are interested in the topic, you are going to be much more productive. And for the heads of design agencies, delegating work on the basis of not only technical skills but also interests and passions can make wonders out of creative work.

Museu Landing Page

Useful Articles

Here’s a set of articles on more aspects and best practices of user experience design.

Error Screens and Messages: UX Design Practices

Visual Dividers in User Interfaces: Types and Design Tips

How to Design User Onboarding

Directional Cues in User Interfaces

How to Make User Interface Readable

Basic Types of Buttons in User Interfaces

Negative Space in Design: Practices and Tips

How to Make Web Interface Scannable

UI/UX Design Glossary: Navigation Elements

Originally written for Tubik Blog, graphic and video content by tubik

Сообщение Advertising Rules to Design Good UX появились сначала на Design4Users.