Reboot your packaging!

Shelf Impact! is delighted to announce that in addition to publishing a twice-monthly electronic newsletter, we're putting on a series of one-day package design workshops in 2008.

No time or budget for a three-day package design conference extravaganza? No problem! Come to our hands-on, one-day session and come away with lots of ideas to re-energize your packaging.

Learn about retail trends, consumer preferences, and strategies to help you create packages that deliver bottom-line results! The workshop is held in several cities across the U.S. Find one near you!

Building Your InDesign Expertise

1. Subscribe to InDesignMag.com for tips, and techniques from industry experts.

2. Keep up-to-date on the latest InDesign news at InDesignSecrets.com, an independent website with expert podcasts, blogs, techniques, and more.

3. Sign up for a free InDesign tip of the week at http://uttc.umn.edu/training/resources/indesign/

4. Check out the Total Training for Adobe InDesign CS3 at www.totaltraining.com

5. Atend a free Creative Suite 3 eSeminar and learn how to get the most out of InDesign CS3 at www.adobe.com/

6. Skip over to Lynda.com to try their essential InDesign training

7. Drop by Design Center for in-depth InDesign tips and techniques from the experts at www.adobe.com/designcenter/

8. Visit your local or online bookstore to find InDesign books by industry experts, such as David Blatner, Sandee Cohen, Galen Gruman, Deke MZcClelland, Olav Martin, and others

9. Check out the next date for the InDesign Conference, a gathering of leading InDesign experts, at www.theindesignconference.com

Illustration Web

Artist Applications
We welcome applications for representation from experienced and highly skilled illustrators.
If you have what it takes, Illustration provides an exceptionally individual and nurturing relationship to help you to make the most of your talent in terms of both volume and quality of assignments.
Our success stems from a careful selection of illustrators which means that we take on fewer than 4 of every 1,000 (0.4%) of artists who apply to join us. We look for illustrators with a fresh and exciting style combined with a highly professional approach and skills. We do not generally take on students.
If we decide to work together, we will send you our Illustrators Welcome Pack which gives you all the information you need including direct contact details for a member of staff who is on hand to help you with assignments and other queries at all times.
Because of the sheer number of applications we receive, it is unfortunately not possible to respond to every applicant. You can be sure that if we feel we can represent your work we will be in touch.

History
We have been representing the newest talent since 1929 and then known as the Kathleen Boland Studio and later the Garden Studio. Over the years we have represented the world's leading illustrators from Frank R Grey in the 1930s, who illustrated the Jane Turpin stories by Evadne Price, to the outstanding collection of contemporary artists we represent today.

When diverse cultures meet...

Amazônia Brasil - main exhibit
South Street Seaport, Fulton and South Streets, Pier 17 April 22-July 13, 2008

In this 13,000-square-foot re-creation of the Amazon, visitors can experience firsthand the sights, sounds and wonders of life in the Brazilian Amazon, including its biodiversity, people, villages and cities. Visitors will be able to interact directly with communities living in the heart of the forest via the Internet, and meet shamans and artisans from the region in person.

Learn about the ongoing positive initiatives in the Amazon region. You may also choose to support them by buying crafts made by local artisans and designers.

Amazônia Brasil invites you to:

* Discover life in both modern and ancient Brazilian Amazon
* Experience the colors, sounds and fragrances of the Brazilian rainforest in a walk-through reconstruction
* Learn how local people and global organizations are working to prevent deforestation and global warming
* See a replica of an Amazonian village built by local craftspeople
* Enjoy demonstrations of traditional crafts, music and healing arts by indigenous peoples from ancient tribes
* View photos, art and films celebrating the vibrant creativity of the region
* Interact directly with communities living in the heart of the forest via the Internet, and meet shamans and artisans from the region in person
* Buy crafts made by artisans in the Brazilian Amazon. All proceeds will go to the “Fundo de Apoio as Comunidades da Amazônia” (Support for Amazonian Communities Fund)

General Direction: Eugenio Scannavino Neto | Amazônia Brasil & PSA Executive Direction: Fare Arte Art Director: Gringo Cardia | Mesosfera

open hours
The exhibition will be open from Wednesdays through Sundays, from 10 am to 7 pm.

Orlando InDesign User Group

There are InDesign® user groups forming around the United States, Canada, and Australia. This site is intended as a place for members of these groups to receive information about upcoming chapter meetings, read the latest InDesign news, get professional opinions about the publishing industry, and learn more about InDesign through online tutorials and demos.

Engrave Your Book

You're probably already filling up a classic Moleskine notebook with deep thoughts and on-the-fly sketches. So why shouldn't that plain-Jane cover reflect your creativity, too? Just point your mouse to EngraveYourBook.com and upload a custom design that looks good in black and white. They'll engrave your art onto a brand new Moleskine (you choose the size and style) with a laser. You can even run text up the spine or submit designs to be sold as part of the site's artist series.
http://www.engraveyourbook.com/

Jim and Lisa Fiscus - photography

Back in 1995, Jim Fiscus and Lisa Fiscus were unaware that their experimentation with the nascent art of photography combined with digital imaging would result in producing award-winning advertisements. Read more...

Jim Fiscus’ photographs are truly an adventure, from start to finish. The Dallas-born photographer dreams up symbolism-filled scenarios, and to make them come to life, he directs his subjects in ways that even his clients find amusing. 
A shoot he did in London for billboards promoting the hit British TV show Shameless involved an actress playing a highly excitable pregnant woman who loves her martinis (did we mention the show is a dark comedy?). The mild-mannered Fiscus had to direct the actress to have a freak-out of sorts, and the best way to do it was to pretend to be a pregnant woman himself. There he was, in his cowboy boots and jeans, rubbing his belly and rolling his eyes in an exaggerated—and, to the casual observer, quite amusing—fashion. 
“Oh my God, this is certainly not a normal photo shoot,” commented the client’s art director, who would surely have been shocked—and thrilled—if he’d been at the OutKast shoot Fiscus did for HBO. The Grammy-winning hip-hop duo had been filming a movie for 43 days straight when Fiscus arrived to photograph them. Fiscus knew the singers were fatigued, so he did his best to make the shoot fun. And fun it was. “It was a party,” he recalls. “The makeup artists were breakdancing. The client from HBO came up and said, ‘This isn’t a photo shoot—this is a cultural phenomenon.’” 
Actually, what’s phenomenal is the amount of planning Fiscus does for each project. The finished product—the densely layered, almost allegorical images he makes for commercial clients like Adidas and GE and magazines like ESPN—is made up of a series photos that he methodically maps out on a storyboard before each shoot. Later, he composes the multiple images in post-production work that he oversees with a team of digital artists who have been with him for years. (Loyalty is as important to Fiscus as perfection.) 
Why is his process so involved? Because Fiscus is drawn to the conceptual, the symbolic, the hidden story—things that are inherently complicated but truly rewarding, both for the photographer and the viewer (and, of course, the client). When Fiscus makes a photograph, he’s not just documenting what his subjects look like but what they represent. He displays their inner life—and in doing so, he creates photographs that have an inner life themselves. 

What is blik?

blik is an I.D. Magazine award-winning* line of surface graphics created by and for people who like to change their mind. These self-adhesive wall decals (think stickers for grown-ups) allow you to easily transform the look of a living or office space in minutes. Affix blik to any smooth, flat surface such as a wall, window, mirror, ceiling, tabletop or floor. Choose your space, plan the design you'd like to make, and literally, just peel and stick. And when you're tired of your design, say after years, a month, maybe a day - the decals are removable.

Help us Choose!
Our next installment of Threadless original designs is in our voting booth. Check 'em out and voice your choice.

About Threadless
Threadless is an online-community-based tee shirt company with an ongoing open call-for-submissions. Designers submit ideas which are evaluated by over 500,000 people in the Threadless community. All submissions are evaluated by the community and given a final score. Tee shirt designs are selected by Threadless from the pool of the most popular designs. Designers currently receive a payment of $2,500 in cash and gift certificates. The project was started in 2000 by skinnyCorp. Since then, over 900 designs have been chosen for print from more than 130,000 submissions. Go say hi!

Conversation with Milton Glaser

A prolific graphic designer, illustrator and raconteur, the 78-year-old has created hundreds of book jackets, more than 300 posters and 50 magazines. He cofounded the seminal illustration and design agency Pushpin Studios in 1954 and New York magazine in 1968, and is the subject of the illuminating documentary To Inform and Delight: The Work of Milton Glaser, recently released by Checkerboard Films. Alice Twemlow visited him at his Manhattan studio to discuss design, Dante and psychedelia. By Alice Twemlow
Published: April 16, 2008
Conversation with Milton Glaser
Conversation with Milton Glaser—Part 2

Pintura International Graffiti Conference

On April 26th, the long awaited fusion of art, culture, and music will emerge in Orlando. The goal is to be the bridge that provides the opportunity for each scene to encounter something revolutionary as well as bring the community together for a common purpose. As the host of the Pintura International Graffiti Conference, painters from China, NYC, France, Puerto Rico, and Miami will be painting over 10,000 sq. ft of wall space throughout the course of the event.
Read more...
630 West Central Blvd., Orlando, FL 32801

SAPPI: ideas that matter

the creative ideas of designers can have an impact far beyond the design world. they can be a powerful force for social good.

this is a call for involvement. a call for change. To submit a proposal, visit us at www.sappi.com/ideasthatmatter

deadline May 30, 2008

'Ideas that Matter' is a program from Sappi to support design for the public good.

We award monetary grants to designers throughout the world to help them create and implement projects that serve the causes that are closest to their hearts.

We want to encourage ideas that have the potential to change our lives, our communities, and our world. If you have a cause you would like to support, we invite you to make your idea a reality.

Sappi Limited - We are the leading producer of coated fine paper in a world where, despite many predictions to the contrary, paper and print continue to play a more important role in our daily lives than ever before. Our range of fine paper is widely used in a variety of applications, from books to wine labels, from magazines and brochures to catalogues and calendars.

10 Cool Gadgets You Can't Get Here -- Yet

A high-definition TV you can carry in your pocket. A remote you talk to. A dongle for bringing HDTV broadcasts to your laptop while you're on the go. Sound great? Too bad, because you'll have to cross an ocean to get them.

Illustration: Kindred T-shirts

Kindred: T-shirt designs
All of our t-shirts are printed on American made 100% cotton (except where noted) fine jersey material with a great fit. We use an intense process to print our graphics on tees which gives them a soft hand and comfortable wear. Our inks take on some of the shirt color during this process and become less bright to achieve this goal. Kindred is the combination of the rural durability ethic and the aspiration of a design metropolis. Kindred's tshirt designs are based on the causes of inspiration, be it a work ethic, exploration or nature translated into a visual language.

powerHouse Books: Why I make books

powerHouse Books, world-renowned and critically acclaimed publisher is best known for a diverse publishing programme—specialized in fine art, documentary, pop culture, fashion, and celebrity books. We have blazed a trail through the staid book publishing industry, releasing books that have sparked cultural trends and redefined commonly held perceptions of the purpose and role of art books in contemporary culture. While much is known of our books, little is known of the people who have made powerHouse Books a global name.

Founder and Publisher Daniel Power started powerHouse Book in 1995 and was joined by Craig Cohen in 1996. The early years had Power and Cohen tag-teaming on a few books at a time, raising the bar each season when, in 1998, powerHouse Books had its first best-seller, Women Before 10 A.M. by Véronique Vial, and followed up that success in 1999 with the critically-acclaimed cult monographs X-Ray by François Nars and Life is Paradise by Francesco Clemente and Vincent Katz.

Why I make books by Daniel Power
Some people ask me why I make books, in my case illustrated volumes of photography and the photographic image. To some, I say "We're stupid and don't know any better," and to others I lament it's the only thing we know how to do, and such is our lot. But then, truth be told, thinking about it, it's our native human desire to tell stories, or more precisely help others tell them, and our medium is the photographic image, and few have become literate in appreciating it (hence the minute audience), and even fewer in constructing it well, even among the highly regarded publishers. Read more...

Welcome to THE POWERHOUSE ARENA a laboratory for creative thought.
The POWERHOUSE ARENA showcases a series of landmark exhibitions, performances, and controlled mayhem fusing the worlds of art, photography, design, fashion, pop culture, advertising, music, dance, film, and television into a glorious whirlwind of captivating spectacle.

Peter Mendelsund: Book Cover Design

An Interview with the Designer by Christopher Tobias | January 30, 2008

This is an updated, revised and greatly expanded edition of an interview that Peter Mendelsund graciously undertook for Books Covered. As a senior designer at Knopf and the art director for Vertical Press, an independent Japanese-American publisher, Peter has risen to become part of the all-star lineup of designers at Random House, including John Gall, Carol Devine Carson, and Chip Kidd.

Beware the New New Thing

By DAMIAN KULASH Jr.

Published: April 5, 2008

It would be absurd to let the handful of companies who connect us to the Internet determine what we can do online. Read more...

Future of Music Coalition

Title Design: Pacific Title & Art Studio

Pacific Title & Art Studio, Inc., a leading provider of a broad range of digital and photo-chemical services for post-production and archival applications in Hollywood's motion picture and television industry.

art/design: Takashi Murakami

Popularly known as the Warhol of Japan, Mr. Murakami, 46, has earned an international reputation for merging fine art with popular Japanese anime films and manga cartoons. Intent on exploring how mass-produced entertainment and consumerism are part of art, he teamed up with the fashion house Louis Vuitton in 2003 to create brightly colored versions of the classic LV monogram on Vuitton handbags. slide show

©Murakami

Ruby Washington/The New York Times

Published: 20080401

Additional images of Takashi Murakami's work at the Brooklyn Museum.

"I express hopelessness." - Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami was born in Tokyo in 1963 and received his BFA, MFA and PhD from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He has had recent solo shows at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York (2003); Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris (2002); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); and Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris (2001). [Read more...]

Foundries: Emigre Fonts

Emigre, Inc. is a digital type foundry, publisher and distributor of graphic design related software and printed materials based in Northern California.

Founded in 1984, coinciding with the birth of the Macintosh, Emigre was one of the first independent type foundries to establish itself centered on personal computer technology. Emigre holds exclusive license to over 300 original typeface designs created by a roster of contemporary designers. Emigre's full line of typefaces, ornaments and illustrations is available in Type 1 PostScript and TrueType for both the Macintosh and PC.

Emigre is also the publisher of the critically acclaimed design journal Emigre magazine which was published between 1984 and 2005.

Essays on Emigre
To learn more about Emigre, its history, and its place within graphic design, read these selected critical essays by Rick Poynor, Andrew Blauvelt, Kenneth FitzGerald and others.

For information about the founders of Emigre, read the interviews with Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko.

NEW: Mason OpenType

Jonathan Barnbrook's popular Mason fonts are now available in OpenType format.

The Mason OpenType fonts include the following features:
Alternates, Small Caps, All Small Caps, Proportional Lining Numbers, Superior Numbers and Scientific Inferior Numbers, Numerator and Denominator, and Arbitrary Fractions.

The OpenType format incorporates typographic features such as small caps, ligatures, old style numerals and lining numerals, all within one font file, thereby simplifying font management and usage. Do note that accessing these requires an application which supports OpenType typographic features such as Adobe InDesign 2 or Adobe Photoshop 6. OpenType font files are also cross-platform compatible; they work on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.