Graphic Design has become plagued with the oversimplification of brands, referred to as Blanding, resulting in Graphic designers feeling uninspired, bored & lacking creativity.

Get ready to break free from the monotony of oversimplification, and discover a creative solution that breaks the mold and commands attention! Return the creativity back into Graphic Design with Maximalism!

Join the oh-so progressive Angry Designers as they explore the vibrant world of Maximalism in branding & Graphic Design, where complexity reigns and creativity knows no bounds. In this episode, the ever so inspired Canadians cover:

– the current state of blanding
– defining Maximalism in graphic design
– compare Minimalism to Maximalism
– benefits of using Maximalism in graphic design
– 9 tips for Graphic Designers on how create a Maximalist design 

Massimo: [00:00:00] You're listening to The Angry Designer will be cut through the industry of bold to help frustrated graphic designers survive and thrive. 

Shawn: That's a thunder to clap. Thunder clap. 

Massimo: Learn that from our friend Draplin. Of course. Thunder clap. What did he say? Thunder Fuck, thunder clap. Oh my God, I love that guy.

Massimo: He's so 

Shawn: awesome. Thunder. Fuck. That's great. Right? That should be a band name. That should be a band name. So what the hell, man? I know. We're starting, everybody. 

Massimo: We're starting with empty glasses today, Sean. 

Shawn: We're starting. I don't know whether I like this. So are we going to be boring during our podcasts?

Shawn: Cause we haven't been drinking. We'll, just a very regular We'll just talk. Yes. We'll just talk. Just feel weird, 

Massimo: you know, not doing this, you know, signs that you might have a problem. I hope not though. 

Shawn: I hope not. Exactly. Exactly. No, but 

Massimo: I was at the L C B yesterday. Mm-hmm. The lick bow. The lick bow. The lick [00:01:00] bow.

Massimo: And I saw something that I was like, at first I walked by it, I was like, no, I can't do that. Right. Because, you know, it's, it's, you know, the, the type of drink it is. I'm like, oh, I don't know if this show we've ever done anything like this. But then it was the packaging they kept on drawing me back. Ooh, okay.

Massimo: And I was like, you know what? I think we need to just, you know, have a little bit of a talk about the packaging and roll it into this episode. Okay. Alright. Right. Cause I thought so. Okay. So maybe the drink won't wow you, but I think the packaging you can appreciate. Alright. Check this bad 

Shawn: boy out. Ready?

Shawn: Okay, here we go. 

Massimo: Oh, all right. So we are looking at a Jack Daniels and McLaren and I, I think it is just legitimately Jack Daniels, which will try, we haven't had in the show. No, but look at this design. There is so much going on with design. Wow. We have two brands together, two huge fucking brands. Okay. Yes.

Massimo: Jack Daniels Classic. Okay. Beautiful. Their logo is just on silver on [00:02:00] Black, but then we've got the McLaren Bright, almost neon ye um, orange. Yes. Okay. You know, like the whole Formula One experience and, and although, you know, McLaren isn't exactly my favorite team, you know, right now, although they're kicking ass right now.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. I have to like, I mean this whole two iconic brands come together, you know, and they're like united in Independence, living boldly and doing it responsibly. I, I, I was like, you know what? We need to talk about what's going on here. Yes. Okay. Because this is not our usual simple. Clean, elegant type of packaging, right?

Massimo: Like, nope, you know, I get it. The top might be yes, which is a little symbol with all black and white space, but there's a lot going on here. There is, right. We've got pattern in the background. Mm-hmm. We've got big bolts of colors. We've got shapes, right? Yeah. We've got two logos. Like in some ways this is just kind of like over the top and I mean, it's just like, yeah, go ahead.

Massimo: Go ahead. That's really sexy, isn't it? Sexy, right? Yeah. Like, I [00:03:00] mean, again, McLaren, McLaren's kicking ass this year, you know, they got a good team this year in f1, although I am a Ferrari guy. Yes, of course. And I am a Red Bull guy because of how great they're doing this year. McLaren's kind of coming up again and I think they'd be my third favorite, but I mean, I couldn't pass this up and I think that this is perfect.

Massimo: Opportunity for what we wanted to talk about today. Yes. Right. Paul, that really, so here, crack this bad, boil open while we like, so again, it isn't the most simple design and that's all right. But I mean, again, people, I mean the inside is bright colored, right? Look at that. Oh, look at that. That's really nice.

Massimo: Look at that label. You know, I may have to just buy a second one to just keep in store. Cuz that's, that's pretty hot. That's 

Shawn: great. Look at that. 

Massimo: That's really sexy, isn't it? So again, it's not, it's not this whole simplicity, we've seen this whole oversimplification lately, which is fucking, you know, it's not bad, but it's boring.

Massimo: Yes. And we all know how boring this is, right? Mm-hmm. You know, like people are calling it blanding because like, you're literally [00:04:00] like taking these, these awesome brands and just making them bland. Yes, exactly. Blanding, right? Yes. And again, you, you know, like this whole, everybody feels so pressured to be like doing everything simple, simple, simple.

Massimo: And, We've loved Simple. It's great for a long time, right? Yes. Yes. And it's elegant and, you know, there's a lot of benefits to simple. Yes. Um, definitely. Like, you know, it helps digitally. It's easier to reproduce when something's simple. But you know what, there is a new train of thought mm-hmm. Out there.

Massimo: And by no means is it brand new, but it's this whole thought that less isn't necessarily more, but less is a bore. Okay. So, you know, there is, and I love that. Right. Less is a bore, you know, it's, it's exciting. Mm-hmm. Right? And it, it, it feels much more creative mm-hmm. Than what we've been living through for the past little while.

Massimo: All right. So first, okay, let's, so before 

Shawn: we get too deep, yep. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. [00:05:00] All right, here we go. Good. Jack, take a whiff. Smells like Jack. 

Massimo: Ooh. Really does, doesn't it?

Massimo: All right, so how does Jack stand up compare? You know, it's actually not as bad after all the stuff that we've drank. That's pretty good. Good old Jack Daniels. This is, it's a little harsh going down, but it's tougher. It's a little rougher on and it is how I remembered. And I mean, yeah. But that's, he was young and foolish.

Massimo: I'm shoot this, but as a sipper, I could appreciate this. Yeah. You know, this would be nice on the rocks. I mean, some people might kick my ass for saying that, but, and, 

Shawn: and I know you're gonna kick my ass Uhoh, but you put some coke in this too. I 

Massimo: know. Well, Jack and 

Shawn: Coke is a, and Jack is legit is thing, but Right.

Shawn: But, but I'm surprised at how nice it is. 

Massimo: Just on its own, on its own. Right. Yeah. I'm pretty impressed with this. Yeah. And it's just the same, same thing, right? It is. This is good old Jack Daniels, but I will be going back and buying another one of these to keep. Yes. Because that's a nice looking package that's really, really sexy.

Massimo: So the [00:06:00] challenge lately with all this oversimplification is that, I mean, I get it, good design is clean and it's a balance of hierarchy and, and we, you know, we've got all these design principles to adhere to, right? Yes. But you have to admit, it's kind of getting boring out there. It 

Shawn: is getting really boring.

Shawn: Like we're, we're talking, we, and we've talked about logos and stuff like this now. Right. You know, you can't just put inter your, your brand name in inter and, and call it a dick. Leave it, like track it a little bit. Boom. Logo. Many brands did hundred thousand dollars 

Massimo: please. Yeah. So many brands did. Yes. It kind of feels like they were, they were just jumping on the, on the bandwagon here.

Massimo: Yes. Which, you know, kind of feels like they were copping out. So this new way of going about this, and again, I have to stress this isn't new. No, this is very old. This is not right. But, you know, it's, it's just, it is a way for brands now to inject excitement mm-hmm. Into themselves and, and you know, get, get some color, get some life, get some emotional, yeah.

Massimo: Get some emotion into, into the brands, right? Yes. Yep. So while minimalism, mm-hmm. Okay. Embraces this whole. [00:07:00] Less is more idea. Yep. Or less is a bore. Less is a bore. Okay. Less is a bore. What we are gonna talk about today is maximalism. Ooh. Okay. And maximalism. Nice. Embraces a more is more Yes. Kind of mantra.

Massimo: Okay. Yes. Like maximalism intentionally breaks the rules of design. Yes. Which is what's fantastic about this. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It challenges. Every fucking design principle, right, of simplicity and minimalism, it goes against the grain and, and it approaches the exact same topics in a completely different way.

Massimo: Totally. So I thought that this would be a fucking fantastic topic there. You know, it actually gets me. Excited. 

Shawn: Yeah, exactly. And you know, not that, not that we're chasing trends or anything like that. Mm-hmm. But there is a bubbling kind of undercurrent going on with this. Mm-hmm. This movement. Mm-hmm.

Shawn: Which is great. There's tons of articles available. There's amazing, amazing work work 

Massimo: people are doing with this. Well, and this, and this started about a week and a half ago [00:08:00] cuz we had a, we had a new follower come aboard, right? Mm-hmm. And every single person who subscribes to us on Instagram, right. I always check out their field.

Massimo: I check out their work. I thank 'em. Ryan, thanks for coming out. I try really, really, really hard to reach out to and, and forgive me if I don't, but almost everybody, you know. Yeah. Uh, reaches out to you and this guy's stuff. Remi, he came from Sweden. Oh. And it literally took me back to early two thousands, late 1990s, you know, rave flyers.

Massimo: I used to collect rave flyers in my younger days. Right. And I regret when we moved here, they disappeared. I don't know what the hell happened. I know. I'm pissed off about that. But they were always so jam-packed with color, with image, with shape, with texture. Yes. They were so, you know, bizarre and had all these like, layers of story going in there.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. And every single flyer you just, you wanted to keep cuz they were your postcard size or wide or round or square, whatever. Yeah. But everyone told a different story and it got you excited. Yes. And that's what this guy's work, you know, kind of like it, it reminded you. It totally reminded me of that.

Massimo: So [00:09:00] between that, between seeing this bottle, right? Yeah. And thinking to myself like, shit, dude, like this breaks all the rules. Totally. And it totally fits this whole idea of maximalism. This isn't as crazy as some of the stuff out there. No, but you cannot tell me that this is a minimal package. It's not.

Massimo: Right. 

Shawn: But it really works too, though. Oh. Like you got the classic vintage logo here. 

Massimo: The vintage logo with the McLaren colors, and they're sleek logo. And I mean, again, they're geometric shapes. They absolutely nice contrast each other, but they just look, it's fantastic. Yeah. And then the shapes, you know, the textures.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. The repetition. Like this embraces everything. Yes. That we are gonna talk about. And if you guys actually want to see this, we will be posting this on the YouTube channel. Cool. And if you're on the YouTube channel watching this right now, it's fucking awesome. So, okay. Let's, let's start from the beginning.

Massimo: Yeah. Because we do have some younger, um, listeners, some earlier designers who may not be familiar with this, because as of the past, You know, eight to 10 years, all we've experienced is minimalism. That's right. [00:10:00] Okay. That's right. So by definition, according to Wikipedia mm-hmm. Maximalism in the arts is a reaction against minimalism.

Massimo: You know, it's an aesthetic of excess Ooh. And redundancy. Right. It's, it's kinda true, right? Yes, totally. It's, but I mean, if you had to make it in a little bit more normal terms. Yeah. Okay. Maximalism in branding, it's about embracing the big, the bold, the beautiful, right? Mm-hmm. It's got characteristics like vibrant colors mm-hmm.

Massimo: Like we have here, right? Yeah. It's got like, um, you know, bold color combinations. Like here we've got gray, we've got black, we've got this bright neon orange, you know, intricate details like we have here contrasting patterns, which we have the Jack Daniels against, you know, like the McLaren logo. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, it, it's like we got.

Massimo: Tons of different fonts here that really don't make sense. The Jack Daniels logo itself has got a whole bunch of different fonts if we want to analyze that on its own. This is true. Okay. It's probably, I think it's pushing six different [00:11:00] fonts on there. But I mean, you know, the reality is right, it's, it's just, it's got these contrasting patterns, these ornamental patterns.

Massimo: They're dense, multiple fonts. You know, it's just, it's abundance. Yes. Okay. Yeah. And the funny thing, it's got little to no white space. Yes, 

Shawn: exactly. Which, what have we been harping on? Right. Right. 

Massimo: I mean, if Maxism, if there was a phrase to, to define mass, it'd be like, fuck, white space, white space. That's right.

Massimo: But it's true. And you know, it's funny cuz when I, the reason why I got so jazz and excited about, you know, when I'm starting just to revisit all this is cuz mm-hmm. This was. The whole design, um, genre that got me into this space. Oh. And it wasn't until I was revisiting all of this and I'm like, oh my God, I remember this.

Massimo: Oh my God. My rape flyers, you know, the excitement of this. This doesn't remind me of anything new. It brings me back like 20, 25 years. Yes. And then I think back, right? Like my, my very first business card when I was a freelancer. [00:12:00] Total maximalism. It looked like a little RA fire, right? It had a big m it had lines and shapes and patterns.

Massimo: Everything was layered. Right. Oh my God. So, but, but by no means is this, is maximalism anything new? No. Okay. Because this shit's been going on for hundreds of years. Hundreds 

Shawn: of years. Yes. The earliest I found in my research was like mid-century 18 hundreds. Mm-hmm. This is when it, when it first kind of 

Massimo: started.

Massimo: Right. Now what we're dealing with is clean, minimal simplicity and design. But, you know, baroque was all, you know, intricate patterns. And I mean, people would spend, you know, weeks and weeks just, just to kind of create this little ornate pattern in this size of a building. Yes, yes. Right, right. So it's true.

Massimo: But then you got from Baroque, right? Um, in this century, you know, art Novo, oh, you know, took advantage of that. And if you look at some art, Novo, some early art, Novo, you know, some advertising, some designs, again, they brought in all these layers. Layers and layers, right? Yes, yes. You know, but then, My favorite time the post-modernism.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. Okay. Like we go back to some of the Andy Warhol stuff. Mm-hmm. The Lich Stein stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean it [00:13:00] was big, bold layers, shapes, colors, right. Stuff. Yeah. There was so much going on there that you couldn't, you could not smile. Yeah. Looking at that shit. Yes. Right. Totally. Totally. And again, and it's good cuz it broke all the rules.

Massimo: Yeah. And that was okay. Yes. Right. Like that was totally cool. Yes. So then from a graphic design standpoint, yeah. Okay. And back when I was getting into this, right, Paula? Sure. Mm-hmm. Right. She created a poster series, um, public theater, New York. Oh, okay. And it was a dude and the front had like letters all over.

Massimo: He was on a yellow background. Right. I think he was all black and white, but big black. Fonts, text all around them. Nice. Like it was so in your face. Yeah. Right. Like you couldn't not look at it. And this is somebody who was known for making Hellvetica famous. Yeah, totally. Okay. She totally embraced, you know, halve and, and then granted, you know, her stuff's all over the place, but that poster Okay.

Massimo: Absolutely. Was a maximalist design, right? Yes. And then David Carson, ah, again, David Carson. If you look at the early ray [00:14:00] gun stuff, and, and you could argue his entire career since. Yep. Right. He hasn't really been about clean, elegant, simple. No. Right. It's been big, bold, you know, tons of fonts, busy layers, shapes, lots of stuff.

Massimo: Even now he's artwork lately, he's incorporating layers and layers of images and textures and fonts, right? Yes. Yes. So again, you could totally argue that this dude was totally a maximalist and still is. Yep. With his graphic design style, with his art style, you know, and just, that's just. His style. Yes. Yes.

Massimo: So this shit's been around for a long time. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think it just got lost with the whole digital age and, and, and simplicity. No. 

Shawn: I, I don't know. I, is it, is it a laziness on our part? Mm. Could be. Is it, what are we bending to what the clients want? 

Massimo: Well, well, these are the kind of things that are, it is just like, because it is hard to sell something like this to a customer.

Massimo: It's customer isn't right. Absolutely. Would be. Like you 

Shawn: say, it's a, it's a one-off social post or a postcard or some kind of, you know, like a poster for a, it's, it is 

Massimo: tricky. Know what I mean? It's tricky, [00:15:00] right? Like if you, if you'd sell it to a customer, you'd have to sell to 'em in the fact that, you know, if you want to make a huge impact, if you want your brand to scream Yes.

Massimo: Ahead of everybody else, right. And you have a bold enough brand or personality or brand personality to back it. Yeah. Then you know, the more I'm thinking about this big, bright poppy colors and fun, big minimalist. Vance just won't do it. Mm-hmm. Like when I'm looking at a box like this, like that's pretty, like, I mean, it stood out against a sea of everything else.

Massimo: Right. And its to the point where, and I, I passed it up, but I kept walking by it and I'm like, fuck, that is really cool. It's just, it looks like nothing. It breaks out, it broke apart from everything else Exactly. On that shelf. Exactly. And it seems to work really well, especially in package design. Yes. Um, I, I also see it in craft beers.

Massimo: Oh, yeah. See, think about it, when you go to the craft beer aisle and you're, you're, you got a wall of craft beer, you've got these Yeah. Find, there's a couple nice clean brands and stuff. Mm-hmm. But I mean, you got these other ones that they've got like all [00:16:00] these crazy stories and they're like edge to edge.

Massimo: There's no white space anywhere. Exactly. You, you almost, you're, you're almost finding a hard time to find out what the hell the name of the beer is, right? You're a, 

Shawn: yeah. I think there's a brewery at a Hamilton. I can't remember the name of them, but they're all, their labels are 

Massimo: different. Every one of their labels.

Massimo: Yeah. And it's, oh my God, what was the company? Yes. Collect Collective Arts. Collective Arts. Right. Thank you. Yes. Guys, you want to be fucking blown away? Yes. Go visit the Collective Arts website Yes. In Hamilton, and I'm talking so they Yeah. Um, employ, um, artists and all their labels, I believe are just artists series.

Massimo: Yes. They started this whole trend. Yeah. If I, you know, I, I think it's safe to say, and they've been around for a hell of a long time. Mm-hmm. But I mean, again, um, you know, wow. And this stuff stands out. It totally does 

Shawn: exactly right. It it against a whole bunch of, you know, your. Typical corporate beer kind of stuff.

Shawn: You know, everybody knows what the Canadians and the blues look like, right? Yeah. Like Right, 

Massimo: right. But craft beer needs to stand apart. Exactly. And these are small little breweries, small brands that had to [00:17:00] compete against these giant mammoth companies. Exactly. Right. Like and, and Heiser Bush and all that.

Massimo: Yeah. So what better way to do it than than compete at a store level. Mm-hmm. Right. And that's what they've done. And I think that that's what's worked for them. I think that there's more, you know, um, you know, uh, maximalism in beer cans and beer labels than I've seen in anywhere else. Yeah, totally. Yeah.

Massimo: You know, now it's like, if you're too boring, you're just gonna disappear. Exactly. Can you tell 'em really excited about this topic? 

Shawn: Big time. Big time. He, he's ping around the room 

Massimo: here. Holy cow. Well, cause again, this, this is what got me into this space. Exactly. And, and, you know, I, I've been saying how I've been feeling, um, a little, uh, burnt out lately.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. Creatively. Mm-hmm. Yep. But I feel something igniting again, and I think it's because of this all over again, to be honest. Good. I'm, uh, and again, and the nice thing about this is you feel more empowered, more creative. Mm-hmm. Right Now all of a sudden, you know, graphic design feels more art like. Yes.

Massimo: Again. Right. And oddly, even though we say that there's a huge [00:18:00] difference between an artist and a graphic designer mm-hmm. David Carson, um, you know, has, has gone on by saying that, why can't they both be the same? 

Shawn: Yes. There's a light there, there's a, there's a beautiful marriage there. You know what I mean?

Shawn: Like the potential you can do it, right? Yeah, exactly. And you're, we're gonna talk about how to do it right later on. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, yeah. You can, you can actually make this, and it's very personal at this point too, right? Yeah. Like you're putting your stamp on something. Absolutely. You are, but you're also, you know, leading on the design aspect and all the knowledge that you've 

Massimo: acquired over here.

Massimo: Absolutely. Right? Yeah. So, okay, so I wrote down some stuff here. Mm-hmm. Okay. Um, basically, you know, just, just to give some education on this. Mm-hmm. Okay. We have a minimalism versus Maxism. Yes. Okay. Ooh, so. The throw down. The throw down minimalism strives for simplicity. Right, okay. Which we always talk about, strip away all the unnecessary elements and reduce the designs to the bare minimum.

Massimo: Yep. There's nothing wrong with that. No, that's great. It's brilliant [00:19:00] contrast. Mm-hmm. Maximalism strives for abundance. It embraces a ton of elements to create these visually dense composite compositions. Mm-hmm. So where one is less is more, the other one is, no, no, no, no. More is more. Okay. And that's fantastic.

Massimo: That's right. Minimalism uses a limited color palette with focus on one or two primary colors, which isn't bad. Mm-hmm. If that's your brand and that's your intent, that's fine. Yep. Maximalism, you know, is vibrant. It's bold color palettes, and it uses contrasting hue to create this giant visual impact.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. Okay. That you can't miss. Yep. Minimalism uses clean. And minimal typography. Yes. Okay. Very simple, very clean, easy to read. Yep. Very, very light type faces. Where Maximalism intentionally uses playful and expressive fonts. You know, they can be bold. They're expressive. They can be experimental, they can break the rules.

Massimo: Yes. Okay. And that's the nice part. And [00:20:00] again, Vance David Carson. Yep. Breaking the rules. Breaking the rules. Exactly. Absolutely. Right. Exactly. Minimalism, generous use of white space. Okay. To create breathing room, emphasize key elements. And again, we. Always, you know, stress, the importance of white space, right?

Massimo: Yeah. To bring your focus to create groupings. Yes. Okay. Yep. Maximalism, on the other hand, embraces this entire visual stimulation, and it aims to overwhelm the census. Mm-hmm. It doesn't want to create groups. It creates one giant group. Okay. Okay. One composition, you know, it, it creates this big immersive experience.

Massimo: Yes. All right. Yep. Good fun. Absolutely. Very different approaches, right? Mm-hmm. Minimalism often has a very clear and straightforward hierarchy with a focus on clarity and simplicity. Yes. Cool. Maximalism challenges the conventions of hierarchy, right? Yeah. Creating visually extravagant aesthetic pieces.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. Okay. There is still a hierarchy in place. Yeah, but it's not the [00:21:00] common hierarchy. That's right. Minimalism tries to simplify the message to the point where there is only one single thing. To remember. Yep. Again, fantastic. Great. Very important for our product. Huge Maximalism tries to tell an entire fucking story, incorporating images, texts, and mixing that up with emotions.

Massimo: Yes. So again, where one, you're walking away saying, yes, I can get a better night's sleep. Yes. The other one is like, holy shit, I'd better get a better night's sleep, otherwise the Boogie Man's gonna come to get me. And by the time I'm sending, I'm gonna have like a rage attacks. I got that all from one composition, one composition, 

Shawn: everybody.

Shawn: Yes, that's right. Get your sleep kids. Yeah, that's right. It's, it's supposed to frighten the hell outta you. Right. 

Massimo: Um, minimalism. Oh wait. Uh, minimalism may in fact, um, convey a single message better if that's your intent, because it forces [00:22:00] you to pinpoint Yeah. On a single thought or idea. Right. Where Maximum Maximalism leaves a longer.

Massimo: Lasting impression. Mm-hmm. It's more memorable because it impacts you visually and emotionally through a visual story. Right. Okay. So there are two very, very different approaches. Okay. Yeah. So again, if you close your eyes and you think of like, you know, art and history. Mm-hmm. Okay. I can't speak for everybody, of course.

Massimo: And I mean, I, I love the, you know, the idea of, um, you know, Right? Yes. Yes. And, and remember, remember, um, Ferris Bueller's Day off? Yep. Yeah. You know, when Cameron was staring Right. And he was zooming in? Yes. Of the Pixar on just the pixel of the kid. Yeah. Because he found a story in the kid, right? Yeah. He was able to pinpoint the story, you know, in that painting.

Massimo: Yeah. You look at Roy Lichtenstein, right? Yep. There's stories right in your face. A woman on the phone and she has a message. You remember that? Mm-hmm. Better yet, Salvador Dolly Uhhuh. Okay. Try to analyze his fucking shit. [00:23:00] Okay. I went to the Salvador Dali Museum in Tampa. Oh. And again, it was incredible cuz every one of his pieces had these giant stories that you were just trying to unravel.

Massimo: Yeah. Okay. So there is something really, really, um, There's something to be said about being able to connect with people, you know, through a story emotionally in a piece of art. Yes, absolutely. And I don't think, unfortunately, that minimalism has, that potential. Minimalism is great, and it has a place, and I love it.

Massimo: I'm still a big proponent of it. Mm-hmm. But man, am I starting to see the value and, and rekindle my old love affair with Max, with maximal, I really 

Shawn: am. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, it's, I mean, the, the business that we're in is kind of a pendulum, right? It swings back and forth. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, and I, we've talked about this being, it's gone really hard towards the minimalist style.

Shawn: And that's all great. Yes. But it's nice, it's nice to see designers flexing a little 

Massimo: bit. You know what I mean? Like agreed. A [00:24:00] hundred percent. This is, this is very 

Shawn: good. And, and exactly like you said, it, it, it just gets those creative juices flowing. Absolutely. You looking right. Stuff like, I was looking at all this stuff before, before today, and it was like, man, this is really, really good.

Shawn: Oh, it's so cool. It's, it's awesome. I saw this one piece and I don't know what it was for. Yep. But it was just bright, bold, like there were pieces over top of the text. Right. I don't know what it was. 

Massimo: Right. I couldn't read it. Can you imagine what your prof in college you'd be telling you, you presented that?

Massimo: Exactly. 

Shawn: But it's in my head. Yes. Right. 

Massimo: Absolutely. It is it, right. It's just beautifully done. It is so powerful, intriguing for a brand if they can incorporate that kind of level of storytelling. Yes. You know what I'm looking at the skateboards on our wall behind you and look at them. Every single one Right.

Massimo: Like is kind of bold. It, it goes to the edge. Yeah. Right. I think the only one that might have some white space is that whole screaming hand in the middle there. Right. Little bit. Only because I think it's just because of the, the composition itself wouldn't allow it. Yeah. But everything else, edge to edge, just [00:25:00] big, bold.

Massimo: Yeah. And they tell stories. Yes. Right. Yeah, totally dude. So definitely like, I mean that's a benefit of, of, of maximalism Right? Is just the emotional storytelling. Yep. Through all these, you know, um, you know, intricate, like these intricate stories through all these like visuals and images. Right? Yes.

Massimo: Another benefit of course, if again, if you. Have the potential and your brand can back this up. Mm-hmm. Man, this isn't just, you know, going ahead or, or, or, or, or, um, shining ahead of your competition, right? This is like super fucking brand visibility big time, right? Because right now, like, the one thing about maximalism is it totally trump's all the other design pollution that's out there.

Massimo: Okay? If you're going somewhere and you see like, oh, there's another simple design, there's another simple design, oh, there's a color, here's a message, here's this. All in a sudden you've got something screaming for your attention. Okay? If your brain can pull that off. Yes. Right? You can't not. Yes. Look at it.

Massimo: Yes. Okay. So again, you've got, and again, that's why this box drew me to it, right? Because I'm looking at them, I'm like, okay, what are we gonna be drinking? What are we [00:26:00] drinking? We're drinking this. Yes. Right? Yes. It's the same thing. Yeah. Um, you know, so, so again, it's got like the, the super visibility that can't be matched, right?

Massimo: Yes, absolutely. Um, obviously, you know, the enhanced brand personality, okay? Mm-hmm. So, while you know, maxism creates this whole, it creates the personality just. By its very nature. Yeah. Okay. You're layering stuff, you're putting in messages. Right? The visuals, the color choices, everything you put in there evokes this personality.

Massimo: And that's why this works so well between these two brands. Yes. Right? Yes. And you look at everything else. If a brand embraces this, you know, within their campaign, within their identity, you can't non understand what the personalities of that brand, um, because of all these compositions intentionally put together a giant story.

Massimo: Yes. It does tell, you know, a better story. It's better at storytelling. Better storytelling. Yeah. Right. And again, you know, you go to some websites and they're so minimal, they're so simple. You have no fucking idea what it is. Because they're scared Yes. To tell you. Yeah. So they just leave a letter [00:27:00] better and that's it.

Massimo: You go to the website. Better. Better. What? Better, better. This it, you know? Am I gonna sleep better? No, you're gonna get. Better mortgage rates because it's like, what? Where'd that come from? What? Hell, 

Shawn: I'm not even interested in this. How was I supposed to know? It's 

Massimo: just the word better on the whole, like a white.

Massimo: Exactly. Yeah. So it's, it's in that sense, simplicity sometimes doesn't tell a great story. Yes. Okay. It forces you to dig deep. And then unfortunately, you might lose people where you've got this big maximalist, you know, impactful image in your face. That header would tell the whole story. Totally. And captivate, like, I mean, people don't even have to worry about scrolling.

Massimo: Yeah. Right. Like they don't have to worry about that, that damn fold. Mm-hmm. Because it's all there above the fold. Yes. Okay. Yes. Um, so better storytelling. And, you know, the one thing is it allows for more. Creative flexibility. This 

Shawn: is beautiful. Yes. Right. Which is because what everybody wants. 

Massimo: Right. We all Well, because I think that's become lost.

Massimo: Yes. Yes. With this whole world. Yes. Of simplicity. And again, I love what I've seen. [00:28:00] I love that everything is so, so, but it, but it, it, it has, it has what Blanding, you know, b bla branding have become very bland. Yes. You're not and boring. Right. Les is boring. I'll take a little bit more of our friend Jack.

Massimo: He's 

Shawn: actually pretty good. I can't believe I'm having more 

Massimo: Jack Odd, oddly. Right. You know, we've tried so many other things. We come back to Jack and be like, good, good. It's all good. Um, you know, the nice thing about Maximalism is it really does allow for so much more flexibility Yes. Creative wise, right?

Massimo: Yeah. Because it intentionally tries to break the rules. Yeah. You are allowed to do what you feel. Yeah. Not what is stamped in design principles from, you know, the R G D and, and all these associations saying how to fucking design. You know what maximum's like, no, fuck you. This. Yeah. Let's have fun with this.

Massimo: Yeah. Right. And you can just start slapping stuff on top. And, and I mean, again, it's just you feel like an artist again. Yes. Right. Exactly. And for, for a lot of us, that's why we got into this space. Yes. Right. Totally. We, we chased this creative fire inside of us. We [00:29:00] figured out how to make money from it.

Massimo: Yeah. But you know, you know, seeing a lot of what we do where, when some, some, some of the designers, you know, out there, they're getting close to it. Mm-hmm. But very few, I think commercially, you know, make it feel like art. Yes. Right. Yeah. Where I think this will bring that back Yes. For a lot of people.

Massimo: Absolutely. Yeah. 

Shawn: Yeah. Yeah. 

Massimo: No, it's not to say that there's a risks there are. Okay. Because, again, maximalism is, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's not for everybody. I'm, I'm already panicking with the thought. Yeah. Right. How do we, well, the funny thing is, if you think of our customers, Okay. And think of some of the, the, the, the social posts that we're creating on a regular basis.

Massimo: Oh, they're not simple. No. Right. Okay. There are social posts usually contain two or three layers of images. Yeah, yeah. With a texture over top. Yes. We have text, we have a logo. Mm-hmm. There's a lot on there. I think even though that we have always talked and loved minimalism. Mm-hmm. I think more of the stuff that's cranking out of this shop, you know, is more [00:30:00] veers to maximalism, but controlled controls, controlled maximalism.

Massimo: Hmm. You know, I don't know like if that's, even, if that is even a thing, but I, I wouldn't say that what we're doing is simple. No, 

Shawn: you're right. You're, when you, when you mention that, now I'm thinking back on all these things that we've done. Yeah. We're breaking them down. There is, there is very. By the very nature of it, there is not a lot of white space.

Shawn: We still create it and Yep. It's very legible. Yep. And stuff like that. But you're right, the backgrounds are very busy. Right. There's a lot of, a 

Massimo: lot of elements, layers. We're trying to tell a story. Right. And that is a huge part of Yes. Of Maximalism. Yes. But I mean, the risks, you know, and again, that works for us.

Massimo: Yeah. Won't work for everybody. But the risks of course, you know, all, you know, of course. Um, you know, they can help brands stand out in the market. Mm-hmm. That's fine. This, we know there, there's good parts of this, but the risks, there's the risk of, you know, overwhelming people. Mm-hmm. Okay. Because it's not for everybody.

Massimo: Right. Some of those cans. Yeah, those craft beer cans. There's a lot going on. There's a lot. I fucking love [00:31:00] them. But there's a lot going on. There's one funky monkey, and I mean, it's a monkey with the wings and he's flying through this seventies cartoon looking, building scape. And if you look, you're, so, I think that's great.

Massimo: And I spent five minutes just turning the can to see the story. But some people might be like, oh God, no, I can't handle that. I, it's too much. It's too much. It's, I don't know what's going on here. It must be horrible. Right. So you do risk overwhelming some people. Yes. Okay. True. Um, if you're not careful, Okay.

Massimo: There is a potential for inconsistency for your brand. Okay. So you have to be careful. You wanna employ maximalism in, in a brand and brand identity, great. But you've got to make sure that you, you keep certain elements very consistent. Otherwise the brand's gonna suffer. And I mean, more than, more often than not, the brands that we help are the ones that are inconsistent.

Massimo: Yes. Right? Yes. So again, it's, it's a challenge. Mm-hmm. And it's a risk that you have to, you know, you have to almost like mitigate that risk by finding some fixed elements, time and time [00:32:00] and time again to let people rely on, feel comfortable with, right? Yes. Um, and of course, you know, because the nature of maximalism is about incorporating things like ornate patterns and ornate shapes and trend, I don't wanna say trendy, but incorporate all these, these elements to make 'em eyecatching.

Massimo: You, those elements usually come from what's trending right now. Right. Okay. So if there's a certain kind of pattern that's trending mm-hmm. There's a good chance that would end up in maxim design. Right. Colors for sure. Colors for sure. Absolutely. Yeah. So once those kind of, you know, pass on, right? Mm-hmm.

Massimo: Uh, it is by nature what maximalism always is. Yes. But there is the potential that it will get passed. This is fucking beautiful. This, this Jack Daniels McLaren, you know, um, what do you want to call this collaboration? Yeah. But as soon as you know, neon is back out again, it's gonna be dated. Yeah, exactly.

Massimo: Just something as simple as the color is gonna outdate that, right? 

Shawn: Yeah. But the, but this is the beauty of this kind of thing is what, what we talked about earlier, it's like it's this one off kind of deal. Mm-hmm. Right? It's like, [00:33:00] okay, we're gonna fuse together. We could just have the regular Jack Daniels packaging and then the McLaren logo stuck on it.

Shawn: Yep. Yep. But why wouldn't we take the opportunity, this opportunity to kind of merge these brands together and make something right. A little more interesting? Right, right. 

Massimo: Absolutely. 

Shawn: And this is what gets Yep. Guys like us going, Hey, I should be drinking more, Jack. 

Massimo: Well, and again, you know what, oddly enough, yeah.

Massimo: This, and, and like I said, okay, obviously my first, my first two brands have always been Ferrari and uh, red Bull for f1. Right? You know, and sadly, number one and number two place, right? Mm-hmm. But until I saw this, right, McLaren was just another one in a sea of brands, right? But I've followed them, they're doing really well.

Massimo: This came out and now it's just like, you know what? I really do like this story that McLaren is telling. I really do like the drivers that McLaren has right now. Right? And so all in a sudden this, this crazy ass package has now kind of brought McLaren. It has. Yes. And it's brought it back to the, to, to the front.

Massimo: Yes. And you know what? There [00:34:00] used to be this McLaren Lego set before that I passed off on. I was like, oh yeah, it's not Ferrari, McLaren. If it's still available, you're, I'm not just kidding. Because again, it peaked my interest again and I was like, you know what? It made me revisit that experience. Yes. So it worked 

Shawn: for me, which is exactly the intent of this boom.

Shawn: This, right? Yes. Right. Yeah, absolutely. That's great. So this is, this is exactly what we're talking about here. Exactly what we're talking about. Beautiful. Okay. Nice. Nice. Nicely done, 

Massimo: Jack Daniel. Nicely. Nicely done. Jack McLaren. Okay. Pros and cons. Yes. Okay. I wrote down a list of pros and cons of maximalism in.

Massimo: Branding. Okay. Okay. I know we've talked about a lot of the risk and then, but here's cuz in bats. Okay. Okay. Pros, visual impact and the ability to stand in credit marketplace. We've already talked about this Yep. Is a must. Huge pro. Okay. Yep. Yep. Um, it's memorable, it's unique and it differentiates the brand.

Massimo: Yes, absolutely it has. Okay. It provides a platform for creative ex expression and experimentation for designers. Yes. [00:35:00] And. For brands. Mm. Okay. Because again, brands can accept the fact that, hey, this is just gonna be short-lived. Yep. But it'll be big, it'll be impactful. Yeah. And it'll bring people to us. Yes.

Massimo: So let's push a little further. Let's try something Yes. A little bigger, little bolder. Yeah. And brands have that opportunity to do that, right? Mm-hmm. Um, it evokes strong emotions, fosters deeper engagements. Yeah. Okay. And which I'm already j on, testified that it, it's worked for me mm-hmm. In this case.

Massimo: And that is the intent of maximalism to, to, to, to connect with us Yeah. On a more deep level, right? Yes. And then again, it offers a hell of a lot more ver versatility and flexibility in flexibility, you know, in design. Approaches. Yes. Which sadly we don't learn in school. Yep. Because they don't tell you to break rules in school.

Massimo: They don't tell you in school because they're too busy trying to train you on the rules in school. Okay. So again, fair, fair enough though, right? Yeah, absolutely. Right. So this gives you that, that, that medium, that ability to, you know what, try something different. [00:36:00] Yes. Step outside the box. That's step on the other side of the line, right?

Massimo: Yes, exactly. 

Shawn: And this, these are the kind of things that we, uh, to our day-to-day. You know, I love, I love the minimalist a approach, but sometimes you just wanna stretch your legs a little bit. Oh. You know what I mean, dude. Right. And this is the kind of, this is the kind of thing where it's. Just as challenging.

Shawn: Mm-hmm. As minimalism, you know what I mean? So, and, and it's just, but it's just a different hat that you're wearing. 

Massimo: Absolutely. Right? Yeah. Yes. Love that. Yes. Cons. Mm-hmm. Cons of Maxism parts. There is some bad parts for brands and for graphic design. Okay. So again, we've already talked about this. There's a risk of overwhelming or.

Massimo: Cluttering compositions if you don't know what the fuck you're doing. Yes. This isn't just a matter of just like throwing, throwing shit on the Exactly. Yeah. Right. And, and that's what people have to understand. Mm-hmm. This is still, there is, there is a design component to this. Yes. This isn't just a matter of throw everything on the paper, throw everything on the computer screen and it's done.

Massimo: Yes. Okay. Yeah. Um, the complexity may detract from your [00:37:00] intended message. Mm-hmm. Okay. So again, the ones, the designs that are, are best, the maximalist designs have a message, have a story. But again, if you're not doing this right, and you're putting too much on there, that that story could get lost. Yes. Just with everything that's on there.

Massimo: Right. Which is intentional. Yeah. But it could also, you know, hurt you in this case. Yes. Um, the potential. For higher production costs. Oh. Because I mean, number one, okay, now it's gonna admit, you know, when you're creating a campaign like this mm-hmm. On an ongoing basis, right. You've gotta make sure it requires a, it's not as easy to create a brand guide.

Massimo: Yes. If your brand embraces a maximalism type of look. Now, coincidentally, David Carson mm-hmm. And Macallan did a combination, he did a collaboration, I, I dunno if you know that. No idea. 

Shawn: Yeah. With, with 

Massimo: the whistle, Scott, it was scotch. Right. And he did the boxes, he did branding and it was, and I mean, try to find one now.

Massimo: Last time I saw an eBay there over a thousand bucks for a stupid, and again, and [00:38:00] it just keeps going up. Yeah. Because, you know, he created this series, he created this and it's beautiful. Yeah. It's cool stuff. And he did a good job. Yeah. Okay. In that. But again, it costs them Yes. Guaranteed. It cost them a pretty event.

Massimo: It was not cheap. It was not cheap. Um, limited, uh, applicability across industries and target audiences. Right. You have to admit that it's not for everybody. This is true. It's not for every brand. Yeah. It's not for every customer. Yes. You have to be careful who you're using it for and how you're using it.

Massimo: Right? Yeah. Like the brand and then who the audience is. Yeah. Right. And then of course, unfortunately with that being said, you know, because of that, it doesn't have universal appeal. Right. Okay. This is very limited. Um, you know, How many people that were walking through that, you know, the L C B O yesterday even knew who the fuck Mcclar was.

Massimo: Exactly. Or cared. Yeah. Okay. So that's why I'm not worried that there's another bottle waiting for me right there. Yeah. Okay. Because again, there's not that many people that are following this. This is true. So, um, you know, so again, there's pros and there's cons. 

Shawn: Yeah. But see, this is not gonna, this [00:39:00] is not gonna scare away your regular jack drinker.

Shawn: Hell no, I don't 

Massimo: think. But would your regular Jack, uh, Jack drinker pay a premium price for this bottle? Oh, I see. See, okay. This is a lot smaller, and it was at the same price for somebody that you, you can get 30% more. Oh. With just the regular jack label. See? Okay. Boom. 

Shawn: Gotcha. There you go. Right. Okay. I appreciate it.

Shawn: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So could they, yes. Yeah. All right. But you still have your regular jack option, right? Absolutely. Yeah. You do. Right? So this is for, this is for people with. Uh, you know, you're exactly like a designer or 

Massimo: an F1 fan, F1 fi fan, or somebody who wants both. And, and this is the funny thing, okay.

Massimo: With this specific, um, collaboration, Jack Daniels and F1 don't really go hand in hand with drinking and driving. 

Shawn: No. Well, no, no. Yeah, I'm sure. Of course. Yeah. I'm sure the guy in the McLaren car has the jack going straight from his helmet. You know, you know, 

Massimo: it's funny you say, I I wasn't actually going on that angle.

Massimo: You're absolutely [00:40:00] right. No, you're absolutely right. A car brand and an alcohol brand probably don't go best. This doesn't really work. You know, however, I'm sure if you look at nascar, you know, bud Light is a huge sponge. Don't, right? Yeah, yeah. No, but what I mean is, um, the demographics of Jack Daniel's drinkers aren't necessarily the demographics of F one.

Massimo: This is true followers. Right, right. And again, um, I haven't had jack's since we've gone down this whiskey road. I drank jack's as a kid. Yep. Okay. And I loved it. Yeah. Not a kid, a teenager. 

Shawn: I was gonna say, you're the luckiest kid in the world, man. I bet you all, everybody was over at your house. Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty popular.

Shawn: We're gonna have some craft dinner and some Jack. Some Jack. 

Massimo: Dad can have some Coke. 

Shawn: No. Unless he's with some Jack going to Moss's house, Jackie Coke. We're going to Moss's house and getting really hammered on Jack. 

Massimo: But I mean, again. Yeah, I know you meant when young. The last time I actually remembered drinking jacks, I mean, again, I was, I was early thirties.

Massimo: Mm-hmm. Okay. And, um, early thirties at a country bar [00:41:00] Oh, perfect. And people were shooting it. Oh yeah. And I was just like, yeah. And I, like, I liked Jacks and I was just like, yeah, bet. But that was my memory of Jax. Right. And then it's been, you know, it's been a good, what, like 15 years since I had fucking Jax, right?

Massimo: Mm-hmm. Maybe 20. And it's just like, wow. Right. Like it's, it's now that brought me back, my connection to Formula One has brought me back to Jax. Mm. Okay. Interesting. So it's interesting. So I think, you know, the markets are so different on this one that again, formula One who's trying to pull it in. Yeah.

Massimo: But, you know, I get, anyway, I don't know. We have a different angle altogether. 

Shawn: It's, it's, you're absolutely right. It's, it's brilliant. It's, it's kind of one of those things where it, you know, the brand. Yep. And it's this, this, this marriage of the two, and you're like, Hey, maybe I should try this again.

Shawn: Mm-hmm. And boom, before you know it, it's like, Hey, you know what? Exactly. And, and really this is, this 

Massimo: is not bad. It's not. We have gone through a great journey with whiskey, with bourbon, with scotch and all said and done. This is actually, I'd say mid, yeah. Mid-level, at the [00:42:00] very least, if not mid to upper, I would drink this again.

Massimo: Everything. Yeah. And I would, will and, yeah, exactly. But after this I'm going back, I'm buying another one. I'm buying another one of these to keep, right? Yeah. Just for, just because I'm, I'm a collector and this is what I do. So. Absolutely. 

Shawn: So it's kind of one of those old school, you know, um, Like, would they do it with, um, what they did with, uh, corn flakes and stuff like that?

Shawn: Remember when they put Yeah. When you put all kinds of shit on it and Yeah. Absolutely. And then it's like, then they go with a, you know, 20 years later they go with just take 'em. Just eat 'em plain. Yeah. Taste, taste 'em again for the first time. Taste 'em the first, that was a slogan. Yeah. It's like, that was brilliant.

Shawn: That was the first thing I fucking did when I saw that. I was like, I'm going out and buying corn plates. Right. So it's kind of one of those reup of an old brand. Absolutely. You know, uh, like a reanimation or whatever. I don't know. But yeah, it's 

Massimo: just, well again, bringing it back, bring right back. Bringing back, uh, the memories of nostalgia, bringing back the whole Yes.

Massimo: Because now the jack drinkers from 20 years ago are a lot more, you know, matureness. Yeah. 

Shawn: They probably had better whiskeys, 

Massimo: [00:43:00] but hey. There's a connection, there's emotion's, connection. Right. And now, you know, I've evolved to f1, not in nascar. Yep. And again, so have they apparently. Yes. Exactly. Fucking A, yeah, that's really good.

Massimo: Jax and f1. And in all fairness, although McLaren will not beat Ferrari or um, red Bull Bull. Yep. I will be cheering for them as a number three number. That's huge. In f1, if anybody follows f1, fucking, if you can get number three, that's huge. And they're, they're doing pretty good for that. That's awesome.

Massimo: All right. Okay. So I'm gonna finish this off. Yeah. Okay. With actually providing tips Okay. For creating a maximalist design. Okay. Broke down the process. Broke down my process. Everything that we've talked about, and we brought this together. Mm-hmm. Into nine points to remember. Nine points. Nine. Okay. Kids, that's easy.

Massimo: Remember these. Write 'em down. All right. Number one? Yep. Okay. Start with a strong concept. Yes. The benefit of [00:44:00] maximalism is that it tells a good story. Mm-hmm. Okay. So make sure you know what it is you want to tell with this. A clear story to guide your design choices. And your messaging. Okay. Yeah. So this is the first thing you gotta nail down first and foremost.

Massimo: Nice. Number two, establish a visual hierarchy, okay? Mm-hmm. And I know that we always say this breaks rules, but this doesn't mean abandon hierarchy cuz hierarchy is just good ux. That's totally right. Yeah. You know, very, you know, your element size, colors, weights, placements to guide attention. You gotta remember it.

Massimo: If, if you want the big theme to be somebody's face or a person, you make sure that that owns majority of the real estate on there. Yeah. And add all the elements to tell that story and bring your eye down. Okay? Yes. So establish that visual hierarchy. Extremely important. Okay? Yes. Big time. Number three, if you're just starting on this, if you're just kind of getting into this and, and, and wanting to try something.

Massimo: Do yourself a favor. Utilize a grid. Okay. Yes. Utilize a grid. Beautiful. [00:45:00] Seriously, it sounds silly, but you know, when you organize with grids or frameworks, um, it helps you create a well-structured composition, right? A piece. Okay. And so then this way it's one less thing to worry about, right? And everything will snap into place and you just gotta like, place the elements to tell the right story.

Massimo: And you can use, 

Shawn: like, that will help with your hierarchy, right? With that absolutely 

Massimo: grid, right? Yes. One listen thing to think about. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly right. So remember that, okay. You can, you can drop that one in the future once you got this, once you got this down pack, yes. But to start with, it makes your life easier.

Massimo: Yes. In this case. Okay? Absolutely. Yep. Number four. Beautiful. Don't be afraid of color. Mm. Okay. Embrace vibrant, bold colors that work together that enhances and impacts. Yes. You know, the whole point of this is to just like create this, this visual energy Yeah. That stops people in their tracks. Yeah. So this is where it's like, it doesn't matter if colors clash mm-hmm.

Massimo: If they work together in this case. Right? Yeah. Like this is your, your opportunity to be like, [00:46:00] why the hell do they have green and brown together? Right. Nobody uses green and brown together this work, but works in this. It does. Okay. So, you know, don't be scared of color in this case. Right. Everything you've learned about color, throw it out the fucking window and put it down on this design.

Massimo: Oh, hallelujah. Number five. Thoughtful typography. Yes. Okay. So again, choose your fonts carefully. Mm-hmm. To compliment the aesthetic, the energy, the intensity of you want, uh, of your piece. Okay? You know, think about, um, the impactful messages that you want to embrace and make sure that those are the fonts that you focus on are heavier.

Massimo: Right? The lighter messages in the back, tone 'em down a bit. And then again, you know, along the lines of typography, the messaging. Okay? That has to be complimented, right? You want your big message. Make sure you choose the right font, the right size for that message. Okay? Yeah. Yeah. So, number five. You know, think twice with, with, with typography.

Massimo: [00:47:00] Maybe that's a better term than thoughtful. There you go. Yeah. Think twice. Think twice. Okay. Yeah. Number six. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Oh, I love this. The patterns. Okay. Absolutely. Um, maximalism. Okay. Has patterns. Always. Yes. And the reason why it uses uses patterns is because it creates, and it creates rhythm.

Massimo: It unifies compositions, right? Mm-hmm. And, and, and, and it does that by incorporating patterns. Yes. Okay. And just like this, like again, this box Yeah. Has got this pattern. It does nothing more than just unify front to back everything and pulls it together. Yep. Okay. Maybe old moss, you know, from 2, 3, 5 years ago to be like, why do we need that?

Massimo: Get rid of it. Useless. Yeah. Simplify it. Yeah. But now I'm appreciating it. I'm like, no, no, no. That unifies the entire thing. That's right. 

Shawn: 1998, Moss would say, Hey. Hell yeah. 1998 

Massimo: Moss is like loving it. You're right. Oh my God. I'm bringing back 1998. 

Shawn: Boz. That's right. You remember him? Yeah. 

Massimo: Geez. You know. Oh, comes the neons the hat sideways [00:48:00] shit.

Massimo: Yeah. Beastie Boys cranked again. This has been the Beastie Boys 

Shawn: has it. Yes, it has. 

Massimo: All right, so repeat, repeat, repeat. Repetition is important when it comes to Maxism. Okay? Yep. Number seven. Avoid empty spaces, otherwise known as, wow, fuck white space. And I hate to say it, it 

Shawn: hurts me. You say that. It's sad to hear that, but 

Massimo: yes.

Massimo: But the point of maximalism, you want to fill the space to create this visually dense and impactful composition. Yeah. That's intentfully what you do when it comes to this. Okay. Yes. Yep. So in this case, avoid. White space as much. Fill it up if you can. Fill it up just enough. Yeah. So you know, you don't want this thing looking like, it's like a, a fricking antique market chop.

Massimo: Okay. But at the same time, yeah. You know, you don't need all this empty white space. Fill that shit up. Customers must love that. They must love the idea of this. Okay, number eight, layer everything and mix [00:49:00] styles. Oh. So the beautiful thing about maximalism is it incorporates different layers for different elements shape underneath a texture on top of that, a font on top of that, right?

Massimo: Yeah. This is shit that I usually, I tell our people to back separate them. Mm-hmm. There's no reason for this. But if you are embracing this maximus look, feel you want layers, you want depth. And again, you know, if you can incorporate textures, a piece of paper versus something digital versus an abstract image and layering that, I mean, that's the nice thing about this.

Massimo: Yeah. You're layering not just, you know, your messaging, but styles Yeah. And, and, and prints and everything. Right. That's, that's when this shit really goes kind of crazy. 

Shawn: Totally. Totally. I read a guy, his, his thing was like, You know, you get on your layer and you take, say maybe your level, your levels.

Shawn: Mm-hmm. And, and you just pin it. Mm-hmm. You max it right out because it goes, he it's gonna fuck you up. Cuz it is. It goes against everything you know, everything you've learned, but hey, what the hell this is where, this 

Massimo: is the experimentation, you know, when you're like going multiply layer and you're [00:50:00] going down to like 20, 15%, 10.

Massimo: No, no, no. This is like no multiply, no. 100%. Let me see. Multiplying 100%. Yes. 

Shawn: I love it. 

Massimo: And number dine. Last but not least. Yep. Shock and. Awe. Oh, okay. That's my favorite. Woo. Shock and awe. Incorporate the unexpected elements that are gonna actually capture people. They're gonna evoke people's emotions.

Massimo: They're strong emotions. Yeah. You want to shock when people see this? You don't. If this is, if this is just a whole bunch of busyness. Yeah. People will be like, mess. Go on. It's still noise. Exactly. I believe then it's noise even more then it's the 

Shawn: worst, then it's then yeah. When you miss. 

Massimo: On this, right? The whole point of this is to shock and awe and create something almost like graffiti.

Massimo: Like what you'd see Banksy doing, right? Yeah. Or cos doing. Mm-hmm. Something that's gonna shock people. Stop them in their tracks. Yeah. And be like, what the hell am I looking at? Yes. So Intentfully try to shock [00:51:00] and awe. Yes. Right. Awe so, Number nine, tips for creating a Maximalist design. Yes. Beautiful. You know, I mean, I, I want to bring this back to Z Factor.

Massimo: Yeah. I really do. I, I don't know, and I, I think it's gonna be scary for some of our customers, so I have to think about how to do this, but I need this back in my life. Fuck it. You know what, maybe Z Factor can stay the way it is. Yeah. Maybe this can be brought into the angry design. Could be. Yes. Because I think maybe this is more our vibe.

Massimo: Yeah. I love, and I appreciate simplicity, right? Mm-hmm. Do I think that we've gone too far? I do think design's gone too far. It feels so again, and people are complaining about it. Sometimes everything feels a little boring. Yeah. It looks the same. You know, a lot of the people that we follow have got fantastic pieces, but, you know, you can't argue that what we're seeing in the marketplace.

Massimo: Yeah. With what are the brands are doing, what fashion's doing, what tech's doing. I mean, they're. Oversimplifying. Yes. And it's kind of boring. Yeah, it is. It, it kind of is. Yeah. And maybe that's been in part why I have felt, you know, burnt out because [00:52:00] I'm not feeling creative. Yeah. Like it's like, oh look, enter minus 40, no, minus 30 this time.

Massimo: Yeah. Oh, that's close. Let me take that do and turn it into a triangle. Yeah. And change it a different color. Yes. Boom. Done. Thank you. $50,000 please. Right. I love it. You're a genius. The creativity's missing in this case. It is. It really is. Where this, if we can find. Practical, you know, uh, applications for this.

Massimo: Yep. You know, get opportunities like this, this collaboration with Jackson McLaren. Yep. You know, find opportunities with our customers or even for ourselves to do this. Yeah, totally. Man. I think this is gonna reinvigorate so much of the design community. Absolutely. I think we need this, we need this. 

Shawn: We do, we do.

Shawn: Cuz again, it's a chance to flex, which is good. Which, which hell yeah. Which is why we got into this because I, I mean, I, I've, I don't know about you, but as I got older, I appreciated the minimalist kind of style. Mm-hmm. A lot more. But [00:53:00] when I was young, man, I was throwing shit on the pa, like exactly. Like really hitting hard, you know?

Shawn: Yeah. 

Massimo: Did we, were we just trained to do this? Did the design community force us to do this? Because everybody's is going simplicity messaging this, Hey, I appreciate that. That's what's turned this business to what it is. Yeah. But, but there was something in my design soul that was missing ex Exactly. And I'm thinking this was it.

Massimo: Dude, I think you're absolutely right. Like, I'm thinking this, this is, this, this screams creativity. 

Shawn: Yes, totally. It does. Yeah. And it's challenging, which we all absolutely, we all look for a challenge. This is, this is why we do this, right? Yeah. It is. So, I mean, this is the kind of stuff Yeah. I, I, I really, I'm really heartened to see that it's a, that it's coming up, people are doing this, there's, there's people talking about it.

Shawn: Absolutely. 

Massimo: There is some really good work being done. There is some really cool shit that's happening. Awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Shawn: Which is really good. And it's not new people have been doing this. It's totally not, but it's just kind of one of those forgotten things. Like Jack Daniels. 

Massimo: Wow. You're so right, buddy.

Massimo: [00:54:00] You know, you'll always have those purists like David Carson. That's right. He's been doing this for the past 20, 30 years, and he's like, yeah, yeah, 

Shawn: yeah, whatever. Yeah. I guys, I've always been doing this. I haven't stopped maximalism. 

Massimo: Sure, yeah. Bad, whatever. But then, you know, but the reality is for the rest of us, I mean, I'm curious, like, you know, just like in school, you know, we learned about brutalism.

Massimo: Yes. And industrial. We learned about all these art forms and just like Yeah. Another art form. Yeah. But you know what? I think the world needs this. Right? I now absolutely, man. It's just, it's just too much of the design. Pollution, the noise, what is it? Design noise? No, it it, it's the 

Shawn: exact, it's the blending.

Shawn: Yeah. It's right. Yeah. It's, it is just this, everything looks the same. Yeah. In, in 

Massimo: certain regards. And again, there is a challenge to make, but I mean, the challenge is to make something look different when it's the same. And again, if it's, it's all the, everything looks so simple and everybody's simplifying, simplifying, simplifying.

Massimo: Yeah. I'm tired of looking at the same kind of websites. Yeah. When I see certain websites that embrace a little bit more of this, I'm playing, I'm kind of fun. I spend more [00:55:00] time on there. Yeah, exactly. So there's a good opportunity right now, I think, to kind of jump ahead of everybody else. Totally. And this is how 

Shawn: Yeah.

Shawn: And this, and, and, and we look at, at like Burger King and Pepsi are going back to bulk too old retro locals. Yep, yep. Absolutely. Which were, which there was thought, there was design, there was design stuff put into it. It's not that Burger King font was not a font. Yes, you're right. You mean like it was, it was a hand drawn, somebody came up with that kind of stuff.

Shawn: Oh, that's beautiful. Right? Yes. But this is the kind of stuff, but yeah, there's, there's far more creativity inside of. Of this. Mm-hmm. I think than, you know, what we've been seeing in, in the last couple of, you know, and there's, there's something about a sexy, clean website 

Massimo: there is. You know what I mean?

Massimo: There is some, but I love the apple. I'm tired of them, you know? You know what? See, I'm tired of looking at those sexy, clean websites. Well, you are. That's why I am, like my searches have changed. I'm doing a lot more shit on chat G P T. Mm-hmm. I'm using Google Less cuz it's a disaster to try to [00:56:00] source and find stuff with, tell me about it.

Massimo: Right. I'm trying different search engines. I'm getting desperate. Wow. Right. Because again, it's like you want information but it's like I'm getting tired of spending so much time aimlessly searching on Google for stuff and then I get to a website and it's simple and it makes me think and weight think and mm-hmm.

Massimo: You know, like, okay. Um, oh no dude, that's just lately I've been getting tired. Yeah. Wow. This stuff where it's like, you know, it's like when I see something now that catches my eye, I appreciate it. Yes. And that's the challenge cuz simplicity in design. It's beautiful. It, it is elegant. It's awesome. I always love that it gets that nice message across.

Massimo: Yes. But you know, even now, Apple's website snore like again, it's like, oh, here we go again. You know? Big bold phone. Nice big closeup. Yes. I already own one. Yeah. Yeah. And you're letting me know I need to own another. You know, peace of your world. 

Shawn: Yeah. Yeah. The one that you have isn't good enough. 

Massimo: So, and um, so, you know, it's like gimme some personality.

Massimo: Yes, exactly. And, um, you know, when I went and got this, [00:57:00] I spent, you know, extra time in the beer aisle. I looked at the craft stuff. Nice. I was smiling, I was picking up hands and I was appreciating it. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, and I also spent like a hundred bucks on cans. I bought a hundred dollars worth of like all these craft beer I did.

Massimo: Hundred percent. God, I don't even drink much of that. Craft beer. Don't, I don't want a beer drinker. Right. I don't, but I mean, I like the cans and I kind of be like, you know, I wanna be able to be like, Hey, you want some of this? Yeah. Check on some of this. Yeah. 

Shawn: Dig the can somebody cans, somebody comes over and they're like, wow, what the hell?

Shawn: Right. 

Massimo: Exactly. It's conversation piece. Yeah, totally. So I think you know what you can tell Excited. I am. Yeah. Totally. I am genuinely excited about this. Yeah. I am. I'm, I am excited that I rediscovered this. Yes. And I, when I first brought this to you, mm-hmm. You like perked up like a kid in a candy, so Totally.

Shawn: Whoa. I was like, this is kind of, this is kind of a left turn for us I think. A little bit, 

Massimo: but not, no, but I mean, it was exciting to learn about again. Yes. It was, was something that Absolutely. We have all it [00:58:00] almost like we all forgot. Yes. Yes. And it's just like, oh, that feels so right again. Yes. And I think that that's what's missing right now in our lives.

Massimo: Absolutely. Right. Is bringing this creativity, bringing this, you know, layered master or no layered, um, you know, mess. Yes. Uh, you know, like just kind of chaos. Organiz. 

Shawn: Organized 

Massimo: chaos. Organized chaos. Yes. This is going to be organized chaos. Yes. In design. Yes, it absolutely is. That's I implore you all to embrace something.

Massimo: Create something. Post something. Yes. Tag us when you do. Yes. Okay. And you wanna see this stuff? Absolutely, absolutely. Want to do because, um, again, cuz this episode was inspired Yeah. By, you know, one of, one of our angry designers. Mm-hmm. And, um, and I want to see more. Yeah. So get to it. People do 

Shawn: it. We love to see it.

Shawn: Yeah. 

Massimo: Sweet dude. Woohoo. 

Shawn: Nice. All right. Wow. I got the creative juices going. 

Massimo: Yep. Yeah. I think this is gonna be a good weekend. I'm gonna go home and create some mess. Yeah. [00:59:00] I love it. Ah, woo. All right. All right, well everybody, I hope you found something from this. I hope you got something cool outta this episode.

Massimo: You know, um, go check out Maximalism, check out some of the work that's out there. Yeah. Play, get creative. You know what? Do something for yourself and find that magic and see if this actually kind of in invigorates something that you had no idea you had. Yeah. All right. Yeah, please. Tag us on Instagram, hit us up, say hi if you can.

Massimo: Um, we're now on YouTube, and YouTube is going very well. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, follow us on YouTube. Watch us on YouTube. Yeah. We're now in color. We dropped the black and white thing. So now you can see how pasty we actually are. We are Canadian and we have a lot of 

Shawn: snow. Yeah. We don't get a lot of sun up here.

Shawn: Right. I think it's like one month a year. Yeah. 

Massimo: Actually, I'm not gonna lie. We saturate those colors so we don't look so pasty. So when you meet us in person, you'd be like, wow, they're whiter than I've 

Shawn: thought. Are they ghosts? 

Massimo: And again, please leave us a review. Let us know, [01:00:00] you know, how much you love or hate us or how much we have helped or hurt your life and career.

Massimo: Yeah. I, I hope in general that we have aided to this. Yes. And um, and just if you got one small thing out of this episode that piqued your interest, I think our job was done Totally right. 

Shawn: It's well worth checking out. Well, maximum Absolutely. Absolutely. Just for inspiration. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. All right, everybody.

Massimo: Okay. My name's Mossimo. 

Shawn: My name's Sean. Stay creative and Maxima is, and stay angry at Maximalist.

Massimo: Overdid that one. No, that was great.

Shawn: I love it.