Entries tagged 'design' ↓

You gotta love Swiss design. What could be a better example of Swiss typography than these little goodies from Swiss Airlines? I really enjoyed the graphic design aspect of this flight.

Just wanted to share my reaction regarding John Maeda’s recent appointment as president of RISD. I believe we are witnessing a historical turning point in art and design. Not exactly in the form of an artifact as the catalyst – such as the Sistine’s ceiling, or Duchamp’s “Fountain” – or a memorable public act, such as Beuys’ “How to explain pictures to a dead hare”. But I think this agreement simply marks the beginning of a transition to a new, progressive era in creative thinking; the results of which we have yet to see. And John Maeda has the will, knowledge, experience, energy, and vision to see it through.

In his “Notes from a director’s laboratory”, Sergei Eisenstein once said:

The most important thing is to have the vision. The next is to grasp and hold it. In this there is no difference whether you are writing a film-script, pondering the plan of the production as a whole, or thinking out a solution for some particular detail.

You must see and feel what you are thinking about. You must see and grasp it. You must hold and fix it in your memory and senses.

And you must do it at once.

Good luck John Maeda. And godspeed.

One evening a couple of weeks ago, I was glancing through the shelves at an A.C. Moore store when I came across some wooden cubes of various sizes in the craft department. They immediately reminded me of an article I read about 17-18 years ago in a science magazine, about a wooden puzzle. At the end of the article there were instructions to build one from scratch, but you needed a certain number of wood blocks, cut precisely into cubes. For years this little project had occupied a corner of my mind, without ever becoming a reality. But here I was, looking at these nicely cut pieces of wood, and I knew I was closer to building my own “Soma cube” than ever. Of course I didn’t even know that it’s called a Soma cube then. At least not until the next day. Continue reading →

Here is an interesting read by Bob Jacobson, an experience design consultant at Bluefire, and the editor of Information Design. Taken from his keynote at the 3rd International Conference on Information Design (ICID), Curitiba, Brazil, the speech focuses on the concept of “composing” memorable experiences. I think it is a very interesting approach to experience design:

I believe that inspired designing for experience is more akin to architecture and musical composition than it is to conventional design. The variables one must deal with are vast and unknowable in their entirety: the audience’s cultural and experiential legacy, individuals’ past personal histories and experiences, the interplay among design elements and the audience’s interaction with them, the conditions in which experiences are to be had, heuristic filters (how people perceive and evaluate conditions), and so forth.

Full transcript.

I heard MIT is suing architect Frank Gehry’s firm, alleging design flaws in the Stata Center in Cambridge, MA. I haven’t seen the actual facility yet, and I will definitely stop by the next time I go down to Boston, but from what I have seen in the photos, it is a typical Gehry structure, and looking at its unconventionally angled walls one can easily see how its design might lead to some drainage problems and leaks. I’ll stop here without further comments. This post is supposed to be about my interpretation of the cliché phrase “thinking outside the box”. Continue reading →

Recently there have been some heated discussions (1, 2, 3) in the online design community about the similarities between Apple’s product line and Braun’s product designs from the 60’s. Instead of adding more to the controversy, I would like to take a moment here and concentrate on Braun’s design aesthetic from those years, which is still impressive by today’s standards. During an era that is known for its stylistic trends and visual icons (space age, plastic/fiberglass bubbles, Sgt. Pepper, op-art, psychedelic forms, etc.) Braun approached product design from a purely functional angle, and focused on core design principles, such as innovation, endurance, honesty, usability, and consistency, that resulted in great products with timeless design. Continue reading →

I think I’m becoming a big fan of Marian Bantjes. This little project on her website is an excellent example of her refreshing approach to typography. Very inspiring.

I just saw this 30 second short by Bück and I am impressed by the simple, yet effective visuals. Own your C is a youth tobacco prevention media campaign seeks to help teens make the connection that their choices define who they are and who they will become, kind of similar to another youth campaign: “Above the Influence”. What I like here is the conceptual take on the story, and the allegorical treatment.

The whole piece is simply an art direction tour de force, tastefully done and quite understated. Every second is embellished with elements that support the fairy tale style, from the color palette to the typeface selection for the tagline at the end. Visual references such as the “tree tunnel” at the beginning, luminous windows in the middle of darkness, and the planting of the “c” in the forest all relate to the entangled inner psyche of a youngster, surrounded by a hostile world outside. Upon second view you notice some subtler support elements around the main character: the cuddling sapling, bentwood furniture, the pattern on the comforter, and who knows what else. Amazing…

The only thing that bothers me about the campaign is the name itself. “Own your C” doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t know that C means Choice. And is it not risky to use that letter, since it could also stand for the word cigarette? Maybe it is intentional? Beyond me.

You can watch the animation on Bück’s website.

This has to be the best use of PaperVision 3D I’ve ever seen: TiltViewer by Airtight Interactive. Since 3D in Flash is pretty limited, I think it was smart of those guys to use it simply as an environment to show 2D images in a 3D space, instead of the typical low-res models you see on experimental flash sites. Subtle yet effective.

In his 1971 movie THX 1138, director George Lucas tells us a story about a future society, where no one possesses anything. In one scene, the main character THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) purchases a functionless, red object that looks like a plastic polyhedron, and promptly disposes it when he gets home. Like everybody else in that society, THX 1138 is driven by an unseen force that creates the impulse in him to buy an object he doesn’t need or want. Continue reading →

The beholder is an online art gallery that provides artists an opportunity to exhibit and sell their creations. Created by San Francisco based designer/curator Suzanne Shade, it has been serving the art community since 2005.

We felt that there were a lot of people who find it difficult to find and buy art outside of the gallery system. And knew there were many artists who wanted to connect with larger audiences. The web seemed a natural place for that to happen.

The design of the website is very simple and understated, allowing the exhibited artwork to shine. With hundreds of artists in its database including painters, illustrators, and photographers, the Beholder is a great resource for anyone looking to buy art online. And since they only ask for 20% commission, it’s also a great opportunity for artists looking for exposure and profit. Kudos to Suzanne et al. for making all this happen. Visit the beholder today and start browsing for your walls!

I just read a quote from Marc Gobé, who is a world-famous authority on Emotional Design and the author of Brandjam, along with some other branding related books:

Design is to branding as jazz is to music.

I love this statement! I am not sure I fully understand what it actually means, but I like the fact that someone finally observed the correlation between design and jazz, which is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Being a devoted follower of both concepts, I’m pretty sure there are a lot of parallels one can draw—only not here or now, maybe in a future post. I do want to talk a little bit about the title of this post though. Continue reading →