Brand New: Best & Worst of 2008

The team over at Brand New has compiled a list of the Best & Worst re-brand efforts of 2008. You can see the selection and even comment on your favorite here.

I observed 1,035 identities today.

Tanner Woodford–a design student at Arizona State University–cataloged all the identities he observed in one day. He writes about it here.

Tanner recently took it one step further and turned the information gathered into a clock design for a class project.

AIGA Orlando Presents Re:Solutions 2009

Join AIGA Orlando for it's annual day conference on January 24th, 2009. Re:solve to discover new solutions to the new year at Re:Solutions 2009 - where the discussions will be diverse and stimulating and the re:sults will be up to you. Its a day of discourse to challenge you to re:think your approach to creative problem solving, Changing the way you look at things-your job, your work, your clients, your business.

Read more about the event here.

Campana Brothers

Fernando and Humberto Campana have shaped the look of contemporary design for more than two decades. Celebrated for their whimsical furniture and lighting, the Campana Brothers have received the 2008 Designer of the Year at Design Miami/.

Welcome to Art Basel Miami Beach

Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 4 - 7, 2008.

Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 39 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels.

Student Ideas - Brandon Herring

I was raised in Asheville, North Carolina and just recently moved to Orlando, Florida to study Digital Art and Design at Full Sail University.

I've always gravitated toward traditional medias, and it wasn't until about 3 or 4 years ago that I was introduced to Photoshop and the world of digital art.

Since then I've enjoyed experimenting in many medias. Often I'll paint a canvas for a background, take a picture of that, scan an old sketch from the sketch book, and composite it all digitally. There really are no limits to what or how something can be achieved.

Still, nothing beats slinging some paint around, or sketching with good old pencil and paper. So, I try to incorporate the best of all worlds in my work.

If you see something you like, or something you don't, send me an email at Brandon.Was.Herring@gmail.com and let me know what you think.

I enjoy hearing the good and the bad, so don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Thanks for looking!

- Brandon Herring

Heinz: the interactive ketchup growing experiment

This is the behind the scenes blog for the ongoing interactive ketchup growing experiment Talk to the plant by Heinz. Here you'll find the latest information about the live broadcast, behind the scenes footage of the plants and tech development issues. Welcome.

1. Yes, this is a live broadcast experiment. There are real plants in a lab room.

2. The plants are situated in Sweden. Therefore, the time zone is UTC/GMT +1 hour. The plants usually sleep around 6-8 hours. And when they sleep, it’s dark.
3. Everything you write is sent to the plant. Everything the plant hear from you is broadcasted live on the site.

Blind n: a multimedia design studio

Never comfortable resting on their laurels, the Blind team has done it again with accolades from the 2008 Create Awards!
Blind n

Winners of the 2008 Create Awards!

Design Contest : 1800 Tequila

One winner will have his/her work featured on a prominent billboard in the arts district of the major city from where they reside. In addition to this, win the $10,000 cash prize to help further your career. Five runners up will receive complimentary printing of their artwork/design onto a 1800 Tequila glass bottle. Must be over age 21 to enter the site and to compete in the contest.

Chances of winning are based on the number of submissions received in a three month period beginning on September 14, 2008 (so, consider the deadline as about 14 December). Visit the site to learn more.

Poster exhibition: Conversations and Dialogues in Graphic Design

New Views 2: Graphic Design Poster Exhibition
100 international graphic design practitioners including students, emerging and established designers are featured in this exhibition of print and digital posters, in which the future of the profession of graphic design is questioned.

The featured work address a variety of key issues such as design and the environment, social responsibility, new technologies and education.

Divided into two components, physical and digital, the range of techniques featured in the exhibition include using photographs, found object constructions, illustrations, collage, and typographic forms.

Holographic Video Projection System

CNN displays computer controlled video overlay system of human figure.

XSTAGE is a high definition video projection system allowing spectacular 3D moving images to appear in a live stage setting using Pepper's Ghost Technology. XSTAGE delivers stunning video effect imagery of such clarity and high resolution.

Here are some applications.

Tokyo Design Week 2008

Design Week, Tokyo Midtown in Akasaka. This marks the 4th year that DESIGNTIDE TOKYO is being held．This year, Tokyo Midtown Hall will be used as the main venue for the event. DESIGNTIDE TOKYO is a trade show where designers across a variety of fields – from interior and product design, architecture, graphic design, textiles, fashion and art - can congregate and exhibit work from serious design practices that make up the unique mix in Tokyo.

DESIGNTIDE TOKYO preview

Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria

Ted Turner, founder and chairman of the United Nations Foundation, unveiled the world's first Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria program which outlines a bevy of best practices that will serve as "common framework to guide the emerging practice of sustainable tourism and to help businesses, consumers, governments, non-governmental organizations and education institutions to ensure that tourism helps, rather than harms, local communities and the environment."

The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria stems from the work of 30 international organizations, including National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations, and together, this group aims to address the four major areas of interest for sustainable tourism: effective planning; maximizing social and economic benefits to local communities; and the reduction of negative impacts to both cultural and environmental heritage sites. Enumerating key points like water conservation and energy efficiency, fair labor standards, and local sourcing of food items, the criteria will serve as a tool to instruct businesses, tour operators, NGOs, and, of course, travelers on how best to find and support sustainable practices.

For Erika Harms, the executive director of Sustainable Development at the United Nations Foundation, the creation of the guidelines was a natural process that stemmed from one question: What exactly is sustainable tourism? Reached by phone from Barcelona, she explained to me that up until now, everyone you asked that question might have a different answer. And many groups were working to respond to public demands for more responsible tourism by creating their own sustainable credentials.

"We looked at anywhere from 75 to 130 certifications around the world, some of which were regional – but none were global in nature," Harms says. She explains that the launch of these international guidelines are the first step in the process. In a few years, they hope to have a recognizable accreditation process (think of a Good Housekeeping seal) that the public will be able to easily identify. "This is all done under the U.N. umbrella – which gives it that global focus – and this is critical to us," she says. "Through the U.N. we access the governments, and through governments we access the people, and that's how we'll make it happen."

The American Package Museum

The American Package Museum collects an enormous collection of vintage packaging of the American Ian House.
Curator Ian House describes the Museum: The primary objective of this website is to preserve and display specimens of American package design from the early decades of the 20th Century. The secondary objective is to establish a community for those interested in such an endeavor. It is my hope that this website will eventually develop into a significant archive of corporate heritage and branding.

Photography - How to Make a Light Tent

The following tutorial on constructing an Inexpensive Light Tent was Submitted by Jeffrey Bail

Laser Die Cut

This package was done by LaserExcel for Starbucks

Lasercraft

Laser cutting offers you:
- Clean, detailed cutting in most non-metallic materials.
- An ability to cut anything you can draw!
- Low set-up charges with no minimum runs.
- Fast turnaround.
- Wide range of materials.

Typical materials and applications:
Plywood – from 0.8 to 12mm thick. Bookmarks, jigsaws, clocks and clock figures.
MDF – from 2 to 15mm thick. Toys, puzzles and craft items.
Cardboard – up to triple wall board. Bespoke packaging.
Fabrics – natural and man-made fibres.
Acrylic – up to 12mm thick (with polished edges).
Paper – up to any weight and finish.
Polypropylene – up to 2mm thick.

Two companies that sell the equipment are:
LaserSharp® Digital Converting technology advances the die cutting process by eliminating the need to produce tooling to die cut a part.

The Preco FlexPro® CNC laser cutting system provides the speed of galvanometer processing with all the versatility of an XY motion system.

January 27 & 28, 2009
Sheraton Sand Key Resort
Clearwater Beach, FL

Practical, Applicable Package Design For Sustainability

This Workshop provides insights into the basic building blocks of responsible, "sustainable" package design for the environment.

• Instruction on all package materials, structures, and processes
• Direction on how to launch sustainable package design projects
• Direct access to resources necessary for a basic understanding of a "systems thinking" approach

Poster design - James Widener

Poster designed by James Widener in support of Barack Obama.
Here is the link where to get them http://snuffhouse.bigcartel.com/

VOTE!

AIGA invited designers from across the United States to create nonpartisan posters that inspire the American public to participate in the electoral process and vote for a presidential candidate in the 2008 general elections. 24 posters were chosen to be professionally printed and distributed throughout the United States. These posters have been hung in the windows of storefronts, restaurants, dormitories, laundromats and elsewhere around the country. You too can participate in getting out the vote by joining AIGA Orlando on October 23rd to see these posters on exhibit and take some home to distribute around our city to spread the message. Our local Obama and McCain campaign groups will also be on hand to hand out literature.

For more information about the AIGA Orlando event.

Student Ideas - Erick Zelaya

My name is Erick Zelaya, I am a 19 year old student currently enrolled at Full Sail University. I have taken many years of traditional art classes but I have recently been jumping into digital art paintings since I entered Full Sail. I'm relatively new to using Photoshop but all my traditional training seems to carry over to the digital field.

http://erickzelaya.deviantart.com/

http://www.conceptart.org/

http://massiveblack.com/

But is it evolution?

Reading This Will Change Your Brain
A leading neuroscientist says processing digital information can rewire your circuits. But is it evolution?
By Jeneen Interlandi | NEWSWEEK Published Oct 14, 2008

"The findings, to be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, suggest that Internet use enhances the brain's capacity to be stimulated, and that Internet reading activates more brain regions than printed words. The research adds to previous studies that have shown that the tech-savvy among us possess greater working memory (meaning they can store and retrieve more bits of information in the short term), are more adept at perceptual learning (that is, adjusting their perception of the world in response to changing information), and have better motor skills."

Movie Posters - Ernst Lubitsch

Poster Gallery
"The Lubitsch Touch" has become the key phrase used to describe the unique style and cinematic trademarks of director Ernst Lubitsch. But what exactly is "The Lubitsch Touch?"

According to Scott Marks, film professor at Columbia College in Chicago, "The Lubitsch Touch" was a phrase concocted by studio PR men eager to turn a great director, Ernst Lubitsch, into a brand name. As Marks points out, "the label adhered, and to this day, critics still bandy it about, ever hoping to unlock the mysteries of its meaning."

Here are just a few of the "definitions" provided by film historians and critics attempting to shed some light on the meaning of the fabled "Touch"

Student Ideas - Scott Wade

My name is Scott Wade from the small town Port Carbond Pennsylvania. I’ve been interested in art since I can remember and started taking my art seriously about 4 years ago. Mostly traditional work until recently when I arrived at Full Sail. Recently my new passion is digital art through Photoshop and Photography.
I’m inspired by everything I see, everywhere I go. If you look you can find inspiration all around you. Never stop creating, and never stop growing as an artist!

www.fuelyourcreativity.com

www.designflavr.com

www.designfeedr.com

Issuu is like Scribd's hotter cousin

Posted by Josh Lowensohn

One of my favorite document sharing services is Scribd. However, there's another document sharing service that has been around since early 2006, and boy if it doesn't have some good things going for it. It's called Issuu (pronounced "issue") and it's all about documents. In this case, it's only the ones in PDF format. Users can put together compilations of content and share them as they would photos or videos on other hosting services. Read more...

Hoefler & Frere-Jones - Type Foundry

Since 1989, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones have helped some of the world's foremost publications, corporations, and institutions develop their unique voice through typography. Their body of work includes some of the world's most famous designs, typefaces marked by both high performance and high style.

In 2004, The Hoefler Type Foundry entered its sixteenth year as Hoefler & Frere-Jones. H&FJ continues to work with brand leaders in every sector, developing original typefaces and licensing fonts from its library of nearly 1,000 designs, and it publishes fonts exclusively through its New York sales office and its web site at typography.com.

Comicstrip Art Gallery

Click! on the artist name to see the scan.Many scans are from reduced photocopies or pieced together scans so a lot of the subtle nature of the art work is lost and edges may be cropped.

Jessica Hische - Illustrator

02.25.08

Jessica Hische

Staff: Me, my computer and about a dozen, half-filled sketchbooks.

Education: BFA in graphic design, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia.

Cultural Influences: Popsicle-stick jokes, terribly wonderful action movies, hearty meals, trashy celebrity news, my friends, Victorian and other vintage type, paper, books on tape.

Environment: I work from my loft apartment, which is constantly under construction, at a desk covered with half-filled cups of coffee, candy wrappers and random knick-knacks. I’m surrounded by technology, life ephemera and thoughtfully gifted art that is mostly taped and tacked to the walls.

Philosophy: “I ain’t got time to bleed” —Jesse Ventura, Predator

“Cover for a quick tips book about integrating a cat into your life. The interior was also designed and illustrated by me.” Alethea Morrison, creative director; Storey Books, client

Parochial High Schools. “One of several illustrations for the ‘Best Private High Schools’ showing one of the first things people associate with private schools (particularly parochial): uniforms.” Grace Saunders, art director; Cincinnati magazine, client

“Hand-lettering for an article about water-related summer activities in Boston.” Emily Reid Kehe, art director; Boston Globe Magazine, client

“Endpapers for a tutoring service’s promotional brochure. The brochure was designed and illustrated by me at Louise Fili Ltd. All type is hand-lettered.” Louise Fili, art director; Bespoke Education, client

All Girls Private Schools. “One of several illustrations for an article titled ‘Best Private High Schools’ explaining the varieties of private schools and which work for each kind of student.” Grace Saunders, art director; Cincinnati magazine, client

Eight Maids-a-Milking. “One of twelve cards (each representing a different day of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’) sent as a self-promo. Printed offset in a limited run of 250.”

“For the cover of Broker Dealer Journal about small companies quickly becoming large and successful. All type is hand-lettered.” Helen Steiman, art director; Qualified Media, client

“An editorial illustration for Wired magazine’s ‘Posts’ section about a high-end dog hotel offering spa treatments and individual suites.” Christy Sheppard, art director

Aaron Koblin - Artist|Designer|Researcher

Aaron Koblin is an Artist|Designer|Researcher focused on creating and visualizing human systems. Currently working out of San Francisco, California, Aaron creates software and architectures to transform social and infrastructural data into artwork. Koblin's work has been shown internationally and is part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Aaron Koblin played a significant role in the creation of this summer's widely viewed interactive Radiohead music video "House of Cards." Koblin was the Director of Technology on the project. You can interact with the video and even see the technology behind the work.

Student Ideas - Allen Sutton

My name is Allen Sutton, I enjoy doodling in my free time. I'm attending fullsail as a means to somehow make a living out of doodling. I draw quite a bit of inspiration from old cartoons, Looney Tunes etc. Underground comic art has also been a source of inspiration as well as the greats throughout history such as Van Gogh, Miro, Dali, Kandinsky among many others.

Package Design - The Criterion Collection

One company that really highlights good design is Criterion. Their huge collection of international films is typically packaged in boxes that are visually compelling and quite unique.

Here are some great picks for Criterion's 10 best designs. Also, take a look at the Criterion website for more gems like these. Yum. Anyone who appreciates good design will find plenty to enjoy on both sites. Posted by David Bellm on September 3, 2008

The Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. Criterion began with a mission to pull the treasures of world cinema out of the film vaults and put them in the hands of collectors. All of the films published under the Criterion banner represent cinema at its finest.

Hello Digital / 08

Hello Digital - Being held at Millennium Point, England, between Oct 23rd-26th, Hello Digital is completely free to attend and will be an extravaganza of robotics, illuminations, animations, digital film, music and games. Exclusive showcases, talks, seminars and the Hello World Conference will also feature top names from the global digital community.

Out of the Blue — $500,000 — No Strings

They include a neurobiologist, a saxophonist, a critical care physician, an urban farmer, an optical physicist, a sculptor, a geriatrician, a historian of medicine, and an inventor of musical instruments. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future. Each received a phone call from the MacArthur Foundation with news of $500,000 in no-strings-attached support over the next five years.

Welcome to DaniDraws.com!

This site is mainly a blog where various articles and tutorials dealing with art and illustration are posted regularly.

Tutorials - My main goal for this site is to help other artists. Most of these tutorials deal with Photoshop, but I also deal with other topics in both digital and traditional illustration.

Videos - I occasionally record my painting process and post the videos here. See my paintings being done from start to finish. Most of these will also have a “Video Notes” post to go along with them to help explain what I am doing.

Articles - I will also post various tips and tricks that don’t necessarily deal with painting, but are still important to every illustrator.

FreeRice

Free rice began on October 7, 2007 and since then has donated 42,090,276,230 grains of rice. Test your skills by being quizzed in categories of art, chemistry, English, language learning, geography and math. For every correct answer you get, they will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

FreeRice is a sister site of Poverty.com. Our partners are the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the United Nations World Food Program.

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your education can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

installation 'T.Light'

20 years after they first rehabilitated the Morgan's Hotel in New York, Andrée Putman agency has been commissioned once again. In addition to refurbishing the hotel, an art application is now envisaged in the lobby. The agency has chosen Trafik to conceive this art application.
The proposal : A dazzling ceiling composed of 4,000 lights allowing the guests to set designs and change the mood of the lobby.

Illustration - BordersMedia

Watch Stephen King's "N." on BodersMedia. Check back each weekday for a new episode of this graphic adaptation of a short story from King's forthcoming collection Just After Sunset.

“The 39 Clues” - Book and web-based game

Author of Book Series Sends Kids on a Web Treasure Hunt
By MOTOKO RICH
Scholastic is releasing “The 39 Clues,” a new series by Rick Riordan that is tied to a Web-based game and collectors’ cards.

“The 39 Clues” is planned as a 10-book mystery series for 8-to-12 year olds, with a different historical figure making a central appearance in each one. Scholastic is publishing it on an aggressive timetable, with plans to release one book every two to three months. In addition to writing the first book, Mr. Riordan has outlined the next nine novels, which will be written by other authors.

The story, devised in part by Scholastic’s editors, follows the exploits of Amy and Dan Cahill, two orphans, 14 and 11, who are competing against other branches of the sprawling Cahill family (a clan that has had “a greater impact on human civilization than any other family in history”) to discover the first of 39 clues. Those clues are the keys to a secret that, when revealed, will lead to ultimate power.

Scholastic has deployed its considerable marketing fire power behind the new series, which is tied to a Web-based game (www.the39clues.com) and collectors’ cards. The publisher, which thrived on the enormous success of the Harry Potter novels, is now facing the reality that many children are now as engrossed in the Internet and video games as they are in books. Read more...

La Biennale di Venezia

Venice International Film Festival
65th Venice Film Festival - 27th August to 6th September, 2008
11 days of glitz and glamour, a high-profile media event among the most important in Italy and around the world, set on the Lido di Venezia. The international focus consists of, and gives equal emphasis to, the press, experts in the field, international “opinionmakers” and commentators, and the general public.

International Art Exhibition
53rd International Art Exhibition. The event will run June 7th to November 22nd, 2009.
In 2007, the event attracted almost 320,000 visitors in the Giardini and Arsenale venues, and 34,000 professionals in four vernissage days. A world-wide cultural event that attracts a varied international public throughout a 150-day exhibition period.

International Architecture Exhibition
11th International Architecture Exhibition. The exhibition is from September 14th to November 23rd, 2008
The only specialized exposition of its kind in the world, developed in the same spaces (Giardini and Arsenale) as the International Art Exhibition; in 10 editions it has become a point of reference for designers, architects, professionals and trend setters from the world of art, fashion and communication.

International Festivals of Dance, Music and Theatre
6th International Festival of Contemporary Dance - Beauty. From June 14th to 29th, 2008
Commonly bound by an elevated level of research and experimentation, the three festivals have taken their place on the international scene, looking to a young and curious audience, in tune with the most innovative and experimental cultural changes. The Dance and Music Festivals are co-produced by the Teatro La Fenice.


History of the Venice Biennale

1895 - 2008

The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Established in 1895, the Biennale has an attendance today of over 300,000 visitors at the Art Exhibition.

The history of the Venice Biennale dates back from 1895, when the first International Art Exhibition was organized. In the 1930s new festivals were born: Music, Cinema, and Theatre (the Venice Film Festival in 1932 was the first film festival ever organized). In 1980 the first Intl. Architecture Exhibition took place, and in 1999 Dance made its debut at the Venice Biennale.
Read more...

Christoph Niemann's illustrations

Christoph Niemann's illustrations have appeared on the covers of The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine and American Illustration. His work has won numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Art Directors Club and American Illustration. He is the author of two children's books, "The Police Cloud" and the forthcoming "The Pet Dragon," which teaches Chinese characters to young readers. After 11 years in New York, he moved to Berlin with his wife, Lisa, and their sons, Arthur, Gustav and Fritz. His Web site is christophniemann.com.

Arquitecture is a language

The phrases 'contemporary architects' and 'contemporary architecture' have obvious meanings but like 'modern architects' and 'modern architecture' the terminology is open to interpretation - shades of meaning.

Modern Architects
Modern Architecture became linked to a certain genre of building and thus over time wasn't really 'modern' anymore. Contemporary Architecture currently has less baggage, it is not affected by fall-out from the reign of a certain style.
Modern Architecture - the 'International Style' - was associated with some great architects and some powerful countries and companies. It became the equivalent of the Classical Style in the Georgian period, ie the establishment architecture, the status quo. Some key Modern Architects include Le Corbusier, Mies Van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Since the seventies architecture styles have become more fractured and we have - amongst what could be termed contemporary architects - post-modernists, neo-modernists, deconstructivists, contextualists, expressionists and so on.
‘Contemporary Architects' suggests a position that is anti-vernacular, comfortable with new materials and non-local materials & forms, using architectural language that is not generally steeped in past typographies or traditions.

Famous World Architects - Contemporary

Santiago Calatrava
David Chipperfield
Terry Farrell
Foster & Partners
Future Systems
Frank Gehry
Zaha Hadid
Michael Hopkins
Steven Holl
Toyo Ito
Henning Larsen
Daniel Libeskind
MVRDV
John McAslan
Rick Mather
Richard Meier
Enric Miralles
Rafael Moneo
Jean Nouvel
Cesar Pelli
Renzo Piano
Richard Rogers
Moshe Safdie
Alvaro Siza
Snohetta
Bernard Tschumi
Ruy Ohtake
Oscar Niemeyer

What is Subvertising?

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Adbusters is a not-for-profit, reader-supported, 120,000-circulation magazine concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces. Our work has been embraced by organizations like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, has been featured in hundreds of alternative and mainstream newspapers, magazines, and television and radio shows around the world.

Adbusters offers incisive philosophical articles as well as activist commentary from around the world addressing issues ranging from genetically modified foods to media concentration. In addition, our annual social marketing campaigns like Buy Nothing Day and TV Turnoff Week have made us an important activist networking group. Read more...

Subvertising

The word subvertising is a portmanteau of the words subvert and advertising. Thus, the primary goal of subvertisements, more commonly referred to as subverts, is often to sabotage political candidates and campaigns, corporations, and other targets.

Art History Timelines - a pet project of Scott Zagar

To generate a timeline with image gallery, select as many categories as you want and click the "Generate Timelines" button below, or simply click on a category name. You can also get to the images by using the search engine and artist browse features to the right. This database contains 1640 images of 1303 works by 266 artists.

About Scott Zagar
Since 1997 I have worked as a software developer, graphic artist, web and sound designer and project manager. I have developed vertical portals, e-commerce solutions, search engine interfaces, database applications and large-scale web publishing systems. Read more...

the bird machine - screen print posters

the bird machine, inc., is a screen print poster workshop, owned and run by jay ryan, which is located very close to chicago.

jay learned to screenprint beginning in 1995, working under steve walters at screwball press. jay printed posters for his own band (dianogah), his friends' bands, and the clubs they played at. slowly, work from other clubs and other bands came in.

in 1999, jay started the bird machine print shop in the basement of his apartment building, and soon hired mat daly to help with the printing responsibilities. mat worked with jay until the end of 2007. Read more...

Coudal Partners, Films About Hand-Made Posters
The Beginning and End Are Up To You, is a mini-documentary about John Solimine who created the limited-edition poster for Field Tested Books 2008. For our first summer reading feature we asked Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine to design and hand-screen a limited run of posters. We visited Jay and Mat Daly at the Bird Machine Shop and we can tell you that the whole thing is refreshingly analog and deliciously slow.

Design Matters - RememberTibet

RememberTibet.org is an initiative started by Jonathan Barnbrook and Pedro Inoue designed to engage people during (and after) the Beijing Olympics Games through art and design to help raise awarness of China's policies towards Tibet. I asked Barnbrook to explain his goals:

What is your long term plan?
Our long term plan is, in some small way, to add to the weight of opinion that will change the situation. It's important, though, to not see this as only a design project even though we are asking for creative pieces; it is these pieces that can be used as tools but without getting hung up on whether they are legitimate design or not.

Do you think this will make a difference?
We will never know. Things aren't as simple as someone putting up a poster and the world will change. But I do believe that things change because of people forcing an issue onto the agenda.

What is the inspiration for the animated sequences (shown below)?
The animation is the first part of the project. It is there to publicise the web site and encourage people to contribute their own work.The main point of doing this animation is to remind people very simply and clearly about this situation in a balanced way. That is why it is just two people [in the narration] discussing the situation; there is no heroic ranting and we are trying to tackle the grey areas that Chinese government constantly tries to bring to this argument. By Steven Heller

WHAT IS SAYSME TV?

SaysMeTV is a website that gives individuals the opportunity to use TV to make an enormous difference in their politics, in their local community... and beyond.

The business plan works like this: Saysme.tv offers a service over the Internet that streamlines the submission process for homemade television advertising and offers cheap slices of cable-TV time — perhaps as little as $6 for a 25-second spot, assuming you are O.K. with appearing on CNN Headline News sometime next week in parts of Charlotte, N.C., in the wee hours.

Like Politics? Broadcast Your View for Only $6

By NOAM COHEN

Published: August 18, 2008

Saysme.tv didn’t invent the loudmouth, but, as the company’s logo indicates, it sure hopes to sell him a megaphone.

Student Ideas - James Widener

james widener // snuffhouse is print, illustration, type and web design. I have been doing mixed media since i started a video editing and a few art class's in middle school and haven't stopped since. Now i attend Full Sail university in Orlando Florida for a degree in digital media that originally i had the intention to just do web design but after a few refresher class's in photoshop and illustrator class's and meeting some of my favorite illustrators in the industry, i found something i really love to do in typography and print. Although sometimes vector illustrations can be a trendy look and there are so many artists out there that similar styles emerge and that caught me at times with that trendy look, but i try and stray from that with by including my writing in my illustrations and much more meaning to bring something fresh and new to the table. Web was always something that intrigued me and something i am still growing into every day and love learning and designing. Typography, print and illustration on the other hand i truly love because it gives me the ability to voice my feelings or get a point across in a graphical manner and truly convey a more powerful message. It's been a crazy journey for me with a tun of ups and downs and without the help from some really talented people and friends i wouldn't be here today please check out some of my inspiration and talented friends. There is so much that is going on the next few months so please bookmark my blog and stay posted.
links

http://www.5280lasers.com

http://www.twhitedesign.com

http://www.fatpunkstudio.com

http://www.jam-factory.com

http://yumfactory.com

http://web.mac.com/palehorsedesign/Pale_Horse/Home.html

Just try to guess which font is the hero!

What if fonts were people and they all got together to decide who could join the club? College Humor

Lemon Magazine

LEMON is “Pop Culture With A Twist”: a new breed of magazine that stakes its claim at the intersection of 60s-70s Pop and 21st century hyper-culture. Designed and produced with obsessive attention to every last detail, each issue of LEMON is pure Pop Art.

Love Lyrics Competition

Closing Date: 03 October 2008

Books are a great source of inspiration for song lyrics.

The Arctic Monkeys have done it, so have Radiohead and Nirvana. They've all written song lyrics inspired by a book - and now you can have a go.

Write some song lyrics inspired by one of the ten following books and you could see your winning words performed live by electro poet outfit Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip!

Follow these three easy steps to enter:

Step one: Take a look and choose a book
Step two: Feel the rhythm and get the rhyme
Step three: Submit your lyrics

3x3 Magazine - contemporary illustration

Introducing 3x3, the first magazine devoted entirely to the art of contemporary illustration. Three times a year we take an in-depth look at art and environment of three illustrators. We explore their influences. How they work with clients. How they got their first big break. Each article is written by a fellow illustrator who knows exactly what our audience wants to hear. From the U.S. to Europe, Asia, or wherever, we’ll stay tuned to what’s going on the world of illustration.We’ll feature four or more new talents in every issue, they might be right out of school or are just now beginning to make a name for themselves or illustrators we find that have a truly unique take on the art of illustration. Read more...

Illustration - Leanne Shapton

Leanne Shapton is an artist, art director, illustrator, designer and publisher based in New York City. She is the co-founder, with photographer Jason Fulford, of J&L Books, an internationally-distributed imprint specializing in art and photography books. Leanne grew up in Toronto and attended McGill Univesity and Pratt Institute. After working at Harper's magazine and for illustator James McMullan, she began her career at the National Post where, by the age of 25, she was overseeing and art-directing the daily Avenue page, an award-winning double-page feature covering news and cultural trends. She went on to become art director of Saturday Night, the newspaper’s weekly news magazine. read more...

Illustration - Comic Books

The name alone should tell you that Top Cow Productions is unique in the comic book publishing world. What sets Top Cow apart from the rest of the herd is its fierce commitment to quality entertainment, and an unmatched drive to deliver this entertainment to fans on a consistent basis. This may just sound like "common sense" to some, but those who know the business of comic publishing understand what this truly means.

Illustrators:
Kenneth Rocafort
steve firchow
JS Campbell
Jim Shooter Interview: Part 1
Aaron Lopresti
Marc Silvestri

Comic Publisher Soleil

French comic publisher Soleil is home to some of Europe's most popular comics. And now, in collaboration with Marvel, many of these acclaimed titles will be available in English for the first time!
Some of Soleil’s most popular releases, such as Sky Doll, Universal War One, Samurai and Le Fleau Des Dieux, make their English language debuts beginning this May. The first release will be Sky Doll #1 (of 3), a timely socio-political thriller in which a young android must decide her destiny by challenging the very government—and faith—that has controlled her life.

Franktown Rocks

Franktown Rocks is a safe and fun online world where your kids can play and learn. It's brought to you by Brainwave Studios, a high-tech children's entertainment company based in Nashville, TN. Brainwave Studios was founded and is run by parents like you, who care about what their young kids are doing online. Which is why we've made Franktown Rocks a safe, friendly, and educational place for kids to play. It's not only safe enough for our own kids, it was designed for them!

http://www.franktownrocks.com

Illustration - Blu

Blu is an Italian Artist Specializing in Murals and Urban Design.
blublu.org

The artist BLU from Bologna is known for his very large, often surreal and aggressive but always strong pictures in the public space. His very playful and comic-style pieces often carry an ethnic, political or moral statement, yet without being patronising. Next to his works in the public space, he draws a lot and uses the pictures in animation films. In Wuppertal, his central theme was the daily information overkill in the public space. He worked with so-called 'for free' magazines which are forced on us at every street corner. They hardly ever contain any interesting or relevant content, but instead are completely packed with adverts. For the project, BLU produced and distributed 6.000 of those "for free" magazines himself. BLU chose this format and published his pictures anonymously and without any commentary, explanation or further information. At the same time he designed various walls in the city and with that created a reference to the drawings and his extensive pieces in the public space.

What's the idea behind your project?

6.000 books of drawings placed everywhere around central streets, train stations, bus stops, traffic lights and any other place where people usually walk. A gift for all the people who were going to work or school the day after. It is a kind of "street art take-away" exhibition; if you like the piece, you can take it home. The magazines were completely anonymous and I think most of the people will never know that I did it. read more...

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records has always been in the forefront of Jazz music. But what you might not know is their cover designs are just as influential (in the design community) if not more than the music they house.

Here's a nice archive of Blue Note album covers.

Illustration: Marshall Arisman

Marshall Arisman’s paintings and drawings have been widely exhibited both internationally and nationally, and his work may be seen in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, and the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in many private and corporate collections. Chairman of the M.F.A. degree program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Arisman was the first American invited to exhibit in mainland China, and he is the subject of Tony Silver’s full-length documentary Facing the Audience, The Arts of Marshall Arisman.
Arisman has written and illustrated a new children’s book The Cat Who Invented Bebop (Publishing date Spring 2008). His previous children’s book The Wolf Who Loved Music was published in 2004. He is the co-author of three books with Steven Heller including The Education of An Illustrator, Inside the Business of Illustration, and Teaching Illustration (Allworth Press). They are currently working on a fourth book entitled "The Future of Illustration".

NIGHT WATCHMAN HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO TALK SHOP WITH THE LEGEND THAT IS MARSHALL ARISMAN. (sep 2005)

NW: Yeah. It also helps because there is never much information available about illustrators, as far as interviews and things like that, unless you can find something in an illustration or design trade magazine. It’s a shame. There seems to be a real stigma against illustrators, as far as whether or not they are "real" artists. And yet you have been able to straddle the worlds of illustration and fine arts. Do you see a difference between the two?

MA: Not in outcome, meaning that a bad painting on a printed page is equally bad on a gallery wall. I think the illusion for most people who don’t know what illustration is, is that they think it is highly directed by an art director who tells you what to do. And my experience in illustration has not been that at all. Art directors, in essence, call me for what I do. So I see publishing as they are trying to use me, and I am trying to use them. I’m trying to take what I do and get it into print, and it doesn’t seem to me that the printed page itself is a bastardization of the art process. But that dilemma is an old fight, and it’s not over. It’s just a misinformed perception of something; particularly the fine art world, in terms of what that is and how it operates. The art direction I get is primarily emotional. They send me an article, it’s about cancer, and basically say to me, "We don’t know how you illustrate this." (laughs) "Our hope is that there would be some feeling in this." And that’s the kind of art direction I get. No one has ever asked me to put a suit on anybody or put anybody behind a desk or anything. read more...

Dialogues - Museum of the Moving Image

Pinewood Dialogues Online is an archive with downloadable audio and transcripts of conversations, including Robert Altman; Wong Kar-wai; Jennifer Jason Leigh (pictured); Daniel Day Lewis and more.

Museum of the Moving Image, in Astoria, NY, advances the public understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving, and providing access to moving-image related artifacts; screening significant films and other moving-image works; presenting exhibitions of artifacts, artworks, and interactive experiences; and offering educational and interpretive programs to students, teachers, and the general public.

It's all art - Paul Rand

First Paul Rand Virtual Documentary Video Festival

(The film is by Imaginary Forces for Rand's induction into the One Club Hall of Fame)

Paul Rand (born Peretz Rosenbaum, August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996) was a well-known American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs. Rand was educated at the Pratt Institute (1929-1932), the Parsons School of Design (1932-1933), and the Art Students League (1933-1934). He was one of the originators of the Swiss Style of graphic design. From 1956 to 1969, and beginning again in 1974, Rand taught design at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Rand was inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1972. He designed many posters and corporate identities, including the logos for IBM, UPS and ABC.

How to Say No to Spec Work

January 23, 2008
by Jack Neff, HOW Design

No matter how good the economic forecast is, clients always look for a bargain. The best deal in creative services, unfortunately, is asking people to work on spec. And it's not just freelance designers or small firms that get suckered into the spec nightmare; big, publicly held ad agencies create whole campaigns in hopes of landing major accounts.

So how do you sell your services without giving away the farm? "The Art of Self Promotion" newsletter (www.artofselfpromotion.com), published by frequent HOW Design Conference speaker Ilise Benun, offers the following tips on how to avoid slipping into the spec trap when you first speak with a prospective client:

1. Listen more than you speak. This will help you restrain your enthusiasm (or desperation). Plus, you'll get more information, which you'll need for the project.

2. Offer a paid brainstorming meeting instead of a free interview or portfolio review. Explain to the client that she'll benefit much more from a brainstorming session than a mere portfolio presentation. Then, even if you decide not to work together, the client will have some good ideas and you'll be compensated for your time and idea-generation.

3. Don't go against your gut feeling. If red flags are waving in your face, indicating a difficult client, don't pursue that client, even if you're hungry. You'll be the one paying in the end.

Foundries: Comicraft

Comicraft was founded by Richard Starkings and John Roshell in 1992, and together they are credited with pioneering digital lettering in the comic book industry. Today, Comicraft’s lettering methods and processes are now the widely accepted industry standard. The Comicraft studio’s clients include DARK HORSE COMICS, DC COMICS, MARVEL COMICS, IMAGE COMICS, MAD MAGAZINE, NICKELODEON, GRAPHITTI DESIGNS, VIEW ASKEW, SCHOLASTIC, TODD McFARLANE PRODUCTIONS and NBC, and their lettering and design work over the last fifteen years has earned them over a dozen comic book industry awards including the much coveted Eisner. The Comicraft foundry’s fonts have been featured in millions of comic books and magazines throughout the world, and have been featured in high profile movies including TOY STORY 2 and SKY HIGH as well as many children’s books, toy products, dvd and game packaging which have sought out Comicraft fonts to create an authentic comic book look.

‘Thoughts on Democracy’

Today, the Wolfsonian museum of art and design at Florida International University opens Thoughts on Democracy, an exhibition of posters contributed by 60 artists and designers, including Paula Scher and Kit Hinrichs. Each participant was asked to design a visual response to the classic Four Freedoms poster series created by Norman Rockwell in 1943. Each of the four original posters represents an essential American freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Read more...

Alyssa Monk - representational narrative genre

Alyssa Monk portrays a specific place and time with simultaneous empathy and detachment. Monks is part of the Continuing Education Faculty at the New York Academy of Art, where she teaches Flesh Painting and Working from photographic reference. Also, she currently is an instructor at the Montclair State University. She earned her BA from Boston College and an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School of Figurative Art.

Berlim - Design Hotels / Future Forum 2008

In its fifth year running, the Future Forum will once again connect leading talent in the design, art and architecture communities with great minds from the hospitality industry.

This year’s Future Forum is once again curated by Gestalten in collaboration with Design Hotels and will explore the relationship between the human being and design. This expansive topic will be discussed within the context of design developments that have and will continue to affect the hospitality industry including: ‘design as art’, ‘conscious design’, ‘food design’, and ‘form follows values’. The topics will be presented by internationally renowned speakers such as trend analyst Christopher Sanderson from The Future Laboratory, designers Stephen Burks, Jason Miller, Friends With You and Jerszy Seymour, food designer Marije Vogelzang as well as Design Hotels CEO Claus Sendlinger, the Director of the German Design Council Andrej Kupetz and design journalist Shonquis Moreno.

Take a look at the Future Forum website for more detailed information about the various lectures and to register for the symposium in Berlin from October 15 – 17, 2008.

Michael Thompson - Photography

Michael Thompson was born and raised in Washington state, where he was first introduced to photography at his father's small portrait studio.
He spent his summers working with his father, then, after graduating from high school, he earned a degree from the Brooks Institute of Photography.
After completing his schooling, Michael Thompson moved to New York City and began assisting the legendary photographer, Irving Penn.
Michael Thompson has since photographed models and celebrities for countless prestigious fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Dutch, GQ, Mademoiselle, British Elle, Jane, Town & Country, British Esquire, The New York Times Magazine and The London Sunday Times Magazine.
Advertising clients are equally in demand for Michael Thompson's time.
He has shot campaigns for Emporio Armani, Celine, Coco Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, Jones New York, Ellen Tracy and Emanuel Ungaro and beauty and still-life print ads for cosmetic powerhouses such as Clinique, Prescriptives, L'Oreal, Aveda, Revlon, Almay, Chanel, Neutrogena and Oil of Olay.
In addition, he has directed TV commercials for Ellen Beatrix and L'Oreal.
Currently, Michael Thompson lives in New York with his wife Kelly and their two children.

Social Cause - Why it matters?

Liga da Kriação A full-service design studio working in corporate communications, package, and branding with a social program to help non-profit organizations. São Paulo, Brazil

Design can change is a smash/LAB initiative to help other studios to become sustainable. Vancouver, Canada.

Down With Helvetica: Design Your Own Font

In the era of immediate hyper-personalization, you could.not.possibly write with the same fonts as everyone else. Really, now that a documentary has been made about Helvetica, what kind of indie cred can it have left? Luckily, you can design your own fonts, with new programs like those at FontForge, some of which are free. Not selfish enough for you? For $200 or less, you can have a professional at Chank Fonts, High-Logic or FontLab make your Twitter even more you-centric.

“Down With Helvetica: Design Your Own Font,” by Peter Wayner

Seragini Brand Design

Lincoln Seragini is the Jedi Master of Brazilian design. He's known throughout Latin America as a mastermind for the integration of marketing, engineering and design.

That's no small task. But Seragini has proven up to the challenge over his 40-year career. He has parlayed his training as a chemical engineer with experience in packaging development and marketing for such premiere companies as Colgate-Palmolive, Nestlé, Johnson & Johnson and Young & Rubicam into a vibrant management style that taps into the strengths of all three disciplines.

"I develop the business strategy, manage the creation of ideas and sell them to the Company," Seragini says. Seragini likes to refer to his own company, Seragini / Farné, as the IDEO of Brazil. He explains: "We're multi-disciplined and we develop products based on consumer experience and observation – like IDEO."

The word "provoke" comes up often in a conversation with Seragini. "I've always been innovative in provoking everybody," he says. "This is my personality. When you analyze innovation, you will conclude that it's design, not the technology."

Read more...

The One Club

The One Club exists to champion and promote excellence in advertising and design in all its forms. It is the world's foremost non-profit organization devoted to elevating creative work in the industry.

The One Club exists to educate and inspire students of the business, and benefit the next generation through scholarships, portfolio reviews and annual student exhibitions and competitions.

BECOME A MEMBER

Student Ideas - Nicholas Boyd

Who am I? Well I'm a graphic artist pursuing my passion of art. I also have a passion for helping others in need and I try to bring awareness through my art. There is so much beauty in this world even amongst the helpless but most people refuse to take the time to see it in their day to day activities. I hope that the people who see my art will begin to see the world in all its beauty as I do.

link to my page:
http://www.loafninja.deviantart.com/

Ask MOGO Podcast

Ask MOGO the all request video podcast where professionals answer your questions.

If you are a MOGO Member you can post questions and one of their experts will answer your question and play it for the world. Check out the podcasts, post comments or sumbit your question to be answered.

Not yet a member? Sign up and get your FREE membership today.

For example:

• Fit Frame to Text in InDesign

  by David Blatner

  Rating: 5 out of 5 (2 votes)

  Posted: Jun 13, 2008

  David explores how the Fit Frame to Content Feature works on text frames in InDesign

• Applying a Stroke to a Placed Image in Illustrator

  by Ted LoCascio

  Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (2 votes)

  Posted: May 27, 2008

  Ted explains how to apply strokes to placed images in Illustrator, and how it differs from performing the same task in InDesign

ICON5, The Illustration Conference

ICON5 will be held in New York City at the historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. This year's theme, The Big Picture, is more than a slogan, it is the perspective through which we see our future – a future of limitless possibilities for illustrators as thinkers, story tellers and providers of creative content. The conference promises to examine and discuss the current creative and economic forces that our industry faces today.

ICON continues to gather the industry's best and brightest talent to present and talk about their work, their business, their lives, and their passion for illustration. Our conferences have also grown to include inspiring, informative and topical pre-conference tours and workshops. ICON5 is going a step further with ambitious attendance goals, increased global involvement and more pre-conference events to make the ICON5 experience a must-do for 2008.

July 2-5 2008

Illustration - Imaginism Studios

Imaginism Studios is made up of independent artists specializing in design and illustration. Take a look...

Contest - Ink of the Week

Each week we award a $100 voucher to the CustomInk customer whose photo shows the most group spirit. Help pick this week's competition winner by clicking and rating your favorite photos. Customers submit your photo to enter the contest.

The CustomInk story began in 1999 when three former college classmates got the bug to start a business about a year after graduating. Co-founder and President Marc Katz was hard at work in a Wall Street job that he says "didn’t have a lot of heart" and was itching to do something entrepreneurial and meaningful. Meanwhile, Marc’s former roommate Mike Driscoll (acting on his mom’s suggestion!) had spent the previous summer building the very first version of CustomInk.com, which let people upload graphics onto t-shirts and buy them… at least in theory. Read more...

Photography - ASMP’s Copyright Application Tutorial

Your original images are your legacy. Like many a photographer, you probably expect to retire on the royalties from the photographs you have made over the years. Early planning, especially with proper copyright protection, can facilitate this. Although every original photograph you create is automatically copyrighted the instant the shutter is clicked, you don’t get much legal protection unless you follow through on a few things. Read more...

Jim Goldstein is an independent photographer specializing in landscape, travel, environments, nature and event photography for advertising and editorial use.

A member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Jim produces the highest quality photography for both commercial clients and fine art photography collectors. Jim's photography has been featured in the Washington Post, Sierra Club, Future Snowboarding magazine, Surfmag.com, SFGate.com, and a variety of other publications

KT Meaney: Greening the Grocery Store

In 1988, the Society of the Plastics Industry developed a resin identification code — a numbering system from 1 to 7 — categorizing different types of plastic. The code is centered in a triangle made of arrows chasing each other. This mark is commonly misidentified as the recycling symbol. Though the system was instituted to “facilitate the recycling of post-consumer plastics,” the chasing arrows graphic is meaningless. Plastic imprinted with the arrow symbol doesn’t indicate that the material is made from recycled content nor that the plastic can be recycled, misleading many.
Read more...

solar seven - James Thew images

I am a creative artist who specializes in digital media and photography. I have a background in web development and graphic design. I currently have a library of over 1000 images available as Royalty Free through creative libraries such as Istockphoto and Stockxpert.

I supply my images to all major royalty free stock photography sites including:- Istock, Stockxpert, Shutterstock, Fotolia, Dreamstime, and Crestock.

All my images at these sites are royalty free and can be used for various projects from Advertising to presentations. All images are available with extended licenses and come in a variety of sizes from small to extra large. Illustrations can also normally be downloaded in vector format.

More ...

Hillman Curtis films - Lawrence Weiner

We recently teamed up with Debbie Millman (Design Matters) to film Lawrence Weiner, a central figure of conceptual art, in his Greenwich Village Studio. I hope you enjoy it.

View Film (4 min, 47 sec)

Book Covers Design

Covers is dedicated to the appreciation of book cover design. We update several times a week. Save for the occasional guest editor, this blog is updated and maintained by Fwis, a design firm based out of Brooklyn, NY and Portland, OR.

Let us know if you have a cover that merits posting. If possible, be sure and credit the designer. Also, please be sure and include a link to the cover, or email us an attachment.

A tribute to the artist Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg, Titan of American Art, Is Dead at 82
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN

Published: May 14, 2008

The irrepressibly prolific artist, who time and again reshaped art in the 20th century, died Monday night.

Video