Graphic Design: Album Art What Does it Mean?

Certain album covers can serve as meaningful expressions of a time, or a performers point of view as well as a visual extension of the music inside.

These released images of Eminem's soon to be available CD seem to be communicating a point of view?

The cleaver use of type in the way the title is presented and the photos of Detroit, Eminem's home, chosen as a back drop for his solitary figure is loaded with potential meaning.

Article: Eminem Album Image...

Fashion Design: Is Vensus Channeling Victoria Secrets?

The tennis star Venus Williams a student of design recently launched her own clothing line, Eleven. As her designs are put on display on court tongues have begun to wag.

I can say that I can appreciate the expression femininity she bring to her sport wear line. This is in contrast to the WNBA who simple have cooped the masculine jerseys and shorts which fail to flatter its players and in many ways promote a stereo type of female athletes.


More Photos

Graphic Design: For the Love of Type

One of the latent benefits of having computers in our mist is an increased exposure to type styles by the masses.

With exposure comes some knowledge of the variety of choices and for the others that have grown to love typography many opportunities to cringe at how type is used.

Article: Mistakes in Typography Grate the Purists

Type Explorations

Aircraft Design

New FAA rules have spured a growth in small personal aircraft according to a featured piece on the CBS Sunday Morning program that took a wide ranging look at design.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

More Type Choices Coming to the Web

Several firms that own the rights to several popular type styles have decided to make the fonts available for the web. This means that more than the embedded fonts of your Apple or Microsoft operating system.

Article: The Changing Typography of the Web

Design Exhibition: Why Design Now?

The Smithsonian's National Design Museum: Cooper-Hewitt has opened its National Design Triennial exhibition celebrating significant design for 2006 to 2009.

Exhibition Website

Custom Capert Designer: Malene B

This NYC based textile designer has a way of capturing cultural references and reinterpreting them into floor coverings.



Malene B"s Website

Fashion Design Meets Technology

The tech friendly designer Diana Eng has melded LED's into her collection which is literally highlighting the potential wearable technology.


Video Fashion Show

Article: The Little Black Piezoelectric Dress - Magazine - The Atlantic

Architecture: A New Look for McDonalds

The restraunt chain will modernize over 450 of its 14,000 U.S. stores over the next year.

Chicago Tribune Article: McDonald's New Look

Documentary: BBC2's The Genuis of Design

If you happen to be in the UK you can watch a new 5 part series on Design. It looks like a fascinating program, let's hope it makes it way to the states sooner and later.

"The first episode of this new series tells the fascinating story of the birth of industrial design. Alongside the celebrated names, from Wedgwood to William Morris, it also explores the work of the anonymous designers responsible for prosaic but classic designs for cast-iron cooking pots to sheep shears - harbingers of a breed of industrially produced objects culminating in the Model T Ford. Includes interviews with legendary designer Dieter Rams and J Mays, Ford Motors' global head of design."

Ghost in the Machine, BBC2 Link

Exhibiton: Design for the Other 90%

One of the great things about living in Washington DC is that most Museum exhibitions are free. As is this Cooper-Hewitt curated exhibition on designing for the world population not situated in Europe or North America.

Design for the Other 90% will be at the National Geographic Museum through September 6, 2010.

National Geographic link

more info. on the exhibition

Graphic Design: Capturing Obama's Words

The progressive design firm, Hyperakt, of Brooklyn NY received recognition for it rhetoric poster series by the American Institure of Graphic Artist (AIGA) recently.

This series is a good example of the power of words and typography as communication tools. The highlighting of key words doubles the emphasis of the message while keeping it within the context to the original speech.


Hyperakt Studio Website

The New and Improved $100 Bill

The dominate design criteria shaping the look of U.S. paper currency is obviously security. The intent of the new security features are to make counterfeiting more difficult and easier to spot by the trained eye.

Security Features in U.S. Currency

Article: New $100 Bill

Research Leads to Glasses for Children in Mexico

"Research showed that 11% of children were not learning simply because they could not read blackboards or books. The company found that in schools in states such as Morelos, Sonora and Chiapas up to 70% of pupils needed glasses.

Augen teamed up with the Mexican government to launch a programme along the lines of Béhar's OLPC, called See Well to Learn Better."

The Guardian

The plan is to provide 400,000 free pairs of glasses every year.


Article: Popular Science Magazine

Graphic Design: Updating NASA Logo

Five designers share there revision of NASA's 51 year old logo. The logo remains me of a Jetison's cartoon aesthetic that anticipated 20 century space travel. Given that the space program is being revamp as I type, what might a 21st century space program embody?



New Logo Ideas

What Constitute's Good Design in the 21st Century?

The conversation on what is good design seems to be adding another layer to the evaluation of products as good design or not, that of sustainability.


Article: Cool Green or Both?

Information Design: Airline Boarding Pass

Navigating a airport can be made easier if only a little design was applied to each step of the process. Here is a before and after view of improving the boarding pass, by organizing the information passengers look for in a way that supports their inquiry could make at least one piece of the experience less vexing.



See Other Designs Here

Package Design: Puma's Shoe Box/Bag

A step in the right direction, reducing waste by reducing the materials needed in the packaging of Puma products.

CNN Article: Clever Little Bag

Fashion Design: The Michele Obama Effect

The design industry has looked to Michele Obama as a means to boost it fortunes, the one's that know for sure are the designer's whose pieces Mrs. Obama has worn.

Her thoughtful choices have included a mix of high fashion, including some of the classic names in the business, as well as fresh newbies who are now the talk of the town where getting noticed is one of the greatest challenges.

If you would like to keep tabs on Michele's fashion choices see the site below.

Website Tracking Mrs. O's Fashions

Miniature Models of Design Classics

I love the idea of small models of furniture classics. I seem cool to be able to design a space in three dimension without committing to the cost of experimenting in full scale.

I love the idea of small models of furniture classics. I seem cool to be able to design a space in three dimension without committing to the cost of experimenting in full scale.

As a work to furnish a home this idea really resinates with me, to have a scale model of my living space so that I can move furniture, hanging art without the true cost and effort.

NYTimes Article: Modern Design, in Miniature

Apple iPad is Here

Ok now that Apple's latest device and software is here what does it mean?

Well the publishing world is waiting with baited breathe to see if it will change the tide of customers moving from print to web.

iPad Magazine Art Direction from Brad Colbow on Vimeo.

The video shows the potential for magazines to exploit this new media in a way that adds richness to the users experience. A published document will no longer be just what's on the printed page but now it will have the support of the internet just a few finger taps away. The opportunity for the designer is to fully make use of this tool in a way that allows users to explore beyond a static digital page.

Opinion: Typrography Overlooked on the iPad

2010 Winter Olympic Medals

I think the Olympic Medals for the Vancover games are the most attractive I ever noticed.



The etched pattern is part of a larger image, so each medal is ulitimately connected to the others. The undulating surface (not visible in the adjoining photo) is also a please surprise. As is the soft coloring of the gold, silver and bronze.

Architecture at the World Expo 2010

The United Kingdom's Pavilion, titled the Seed Cathedral, may be the most memorable if it comes out as the designer, Thomas Heatherwick, of London based Heatherwick Studio planned.

The Crystal Palace, which housed the first World Expo in 1851 in London, stunned visitors with its advanced, creative design, featuring 13,000 exhibits inside its glass and iron frame. For the more than six million people who visited the site during the Expo, the Crystal Palace portrayed the United Kingdom as a cutting-edge nation and British organizers are hoping that this year’s Seed Cathedral at Expo 2010 in Shanghai will do the same.

Pavilion Concepts Described

Digital Story Telling: How the Census Works

The census is described as the largest scientific undertaking by the federal government, outside of a military operation.

So how does the U.S.Census Bureau fulfill its constitutional mandate, to count each person in the country and associate them to an address? Very carefully one could say, using multiple strategies to identify individuals who might be between homes, persons not at their primary home (college students, or those incarcerated, in the military etc. but the key operation is the questionnaire mailout whereby questionnaires are mailed to homes and mailed back in.

2010 Census Website

NYTimes Article: The Importance of being Counted

(See the process explain in the video below)

Architecture: Frank Gerhy's Latest

The most distinctive architect of his generation has envisioned a structure to house the Cleveland Clinic for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada.

NYTimes Profile on Frank Gerhy

Gerhy's design for the 34rd President's Dwight D. Eisenhower memorial was been selected by Eisenhower Memorial Commission.

Memorial Selection

Design History: Alexander Girard

An influential textile designer who's tenure at the furniture manufacture Herman Miller set a high water mark for the language of modern textile designs.

Alexander Girard Biography

Houseware Products by Casabella

I recently came across some well made house hold products by Cassbella. I have found the roll mop and outdoor broom comfortable, durable well made and attractive.

Casabella's Website

NYTimes Review of Mops

Design History: The Bauhaus a Short Video

The early bastion early modernist thought, the Bauhaus, whose influence would far exceeded its existance as a school is profiled in a short video.

Time Magazine Video

Information Design: Applied to Government Data

The most progressive use of information design, the structuring of data using the principles of visual communication, in government can be found on the web page for the Recovery Act.


The goal of information design is to clearly represent data in such a way that it is easily understood by the viewer.

The guru of this field of design is Edward Tufte, who was recently to the independent panel that advises the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

Audio:What is Information Design

Recovery Act Website

Article:

Article: Profile on Edward Tufte

Technology and Policy = Design Opportunities

The Federal Communication Commission will reveal in the coming weeks recommendations for the further development and access to the internet.

America's 2020 Broadband Vision

"But right now, we are at a crossroads. For while the United States invented the Internet, when it comes to broadband we are lagging behind where we should be.

Roughly 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband, and more than 100 million Americans who could and should have broadband don't. That's an adoption rate of roughly 65 percent of U.S. households, compared with 88 percent adoption in Singapore, and 95 percent adoption in South Korea. The U.S. adoption rate is even lower among low-income, minority, rural, tribal, and disabled households.:"

- Julius Genachowski
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission

Aricle: FCC's Plan Revealed

Design Now: Darhil Crooks

A relatively new and talented designer Darhi Crooks is producing a nice body of work as an Art Director at Esquire.

Darhil Website




Darhil Bio/ Blog

Design Idea: DesigNYC

Here's a great idea whose intent is to connect design professionals with not-for-profit organizations in the New York area.

Design Observer

Design History: Saul Bass

I recently discovered one to the great one's whose influence is evidenced by the variety and quality of his work.


NYTime's Article: Making the Tile a Film Star

Saul Bass's Website

Bio on Bass

A Short Bio on Bass's Work

Original Movie Posters

The Great E-book War - The Daily Beast

Books were pulled from Amazon this week in a dispute with publishers over the price of e-books. Nicholas Ciarelli on why the book industry is making the same mistake as the record labels.

Article: Can the iPad Save the News?

Below is what the iPad has the potential to do for magazines.

A List of Influential Designers by BusinessWeek

As with any list the findings are subjective, but many of these designers are people to recognize for their contributions.

The List

Manifesto of the Global Agenda Council on Design

A design conversation is now part of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland.

Members of GAC first conversation resulted in the following thoughts on DESIGN:

"Throughout history, design has been an agent of change. It helps us to understand the changes in the world around us, and to turn them to our advantage by translating them into things that can make our lives better. Now, at a time of crisis and unprecedented change in every area of our lives – economic, political, environmental, societal and in science and technology – design is more valuable than ever.

The crisis comes at a time when design has evolved. Once a tool of consumption chiefly involved in the production of objects and images, design is now also engaged with developing and building systems and
strategies, and in changing behavior often in collaboration with different disciplines.

Design is being used to:
· Gain insight about people’s needs and desires
· Build strategic foresight to discover new opportunities
· Generate creative possibilities
· Invent, prototype and test novel solutions of value
· Deliver solutions into the world as innovations adopted at scale

In the current climate, the biggest challenges for design and also its greatest opportunities are:"

Read More of the Businessweek Article

Apple's Latest Contribution to Altering the Way We Live

Now that the speculators have been proven correct, that Apple would introduce a tablet device, have they gotten it right?

The Kindle, Amazon's ebook reader and category leader, will probably suffer as a result of the Apple's Ipad greater design pedigree, greater functionality and approachable price point.

The predicted winners are content providers (i.e. publishers of books, magazines, newspapers) and of course Apple shareholders. It was a short ten years ago that Apple stepped in a space that the music industry refused to address constructively but instead chose to take legal action against consumers who wanted to share digital music files. Likewise, the print media industries struggle to recapture revenues lost to the internet, and Apple introduces a device and supporting software iBooks that offers a possible solution.

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NYTimes at the Blogs at the Product Announcement

NYTimes: Is the iPad a Game Changer?

“A defining quality of Apple has been design restraint,” says Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster and consultant in Silicon Valley.

That restraint is evident in Mr. Jobs’s personal taste. His black turtleneck, beltless blue jeans and running shoes are a signature look. In his Palo Alto home years ago, he said that he preferred uncluttered, spare interiors and then explained the elegant craftsmanship of the simple wooden chairs in his living room, made by George Nakashima, the 20th-century furniture designer and father of the American craft movement.

Great products, according to Mr. Jobs, are triumphs of “taste.” And taste, he explains, is a byproduct of study, observation and being steeped in the culture of the past and present, of “trying to expose yourself to the best things humans have done and then bring those things into what you are doing.”

NYTimes: Steve Jobs Design Philosophy Considered

Recession 101: Designers Looking for Work

The loss of traditional design jobs is more evidence that the shift in desired skills tracks to areas of technological advances (i.e. interaction, animation...). In the attached article one designer demonstrates that a creative response could lead to the very opportunities one had dreamed of, though they may be packaged a little differently.

NYTimes Article

Samsung: The New Top Dog in Consumer Electronics

It seems that Japan has been replaced by another far east competitor.

Korea has been showing itself to be the hot bed of innovative and well designed consumer electronics products as demonstrated at the 2010 Consumer Electronic Show and profit growth over 2009.

It is worthy to note the absence of western brands from this distinction, with the exception of Apple, the move of manufacturing and design to the east is clearly evident.

Article by Jeff Yang

Essay: Why We Should Teach Design Early

Rob Stokes a Senior Interaction Designer in frog design’s Austin studio posted the following essay. It is worth taking a few moments to read.

"Designers, through training and experience, develop a different lens through which to see the world. They move through spaces, environments, and systems, making observations and developing insights about what works well and what doesn’t. They then use those observations and insights to create innovative solutions for everyday problems. If design is the crossroads of beauty and purpose, design thinking is the intersection of creative and analytical thinking.

But when do we learn how to think like a designer?

In today’s world of standardized tests and performance-based educational funding, students are not evaluated on the way they approach a problem, but whether or not they come up with the right answer.

What happens when there are many right answers, as is often the case with non-linear design solutions? When can we start teaching students how to creatively evaluate their ideas?"

Read Full Essay

Core77 Essay

New Leadership at the Cooper Hewitt ( National Design Museum)

A well known pioneer in design has accepted the leadership role at Smithsonian's National Design Museum effective in March 2010.

Bill Moggridge has been at the forefront of the most signficant changes that marked the evolution the design profession in the last 50 years. And so, if seems fitting that he is now tasked with shaping the institution that will chronicle the past and hopefully chart the future of design for the coming generation.

Washington Post Article

Design Road Show: Project H Emily Pillion Goes on Tour

I was really impressed with Ms. Pilloton's defense of Product Design during her presentation at the ISCID conference this past fall. And, now she is embarking on a national road tour promoting practical design solutions that impact the lives of people. She will be visiting high schools and colleges through out the country, and persuading a generation of students to consider being a Designer.

Itinerary for Design Revolution

Design History: Norma Sklarek

The first African American female registered architect in the United States, Norma Sklarek, is a testament to the commitment necessary for success in a creative field.

Biography and Videos

A Design Opportunity: A Snow Shovel

Life is wonderful for pointing out opportunity for improvements, personal and practical ones.

So the recent snow fall that blanketed the DC area with 16+ inches of the white fluffy stuff identified for me a need for a powered shovel of some sort, for property owners with small paths or those faced with infrequent snowfalls. Currently, most offerings require major financial investment as well as, space for storage that is more burdensome than the snow fall itself.

A quick assessment identified only two products that fit the bill. Each not having short comings which is evidence that the comment to address the issue was limited. This is an opportunity I will ponder and seeing if I can find a fitting solution before Dyson (the vacuum guy) gets his hands on it.

The End of ID Magazine

In 2009 the print media world shifted to the point that more than a few newspapers and notable magazines decided to call in quits. ID magazine's end speaks to more than the challenge of producing printed media in the digital era, but also the changing landscape of design and mismanagement.

Has the profession lost a voice? I think not. I can't say that it served my interest in design for more than a decade. But none the less it was a magazine that provide a visual reference that Product designers did exist.

Historically, tough economic times mean cuts in design related expenditures. I would suspect this will continue to be true this time through?

ID Magazine History

Reflections from a Insider

NYTimes Article

Auto Design: 2010 Camaro

The 2010 Camaro is beautiful. The portions and lines on the new Camaro are amazing, as they capture the power and dynamism of the heritage of America's unique view of the automobile as muscle car (aka: hot rod).

It is rare that an American car company gets the portions right. To often the pressures and influences of safety, cost etc. undermine the overall shape of the final product. But in this case the designer, Sangyup Lee, was able to delivery a wonderful looking final product.


NYTimes Article: New Camaro

Happy New Year- What a Year Past

Wow! 2009 was a full year so much so that my blogging suffered. The past year will be remember as the year consumed with the purchase and renovation of a home. But now,I am ready to continue my explorations and share my design discoveries again.

So let me start on this first day of the new year with a thought about American auto design.

The Best Interior Design Blogs

London Times List

Electric Bike: GRACE

I really like the proportions of this new flexible battery powered bike coming out of Germany.



GRACE Website

A Medical Equipment Breakthrough

Here is more proof that design that does not make use of a digital component is likely an inadequate solution.

This update on the primary tool of every physician the stethoscope adds value for both the doctor and the patient in the amount of information at minimum cost.