Graphic Designer: Paul Rand

An American graphic designer Paul Rand.

Documentary: Architecture, art and design - 100 years of the Bauhaus

 How has the Bauhaus school of architecture and design, Germany’s best-known art school, shaped the world we live in today?

Design in Africa - An African-American Builds a School of Design In Ghana

Renee Neblet, founder of the Kokrobite Institute is also an artist and designer.

By creatively using discarded materials new products are created, this laboratory of sustainable innovation is inspiring.

 

Designer Video: Recycles Denim For Fashion

Design Management Institute Talks with Designers

DMI has made available talks from there series of webcast with notable designers.

DMI Web Talks with Designers

A Graphic Designer is:

The role of designers with Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, Seymour Chwast, Steven Heller in their own words.

Interior Design: How to Design Rooms and a Demonstration

How to Design a Great Flag

Mississippi has past legislation to remove the confederate reference from its state flag. The results will be interesting I am sure, hoping that something much better emerges.

Good Flag Bad Flag, How to Design a Great Flag

Kayne West Continues to Reshape Design

Most know the rapper turn mogul from his work with Nike and then Adidas with his brand Yeezy. This week the Gap announced a ten year billion dollar deal with the Yeezy brand.

Article: First Look at Kayne's Website


Nick Knight on designing Kanye West’s YZY SPLY

Architectural Advancement - Thinnest Skyscaper

Architectural advancements continue to shape New York's skyline. The world's narrowest super skyscraper is scheduled to receive occupants this year.

Unfortunately, it is a symbol of the equity in society which is more significant than it's height.

Graphic Designer - Milton Glaser

The only graphic designer to receive the National Medal of Freedom died on Friday at 91 years of age. The designer best known for the I Love NY poster to encourage tourism.

NYTimes Article: Glaser's Final Interview

Architectural History: The Crystal Palace - Video

A defining structure build to house the exhibition of 1851 showcase the United Kindgom manufacturing prowess.

Creatives Respond to Historic Events

A local area theatre closed for in person plays and performance found an innovative way to make use of playwrtiers and actors to recreate the experiences of 10 local residents taken from one-on-one interviews into monologues performed by actors and filmed to share via digital media platfoms.




Another example of art speaking to the times, is Dave Chappelle took to his platform to share a raw reflection of the events surrounding the murder of George Floyd at the hand of those that are charged with protecting and serving us.

A Successful Protest Graphic

One of the most successful graphic was utilized by the City of Washington DC to communicate powerfully to the White House, the need for representation as a state, claiming a space on the door step of the White House for peaceful protest and acknowledging the issue of police brutality.



Article: Charolette Follows DC with BLM Street Graphic




Graphic by artist Eric Yonkers

Fashion Brands Response to Social Unrest Causes Some to Reflect

The street  protest engulfing cities through America, has brought attention to the desire creating aspect (marketing) of major luxury brands that propels many to target and loot their stores.

The major brands who have borrowed heavily and profited from marketing cultural coolness of the marginalized communities that are the targets of police brutality and systemic racism.



Article: What Luxury Brands Can Learn...

Virgil Abloh one of the most recognize designer of the last ten years was caught flat footed with a tone deaf response as described by many on social media for not fully acknowledging reasons for the civil unrest.

I ask myself is this the cost of working within the belly of the beast?

Article: Virgil Responses to Criticism



Article: Fashion's Racism is Out of Style

Face Mask Designs will Improve as a result of Covid-19

From homemade to big brands everyone recognizes the opportunity to offer solutions to protect people from airborne containments.

The best solutions are conscious of style and function this category will eventually be dominated by the large athletic wear corporations like Adidas and Nike but until then there are lots of ideas being offered by  homegrown creatives.

Article: Things to Know About Mask in the Time of Covid-19

Article: How Face went from Necessity to...

Article: Reeboks Fitness Mask

Design Thinking for Africa's future I Bosun Tijani

The creator of one of Africa earliest technology innovation spaces to seed and assist societal and economic development on the continent by leveraging the tools of the 21st century spoke of the tremendous opportunity for doing things differently and with more equitable outcomes through design.

Co-Creation Hub Website

100 Great Designs of Modern Times 2020 - Fortune Magazine and Institute of Design

Article: The greatest designs of modern times 2020

Article: 100 Best Designs 1959

Redesign of Fast Company Magazine

What does a successful redesign of a magazine look like?

Article: Fast Company Magazine Redesign

Designs for Africa - Are They Really Designed for Africans?

The Yomma's solar refrigerator is not a bad idea, but the unit does not appear designed for the African users of conditions. My guess is that the standard products have been brought together to address the lack of current refrigation options. I get it, but the opportunity is to truly consider the needs of population.

To this end mobility not to mention the aesthetics do not account for any form of decoration to communicate the the users.

Article: Solar Refrigerator

Article: Who Gets Investment Moneys?

What is Design Thinking?

The video describes the process of Design Thinking focusing of five steps:

1) Empathize/Research
2) Define the Problem
3) Ideate/ Explore Solutions
4) Prototype/ Create Models
5) Test with Users

Design Indaba 2020

Once again I had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by the power of design being used to change the world.

Information Design in Communicating Covid-19 Impact on the Economy

The power of a single graphic to communicate the impact of events was demonstrated in a recent NY Times front page which depicted the number of workers who filed unemployment claims in the past week.

The scale of the families who will dealing with making ends meet for the months ahead and the weakness of our economy is immediately understood.

The Impact of the Covid-19 on the American Psyche

The need to shelter in place, the official response and directive to the worldwide pandemic has raised for many new issues and revealed limitations of the spaces they call home.

Article: Homes Need to be Practical Now

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The Gutenberg Printing Press

The first overtures towards printing that began around roughly 800 AD, in China, where early printing techniques involving chiseling an entire page of text into a wood block backwards, applying ink, and printing pages by pressing them against the block. Around 971 AD, printers in Zhejiang, China, produced a print of a vast Buddhist canon called the Tripitaka with these carved woodblocks, using 130,000 blocks (one for each page).

In 1436 Johaness Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, began designing a machine capable of producing pages of text at an incredible speed. By 1440 Gutenberg had established the basics of his printing press including the use of a mobile, reusable set of type. In 1454 Gutenberg put his press to commercial use. The following year he printed his famous 42-line Bible.

Furniture: No. 14 Broke with Tradition

New production techniques and new distribution channels led to the rethinking of the chair resulting in Thornet No. 14. A revolution in its simplicity: number of parts and unadorned appearance.

Article: The Sleek Curves That Reshape Furniture Design

History: How the U.S. Government Influence 20th Century Design

THE OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES was the first centralized foreign intelligence agency in the United States, the O.S.S. (or the Coordinator of Information, as it was originally called) was established “to collect, analyze, and correlate information and data bearing on national security.

Article: U.S. Government Influence on 20th-Century Design

The 14 most important design ideas of the decade...

Some the ideas list in the link below are not surprising but others are revealing.

Article: The 14 Important Design Ideas for the Decade

Googles Design System: Material Design

Google responded to the need to better present solutions for portable device's interfaces. The move from the desktop and laptops to mobile device led to what Google calls material design. The philosophy and way of organizing and designing user interface experiences.

Braun, What the Future Holds

Design at Braun carries on the legacy of Deiter Rams. Oliver Grabes, Design Director at Braun, shares his thoughts about the future of design.

Auto Design: The Radical Shape to Telsa's Cyber Truck

Telsa's strategy to enter the mature segment of pick up dominated by the likes of the Ford F-150 for decades required a bold but practical statement, in this case commitment to break way from the form which has define pick ups since the beginning.

Future: The Fourth Industrial Revolutiion

The 21st is upon us, but its potential has yet to been fully understood or planned for by our institutions broadly.

The opportunity is to seize the moment now, before events forces reactions that are
short sighted and ineffectual.

The 4th Industrial Revolutions (by Christoph Roser at AllAboutLean.com)

Fashion: The Hoodie

The power of a singular garment like the hoodie is held in the perceptions of the beholder.

Article: The Politics of Streetwear

Article:How the Hoodie became one of our last truly political garments

A collection of the best design books in 2019

These titles prepare you for a successful career as a designer by teaching you business, branding, marketing, and design fundamentals. 

Article:A collection of the best design books in 2019

The First African Tech Company to be Sold on Wall St. - Jumia, Online Retailer

The opportunity to provide design solutions for business and quality of life concerns across the continent of Africa is enormous, but how to execute will be the question many will be seeking to answer over the next decade.

Are Iron's loosing Relevance?

The once required tools for homemakers and families for decades, seems to be declining among the millennials.


Article: There is a Wrinkle for Iron Makers

What Does Apple's New Credit Card Mean for The Financial Industry?

If history is an indication of how Apple's new credit card will impact the industry, then it will be shifting in ways beneficial to the user's experience.

Why should we have to find an ATM and pull out cash just to pay our share of last night’s dinner? Your camera is an app, your music is an app, your news is an app. Why shouldn’t your wallet be an app, too




Review: Apple Credit Card

Apple Designer: Wyatt Mitchell Shocks with His Fashion Choice

Wyatt Mitchell was an Art Director at the New Yorker, now he is at Apple, Inc.

Article: Interview with Wyatt Mitchell

History: Oscar for Costume Design Goes to Ruth E Carter

Article: Ruth Carter Wins Oscar

Drones will Changes Cities

Article: Drones Potentially Disruptive

Article: Japan is Betting on Flying Cars

DC Black Creatives Gather for Lunch 2019

Deign Competition: Finding a Housing Solution for Odd Sized Vacant Lots

The results of this design competition will provide some great ideas, not only for NYC, but other larger urban cities struggling to provide affordable housing.



Article: NYC Competition for Odds Lots and Affordable Housing

Product Design: A Counter Top Dishwasher

A cleaver new product, fit for small spaces, a dishwasher which saves water usage using an interesting technology called Ohmic Array Technology.

Using graphite electrodes and electronic controls, we increase the energy state of the water molecules, so they move faster. The faster they move, the more kinetic energy they have. This causes the molecules to begin to bounce off each other; that kinetic energy turns into heat. Through direct energy transfer, your water is heated instantly, within (+/-) 1 degree Fahrenheit of the temperature setpoint.

Heatworks - Reinventing the way the world heats water

Design in 2020 Campaigns Signs

Kamala Harris’s campaign design as strong–last week the former California attorney general unveiled a logo based on Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign, connecting Harris to Chisholm’s history as the first black woman to run for president.
Article: Political Branding

Digital Africa

The potential for creating solutions is tremendous and is taking root in Africa. The video shows multiple examples of the innovative spirit flow across the continent.

Video: How Digital Technologies are Connecting Africa to the 21 Century

Design Exchange: Design as a Cultural Experience

Invision has launched Design Exchange, which takes groups of professional designers on week-long, design-focused tours of cities all over the world. 

To qualify, you have to be a senior designer with six to eight years in the field. Read more and apply here.

Design Exchange

Tips on Kick Starting a Design Career

I wonder how these tips apply to a mid-career move into Design careers. Some at definitely applicable...

Article: 5 Tips on Starting Your Career

Tribute: Charles (Chuck) Harrison 1931-2018

To a mentor and friend, I say so long and thank you for your generosity of time, wisdom and passion for design you shared so free with so many. I will hold on to the memories of your humor, gentle spoken but strong opinions and unfailing availability to mentor others who shared your interest in design.

NYTimes Article: Designer Who Reshaped the View-Master

IDSA Article: Charles Harrison

“I came from a family that taught me to see beyond circumstance, find value and create usefulness out of need. The legacy I inherited required that I make myself useful ' as a son, man, husband, father and artist. If I were to share one thought with the design community of today and tomorrow it would be to remember that your purpose ' your gift to the world ' is to provide straightforward solutions to real problems for living, breathing human beings."

Fashion: Sneaker Culture

The influence of athletic wear on the fashion industry is now undeniable
and the explosion of footwear is producing revenues for Nike and Adidas that are surpassing the large luxury brands of Europe.

Article: How Sneaker Culture Conquered the World

Article: From Converse to Kanye-The Rise of Sneaker Culture

Frank Gehry: The Architect

The most innovative architect of second half of the 20th century, Frank Gehry, story is told in the documentary below.

Day in the Life: Graphic Designer