http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/sets/72157612578261696/
everything is design
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Power of Story
I see a lot of kids movies as a parent and 80% of them are pretty much a C+ with the other 20% having something fun but nowhere near as powerful as a good non-kid genre title. Today I saw UP with my kids and this is by far the best kid animated movie and story I've ever seen and it is bar-none a powerful story animated or not.
Cool Creative Idea
"For the launch of a new Umbro store in Manchester I worked alongside some of the lovely folk of Love to produce this massive wall mural linking everything to do with Manchester, Football and Tailoring. We started at 2 in the afternoon and finally gave up at 4am."
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Spec No!
from unbeige"In a world of crunched corporate budgets and proliferating online open calls, AIGA this week affirmed its longstanding policy against speculative work—work done prior to engagement with a client and in anticipation of being paid if selected. After reviewing the policy in the context of the changing marketplace, the AIGA board of directors maintains that spec work "can compromise the benefits of effective design for both clients and designers—and that a designer fully engaged in a client's business challenges is necessary to an effective solution." The professional association for design says that it recognizes that the decision to engage in spec work is up to individual designers. At the same time, AIGA is committed to making designers aware of the associated risks. "By providing educational information on what it means to do work without the promise of compensation, and the resulting risks for both the client and the designer, we hope to empower every designer to make an informed and intelligent decision on an individual basis," said AIGA executive director Richard Grefé in a statement issued this week. Read on for AIGA's full, updated position on spec work."
Love at First Sight
Heading in the way-back machine I remember as a little boy my first real encounter with package design that I absolutely refused to throw away. It was GI-Joe packaging and it was beautiful. The illustrations were rich, saturated and full of discovery and detail. Much to my suprise while shopping for my son I saw that Target had brought back a few gems from my childhood. Here are some samples of GI-Joe packaging from back in the day and some of the stuff they just brought back from the archives at Tar-Get!
iPod of Handshowers
http://www.us.kohler.com/performanceshowers/handshowers/flipside.jsp#/homeThe marketing and product design was very iPod-esque... vibrant color palette, simple straight-forward photography... and a very cool product!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Bike Design
http://www.madsencycles.com/Very cool and fun looking bikes that you can actually pull cargo with. Beautifully designed, nice lines, really strong product design...
Red
Typical high-end HD camcorders have 2.1M pixel sensors and record with 3:1:1 color sub-sampled video at up to 30fps. RED offers the Mysterium ™ Super 35mm cine sized (24.4×13.7mm) sensor, which provides 4K (up to 30 fps), 3K (up to 60 fps) and 2K (up to 120 fps) capture, and all this with wide dynamic range and color space in 12 bit native RAW. At 4K, that’s more than 5 times the amount of information available every second and a vastly superior recording quality. In addition, you get the same breathtaking Depth of Field and selective focus as found in film cameras using equivalent 35mm P/L mount lenses. Mysterium ™ boasts greater than 66db Dynamic Range thanks to its large 29 sq. micron pixels. And 12,065,000 pixels deliver resolution that can only be called Ultra High Definition.
Shoot lightweight EFP style (body around 10 lbs., in rugged aluminum alloy) or load it up to shoot a feature film. Options include RED-RAIL™ mounting accessories that “grow” the camera body. Configure for tripod, crane or long lens applications. High-resolution RED LCD and EVF monitors come equipped with advanced tools for framing, exposure and focus. The RED ONE™ body and RED-RAIL components provide numerous mounting points to allow hundreds of optional RED and third party accessories… some that haven’t even been dreamed of yet. Choose between the convenience and durability of recording directly to Compact Flash, in-camera, or outputting signal to RED FLASH DRIVE or RED DRIVE (RAID) for even longer recording options.
Fun App
Eco-Press
Based in Brooklyn, Rolling Press is a family-run offset print house that uses vegetable inks and wind generated power to run their presses. In addition, co-owner Eugene Lee is also a book designer and recognizes the importance design has on our lives as well as the environment.
Bing! Ding!
Microsoft's new search engine brand identity is horrible and I hope they had it donated because if anybody dared to cash a check for doing this work they should receive a lifetime ban from brand identity.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Closing Shop
I've been a big fan of Michelle Kaufmann's prefab work. Today she announces that she's closing up shop and focusing on how to extend the idea into more multi-family living (green of course). Here is the blog post
Design Soul Ride
The Design Lifestyle
Much of design is like training. It can be hard to see the benefits from one project to the next, or one unappreciative client to another, and easy to forget the reason why you chose this profession over something else. I see design as a lifestyle. When it starts to feel too much like work I grow impatient and frustrated. And I need the design equivalent of a soul ride.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
More Design / Branding
Great piece today on fastcompany about the role and respect design deserves in the greater marketplace.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Type as Product
A must buy from House Industries
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L. Cutting Board
Large Ampersand Cutting Board: $110
While most of the House Industries staff could not fathom the sheer volume of cheeses and cured meats that might be heaped upon this generously-sized and sublimely shaped cutting surface, Andy and Rich commented that even their smallest social engagements would employ at least three such cutting boards. Besides, when vegetarians are making the scene (don't they always?), one needs to keep the Humboldt Fog and Lincolnshire Poacher separate from the Culatello di Zibello and Coppa di Parma.
* Made in the USA
* Solid Maple Butcher Block
* Approximately 18" (45cm) x 18" (45cm) x 1.5" (38mm) thick
Design : Ford Focus
What's imediately clear is that this doesn't feel Ford so automatically it feels cool. It's not a current US model although it begs to be and its got aggressive lines, alien-like looks and an attitude desperately needed on this side of Americana.Sunday, May 24, 2009
Swatch Master
New iPhone/iTouch app available june 1 will allow you to spec a swatch color from a photo you take on your iPhone/iTouch and select the closest Benjamin Moore paint color.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Arch Stock
Here's a bit of rant. Being in the design business I've always hated anything not original. I hate stock photography and what makes my blood boil is websites where you can buy pre-designed templates. What came first, the layout or the concept? The idea of having an idea and already having a layout really makes me sick. It is this kind of automation that takes the art and craft out of what designers and art directors offer in terms of value. Just as many creative production tasks have been shipped overseas to dirt-cheap labor I see the same thing happening to many folks who are in favor of this canned conceptual bs. The same arguement is being had on the architectural side. I think the stat is that around 1% of homes in America are architect-designed. Everyone talks about how modern should come to the masses and the conversation usually ends up centering around pre-fab. One site I just read about is offering low, low, low cost modern house plans to the masses, stock house plans.... In a modern home design project I'm engaged in we talked early on to quite a few folks exploring prefab because of what was perceived as a cost-savings. In the end though it was as much if not more to go the pre-fab route. I truly appreciated the value and services that an architect offered after exploring the pre-fab route. In the end so many things in our life are mass-produced and what makes many things special are the few things that we can have customized, made to our specifications, etc. When I saw this article I almost threw up in my mouth because it reminded me of those stock layouts devaluing the craft of being in the design profession. I think its great that design has become part of the greater conversation in this country but I do not agree that there are short-cuts. Just as you are tailoring a specific message to a client who has a brand that has specific attributes, etc. you wouldn't force that message into a pre-canned layout. Just as a home site has a unique landscape, a unique environmental DNA a one-size-fits-all approach just adds to the beige-ness of America. Houses plopped down on the landscape like they were dropped from outer space. Custom is custom and that's what makes its special. My wife pointed out an article she read in the NY Times about the art of working with your hands. It talks about craft and how true artists, creative people, designers, etc. and others in the industry that work with their hands, builders, plumbers, etc. alll have unique skills because you cannot ship hand-crafted jobs overseas. Its a great piece and reinforces why many of us got into the business. To make things. To create. To contribute.
Legacy Continues
First came the Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen bible, then Tom Kundig : Houses, now famed founder Jim Olson has a new book coming this November 2009 celebrating his colorful career. You can pre-order here.
