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Stompbox and Design

B

buggy

Guest
Jun 1, 2013
21
0
www.tiposdoacaso.com.br
#1
Besides being a bass player, I'm graphic designer and typeface designer too. So, when I see a stompbox, an amp or any other equipment I see beyond. Not only its sound or quality but also its design interest me more than most people, I suppose. The way it's knobs, enclosures and panels are combined with fonts and logos to attracts us is amazing.

So in this post I would like to comment some things that catch my attention and propose, whenever possible, my particular view of the improvements that could’ve been made on each of them.

But before anything else, I would like to emphasize that I am a huge fan of the brands ans products which I will talk about here and I respect them above all. So, let’s begin.

The first effect pedal that I will comment is the 'T Overdrive Special', a product of a Brazilian manufacturer called T Miranda.

I realized that the brand of pedals, combos and stacks T Miranda could better reflect its quality without losing your original graphic concepts. A simple re-design could make it happen. So, I decided to propose one. A free interpretation of the current 'T Overdrive Special' without briefing but with the same spirit.

I kept the '50s type style on the logo but I re-designed it, adjusted its size and created a volume to highlight the product name on the panel of the pedal. For this I used the Salamander Script Bold font

Furthermore, I conducted an exercise with brand T Miranda, exploring the vintage look in an easy apprehension's graphic sign that can be applied in small objects. The color was maintained, but slightly darkened by increasing the contrast in order to improve the reading of written information.

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#5
p0k said:
Vastly improved...I'm a graphic designer /bass player too, and sometimes the designs of great companies can be painful. At least you tried to help! :)
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hi p0k,

Nice! Are there more of us? :)
I feel like you. It is very disheartening to see a device visually ugly that you know is great. This often happens to me. At least there are some brands that always rocks as Moog and Electro-Harmonix.
 
#6
buggy said:
hi p0k,

Nice! Are there more of us? :)
I feel like you. It is very disheartening to see a device visually ugly that you know is great. This often happens to me. At least there are some brands that always rocks as Moog and Electro-Harmonix.
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Especially the Moog storm trooper white ones. Those are slick. Not worth the extra cash when you're forking over $500 as is, but still a neat departure from the classic wood/black look.

I'm merely an amateur graphics guy (though I have taken a couple Photoshop/graphic design courses at a private art college). I always thought Robot Factory graphics were pretty cool, as well as the option to get custom graphics.

Badger is another company that was cool with doing custom powder coating (for free!). I got a looper with MC Escher tesselations on it. I think it looks pretty slick.

I just don't see many builders basically admitting that their products look stupid. I know you're offering free advice, and what I think is a better look, but on some level that'd be like them saying "okay, it's ugly..." Just a thought. Again, I like what you've done though.
 
#9
TOOL460002 said:
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He does his own powder coating. The build quality and customer service is amazing. His looper/blender pedals are amazing. So much so that I had to have two! Highly recommended.
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TOOL460002, I think that 'Radger' can be our next review.
There is no consistency in the application of the logo on the website and on the pedals. I can only read 'R' instead of 'B' and the animal icon is not clear. It can be understood as a lizard, a Komodo Dragon. The loop is a huge challenge. A very small box for many controls and texts... I'm working on it.
 
#10
TOOL460002 said:
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Hi TOOL460002,

I set the points discussed before. As the Badger's site I highlighted the animal, I worked the main physical characteristic of him.

I made a strong and simple brand that can be used in any application.

As I said before the Schism XV is a big challenge. I kept the original setting of knobs, toggle switches and footswitches. But I do not think that the result was good enough. So, I changed the arrangement of these components to get a better result. Of course this means changes on the board. However, it's only an exercise.

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#12
TOOL460002 said:
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He does his own powder coating. The build quality and customer service is amazing. His looper/blender pedals are amazing. So much so that I had to have two! Highly recommended.
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Hi TOOL460002, hi everybody

I spoke with Mr. Eischen and he was very attentive indeed. He explained me in detail what I already suspected. A change in the arrangement of knobs and keys imply a huge change in the design of the circuit board and it will probably make impossible to assemble the pedal. Furthermore, he do not use silkscreen to stamp the Schism XV. He uses a CNC mill so the dimensions of each letter are critical. That's it.
 

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