Art-Brand Lifestyles

By William Hanley, Published: May 23, 2007

NEW YORK—On a boutique-lined stretch of Elizabeth Street in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood, one shop sets itself apart by offering more than tastefully hip clothing. While most storefronts in the area showcase downtown trends by small designers, this spring Groupe 16sur20 greets visitors with the hard angles of a glossy, black, 1983 Aston Martin Lagonda. Not only is the car for sale but its sharp-edged geometry, flashy exterior, and protruding hood lends an air of 1980s decadence to the men’s shirts, jackets, and other clothing on display farther inside.

Linking a flashy car to hip clothing is nothing new. What is notable at Groupe 16sur20 is something you’ll discover as you venture deeper in the store: several eye-catching works by painter Peter Saul hang on the walls. Like the car, the paintings—examples of Saul’s signature comic-book style that presages a current generation of Pop-Surrealist artists—also come to bear on the garments for sale. If you buy these clothes, the suggestion goes, you can wear them to a gallery opening or, even better, an art-fair afterparty, the sort with a parking lot full of shiny Aston Martins."

Read more...

86th Art Directors Club Annual Awards

"Join us for The Big Cube: May 31, 2007.
The polished, heavyweight ADC Cube is an enduring symbol of creative leadership and innovation. Winners take their place in the industry’s revered archive of the best work ever produced in advertising, graphic design, photography, illustration and interactive media.

The ADC Annual Awards has kept pace with the changing nature of visual communications since its inception in 1920.The Hybrid category transcends traditional uses of media, and Playground was created to give great unproduced advertising work a chance at daylight. Strenuously and scrupulously judged, the not-for-profit ADC Annual Awards is one of the most venerable shows in the world."
Event Info

Creative Thrift Shop

Lynn and Diego del Sol work from a space in the Williamsburg neighborhood of New York City, seeking out emerging artists and serving up a rotating menu of art to a culturally ravenous audience. But they also take the show on the road, curating more than 20 roaming exhibitions a year. And exposure isn't limited to museums, either—Creative Thrift Shop artists can be found at art fairs, benefits and lectures around the world, anywhere the work can find new audiences. To answer your next question, yes, they're always looking for more artists to add to their stable.

Take a look...

Posted by Triesta Hall

Keeping the Beat

In our warp-speed culture, one can’t help but smile at the idea of major recording artists and megacorporations like Pixar and Nike turning to an aging, southern letterpress print shop for posters and packaging to drive sales. But as Jim Sherraden, manager, curator and chief designer at 128-year old Hatch Show Print notes, “The computer is the best thing that’s happened to Hatch.”

With the continual assault of advertising and media, we have all become desensitized to hyperrealistic animation ... Read more

Posted by Triesta Hall

CoolGlobes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet

From June-September 2007, the City of Chicago will host “CoolGlobes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet,” an innovative project that uses the medium of public art to inspire individuals and organizations to take action against global warming.

The exhibit will feature over 100 sculpted globes, each five feet in diameter, displayed along Chicago’s lakefront from The Field Museum north to Navy Pier. Artists from around the world, including Jim Dine, Yair Engel, Tom Van Sant and Juame Plensa, designed the globes, using a variety of materials to transform their plain white sphere to create awareness and provoke discussion about potential solutions to global warming.

http://www.coolglobes.com/

Posted by Triesta Hall

Goal Setting Tools: Define Your Goals, Accomplish More

"People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine" - Brian Tracy, Motivational Coach and Author

In a world full of deadlines and time constraints setting aside time for goal setting can be a challenge. Remember that time spent carefully choosing your goals and success measures will save time in the long run by accelerating your overall strategy.

The 5 basic steps in goal setting are as follows:

1. Identify your goals.
   Put your goals in writing. Choose goals which are meaningful, measurable, and those that you can impact.
2. Identify specific achievements or steps and obstacles for each goal.
   Write down achievements, actions and obstacles associated with each goal along with a step-by-step action plan for accomplishing goals and overcoming obstacles.
3. Make the goal measurable.
   Identify the key performance indicators you will use to track the progress of your goal.
4. Assign responsibility for each goal.
   Assign each goal to a specific department or specific staff members who will then take ownership of the goal and be responsible for its success.
5. Create a tracking system to monitor the success of each goal.
   Have a system in place for tracking each goal before you take action. Include measures, dates and the name of the person or group who is responsible for each goal.

Balanced Goals Worksheet

Use our goal setting worksheet to track the progress of both your professional and personal goals. Start tracking your goals >>

My Strategic Plan

The Word It Book

Each month the design blog Speak Up posts a word, and the community submits hundreds of 5 x 5-in. graphic interpretations of the word, from simple photos to ornate illustrations.

All of the Word Its—as they are called—are posted on Speak Up’s site, and the best of them have now been swept into a book edited by the founders of Speak Up.

The Word It Book: Speak Up Presents a Gallery of Interpreted Words functions not only as a compendium of quick, witty designs, it offers multiple doses of creative inspiration. The book includes a series of exercises so you can play along as well.

Posted by Triesta Hall

Mingering Mike

The legend of soi-disant soul singer Mingering Mike is well known to serious vinyl collectors and folk art fans everywhere. It goes like this: One rainy morning at a flea market, Dori Hadar came upon a collection of beautiful, hand-drawn album art—all for the same mysterious artist. Intrigued, he bought the whole crate, but not only were the albums fake, this Mingering Mike wasn’t even a real singer—instead, he was the imaginary star inside one man’s talented brain. This remarkable body of work—hundreds of pieces—is collected in Hadar’s new book, Mingering Mike: The Amazing Career of an Imaginary Soul Superstar.

http://www.mingeringmike.com/

Posted by Triesta Hall

Stephen Shore: Biographical Landscape

Drawing largely from his groundbreaking series Uncommon Places, and the Aperture Foundation's expanded reissue of the 1982 book of the same name, Biographical Landscape presents 164 color prints from one of America's seminal photographers.

International Center of Photography
1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, New York, NY

Aperture, a not-for-profit organization devoted to photography and the visual arts, has organized this traveling exhibition and produced the accompanying publications.
"Aperture—the premier not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to advancing fine photography—was founded in 1952 by six profoundly gifted individuals possessed of lofty ideals and high ambition: photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White; historian Beaumont Newhall; and writer/curator Nancy Newhall. With scant resources, these prescient artists created a new periodical, Aperture magazine, to serve the medium, and photography users and fine art lovers worldwide.

For more than fifty years, Aperture magazine has been unrivalled in its excellence and critical acclaim. And, as photography and the medium grew, so too did the Aperture Foundation, expanding to include the subsequent publication of books, limited edition prints and portfolios, traveling exhibitions, and an educational program that includes lectures and panel discussions with artists, curators, and other key players in the field of photography."

Design Helps H.P. Profit More on PCs

By DAMON DARLIN
Published: May 17, 2007
Hewlett-Packard’s effort to transform its personal computers into more stylish devices has started to pay off.
Read more.

"Crawford Del Prete, an analyst at the technology market consulting firm IDC, compared what is going on in the personal computer industry with what happened at Swatch watches. One needs only a single watch, but watchmakers discovered that consumers would buy different watches for different functions and even moods. “PCs are headed down the same path,” he said. “Notebook PCs become a reflection of people.”
...

Dell, which was largely responsible for making the PC a commodity, has begun paying more attention to styling. Alex Gruzen, a former Hewlett-Packard executive who heads Dell’s PC operations, said: “It has always been about value, not about who has it cheapest. Now, in the marketplace what is valued is great design.”

Defining commoditization,
Posted by: Anton Philidor Posted on: 07/19/04
This Commentary looks at a surprising number of definitions of when a product is commoditized. Why not stick with a standard definition? (Standards are good when they advance rather than restrict.)
A commoditized product is one for which substitution is easy and does not substantially lessen performance. Read more...

Saatchi & Saatchi: dream job in Australia

Take a look at the portfolio of Renato Pacicco Lotfi, a brazilian Graphic Designer, working for Saatchi & Saatchi in Sydney, Australia.

Learn more about Saatchi & Saatchi

"We have 153 offices in 83 countries. Which means there are nearly 7,000 people sharing and living our Inspirational Dream around the world.
Since our inception in 1970, our Network has always been at the forefront of winning awards. In the last five years alone, we’ve won over 3,500."

"We define our Purpose like this because Kevin Roberts, our Worldwide CEO, co-wrote a book with colleagues from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, called ‘Peak Performance’. The book shows how Peak Performing Organizations run their businesses this way.

Peak Performance

It’s our belief that Peak Performance calls for love and passion. Peak Performers love what they do. Love doing what they do better. And better than anyone else. They live in the now. They think in the next. Peak Performers dream it. Then they do it. Then they aim higher. We practise Peak Performance at Saatchi & Saatchi. We use its detailed methodology to guide individuals to their personal goals.

Lovemarks

Lovemarks form a key pillar in what we believe. Lovemarks are super-developed brands that inspire loyalty beyond reason. The relationship Lovemarks have with the people who buy them is not built on function, but on emotion....and function."

Cool business card designs

"You want a new business card, don't you? Of course. This is the most important element of your visual identity. It's the first thing people see when they meet you.

Here is a collection of cool business cards to inspire you. Most of them are from the Business Cards flickr pool, some of them from Ads of the World." Submitted by Ivan, Creative Bits.

Posted by Dennis Butts

Ads of the World

Ivan Raszl is a hungarian advertising creative director currently living in Bahrain. Ivan Raszl founded Ads of the World, an advertising library and community site.

"Some people collect stamps. I collect ads. Ads that are above average. Ads that strike conversation. Ads that push the boundaries of the industry. And, I make them public for the creative professional and the general public. I hope the site will be useful for creatives who want to see what their colleagues are doing around the world. I hope the ads featured on this site will inspire you, the creative, to do better work."

Julio Lima: Inspiration

From creative director Julio Lima, Say It Loud!, the Guest Speaker at the portfolio review, yesterday night, at Full Sail’s Entertainment Business Center.

Links:

Arnell Group

LAOS Lurzers Archive

Kessels Kramer

The National Science Foundation (NSF). Blue Pencil Awards honor outstanding writing and print materials while Gold Screen Awards are given to recognize excellence in Web, audio, video and other multimedia.

Ellen Lupton: Design Writing Research

"Curator, graphic designer and author Ellen Lupton is director of the M.F.A. in the graphic design program at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore. She is also curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City,..." Read more

Interview, Lawrie Hunter, “Critical Form as Everyday Practice, An Interview with Ellen Lupton.” Published in Information Design Journal 14, 2 (2006): 130-137.

Select Flavor: Flavorpill and Budweiser Select

"Select Flavor is a creative collaboration between Flavorpill and Budweiser Select, providing a platform for chosen artists from all parts of the globe to show their work. Following on from the first round of entries — which saw Brazillian art director Adhemas Batista voted top designer by Flavorpill readers — we're now inviting submissions for the second round of this ongoing series.

The brief is simple: render the Budweiser Select brand through an original artwork or design. The customized artwork is then presented across all 11 Flavorpill publications.

Submitted artworks are archived here, so keep checking back in to discover the next wave of emerging artists. And let us know which ones you love the most."

Red Bull's “Art of the Can” competition

Plenty of designers use Red Bull to keep their creative juices flowing well into the morning hours. But what about doing something creative with those empty cans? The Red Bull “Art of the Can” competition dares artists everywhere to transform those iconic aluminum containers into gallery-worthy works. Entries are judged by three criteria: Creative Concept, Conceptual Execution and the all-important Construction.

This year’s U.S. exhibitions will be held in Philadelphia and Chicago in the fall, with deadlines falling in mid- to late June—better start chugging today.
http://www.redbullartofthecanusa.com/

Posted by Triesta Hall

ihaveanidea presented Portfolio Night 5

May 4, 2007: One night, more than thirty cities and the best creatives of the land, all together reviewing portfolios and helping the next generation become the best generation.

Where? Every major city in the world.
Auckland, Barcelona, Berlin, Chicago, Hong Kong, London
Melbourne, Mexico, Miami, Montreal, New York, Paris
San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver
More information? Visit ihaveanidea or Portfolio Night 5

Get ready for 2008!

The Urban Forest Project

Last fall, 85 banners by artists, designers and illustrators from around the world sprouted from the concrete jungle of Times Square. The Urban Forest Project, sponsored by AIGA NY and the Times Square Alliance, was a way to bring the spirit of sustainability to the heart of New York City. Fast forward six months, and those banners have been recycled into sleek new tote bags currently for sale. Pick up a two-of-a-kind creation (only two bags will be made from each banner) or browse the banners to find your favorite message—you can also purchase T-shirts printed with the banner design of your choice.

Urban Forest Project

Posted by Triesta Hall

Jack Spade

Worldstudio AIGA Scholarship

Times Square Alliance

AIGA New York


Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. One of the most formidable definitions has been given by the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who defined sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainability relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. Learn more...

“Please Scratch” Campaign: Guerilla Marketing

“Please Scratch” Campaign

Guerilla Marketing Definition: Unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.
Information:Coined by Jay Conrad Levinson, guerilla marketing is more about matching wits than matching budgets. Guerilla marketing can be as different from traditional marketing as guerilla warfare is from traditional warfare. Rather than marching their marketing dollars forth like infantry divisions, guerilla marketers snipe away with their marketing resources for maximum impact. Read more...

Guerilla Marketing Online - The Official Site

Do you have a press kit?
If your attempts at gaining publicity meet with success, the first item you'll need for interested editors is a press kit. A press kit can contain:

* a backgrounder, or brief history of your company, its products, its markets, and its management,

* one or more press releases explaining your current news announcement,

* photos of your products or key management personnel,

* reprints of other articles about your company,

* your company brochure,

* a competitive analysis of your company versus its competition,

* a press guide, or key questions and answers about your company, and

* your business card.

Along with printed versions of these, prepare electronic versions for editors who contact you via e-mail. Don't go off half-cocked in the battle for publicity. Prepare a press kit before you begin seeking publicity, and you'll be prepared when opportunity strikes.

Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business (book)
by Jay Conrad Levinson

Julio Lima: Say It Loud!

Creator's Comments: “Heavily-awarded advertising industry creative director Julio Lima recently left the firm he helped found seven years ago. He needed a powerful online presence to propel his new agency, Say It Loud!, into the spotlight.

“Working with illustrator Siege, of siegeINK (who shares space with Say It Loud!), we developed a visual language that references Lima’s mission as a creative activist in the world of advertising. A sidewalk protest and stenciled logo are every bit as real as Julio and his team’s approach to advertising. We developed a multidimensional navigation that is not only atypical and unexpected, like Say It Loud!’s work, but allows the user to access the information in a format that blends physical interaction and theatrical transitions.

“With the art direction of Klaus Heesch, sketches went far beyond the planning stage of this project, and thanks to neither agency being afraid of pushing the creative limits, final execution of the site had as much spray paint and cut paper as digital video and ActionScript. Flash was the clear choice with flexibility on the development side and universal saturation on the user end to make the project feasible—and successful.”

—Randy J. Hunt

Juicy Temples Creative, project design and development/design firm

Communication Arts

SPOT + Portfolio Review + Guest Speaker: Julio Lima

Polish up and be spotted.
A panel of Orlando's top creatives will be available for one-on-one
portfolio reviews with students and professional alike. Professionally
presented portfolios are required and laptop portfolios are welcome. Please contact sarah@luredesigninc.com by May 5th.

AIGA Orlando

Portfolio Panel
Jeff Matz, Lure Design
Paul Mastriani, Lure Design
Thomas Scott, Disney Design Group
Tom Macaluso, Anson-Stoner
Klaus Heesch, Juicy Temples
Steve Carsella, Knight
Will Gay, Yellow Shoes

Guest Speaker
Julio Lima - Say It Loud
Fearless experimentalist loco

Schedule
May 10th
6-7pm Portfolio Review
7:00-7:30pm SPOT exhibit / voting
7:30pm Guest Speaker_Julio Lima

Pricing
Professional + Student Members $5
Non-Members $10
Portfolio Reviews $15 (does not include admission)

Directions:

Full Sail’s Entertainment Business Center is located off University Blvd at Driggs Drive (traffic light at McDonald’s and Ale House). Come to first stop sign and the Entertainment Business Center is the curved glass building on the left.

New Project: Portfolio

Frederik Tennholt is a graphic designer from Stockholm, Sweden. Take a look at his portfolio.

"I make illustrations, graphic design and webdesign for those who needs something special! I handle Photoshop fully and I can retouch your images, whatever your wishes are. I work with pencils and brushes as well as I am using my WACOM tablet."