graphik natur

Robin Delisle-tousley's 4.6.2 - Exercise: Found Type

2011-10-26T06:50:00.002-04:00

"I think it would be safe to say that my inspiration for this project would be Matisse, Marian Banjtes, my kids and my love of baking/cooking." Robin Delisle

Gill’s most awkward offspring finds a home on the stage.

2011-08-15T08:13:00.002-04:00

Posted by Stephen Coles, Jan 31, 2011

It can be healthy to see typefaces we hate used well. It opens our minds. Read more...

Interview with Christopher Doyle

2010-08-01T07:40:00.004-04:00

Check out the full version of Chris Doyle's Identity Guidelines: Christopher Doyle_Guidelines.pdf (1.04 mb)

Chris Doyle is a Sydney based designer at Moon Group and recently produced a set of identity guidelines based on himself which is an instant classic. I tracked Chris down to find out more about the project ....

Hello Chris, I’ve seen your brilliant identity guidelines featured on numerous blogs recently, what has the public response been?

To be honest I have been completely overwhelmed by the response. People seem to have genuinely enjoyed the piece. I have had emails and text messages from all over the world, all just people writing to say they enjoyed it. I had a phone call from a guy in New Zealand who called to say how much he enjoyed it, that he felt compelled to call. That was so satisfying for me. From the start I was far more concerned with the idea and making it funny, than I was with it being a cool or fashionable piece of design. For so many people, designers or otherwise, to find it funny or clever, that's more than I could have hoped for.

Macworld Cover Creation

2010-07-27T11:15:00.005-04:00

Click here to watch the video

by peter belanger - http://www.peterbelanger.com/blog

After working on the latest cover for Macworld Magazine I wanted to show what is involved in making a cover. I focused on the three main areas: the photography, photoshop and design. I chose a time lapse format to convey lots of information in a small amount of time. The only drawback of time lapse is that since half a day goes by in 30 seconds, the whole process seam so easy! Lots of details were left out of the design process (like the cover meetings and rounds of layout options). I began to photograph the design process after the layouts had already been narrowed down to just three cover designs.

On the technical side, for the time lapse video, I used the Canon 5D Mark II with a 24mm-70mm zoom. I chose the 5D because of its great image quality with high ISO's. Canon's sRAW1 gave me the flexibility of a RAW file with the file size of a jpeg. The actual Macworld cover was taken with a Phase One P65+ digital back attached to a 4x5 Sinar X camera with a 65mm lens.

Many thanks to Rob Schultz for allowing me to invade his office and literally shoot over his shoulder.

The music was used with permission by The Brokenmusicbox.

Twitter Background Design How-To and Best Practices

2010-07-23T08:56:00.009-04:00

With Twitter quickly becoming the hottest site to be seen on, everyone wants to stand out from the crowd. There has already been a range of quality designs showcased on various sites, which has shown an emergence of trends such as the ‘sidebar’. Let’s take a look at some of the best practices around Twitter background design and get to work creating our own. Read more...

Chris Spooner is a designer who has a love for creativity and enjoys experimenting with various techniques in both print and web.

Putting Some Spine Into Design

2010-07-19T06:38:00.003-04:00

The spine of this comprehensive Italian dictionary from 1949 is striking and easy to read when the book is standing up, and stands out even on its side.

Adapted from dot-font: Talking About Design (Mark Batty Publisher)
By John D. Berry
Dateline: April 2, 2007

Maybe you can’t judge a book by its cover, but in a bookstore we judge most of them first by their spines. For most new books—not the ones lying out on tables or prominently displayed with their covers out, but the ones lining the shelves—the spine is all we see. The beautiful, dramatic cover, upon which great effort and sometimes even expense may have been lavished, never gets seen if a browsing bookbuyer doesn’t reach out and pull the book oV the shelf to take a look.

You might expect, given this cruel dynamic of the marketplace, that book publishers, and the designers of dustjackets and paperback covers for those publishers, would devote a lot of attention to what the spine looks like. But it seems to be the rare designer who gives the question much thought at all. Read more...

Hiring a designer? Eight things to look for

2010-07-13T07:32:00.004-04:00

Jul 06 | by John McWade
Read more...

1) Passion, vision and self-motivation. Without these, you’ll be dragging a rock. You need someone who shares your vision. Nothing’s worse than a “what-do-you-want-me-to-do-next?” kind of designer. Well, no, yes there is. One who’s touchy and confusing, too.

2) Vocabulary. A creative lead should be able to articulate what’s happening and why, in language that you and your staff can understand. If you start hearing vague terms like “pop” and “impact,” make him explain what he means. Listen for, “If we do A and B, we can expect C.” This is not trivial.

3) Inquisitive intelligence. Look for someone who’s curious about almost everything and approaches life with a sense of wonder. Similarly, I want someone who’s taken the time to learn about my company and whose questions are perceptive.

Upsampling Photographs and Line Art

2010-07-08T08:02:00.002-04:00

"...When you ask Photoshop (or any other image manipulation software) to increase the size of the image once it has been scanned, and then increase the resolution as well, this is called upsampling. (An example of this is to take an Internet image saved at 72 dpi and then enlarge it and upsample it to 300 dpi). As Photoshop does this, it essentially makes up picture information that doesn’t exist. As the picture gets larger, Photoshop adds pixels (picture elements, essentially dots that are averages of the existing pixels) between those already there. Past a certain point of over-enlargement (beyond 105-110 percent of the original size), what you get is a blurred image and/or visible pixels...." Written by Steve Waxman. Steven Waxman is a printing consultant.

Read this article at Pacific City Graphics

FPO (For Print Only)

2010-06-24T12:48:00.003-04:00

There is a new blog for the love of everything print. From the creators of SpeakUp and BrandNew comes a new blog FPO (For Print Only). This is a great resource for anyone interested in print. The blog not only showcases great work, but gives detailed specs on what it took to create the project.

You can visit the site here.

The Wired Tablet

2010-02-26T23:05:00.009-05:00

Last week Jeremy Clark from Adobe unveiled the first glimpse of the Wired Reader at TED. Above, you’ll see a video, narrated by Jeremy and Wired Creative Director Scott Dadich that shows more. It explains why the tablet is such a groundbreaking opportunity for magazines such as Wired.

Read more at Wired.com

Computer Arts: 21 design books you must own

2010-01-20T15:28:00.004-05:00

Computer Arts

With so many new books hitting the shelves, how do you sort the library-worthy from the waste paper? These are the titles no designer should be without

1. Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far
Author: Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Harry N Abrams
ISBN: 9780810995291
Price: £19.99
Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far is a format that surprises: 15 individual pamphlets showcasing the design work to date of the seminal Sagmeister Inc. Once you get past the novelty of swapping the pamphlets around inside the die-cut, portrait-led cover, you’ll find some inspiring and touching maxims. A brilliant approach, incredibly well executed.

2. Non-Format – Love Song
Authors: Kjell Ekhorn and Jon Forss
Publisher: DGV
ISBN: 9783899551853
Price: £35
The design duo behind CA 163’s cover have a truly brilliant body of work. We guarantee that on every page you’ll find something that amazes, delights or inspires. From Non-Format’s stunning type work for Nike to the slick art direction for The Wire magazine, this is a collection of work you need to have near you at all times. Our only complaint: where’s the next part? This book only covers the duo’s work from 1999 to 2003.

3. Tangible: High Touch Visuals
Author: Uleshka
Editors: R Klanten, S Ehmann and M Hübner
Publisher: DGV
ISBN: 9783899552324
Price: £40
We love the cover, the content… in fact, we love the whole idea behind Tangible. Although some of the work featured is bordering on bizarre, for the most part you’ll find a glorious exploration of a contemporary art form that’s as technically brilliant as it is thought provoking.

4. The Little Know-It-All: Common Sense for Designers
Author: Silja Bilz
Editors: R Klanten, M Mischler, S Bilz
Publisher: DGV
ISBN: 9783899551679
Price: £23.99
Don’t judge this by its cover or size – it’s possibly the most useful book you’ll own as a designer. Everything from light, colour and perspective to law and marketing are covered in succinct, beautifully carved chapters. It’s the kind of book that you never stop reading once you start; the kind you’ll always refer back to, making it a winner on pretty much every level.

5. Illustration – Play
Author: viction:workshop ltd
Publisher: Viction:ary
ISBN: 9789889822934
Price: £25
First up, Illustration – Play has one of the most beautiful, special and intriguing covers you’ll see, each one being individually stickered by hand. This is to echo the explorative approach taken by all of the illustrators featured in the book – looking at new ideas and ways to realise concepts within contemporary illustration. A lovely object.

6. How to be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul
Author: Adrian Shaughnessy
Publisher: Lawrence King
ISBN: 9781856694100
Price: £17.95
Sound advice from Shaughnessy on gaining employment, setting up as a freelancer, forming a company, dealing with clients, pitching and loads more. It’s insightful, intelligent, accessible and simply full of great advice, with the author calling on such luminaries as Neville Brody, Natalie Hunter, John Warwicker and Andy Cruz to help pull together his ideas. A book you’ll come back to again and again.

7. The Art of Looking Sideways
Author: Alan Fletcher
Publisher: Phaidon
ISBN: 9780714834498
Price: £24.95
By exploring how we think and how we understand things, the late Alan Fletcher created a tome that ultimately challenges how you think as a designer. Colour, proportion, style and aesthetic are covered in witty, entertaining nuggets that constantly whirr in the mind. You should also check out Beware Wet Paint, one of Fletcher’s other remarkable titles.

8. Left to Right
Author: David Crow
Publisher: AVA Academia
ISBN: 9782940373369
Price: £24.95
Visual communication rests on the power of semiotics, a concept that Crow examines in expert detail within this seminal text. Dealing with the principles of written communication and its relationship to imagery, and rounded-off with an examination of audience understanding, Left to Right is a valuable assessment of academic yet essential design theory.

9. Graphics Alive
Author: viction:workshop ltd
Publisher: Viction:ary
ISBN: 9789889822828
Price: £24
Exploring the omnipresent power of graphic design and illustration in today’s society, Graphics Alive is not only beautifully designed in itself, but also packed full of highly inspirational T-shirt graphics, shoes, signs, wallpaper and other everyday objects and ephemera that top designers have lent their eye to. An intense, head-hurting experience.

10. The End of Print: The Grafik Design of David Carson
Authors: Lewis Blackwell and David Carson
Publisher: Chronicle Books/Lawrence King
ISBN: 9781856692168
Price: £25
How could you not have this book in your collection? Carson’s exploration of type and visuals may feel a little dated, but there’s no denying his revolutionary approach to page design. In terms of pure eye candy and insight into the work of a groundbreaking designer, it’s one book you simply must have.

11. Designed by Peter Saville
Editor: Emily King
Publisher: Frieze
ISBN: 9780952741428
Price: £19.95
Peter Saville is about as iconic as they come. This book, originally published in 2003, was the first to document his incredible career, with a significant focus on his Factory Records work. It’s an inspiring, nostalgic and personal discussion of Saville’s body of work.

12. Stereo Graphics: Graphics in New Dimensions
Author: viction:workshop ltd
Publisher: Viction:ary
ISBN: 9789889822903
Price: £25
With work from the likes of Chrissie Macdonald, Hort, Jean Jullien and Mejdej, Stereo Graphics is a stunning showcase of illustrators using construction methods in their work. From paper to wool to warehouse installations, it’s a highly organised, intelligent and fascinating tome.

13. Rookledge’s Classic International Typefinder
Author: Christopher Perfect and Gordon Rookledge
Publisher: Lawrence King
ISBN: 9781856694063
Price: £17.95
The web makes it easy to find new and exciting faces, so it’s refreshing to get your head stuck in a book full of classic type. That’s what Rookledge’s definitive tome is: a reference guide to faces that you’re always going to want to use, with some clever cross-referencing so you can choose a font based on a special earmark, serif or other detail.

14. Neubau Welt
Authors: Stefan Gandl, Neubau
Publisher: DGV
ISBN: 9783899550726
Price: £35
Just how many designers have used Neubau’s collection of royalty-free vectors? We don’t know exactly, but we suspect it’s a lot. Crammed full of cars, planes, lamps, people and all sorts of other stuff, it acts as a great resource – particularly for mock-ups and the like when time and budget are tight. At £35, it’s something of a bargain.

15. Perverse Optimist
Author: Tibor Kalman
Editors: Peter Hall and Michael Bierut
Publisher: Booth-Clibborn Editions
ISBN: 9781861540928
Price: Out of print
If you can get your hands on a copy of this for a reasonable price, do. Colors magazine editor-in-chief and creative director of Interview, Kalman was a true visionary. In this heavy (both in form and content) book, his genius is realised. A collection of hard-hitting, powerful, awe-inspiring imagery.

16. Kelvin: Colour Today
Editors: R Klanten, S Ehmann and B Brumnjak
Publisher: DGV
ISBN: 9783899551969
Price: £45
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, and Kelvin is the perfect example. What do you do when you create a book looking at how colour is used in contemporary design and illustration? You section it by colours, of course. It’s a wonderfully executed idea, with the large format perfectly showcasing the colour-coded work. At £45 it’s expensive, but worth every penny.

17. Design, Form and Chaos
Author: Paul Rand
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300055535
Price: Out of print
Like Perverse Optimist, you may have a few problems finding this, but if you can, it’s worth the spend. Rand was the master of simplicity, and for the main part this is an insightful, often funny investigation of some big brand identities (this was published in the early 1990s, though) that rams his point home. Eye Bee M is an example of his work you may be familiar with.

18. It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be
Author: Paul Arden
Publisher: Phaidon
ISBN: 9780714843377
Price: £4.95
Okay, it’s not strictly a design book, but we just couldn’t ignore it. Ad man Paul Arden was, frankly, a genius, and this is his finest tome: a bite-sized book of advice offering simple yet inspirational ways to trigger ideas and thought processes. A classic and essential for any creative professional in any field.

19. Sizes May Vary
Author: Mark Boyce
Publisher: Lawrence King
ISBN: 9781856695435
Price: £14.95
This book and CD (full of templates for designing stationery) isn’t as plain as it sounds. There are thumbnail illustrations for composing and visualising layouts, plain and graph paper for sketching, plus notepaper and a poster of international paper sizes. The idea is that you use it as a kind of templated sketchbook. For under £15, it’s a lovely book to have.

20. The Graphic Language of Neville Brody
Author: Neville Brody/Jon Wozencroft
Publisher: Thames and Hudson
ISBN: 9780500274965
Price: £24.95
Like Carson’s End of Print, The Graphic Language of Neville Brody is one of those books that you’re bound to be familiar with. Documenting his work for The Face and his output during the 1980s, this is a collection that continues to inspire and teach, with some of the captions giving great insight into Brody’s thought process.

21. Designing Pornotopia
Author: Rick Poynor
Publisher: Lawrence King
ISBN: 9781856694896
Price: £17.95
Eye founder Rick Poyner always has a lot to say on design, and Designing Pornotopia is no exception. Within this collection of essays – some short, some long – there are a few real gems. ‘Taste-Free Zone’ and ‘Baring It All’ are wonderfully frank, opinionated views on the mediocrity of modern design.

Dava Newman: Space Fashion

2010-01-19T18:56:00.005-05:00

Dava Newman
Aerospace Engineer / Sailor

Second Skin

Posted by Secret Life Team | 08 January 2010

The first thing we noticed when Dava Newman come into our studios wearing her spacesuit—also known as the Bio-Suit—was that it was most definitely not your father’s spacesuit. (And as an aside, everyone on the SLoS team loves having a job that involves people visiting us in spacesuits!) Dava explained that she and her team are building the Bio-Suit with the goal of increasing astronauts’ flexibility and mobility—a key piece of the puzzle as NASA plans future space exploration. Dava also told us that there have already been some completely unanticipated benefits of her suit’s innovative design:

“Something that’s been fantastic about the Bio-Suit design—which is like a second skin contoured to the body—is that I’m not in a big 300-pound spacesuit where you don’t know whether I’m a man or a woman because it’s so big and clunky. The Bio-Suit is skin tight, so you can say, ‘Oh, hey—there’s a male astronaut, there’s a female astronaut.’ So, I’ve been really pleasantly surprised—a lot of young girls are completely turned on by the design of the Bio-Suit. And they come up to me when I give talks at schools, and they think it’s pretty neat that it might be a spacesuit for a female astronaut. And oh, by the way, they think they might want to be an astronaut.”

As someone who was one of only two female students back in her undergraduate aerospace engineering department (there were 38 men), Dava knows more than a little about the importance of role models—and the lack thereof. So she continues to wear her Bio-Suit when she talks with children: “I want kids to know that engineering and science can be for all boys and girls… I’d love them all to be aerospace engineers and love their jobs as much as I do.”

Pentagram: What Type Are You?

2010-01-11T14:12:00.006-05:00

Go to the ‘What Type Are You’ test. Password: character.

Why did Brian Wilson use Cooper Black on the cover of Pet Sounds? Why did Obama use Gotham for his election propaganda? It has long been apparent that typefaces reflect the character of the person using them, and that type choice, as well as the words that are typed, is a powerful conveyor of meaning.

At Pentagram, we wanted people to be able to understand that meaning properly and use it more consciously. Hence our ‘What Type Are You’ application. Researched over seven years with a team of 23 academics across Eastern Europe, ‘What Type Are You’ asks the four key character questions of our day, analyses your responses in exceptional detail and recommends one of 16 typefaces as a result.

The recommendation is sometimes controversial but always unerringly true. Said one respondent, “At first I felt angry when I was told my type is Pistilli Roman but two weeks later, I was completely reconciled to it. Now I wonder why I ever thought I was a Gill Sans.”

Project Team: John Rushworth, partner-in-charge and designer; Kirsty Whittaker, designer. Written by Naresh Ramchandani. Produced by The Brown Studio. Web development by Nerv Interactive.

20 Body Part-Covered Book Covers

2010-01-03T12:24:00.002-05:00

Design by Rob Grom

Hair counts.

2:29 pm Tuesday Dec 22, 2009 by Emily Temple

As a race, we’re totally obsessed with ourselves. Much of our art is about introspection, self-discovery, and self-expression, and we ascribe human characteristics to anything we can — cars, clocks, can openers — whenever we can. So then, to complement what may be the most stereotypically introspective art form — the written word — it makes some amount of sense that graphic designers and artists would go to the body. After all, the more easily and immediately we can subconsciously see ourselves in something, the more we love it (just ask Scott McCloud). But there’s nothing wrong with that. We’re a narcissistic species, and hey, it’s been working for us. Check out our collection of gorgeously designed book covers featuring body parts and revel in your humanity for a while.

Littlesnapper review

2009-12-28T12:58:00.001-05:00

Written By Ben Gribbin December 17th, 2009

LittleSnapper is a screen and web capture tool for Mac OS X. Today we’re reviewing this wonderful app!

Wow its 4p.m all ready! Today, we have Littlesnapper for Mac on review. LittleSnapper is a quick, easy to use image capture tool for the mac. You can find more information about LittleSnapper here.

LittleSnapper is a lovely app all-in-all. Very lightweight. Very simple. It does a limited number of functions, but does those supremely well. The app itself looks very nice. I think that’s quite important, because I note a lot of web designers use it to gather inspiration libraries - collating designs and little, well, snippets of elements they’d like to store. The beauty of the app is it’s simplicity.

So lets take a quick look at the different features available.

Where books come to life

2009-12-03T16:25:00.012-05:00

New Zealand Book Council: Going West - posted by Brian Ashe: awesome in so many ways

Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 3 - 6, 2009

2009-11-23T10:44:00.003-05:00

Show guide

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 40 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. An exclusive selection of more than 250 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa will exhibit 20th and 21st century artworks by over 2,000 artists. The exhibiting galleries are among the world's most respected art dealers, offering exceptional pieces by both renowned artists and cutting-edge newcomers. Special exhibition sections feature young galleries, performance art, public art projects and video art. The show will be a vital source for art lovers, allowing them to both discover new developments in contemporary art and experience rare museum-calibre artworks.

Homage to Jeanne-Claude

2009-11-19T15:12:00.002-05:00

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/

Artist Jeanne-Claude (née Denat de Guillebo) died in New York Wednesday evening of complications from a brain aneurysm. Along with her husband and artistic partner Christo, whom she met in 1958, she undertook an international series of large-scale outdoor installations, modifying landscapes with industrial strength cloth ballooned, wrapped, and tied. In a tale that legends are made of, the pair were born on the same date, the 13th of June in 1935, and allegedly in the same hour. Of note is the fact that all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects are self-financed — meaning a pretty significant initial outlay for, say, 1.076 million square feet of aluminum-coated fabric to cover the entire façade of the Reichstag in Berlin. In honor of Jeanne-Claude’s legacy in the realm of environmental art, we’ve compiled a visual primer of the duo’s oeuvre after the jump.

As reported in the LA Times arts blog Culture Monster, Jeanne-Claude’s professed to keep no favorites among her many influential works: “We always say that each one of our projects is a child of ours, and a father and mother who have many children will never tell you which one is their favorite. If people insist that we have to have a favorite one, then we say, ‘Okay, you are right, we do have a favorite one and it’s always the next one.’”

Emigre No. 70 - The Look Back Issue

2009-10-27T15:22:00.003-04:00

Emigre No. 70 - The Look Back Issue
Selections from Emigre Magazine #1 - #69
This 512-page book, designed and edited by Emigre co-founder and designer Rudy VanderLans, is a selection of reprints that traces Emigre’s development from its early bitmap design days in the mid 1980s through to the experimental layouts that defined the so-called “Legibility Wars” of the late 1990s, to the critical design writing of the early 2000s. Featuring interviews with, among others, The Designers Republic, Allen Hori, Rick Valicenti, Vaughan Oliver, Mr. Keedy, Ed Fella, and essays by Lorraine Wild, Anne Burdick, Zuzana Licko, Kenneth FitzGerald, Andrew Blauvelt, Kalle Lasn, Rick Poynor and many more.

Geza M. Tot - KEDD Animation Studio

2009-10-22T20:50:00.004-04:00


		Born in 1970. Hungarian artist, animation filmmaker Geza M. Toth has been working also as a tutor at several animation film institutes such as the Animation Department of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, the Royal College of Art, London, the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (India) and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Ludwigsburg (Germany). Founder and managing director of the KEDD Animation Studio. In the past years has created approx. 120 animation signals, commercials and short animation films. His productions were successfully screened at different international festivals all over the world. In 2007 his short film, 'Maestro' was nominated to the American Academy Awards in the Best Animated Short Film category.

2009-10-10T22:23:00.002-04:00

40 examples of beautiful typography in advertising design

by Sebastiano on 19/03/09 at 4:19 pm

Creative Industrial Design : Literalist Product Packaging

2009-10-07T10:36:00.002-04:00

naoto fukasawa

was born in yamanashi prefecture, japan, in1956.
he graduated from tama art university's product
design department in art and 3D design in 1980.
until 1988, fukasawa worked as a designer at
seiko-epson corp.
in 1989, he left japan for the united states.
in san francisco he joined a small office that had
employed 15 persons - ‘ID two’, the predecessor
to ‘IDEO’, which now has 450 staff in san francisco,
palo alto, boston, chicago, london and munich.
after eight years fukasawa returned home.
in 1996, he helped set up ‘IDEO’ in japan - a team
of eight designers working mainly for the japanese
market. he stayed with it until december 2002.
naoto fukasawa he went independent and in
january 2003 he established ‘naoto fukasawa design
in tokyo. fukasawa joined the advisory board of the
japanese company ‘MUJI’.
Read more...

Optical Illusions in Advertising

2009-10-06T19:54:00.004-04:00

KINETIC ART : FROM PAINTING TO ARCHITECTONIC

Victor Vasarely is often perceived as the father of Op’art.

The notion of cinetic art appeared for the first time in 1964. It aspires to explore simple geometric elements and the physics of shape in order to create dynamic optical phenomenon that entice a spectator’s active observations.

The result of artistic research carried out simultaneously by Albers and Vasarely, Op’art was born in 1955. Their initial work on this new artistic movement was furthered by subsequent generations of artists including: Agam, Soto, Cruz Diez, Morellet, Yvaral, Le Parc, Sobrino…

A similar style had already appeared in works by Bauhaus masters: Moholy-Nagy, Klee, Kandinsky and Itten, as well as in creations by Malevitch, Sophie Tauber-Arp and Mondrian.

“Bauhaus” is an experimental didactic and artistic centre which was founded in Weimer in 1919 and that operated until 1933, when the Nazis took power. The adaptation of Art and Architecture to the new-born elements of the Industrial age began at the start of the 20th century. Following (aesthetic) experiments of the "Deutsche Werkbund", initiated by Muthesius in 1907, Walter Gropius establishes a new vision of teaching that is to unify artists and artisans in collective style and research projects. The main focus is the discovery of forms that facilitate the production of series’ of artwork.

Bauhaus, or “the house in which we build” designates not only a particular technique in the history of art itself, but an attempt to blur the borders drawn between various aspects of culture and society.

Its manifesto never seemed as pertinent as it does today :

"This is not about teachers and students, but about masters and apprentices; this is not about artists specialised in general or applied arts, but about creators who complete each other in order to serve a common goal" Read more...

Homage to Mercedes Sosa

2009-10-04T23:00:00.009-04:00

Grammy Winner Fused Folk Music With Social Justice

Volver A Los 17

Volver a los diecisiete despues de vivir un siglo
es como descifrar signos sin ser sabio competente,
volver a ser de repente tan frÃ¡gil como un segundo
volver a sentir profundo como un niÃ±o frente a Dios
eso es lo que siento yo en este instante fecundo.

Se va enredando, enredando
como en el muro la hiedra
y va brotando, brotando
como el musguito en la piedra
como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si.

Mi paso retrocedido cuando el de usted es avance
el arca de las alianzas ha penetrado en mi nido
con todo su colorido se ha paseado por mis venas
y hasta la dura cadena con que nos ata el destino
es como un diamante fino que alumbra mi alma serena.

Se va enredando, enredando
como en el muro la hiedra
y va brotando, brotando
como el musguito en la piedra
como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si.

Lo que puede el sentimiento no lo ha podido el saber
ni el mÃ¡s claro proceder, ni el mÃ¡s ancho pensamiento
todo lo cambia al momento cual mago condescendiente
nos aleja dulcemente de rencores y violencias
solo el amor con su ciencia nos vuelve tan inocentes.

Se va enredando, enredando
como en el muro la hiedra
y va brotando, brotando
como el musguito en la piedra
como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si.

El amor es torbellino de pureza original
hasta el feroz animal susurra su dulce trino
detiene a los peregrinos, libera a los prisioneros,
el amor con sus esmeros al viejo lo vuelve niÃ±o
y al malo sÃ³lo el cariÃ±o lo vuelve puro y sincero.

Se va enredando, enredando
como en el muro la hiedra
y va brotando, brotando
como el musguito en la piedra
como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si.

De par en par la ventana se abriÃ³ como por encanto
entrÃ³ el amor con su manto como una tibia maÃ±ana
al son de su bella diana hizo brotar el jazmÃn
colando cual serafÃn al cielo le puso aretes
mis aÃ±os en diecisiete los convirtiÃ³ el querubÃn.

Rio 2016 - Olympic Games - Master Plan‏

2009-10-02T14:20:00.004-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TCoqZNesnM&feature=related

The visual identity of the Rio de Janeiro candidature consists of a logo and a slogan, which are being applied in marketing moves during the campaign.^[87] Designed by Ana Soter and selected among four finalists by a special jury, the logo was unveiled during the 2007 Brazilian Olympic Awards, held at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, on December 17, 2007.^[87]^[88]^[89] The
Sugarloaf Mountain was chosen as the symbol, representing the natural richness of Rio de Janeiro.^[88] According to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid committee, the design as a whole conveys a heart shape, representing Brazilian passion and enthusiasm for sports.^[88]^[90] Through its mirroring effect, the symbol also forms a stylized clover.^[88] At midnight on January 1, 2009, Rio de Janeiro's Olympic slogan "Live your passion" was launched as part of the New Year's celebrations.^[87]^[91]^[92] The slogan reflects the Brazilian people's way of getting passionately involved in whatever they do.^[93] It was projected onto a Rio de Janeiro 2016-themed big wheel immediately after the ten-second countdown to the beginning of 2009.^[94] The structure, purposedly erected at the Copacabana beach to promote the candidature,^[95] is 36 m (118 ft 1 in) high, weighs 80 tonnes (180,000 lb) and has 24 gondolas with a capacity for 144 people.^[96] Approximately two million people attended the official launch of Rio de Janeiro's bid slogan.

5 Ways to Grow as an Artist

2009-09-30T10:11:00.004-04:00

Getting Back to the Spirit of Artists in Paris
Forget about exhibitions and juries, try these five ways to grow as an artist
From Jerry Fresia, for About.com

"I... must stick to my principles, our principles, which were, no jury, no medals, no awards.... Liberty is the first good in this world and to escape the tyranny of a jury is worth fighting for, surely no profession is so enslaved as ours." Mary Cassatt

"Think less of the success of the by-product and you will have more success with it. Keep living." Robert Henri

So how would a Cassatt or a Henri or Picasso approach painting differently than we do today? How might this heartfelt fear of others controlling our painting process impact our self-understanding as artists? Here are five possible answers:

1. Making a successful picture is not the goal.

2. The painting process is always a beginning.

3. Ignore non-artist authorities.

4. Get into a prolonged creative process.

5. Furnish the world with your beauty, let the world see, touch and feel who you are.

John Langdon: Ambigrams, Logos, Word Art

2009-09-22T13:10:00.005-04:00

Wordsmith

A great Wordsmith ambigram designed by John Langdon.

“Ambigrams are the hottest trend in typography since Helvetica.” Wired Magazine 4.20.09

A Clever Collection of 40+ Inspiring Ambigrams

Sep 17th in Inspiration by Sonali Vora

An ambigram as defined by Wikipedia, "is a typographical design or artform that may be read as one or more words not only in its form as presented, but also from another viewpoint, direction, or orientation." To simply put, an ambigram is a typographical creation where the word reads the same when upside down, or flips to create a whole new word. Ambigrams are often very sophisticated and very imaginative typographical style of visual design.

So let's take a look at some delightful graphic logotypes that read the same when they are reversed or flipped upside-down.

Ambigram Artist and Drexel's John Langdon Behind Symbols Appearing in Angels & Demons
May 04, 2009

Philadelphia
All those symbols flashing in Web site promos and posters promoting Ron Howard’s new film “Angels & Demons,” based on the novel by Dan Brown, were created by a professor of typography at Drexel University. John Langdon, who, not by coincidence, shares the same last name as the film’s protagonist played by Tom Hanks, has been creating ambigrams — words that can be read from left to right, upside down or from multiple viewpoints — since the 1970s. The follow up to the international blockbuster “The DaVinci Code” features Langdon’s ambigrams, which were first seen by the public in Brown’s novel, Angels and Demons, published in 2000. Read more...

The Style & Design 100

2009-09-16T13:44:00.003-04:00

The Design 100 by TIME

Good design is everywhere these days. Great design—the objects, places and ideas that fuse functionality and aesthetics and then push the boundaries a step further to capture the imagination—is more elusive. Take a look at the standouts.

designed by British design firm Pearlfisher

African and Oceanic Art From the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting

2009-08-21T10:35:00.006-04:00

ART REVIEW | 'AFRICAN AND OCEANIC ART FROM THE BARBIER-MUELLER MUSEUM, GENEVA'

Putting ‘Primitive’ to Rest

By HOLLAND COTTER

Published: June 5, 2009

This show, an unabashed masterpiece display, is a gold mine of historical data and a connoisseur’s delight.

Cuba Obscura - Pinhole Photographs

2009-08-14T10:46:00.004-04:00

These are a collection of Pinhole Photographs taken in Cuba during December 2006 and January 2007 by Brian Barry. They were printed as Photo Intaglio etchings between September 2007 and January 2008 in Cork Printmakers.
Pinhole photography (or Camera Obscura) is photography stripped back to its rudimentary beginnings. Pinhole Camera consists solely of a light-tight box with a tiny pinhole at the front which acts as a lens, thus dispensing with roughly 150 years of innovation and technological advancement. Read more...

New Acropolis Museum, Athens

2009-08-07T16:27:00.002-04:00

Opening Ceremony Video Projections directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari
"Reflections" -- Large-scale site-specific video projections accompanying the opening of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, on June 19-23, 2009.

Conceived and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. Animations by: antidot design studio, HAOS Film, Nomint motion design, and Oval Image. Music by Stavros Gasparatos.

Greece: Parthenon (Room 18)

2009-08-04T16:07:00.003-04:00

Playwright, author and British Museum trustee, Bonnie Greer celebrates the enduring beauty and humanity of the Parthenon Sculptures
447 – 432 BC

The Parthenon was built as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It was the centrepiece of an ambitious building programme on the Acropolis of Athens. The temple’s great size and lavish use of white marble was intended to show off the city’s power and wealth at the height of its empire.

MATCHING COLOR

2009-08-03T10:55:00.001-04:00

by Steven Waxman
Entire books have been written on the subject of matching color. However, for now I’d like to throw out a few general rules to help start your discussion with your printer.
First of all, don’t choose color on your monitor. Color on a monitor is made up of red, green, and blue phosphors (light). Ink color, on the other hand, is made up of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. The colors within the realm of light do not match the colors within the realm of ink.
That said, there are exceptions to every rule. If you can (rigidly) control the lighting conditions under which you observe color on the monitor, and if you have the money for color calibration software, you might be the exception, and you might come closer than most people to actually matching your monitor colors to the final printed colors. You would also need the time to calibrate your monitor on a regular basis. Color management from monitor to ink-jet proofer to offset press is possible with today’s technology. I just wouldn’t advise it unless you have a lot of extra time and money.
Instead, choose color using printed ink samples. Pantone color swatch books can be purchased online, and in graphic design and art supply stores. Sometimes they can be obtained for free from your printer. Some of these books show you the Pantone colors (PMS colors) next to their closest process color match. And they will probably even show you the percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black that you will need to convey to your printer to reproduce these colors.
To be safe, provide a printed sample showing the exact color you want. If it’s a PMS swatch or process match swatch, or if it’s just a printed sample you’d like to match, the safest way to communicate color is with a physical example of the color.
This is particularly appropriate if you are trying to match the colors in a corporate logo. In this case it would be a catastrophe if the colors on the printed sheet didn’t match your company’s chosen logo colors exactly. Therefore, your printer can take the samples provided and read them with a color spectrophotometer. This device will analyze the hue (rather than the density, which is what a densitometer reads) and break the color down into its component percentages of C, M, Y, and K. Your offset printer can then advise you as to the proper percentages to enter into your image editing, drawing, or page composition art files. Once you have updated your art files with this color information, they will yield the color builds you want and expect, and there should not be any surprises with the final printed job.
In addition, your printer may advise you to add one or two PMS colors and avoid a color build altogether. If your printer is using a six-color press to print your four-color job, and if the fidelity of the logo colors is crucial, your several hundred dollar expenditure (more or less) to add PMS inks to the two unused units on the press might be a wise allocation of funds. After all, color does vary a bit throughout a 4-color press run—unless you substitute PMS match inks for the crucial process color builds.
One final thing to remember is that a color spectrophotometer is expensive and not every printer has one. So ask first. But in general, your printer is your best ally in matching color, and presenting him with a printed sample you like makes his job much, much easier.
*[Steven Waxman is a printing consultant. He teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, sells printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the industry for twenty-five years, working as a writer, editor, photographer, graphic designer, art director, production manager, and print buyer.]

Student Ideas - Raniel Dantic

2009-08-02T13:54:00.003-04:00

This drawing was made for a postcard assignment made to mimic a style. I chose to mimic Art Nouveau, well John Dyer Baizley for the most part. He is a current artist whom I have solely recognized for his album art and poster design. I am interested in the way he collages beautiful imagery with gore. The idea of combining opposites is an obsession of mine. My drawings are just doodles in which some occassions become an elaborate composition. There is never a process or an idea. Along with most, I have recognized drawing to be a meditation and without the right mindset I find it impossible to draw a line.
the 'postcard' assignment
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/afrocentric/Poster.jpg?t=1248193300

revised for flyer
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/afrocentric/BuffClout2.jpg?t=1248193300

Raniel Dantic
canigetopen.blogspot.com

New Logo Design: X-MEN

2009-08-01T21:29:00.003-04:00

Check out the whole design process involved in Marvel's new X-MEN logo. Pretty straight forward. I was trying to anticipate what they'd WANT as opposed to what I thought would be the coolest. But I set out to come up with something that would run off the page. I like breaking the trim on covers for some reason. Blambot Comic Fonts & Lettering
NATE PIEKOS graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Design from Rhode Island College in 1998. Since founding Blambot, he has lettered comic books for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Oni Press and Dark Horse Comics as well as dozens of independent publishers. In 2001 he became type designer to Harvey Award Winner, Mike "Madman" Allred, and has had his designs licensed by such companies as Microsoft, Six Flags Amusement Parks, New Yorker Magazine, The Gap, and many more. Nate's work has not only been utilized in comics, but on television and in feature films as well.

Merce Cunningham, Dance Visionary, Dies

2009-07-29T12:23:00.003-04:00

Merce Cunningham, the revolutionary American choreographer, died Sunday night at his home in Manhattan. He was 90.His death was announced by the Cunningham Dance Foundation.

Over a career of nearly seven decades, Mr. Cunningham went on posing “But” and “What if?” questions, making people rethink the essence of dance and choreography. He went on doing so almost to the last.

Until 1989, when he reached 70, he appeared in every single performance given by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In 1999, at 80, though frail and holding onto a barre, he danced a duet with Mikhail Baryshnikov at the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center. In April he observed his 90th birthday with the 90-minute “Nearly Ninety” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

http://www.merce.org/

Average Community, Documentary by Zara Brothers

2009-07-22T11:55:00.004-04:00

The first public showing of Average Community will be on Sunday August 30th at 12:30pm at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. www.enzian.org. Save the date!

More info at www.AverageCommunity.com

About the film

Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, a post-industrial wasteland of abandoned factories, neglected row houses and urban decay. Trenton is a relic of America’s once-thriving manufacturing economy, the kind of city most of us have long since forgotten. But for Fred Zara, a 30-something family man living an average suburban life near downtown Orlando, it’s not so easy a place to forget.

Growing up in Trenton in the mid-1980s, Fred went by the name of Fred Fatal, played drums in a punk-rock band called Prisoners of War, and was filled with so much teen angst that he managed to get himself kicked out of high school before reaching the 10th grade.

“Average Community” follows Fred on a 900-mile journey back to his hometown to confront his troubled past, and the troubled people in it, in the hopes of understanding how the person he was made him into the person he is. Fred is joined by his two older brothers, one a disheartened New York journalist, the other a free-spirited Seattle musician, as he reunites with old friends, revisits painful memories and tries to make sense of what it meant to grow up in a dying city.

10 Principles of Beautiful Photography

2009-07-14T23:04:00.002-04:00

by Trey Ratcliff – note: this article appeared in Smashing Magazine in February of 2009.

A camera does not work like an eye; memory does not work like film.

There is a fine line between a photo that is quite nice and one that is quite breathtaking. At some undefined point, a photo can cross the Rubicon and be forever a piece of beautiful art. That hinterland between a regular photo and evocative art is a moving target from person to person and taste to taste. However, that zone of wonderment can be narrowed a bit once you start to consider about the way the brain stores memories and emotions.

And, yes, it gets a bit touchy-feely here to determine if you have been able to cross that line. With rigorous practice and peer feedback, you can start to appreciate where that zone is and consequently improve your hit ratio.

The good news is that it does not require rune rites of scapulimancy to divine your way to a more beautiful photo. There are some basic things and mantras to keep in mind as you practice and fail then practice and succeed then practice and fail and then rinse and repeat. I’ll detail a few of these below. Read more...

Brand - Tony Hawk

2009-06-28T21:28:00.002-04:00

Watch the video: Tony Hawk

2009-06-25T23:38:00.002-04:00

"It's about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what's around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy."

Elliott Erwitt joined Magnum Photos in 1953 and became a full Member in 1954.

"Typeface," Kartemquin Films' new documentary

2009-06-19T17:27:00.003-04:00

Typeface focuses on a rural Midwestern museum and print shop where international artists meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique.

It’s a Thursday afternoon and all is quiet in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Main Street is virtually empty, and there are “for rent” signs in several shop windows. In the last few years, the un-employment rate has been consistently on the rise in the region. Factories are leaving the heartland for cheaper locales and the little town of Two Rivers is struggling to re-invent itself. Jim VanLanen, one of the town’s most industrious entrepreneurs, began developing small museums as a way to bring tourists and industry to the area.

A few blocks off the main drag, in a section of the old cavernous Hamilton printing factory, a lone employee waits in the most popular of these museums for visitors to come. A couple of individuals straggle in every few days and then, come Friday, the museum fills with life. Machines hum, presses print, artists buzz about. One weekend each month, the quiet of Two Rivers is interrupted as carloads of artisans drive in from across the Midwest. The place comes alive as printmaking workshops led by, and filled with, some of the region’s top creative talent descend on the sleepy enclave. The museum is significant to the town’s history, but more importantly, its existence is critical to the worldwide design community who are passionate about the history of their craft and its function in the contemporary field. They believe the future of their industry may lie in the past.

Typeface, Kartemquin’s latest documentary in progress, will bring this fascinating junction of historical and contemporary, as well as rural and urban America together for enjoyment and contemplation. This film will be of interest to art and graphic design enthusiasts, to teachers as an educational resource, and to anyone looking for a film about perseverance and preservation in the heart of America.

Film critics from Synecdoche, New York DVD

2009-06-18T23:28:00.005-04:00

Rainbeau Creative
Synecdoche, New York, my favorite film of 2008, is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. On the disc's Special Feature "Infectious Diseases in Cattle: Bloggers' Round Table", I talk about the film's merits with other film critics.

Screenhead
Picture this: you find yourself at Blockbuster talking to the employee (probably called a companion or a facilitator) about favorite movies. The first word out of their mouth is Glitter. You feel the bile rising up your throat, and you run away as fast as you can to your friend. Your friend who shares your obsession for Fight Club, or your unhealthy obsession with the Godfather. We are that friend. We are fellow ScreenHeads.

film freak central
Now and zen I think about life and stuff.
Roman Polanski's character in The Tenant asks his beatnik girlfriend a great philosophical question, which I'll paraphrase here: If I cut off my arms, I say, "This is me, and these are my arms." If I cut off my legs, I say, "This is me, and these are my legs." But if I cut off my head, do I say, "This is me, and this is my body," or "This is me, and this is my head."? What right does my head have to say it's me?
I know how I'd answer that question.
I love to write. I love to watch movies. I love to read. Film Freak Central is for people who share these passions.
This is me, and this is my website.
-Bill Chambers, Editor-in-Chief

Filmbrain
Film blogger, film critic, and now President of Benten Films (www.bentenfilms.com), a DVD distribution company that I run with fellow critic and dear friend Aaron Hillis. Oh, but I'm still a part-time misanthrope.

the auteurs notebook
au•teur: -n. [ō-tûr', ō-tœr']; the creative visionary behind a film.
the•au•teurs: -n. [thē ō-tûrs', thē ō-tœrs']; 1. an online movie theater where
you watch, discover, and discuss
auteur cinema.; a new social experience.

indieWIRE
The leading news, information, and networking site for independent-minded filmmakers, the industry and moviegoers alike, indieWIRE launced on July 15, 1996 and re-launched with a bold new approach on January 12, 2009 (press release). Winner of the Webby Award for best film website, indieWIRE was lauded as a "must read" by Variety, branded the "online heartbeat of the world's independent film community" by Forbes, and dubbed "best indie crossroads" by film critic Roger Ebert. Read more...

Some Came Running

Film writer, formerly of Premiere magazine and .com. Reach me at glennkenny@mac.com.

Cinematical

SpoutBlog
SpoutBlog is here to discover and digest everything worth knowing in movies each day.

For anyone with more than a fleeting interest in movies, the landscape of film is changing drastically. A movie lover’s passion for film doesn’t recognize boundaries between Hollywood blockbusters, unsung independent achievements and viral clips from YouTube.

Wherever the under hyped piece of genius or over hyped piece of not-so-genius comes from, chances are we’re writing about it here. And when there’s a film festival to attend, we’ll probably be there treasure hunting for movies and interviewing filmmakers on the bleeding edge of the Industry.

Consumers will drive sustainable packaging design

2009-06-17T14:51:00.005-04:00

Dorothy Mackenzie, packagingnews.co.uk, 10 June 2009
Dorothy Mackenzie, chairman of creative agency Dragon Rouge, argues that consumers' desire for more sustainable packaging should prompt a new wave of manufacturer-led product and pack innovation.

Consumers, particularly in the UK, have expressed concern about packaging waste – to a level often disproportionate to the real impact of packaging and at the expense of concern about other aspects of products' sustainability performance. This has encouraged retailers to launch a packaging crusade with commitments, such as Wal-Mart's target to reduce packaging by 5% over the next four years.

Retailers grabbed the initiative on packaging, leaving many manufacturers standing on the sidelines trying to deal with conflicting retailer agendas, such as weight reduction versus recyclabilty or use of recylcate versus biodegradability. It has appeared as though retailers were calling all the shots, exhorting manufacturer's brands into minor packaging changes that may have offered some incremental improvements, but which were largely missed by consumers.

Some companies – notably Unilever – have been introducing innovative consumer packaging with a noticeably better environmental footprint, but many others have been slow to act in a way that consumers recognise, although they may have been achieving worthwhile changes in transport or outer packaging. This represents a missed opportunity for building positive engagement with consumers. Consumers are likely to be positively influenced by innovative packaging that delivers environmental benefits, provided of course, that it also offers convenience and other performance benefits.

In some areas, the need for consumers to modify their behaviour, to adapt to the new packaging format, can offer a good platform for interaction and dialogue. It provides some interesting new content for brand communication and some opportunities for inspiring on-pack messaging. Refill packs are being explored again, for example by Dairy Crest, and while this will be far from an automatic and easy switch for consumer, it does add some interest and excitement to an otherwise generic and routine purchase – and something to talk about.

To achieve significant improvements, however, it will often be necessary to consider the product and pack together, rather than focus simply on changing the pack around the existing product. We have already seen examples of this with concentrate detergents and there will be more. The desire to reduce the impact of the packaging stimulates a "why does it have to be like this?" review of the product as well. This could be a more productive starting point for innovation than focusing on packaging alone.

This more holistic approach, considering product and packaging together, also gives manufacturers an opportunity to take a step beyond where retailers can go by building sustainability into the brand and product itself, rather than just looking for amendments to existing systems. This approach will require a close partnership with the packaging and product supply chain, to unleash their deep levels of knowledge to speed up the innovation process. It will also demand a good understanding of consumer insights to know what is possible.

Dragon Rouge has joined forces with Cook Business Consulting to deliver new product and packaging ideas, for brand owners and retailers, that are more sustainable and commercially attractive.

MSU wins $400,000 from Coca-Cola Company to create packaging innovation, sustainability center

2009-06-17T14:26:00.003-04:00

Published: Jan. 23, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Improving the global sustainability of product packaging took a meaningful step forward with a new collaboration proposed by The Coca-Cola Company and Michigan State University. Coca-Cola awarded $400,000 to MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to help establish a new Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability.

The planned center, to be housed in the MSU School of Packaging, will serve as a think tank for packaging innovation and sustainability and a research and education hub to measure and reduce packaging’s environmental impact. The Coca-Cola grant represents the initiating gift in a campaign to establish the global center.

"The Coca-Cola Company is honored to collaborate with Michigan State University in its quest to bring corporate, academic and packaging professionals together to foster new ideas in sustainable packaging,” said Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president of global community connections for The Coca-Cola Company.

“Our company has set ambitious environmental goals to not only deliver quality products, but to also have minimal impact on the environment. Research and work generated through this collaboration with MSU will assist us in reaching our goals,” she said.

UCSD educator artfully elevates eccentricity

2009-06-17T13:35:00.005-04:00

Professor Ernest Silva wants aspiring artists and dabblers alike to dive in, 'get dirty'

By David Coddon 2:00 a.m. May 24, 2009

An admittedly “eccentric interview style” helped artist Ernest Silva get his job teaching in the Visual Art Department at UCSD.

How eccentric? He brought a garment bag with him to the Washington, D.C., interview for a one-year position. Inside: a selection of men's suits he had painted. One of his interviewers that day, UCSD faculty member and artist Eleanor Antin, “saw it as a sort of mini-performance,” Silva recalled with a smile. Not long afterward, the Providence, R.I.-born Silva – who'd received his BFA from the University of Rhode Island and MFA from Temple University's Tyler School of Art – found himself in San Diego, joining a prestigious faculty that included not only Antin, but also the likes of Manny Farber, Patricia Patterson and Allan Kaprow. “An incredibly diverse and exciting group,” Silva said. Read more...

Designer Renato P. Lotfi - Saatchi Australia

2009-06-09T22:59:00.003-04:00

My name is Renato Lotfi. I'm a designer and this is a brief introduction to my work since I started back in "98. Enjoy.

Networking - Mark Monlux Illustrations

2009-06-08T11:30:00.002-04:00

Business Tip: Mark Monlux’s History of Social Networking
In this short 8 minute video, Mark Monlux talks about his personal approach to using social networking tools for attract business as an independent professional illustrator. From a May 27, 2009 panel at the Seattle Graphic Artists Guild.
This entry was posted on Sunday, June 7th, 2009 at 9:09 am

CONNECTIONS NYC

2009-06-05T14:38:00.003-04:00

The date is set, over 2000 guests are on their way, the champagne is being chilled, and the time to connect is only a few weeks away...From high end clients ranging from Apple, Armani, Coty, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, Nike, Nordstrom's, LVMH, etc - to international advertising agencies ranging from Euro, RSCG, Grey, JWT, Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, Publicis, Saatchi, Y&R - top decision makers from the world over have registered to attend CONNECTIONS, to review talent and develop new relationships. LE BOOK presents CONNECTIONS NYC

Wednesday, June 17th + Thursday, June 18th at the Chelsea Art Museum (556 West 22nd Street)

CONNECTIONS Schedule - Wednesday/Thursday, June 17th and 18th:

* Noon to 6pm - Portfolio Viewing open to all CONNECTIONS guests from the international creative community

* 6pm to 9pm - open wine tasting and creative mingling during Portfolio Viewing

The Time To Connect Is Now.

artists: www.lebook.com/connections

Student Ideas - Caitlin Barber

2009-05-31T20:09:00.005-04:00

From childhood, I have had a passion for creativity and artistic expression. I started playing with Photoshop at my dad's advertising firm by the time I was in elementary school and was always sure to pack my class schedule with a variety of art classes. By high school, I knew I had a love for graphic design and spent much of my time learning the Adobe Creative Suite and playing with blog/website layouts and graphics. Upon graduating, I moved from my small town in Colorado to attend Full Sail University. I am currently working on an associates degree in graphic design and plan on combining it with my passion for people and communication to pursue a career I will truly love every minute of.

Collaboration: Brazilian Currency Design

2009-05-30T19:28:00.005-04:00

Vitorio Benedetti
This project turned to be one of the greatest experiences of
team work I have ever been on. From the start, although the
group members had established individual tasks and goals,
the design was done in such a collaborative way that we are
not able to distinguish where the ideas or even the graphic
expression came from. Group project with Marcelo Damm;
mentoring by professor João de Souza Leite.

About me:

I believe in poetry, I believe that there's beauty in every corner, and in everything. Beauty is indeed in the eye
of the beholder and it is up to us, everyone to design the world we want to live in.

People don't need products or services. People need music and laughter and a warm harm from a fellow human.
Let us design ways that these are never scarce. I don't believe in borders or papers stating identities. Identity
comes from people's hearts. And no technology will ever change this.

My main ambition in design is to spread the human centered approach, applying practice and research,
developing projects that interesting and meaningful for the public.

Specialties:

graphic expertise in complex data visualization, graphic user interfaces (from user studies to pixel pushing
- desktop and mobile); multicultural and also multidisciplinary team work abilities; Human-centered design.

User Experience - UX

2009-05-28T07:33:00.004-04:00

by Dirk Knemeyer and Eric Svoboda
"User Experience", often abbreviated "UX", is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design.
Originally used in reference to human-computer interactions – and still largely associated with those disciplines – the term is now used to refer to any specific human-design interaction, ranging from a digital device, to a sales process, to an entire conference. Perhaps due to its organic development and lack of formalization, "User Experience" may be defined by, and the responsibility of, very different departments from organization to organization: in some organizations, it is owned by marketing; in others, it falls under information technology (IT). Then, from a solutions perspective, some organizations base their "User Experiences" around the research and academic-based approaches of human-computer interaction (HCI); others treat interface and/or product design as the source for "User Experience," while still others let marketing or IT drive it.
Read more...

Want to learn more about User Experience?

Being an emergent discipline, User Experience does not yet have a strong, formal body of knowledge. Formal books that include the term in their title often cover only subgroups of user experience. Here are some online resources to get you started:

www.uxnet.org - local and cross-disciplinary resources on UX

www.informationdesign.org - despite its label, the pre-eminent daily UX resource

www.functioningform.com - a consistently strong resource on the UX design process

www.nathan.com/resources/index.html - an enormous collection of UX- related resources

Designing Interactions is a book and a DVD as well as this website.

You can browse by chapter as well as by interview. When you choose an interview, a small version of the segment from the DVD plays. You can also download (free) the chapter of the week together with the relevant interview segments from the DVD.

In the Book Bill Moggridge introduces us to 40 influential designers who have shaped our interaction with technology. The introduction and final chapter combine to describe the approach to designing interactions that has evolved at IDEO. The 800 page book is illustrated with 700 color images. With the book is a DVD of 37 interviews, intercut with examples of interactions.

Student Ideas - Tyson Junkers

2009-05-24T02:02:00.005-04:00

I have always been able to come up with creative ideas, but never knew what to do with them. A few years ago I got my hands on a copy of Photoshop and my ideas came to life. Since then, I have been creating designs every day. Most of them end up in the trash, but the only way you'll ever know if somethings good or bad is by trying. I am now a Digital Arts & Design Student at Full Sail University. So far, I have learned more than I could have ever expected. I can no longer pick up a pen without designing a concept for something, which is why I plan on being a designer the rest of my life; it's in everything I do.

TJunkers.com

Stock Photos,Textures, and Free Webdesign Platform

2009-05-19T14:10:00.007-04:00

Color Scheme Designer

2009-05-19T13:46:00.006-04:00

ColorSchemeDesigner.com

Online application for creating color schemes, complete solution by Petr Staníček (Pixy)

Professional designer and developer, amateur musician and bardling, dropout typographer, happy father of two beautiful daughters, mathemagician, lazy linguistician, almost professional cook and about 6'5 tall fool. At your service.

The Daily Script

2009-05-16T01:29:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the Daily Script, a collection of movie scripts and screenplays to serve as a resource for writers and actors and those who simply enjoy reading movie scripts. The movie scripts are presented in proper script format (for the most part) and where possible, multiple drafts are presented. A movie script will be featured daily, (hence the name Daily Script). If the daily script doesn't pique your interest, check out the SCRIPTS section for a selection of other movie scripts.

These are for Educational Purposes only. If you can't find what you are looking for, please visit the LINKS section under Downloadable Movie Scripts and I am sure that you will find what you are looking for.

You've Got Mail by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron
Based on: The Shop Around The corner by Nikolaus Laszlo

FADE IN ON:

CYBERSPACE

We have a sense of cyberspace-travel as we hurtle through a
sky that's just beginning to get light. There are a few
stars but they fade and the sky turns a milky blue and a big
computer sun starts to rise.

We continue hurtling through space and see that we're heading
over a computer version of the New York City skyline. We
move over Central Park. It's fall and the leaves are
glorious reds and yellows.

We reach the West Side of Manhattan and move swiftly down
Broadway with its stores and gyms and movies theatres and
turn onto a street in the West 80s.

Hold in front of a New York brownstone.

At the bottom of the screen a small rectangle appears and the
words:

ADDING ART

As the rectangle starts to fill with color, we see a percentage
increase from 0% to 100%. When it hits 100% the image pops and
we are in real life.

Goethe Theory of Colours

2009-05-14T08:58:00.004-04:00

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Goethe is considered by many to be the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in Western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered whether painting might not be his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that he would ultimately be remembered above all for his work on colour.
Scanned copy of English translation as a Google book

Searchology event

2009-05-13T09:13:00.001-04:00

More Search Options and other updates from our Searchology event

5/12/2009 12:15:00 PM

Today we are hosting our second Searchology event, to update our users, partners, and customers on the progress we have made in search and tell them about new features. Our first Searchology was two years ago, when we were excited to launch Universal Search, a feature that blended results of different types (web pages, images, videos, books, etc.) on the results page. Since then Universal Search has grown quite a bit, adding new types of results, expanding to new countries, and triggering on ten times as many queries as it did when we launched it.

But as people get more sophisticated at search they are coming to us to solve more complex problems. To stay on top of this, we have spent a lot of time looking at how we can better understand the wide range of information that's on the web and quickly connect people to just the nuggets they need at that moment. We want to help our users find more useful information, and do more useful things with it.

Our first announcement today is a new set of features that we call Search Options, which are a collection of tools that let you slice and dice your results and generate different views to find what you need faster and easier. Search Options helps solve a problem that can be vexing: what query should I ask? Read more...

Student Ideas - Orion Orbes

2009-05-12T21:45:00.002-04:00

My name is Orion Orbes, I'm 21. I was born and raised in Cancun, Mexico. I moved to Northwest Florida in 2003, then moved to Orlando in April of 2008. I've been going to Full Sail for Digital Arts & Design since January 2009. I've been drawing since I was 5 years old. I come from an artsy family, often drawing inspiration from my uncle's paintings and my father's detailed pencil drawings. I want a career in graphic design and illustration because of the creativity involved and I like bringing ideas to life. I drew this as part of a project called "more", which involves illustrating a a positive statement with the word more. Live more, Love more, Be more, etc. With this piece I illustrated a monster mouth with it's teeth in the shape of the words "SHOUT MORE". The meaning is self-explanatory. People often keep their negative emotions inside when in fact we should keep those emotions out. This piece is a reminder that we can shout more whenever we want, and relieve ourselves from negative attitudes.
Some of my favorite artists include Jeremy Fish, Earl Funk, Jason Stephan and Bansky.

Jeremy Fish
sillypinkbunnies.com

Earl Funk
myspace.com/1earlfunk

Jason Stephan
jasonstephan.com

Bansky
bansky.co.uk

Photographer Adrian Samson

2009-05-11T21:12:00.002-04:00

The Saatchi Gallery

2009-05-11T21:04:00.001-04:00

The Saatchi Gallery aims to provide an innovative forum for contemporary art, presenting work by largely unseen young artists or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK.

The audience for exhibitions of contemporary art has increased widely during the last ten years as general awareness and interest in contemporary art has developed both in Britain and abroad.

When The Saatchi Gallery first opened over twenty years ago it was only those who had a dedicated interest in contemporary art who sought out the gallery to see work by new artists. The audience, however, built steadily over the years and by the time the gallery left its second home at County Hall, visitor numbers reached 600,000 per annum, with over 1,000 schools organising student visits.

The Saatchi Gallery has worked with media sponsors on a number of shows including The Observer, The Sunday Times, Evening Standard, The Independent on Sunday and Time Out.

Many artists showing at The Saatchi Gallery are unknown when first exhibited, not only to the general public but also to the commercial art world. Many of these artists are subsequently offered shows by galleries and museums internationally. In this effect, the gallery also operates as a springboard for young artists to launch their careers.

How Agnès Varda “Invented” the New Wave

2009-05-05T10:10:00.003-04:00

http://www.youtube.com
BY GINETTE VINCENDEAU
In September 1997, I saw Agnès Varda introduce a brand-new 35 mm print of her first feature film, La Pointe Courte (made in 1954), to an admiring audience at Yale University. More astonishing than the luminous black-and-white images was Varda’s claim that she had seen virtually no other films before making it (after racking her brain, she could come up with only Citizen Kane). Whether Varda’s assertion was true or the whim of an artist who does not wish to acknowledge any influence, La Pointe Courte is a stunningly beautiful and accomplished first film. It has also, deservedly, achieved a cult status in film history as, in the words of historian Georges Sadoul, “truly the first film of the nouvelle vague.”

Thanks to historians of that movement, and especially to Sandy Flitterman-Lewis’s study of Varda in her book To Desire Differently, Varda’s role as a pioneer—if not the “mother” or “grandmother”—of the new wave is now better known, and not just for the fact that she was the only woman director in it. Read more...

Welcome to now

2009-05-04T09:24:00.004-04:00

Exclusive: Redefining Urban Art at the Auction House

2009-04-24T10:27:00.001-04:00

Since the early ’90s we’ve seen the emergence of what some have been calling “outsider” and “urban” art — artists who used the street as their canvas and non-traditional mediums as their tools, but weren’t practicing what we’d normally title graffiti. On April 25th the work of many of these artists (including Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, KAWS, Mike Giant, FAILE, Banksy, Neck Face, and many more) will be featured at Phillips De Pury auction house in their Saturday@Phillips series. We caught up with Ken Miller (auction art consultant, ex-editor in chief of Tokion Magazine, and publisher of Revisionaries: A Decade of Art in Tokion) and Alex Smith (auction curator and Contemporary and Urban Art Specialist at Phillips de Pury & Co.) so we can get an insider’s point of view on the rise and relevance of this movement.

Flavorwire: The word “urban” or “street” is often used in describing much of the art available on the 25th. Where is the line drawn between “urban” art and graffiti?

Trademarked Sentences

2009-04-23T20:13:00.003-04:00

Wait a minute! They‘re trademarking the entire English language!
This site collects trademarked sentences and gives them new life by allowing users to reuse them to write funny POETRY and play GAMES. As copyrights are becoming increasingly restrictive, so are new visions of the law. Check our link vault to learn more about "copyleft" and "creative commons" licences for programmers, artists and publishers of all kinds.

LIFE.com launched by Getty Images

2009-04-17T17:55:00.001-04:00

LIFE and Getty Images have created LIFE.com so you can access millions of breathtaking photographs — for free. LIFE.com lets you wander through the legendary LIFE and Getty archives, and with more than 3,000 new photos added every day, it also gives you the best pictures of people and places shaping our world.

Brand - Business Fantasy Camp

2009-04-15T18:32:00.003-04:00

Business Fantasy Camp is a brand new web series that gives you the chance to gain expert business advice from some of the world's most prolific celebrities and business leaders.
Daisy Fuentes' brand makeover

NASA Awards Grant to RIT to Develop New Polymer Foam Packaging for Lunar Missions

2009-04-09T22:31:00.003-04:00

by Michelle Cometa, Jan. 9, 2009

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded Rochester Institute of Technology a contract for $101,237 for a six-month study to develop new polymer foam packaging materials for protecting life support systems on lunar missions. The project will be led by Changfeng Ge, professor in the RIT College of Applied Science and Technology and director of the American Packaging Corp. Center for Packaging Innovation, based in the college.

NASA scientists have been working on the project ‘Portable Life Support System Packaging Phase’ for some time. This award to RIT is part of Phase III. Ge will develop several new types of polymer packaging materials, specifically single uniform foam, layer-structured foam, composite foam and closed cell foam filled with light gas. He’ll also develop the manufacturing plan to produce the materials. The new materials will protect the astronaut’s life support system from the impact while working outside of lunar vehicles, taking soil samples on the moon, for example.

Three secrets to simplicity

2009-04-08T08:38:00.005-04:00

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.” Charles Mingus quotes (American jazz bassist and Composer, 1922-1979)

The 3 lures of complexity

Published on: March 3, 2009 by Paul Boag

In '10 harsh truths about corporate websites' I outlined 3 reasons why website owners shy away from removing content...

A fear of missing something - By putting everything online website owners believe they are giving users easy access to everything they need to know. Unfortunately, with so much available, it is hard to find anything.
A fear users will not understand - Whether it is a lack of confidence in their site or their audience, many website managers feel the need to provide endless instructions to users. Unfortunately, users never read this copy.
A desperate desire to convince - Many website managers are desperate to sell their product or communicate their message. Text becomes bloated with sales copy that actually conveys little valuable information.

However, I think there is more to it than that. First, there is a general laziness. It is easy to leave content online. It takes effort to remove it. Second (and more importantly) there is a desire to please users. If a user asks for a feature or piece of content, we feel obliged to provide it.

3 questions that encourage simplicity

Adding functionality requested by users is not always a good idea. You need to ask 3 questions...

How many people are asking for it? - If only a few people request a piece of functionality, there may not be the demand to justify the time and money.
Who is asking for it? - If it is not being requested by your primary audience then you should probably not be building it.
How will it affect others? - With new functionality comes complexity. Will that functionality confuse some users? Will it distract from your main call to action?

What then do you do if your site has become overly complex? How do you achieve simplicity?

3 steps to achieving simplicity

According to 'The Laws of Simplicity' there are three practical ways you can simplify anything, including your site. These are:

Remove elements
Hide elements
Shrink elements

Let's look at how these steps work in practice.

Darn Fonts - How Arial can Mess You Up

2009-04-03T12:34:00.003-04:00

A light-hearted look at fonts. How we abuse them and how they can affect our reading speed and understanding. Tips included. By Louis Crowe

Those darn fonts can be hard to get right!

We spend more time reading at work than almost anything else... so you'd imagine we'd have got it right by now. Unfortunately not, the fonts and font sizes we use often conspire against us. They slow our reading and occasionally make us seem like fools.

"Darn". That is very different to "dam". Yet in Times New Roman, a default font, the r and the n actually touch creating what looks like an m. A yarn can become a yam, etc. A diplomatic incident was averted when someone pointed out that "the stupid dutch" was in fact written as "the stupid clutch"... but in Tahoma, font size 12, c l looks very like a d. There are lots of examples... would you prefer to be "torn in two ways" or "tom in two ways"? to have a clue or a due?

Font choice is critical for ease of reading. With the right font choice you will read faster, with less eye strain and greater concentration. Studies at ReadPal show that optimal formatting can double people's reading speed. Yet people still write digital articles in Times New Roman. Presumably, this is because Microsoft has (criminally!) used this as a default font in their templates. Times New Roman reads very well when printed but on-screen the little tails it adds to letters, (known as serifs), are clunky and indistinct on-screen. No wonder we print out documents just to read them. So, if you are sending an article please use Tahoma, Verdana or even Arial, they are far superior on-screen and perform just as well when printed. With the proper font choices we could save many a forest from being made into paper. A serif font can look classier when printed - but use Garamond instead. Read more...

The Branding of a president

2009-04-01T10:07:00.003-04:00

The Gotham typeface, the slogans, the juxtaposed O, and the oh so clean website are some of the design elements that came together to create the most successful 2008 presidential campaign. Regardless of how we feel about politics as designers, we need to appreciate the level of complexity the Obama campaign undertook and the way in which it perfectly and meticulously carried out the branding of our current president of the United States of America.

The brand, as most designers should be aware of, is not just a logo found on letterheads and websites. It is the image the public sees and experiences when they encounter the product. It is understood and trusted as if it were an old friend or a beloved family member. This product can be a person or thing. Although in our society, the majority of the time we encounter products intertwined with a person who is oftentimes a celebrity.

There are many elements to a brand. First, there must be Brand Association; this is the feeling one gets when one thinks of a company or product. Such is the case of Volvo which is synonymous with safety. Brand association is commonly and easily destroyed. For example, companies, in an attempt to compete with other companies in the mist of current financial struggles, might begin to sell products or ideas in ways that are difficult for the public to identify with. At this point, the brand starts to deteriorate. The public loses interest. Such is the case with Starbucks. In the mist of financial instability, Starbucks began serving breakfast and lunches. Starbucks’ original brand association rested on the notion that when customers entered a store, they would only smell and think about the freshly brewed coffee they were going to buy. That no longer exists. In the case of the Obama Brand campaign, the brand association was simple and clear; this is a man who cared for the common person and their interest were his. He is a man of the people rallying a coalition for change. These ideas, for many, became synonymous with Obama.

The second element to brand reinforces brand association and that is Brand Name. Brand name is the word or words that a company or product is known by. This is done by word association or sometimes, it is the impression transmitted to the consumer about the product. This impression is sometimes well defined while at other times, it is more subtle. In a time when an entire country’s pulse was speaking louder than words, when the people were thirsty for action and involvement, the Obama brand focused on the word Change, and empowered the people with words like “Yes We Can.”

The third element is Brand Personality. Brand personality, in most cases, is given to a product or company by a representative or spokesperson. Often, someone famous or a current celebrity is used. However, at other times identifiable objects that represent what a company stands for can be used. For example, a rock can be used to represent stability or water can be used to represent tranquility and fluidity. The Obama Brand benefited a lot from its charismatic leader but it also used a series of color combinations that denoted patriotism. This included the use of the clean, elegant and very American font, Gotham. The font itself has an honest tone that’s not imposing, not plain or unsympathetic but rather friendly and confident.

The fourth element is a Logo which can be a company’s graphic imagery; this can often be illustrated or simply written. Sometimes the logo becomes part of the entire identity of the brand. It also gives out a desired emotion that will help consumers identify with the company. One of the most famous is the big yellow (golden) arches shaped in an M of you know who. Children from all over the world see it and immediately name it without knowing how to read. These arches act like bells awakening children’s craving for McDonalds. The Obama campaign logo is simple yet quite clever and meaningful. At the top, there is a half blue ring which symbolizes a rising sun. It is also the same shape as the O used to write Obama in campaign materials. The red and white stripes below it combined with the blue above create the American flag, which is completed with a sun rising above the horizon. The logo is symbolic, simple, and memorable.

The fifth element is Positioning. Positioning usually requires heavy research and it determines much of how what has been discussed in this essay will be executed. This determines where the product or company fits in the market place, and its services and advantages over the competition. Given the time in history, the economy, the leaps and bounds the country is taking over the last 50 years, the progressive mentality of its youth and their desire for taking responsibility for our environment, the Obama campaign flourished and succeeded. As society becomes more diverse, it becomes more aware of it surroundings and the entire world. Designers would need to consider target audiences and other common variables for design decisions simply because these things will affect the approach that will be taken for a brand.

Finally, a Tag Line as simple as “Just Do it” stands on its own. An affective tag line does not need the company’s name sometimes. It is a catchy and memorable phase or sentence that identifies the company. The well publicized and constantly enforced tag line for the Obama campaign was “Change We Can Believe In.”

Obama’s campaign ran well most likely because it was one of the best branding campaigns ever put together. The Obama website was user friendly. One interesting feature was the ability to add your phone number so constant updates on the campaign could be sent to you. The posters, t-shirt and other collectibles made designers want to hang them in their office. Everything was perfectly carried out. In one small detail, at the Obama speeches given throughout the country, there was always an abundance of posters. As one of Obama’s supporter and his family arrived to listen to a speech, someone handed him a homemade poster with Obama’s name on it. Several minutes later, a representative of the Obama campaign approached the supporter and gave him one of the official campaign posters. Talk about retaining a brand.

by GIANCARLO BRAND
COLLEGE VALENCIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
JOINED FULL SAIL 2006
INTERESTS Aside from design, he also has a passion for the technical aspects such as maintaining and fixing computer software and hardware including
maintaining servers and networks. He now holds the position as
Communication Chair for AIGA Orlando chapter.
CAREER Giancarlo, also known as "Blue", has worked for several local ad
agencies in Orlando, such as Push, one of the largest design firms in
Florida, and MarkUSA which is now located in Chicago. He also excels
at Photography; his first passion and one he worked with for many
years with several local photographers as well as on his own.
He was mentored by well-known "Design Activist" Julio Lima, founder
of Push and owner of the successful local Studio "Say It Loud".

It doesn’t happen here, But Now!

2009-03-29T05:31:00.004-04:00

Outdoor campaign for Amnesty International. Headline reads “It doesn’t happen here, But Now!”.
Agency: Walker, Switzerland.
Found at: Houtlust.

AMERICA READY TO TURN OUT AND TAKE ACTION FOR WWF’S EARTH HOUR

2009-03-28T12:15:00.002-04:00

Friday, March 27, 2009

From Coast to Coast, Hundreds of Major U.S. Cities, Iconic Landmarks and Millions of Citizens to Vote for Change on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON – March 27, 2009 – As Earth Hour cascades through time zones around the world on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m., millions of Americans across the country will be showing their support for action on climate change by voting with their light switch on this historic night.

From intimate candlelit dinners to the darkening of the Las Vegas Strip, Americans from all walks of life will be turning out for Earth Hour, and taking action by making a global statement of concern about climate change and a renewed commitment to finding solutions to the escalating climate crisis.

Organized by World Wildlife Fund, the world’s largest multinational conservation organization, participation in Earth Hour continues to grow dramatically in the U.S. by the hour as iconic landmarks, major cities, corporations and organizations of all sizes, schools, towns and villages unite in this global effort. Read more...

Foundry - P22 online

2009-03-25T09:02:00.005-04:00

P22 type foundry creates computer typefaces inspired by Art, History,and sometimes Science. P22 is renowned for its work with museums and foundations to ensure the development of accurate historical typefaces that are fully relevant for today's computer user. In addition to its in-house font design, P22 now licenses several new type designs from around the world. Finally, we're sure you agree that no type foundry is complete without its own record label and plenty of merchandise.
P22 Special Project:
P22 Music Text Composition Generator
The P22 Music Text Composition Generator allows any text to be converted into a musical composition. This composition is displayed in musical notation and simultaneously generated as a midi file. The P22 Music Composition Font was proposed in 1997 to the John Cage Trust as an accompaniment to the John Cage text font based on the handwriting of the composer. The idea was basic and simple-every letter of the alphabet was assigned to a note on a scale. This would allow for any text to be converted into musical notation. The idea was rejected by the John Cage Trust, however the John Cage Silence font based on his famous 4'33" composition was accepted and continues to be offered for sale to this day. An earlier project based on the work of Marcel Duchamp was also influential in the evolution of this project. This page and current project has no affiliation with John Cage, the John Cage Trust or the Marcel Duchamp estate.

How Flickr Can Make you a Better Photographer

2009-03-24T11:24:00.004-04:00

by Guest Contributor
Learning by example

Albert Einstein once said:

“Learning by example isn’t the best way to learn–it’s the only way to learn.”

I must say that I agree with the great Doctor. I remember sitting in all those computer science classes confused when the professor went over the steps of a complex algorithm, but as soon as they stepped through an actual example, I immediately understood.

The same principle applies to photography. Just by constantly being exposed to a variety of photographs, you’ll see the world through the eyes of others and gain new perspectives, new ideas, and new inspirations.

One of my favorite things to do on Flickr is compare my photos of a particular subject or scene with another photographer’s shots. I do it because it often introduces me to new ways of looking at a subject or particular scene. Each one of us sees the world completely differently, and it shows in our photographs.

Other than just looking at the photo itself and thinking about composition, color, and all the other aspects of the photo, you can also learn a lot by clicking the “more properties” link to find out the details of the photograph: focal length, f-stop, exposure, ISO, etc. All of this information is very helpful in learning how the photographer got the photo. Read more...

Where will your lens take you?

2009-03-22T23:21:00.002-04:00

Name Your Dream Assignment is a contest for photographers of all backgrounds. We’re looking for the most creative, inspiring photo shoot idea out there. The photographer with the winning idea will win $50,000 to bring his or her dream assignment to life.
What exactly do you win?
The Grand Prize is $50,000 to carry out your dream assignment, plus a digital camcorder and the Lenovo® ThinkPad® W700ds with Microsoft Windows Vista®. Two runners-up will also receive the Lenovo® ThinkPad® W700ds with Microsoft Windows Vista®.
Are there any limitations on the ideas?
Nope. Just keep in mind the $50,000 budget (which will include your travel costs).

Graphic Design & Digital Week in Lorient

2009-03-19T08:29:00.004-04:00

K3 _ Manifestation 1 / 16 - 21 March 2009, Lorient, France
Research, workshops, discussions, art interventions & installations in public space.

The opening of a Graphic Art & Design department at the Fine Art School of Lorient (Brittany) has been the motor for developing a working space related to design graphic & visual arts, and to question what it is to teach graphic design today.
It seemed natural to invite graphic designers, artists, art & design historians, to mix various mediums and practice in order to activate a space for exchanges and experimentations.

Mutation is the word that could summarise the current state of design graphic in France: a discipline that is at the border - or in constant circulation between - art, design, and communication.
If print was originally the main frame of work, the web and new medias (video, mobile phone, videogame..) now broaden and redefine this frame. Read more...

Earth Hour Exceeds Target For Historic Event

2009-03-16T11:31:00.002-04:00

8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. Saturday 28 March 2009

March 12, 2009: With over two weeks still to go before the globe switches off for Earth Hour, the number of cities and towns signing up to switch their lights off at 8.30pm on 28 March has already exceeded the ambitious target of 1,000 set by Earth Hour organisers.

Currently 1,189 cities and towns across 80 countries are committed, with more coming on board every day.

From the Chatham Islands to the Arctic Sea, people from all corners of the world will turn off their lights for Earth Hour to cast their vote for action on climate change.

The historic event will see millions of people gathered in parks, streets, town squares and homes around the world to witness the lights going out on iconic landmarks and city skylines, while taking in the atmosphere of some truly unique Earth Hour events. Read...

SUPPORTING NATURE THROUGH ART

2009-03-10T09:57:00.003-04:00

The Artists for Conservation Foundation (Formerly the Worldwide Nature Artists Group's) is a non-profit juried association of artists dedicated to celebrating and protecting our natural heritage. Founded in 1997 as the “Worldwide Nature Artists Group” by Jeffrey Whiting – a prominent Canadian artist, author, biologist and professional software engineer – the Group’s strength lies in its membership and represents a who’s-who of nature artists worldwide. To maintain the highest level of talent, membership is limited to 500 artists worldwide. New members are admitted by invitation only, through a juried process, and only as placements become available.

human calendar

2009-03-07T12:06:00.002-05:00

Back in 2001 I created a website called humanclock.com. Since the Human Clock website represented time with pictures, I figured I could predictably milk the idea with slower-moving units of time — calendar dates. Sadly however, the calendar remained neglected. You see, the humanclock.com site was still in its infancy: tv/radio/newspaper interviews, late night coding sessions, cute girls asking me out (this was pretty neat), overloaded webservers, massive coffee consumption, that sort of thing.

Poor Human Calendar.

In early 2002, I set off to ride my bicycle around the continent of Australia. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere I was thinking about a lot of random things at once. Whatever day this was, I happened to be thinking about computers and a girl. Specifically, about the then-upcoming humanclock.com redesign and Marcia Brady. Read more...

TOCA ME design conference

2009-03-04T22:27:00.005-05:00

only 3 days left until this year's TOCA ME design conference.
don't miss any news and keep in touch with us!
just follow us on twitter or facebook or join our xing group.

twitter: www.twitter.com/tocame_munich

facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=537627008

xing: www.xing.com/net/tocame

Art on Twitter: yes, but is it twart?

2009-03-03T22:23:00.003-05:00

Ruth Jamieson guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 February 2009 12.00 GMT

When Jonathan Ross is helping with the kids' homework, when Jamie Oliver bakes, when any of my 75 closest pals have coffee, I know about it - instantly. Why? Because, like at least 100,000 Brits, I Twitter. I Twitter from bed before I get up; when I arrive at work; when something happens; when nothing happens. Once I chain-smoked, now I chain-Twitter.

It was easy to sneer at techies for Twittering, but thanks to the popularity of celebrity Twitterers, we're all at it; exchanging tweet nothings with the likes of Björk and Britney Spears, Morrissey and Tina Fey, Lily Allen and the king of Brit-Twitterers himself, Stephen Fry. Read more...

The twartists

Yoko Ono
Perfectly well suited to the medium, each 140 character Yoko tweet is its own mini-performance, starring a warm, fuzzy message of love and optimism. Blissed-out art-hippy vibes.

NaomiPinUp
An ICA commission called Dogs' Ears gave birth to "twoofing" – tweeting as a dog, that is. Digital, audio and visual artist Julie Freeman is the brains behind the bark, with a few chums on board to help out, including diva pup NaomiPinUp (otherwise known as poet Naomi Woodis). Find out more here.

The Tate
Where American museums, galleries and libraries, (The Smithsonian, The Met, MOMA) have led, our art goliaths are following. The Tate tweets extensively about events and new web content. In contrast, the Saatchi Gallery's channel (with over 100 followers), is shamefully empty at the moment.

30 Websites to follow if you’re into Web Development

2009-02-26T18:22:00.006-05:00

May 21st, 2008 by Jacob Gube

I’ve made it a goal to learn at least one useful thing each day so that I can stay sharp and well-versed on the topic of web development and design. To that end, here’s some of the websites I keep track of to find new techniques, resources, and news about building websites.

Most of these sites are updated frequently, so there’s never a lack of new content that fills up my Google Reader.

Because the role of the web developer is ever-expanding, I’ve also included a variety of sites that covers fields relating to web development - such information architecture, user interaction, and web/graphics design.

1. NETTUTS

2. woork

3. Web Designer Wall

4. Smashing Magazine

5. Vitamin

6. Wake Up Later

7. Snook.ca

8. Signal vs. Noise

9. adaptive path blog

10. Tutorial Blog

more...

Social Cause Design - The Girl Effect

2009-02-25T12:20:00.004-05:00

After much effort by the Nike Foundation, run by Maria Eitel, and the UN Foundation the folks at Davos were pursued to have a plenary focused on how unlocking the potential of adolescent girls in all parts of the world could have tremendous social and economic impact.

The session was an interesting lesson in experience design. Conventionally Davos sessions go straight into introductions and statements by the panelists. This time two videos were shown that powerfully communicated the potential of this movement. Before one word had been said by the panelists the audience was engaged. This made a big difference to the energy in the room and the sense of momentum that came from the session. Once again it was an example of the power of storytelling to open up opportunities. I hope the folks at Davos take note and make more use of good storytelling to set the scene for future panels.

You can see the Girl Effect video here.

Tim Brown » 08 February 2009 » In social impact »

A conversation with artist Shepard Fairey

2009-02-23T13:34:00.003-05:00

A conversation with artist Shepard Fairey in Art & Design on Monday, February 2, 2009

Click here to see more images

Delighted when we heard that the arch manipulator was heading our way, his inaugral London exhibition ‘Nineteeneightyphoria’ didn’t disappoint. Alluding to the surveillance culture of Orwell’s 1984, Fairey brought large scale media installations and screen prints to Brick Lane’s StolenSpace gallery, all of which scrutinised and distorted the narrative of the modern American Dream.

Fairey’s exploration into the genres of graffiti, illustration, comic books and tattoo art has led to the creation of bold and captivating works that mix parody and protest. His unique style has led to collaborations with DJ Shadow and the poster art for the Johnny Cash biopic ‘Walk the Line.’

As well as his foray into Hollywood, Fairey has commanded kudos amongst fellow urban artists such as illustrious Banksy who is ‘absolutely positive that Fairey has made more reaches than any graffiti writer in history has done or ever will.’

Hina Aoyama - decoupage

2009-02-17T12:40:00.002-05:00

je fais decoupage avec des petits ciseaux.
duree un mois au deux mois pour decoupe tableau de 1m sur 1m.
il y a album slide show de decoupage.click ici

Logos in need of intervention

2009-02-16T11:54:00.007-05:00

Every day I encounter tons and tons of logos. It would be easy enough to vent about all the dreadful design out there. But most of the amateurish work out there is done by, well, amateurs. The real issue I have is with big, well-funded brands that should know better. I have picked out ten such logos (OK, 12) that are desperately in need of a redesign.
Posted by chris @ NAIL, A full service advertising agency

New advertising campaign by T-Mobile

2009-02-14T12:10:00.003-05:00

At 11 o'clock on Thursday 15 January around 350 people broke into a choreographed dance routine in London's Liverpool Street Station for the shooting of a new advertising campaign by T-Mobile.
Take a look...

Watch the TV ad

The Invisible Force Powering Today's Most Visible Green Brands

2009-02-10T14:07:00.004-05:00

"Green" has gone mainstream, and for many companies caring for the environment is not just a philosophy, it's a marketing strategy. So how does a company that's genuinely committed to green principles differentiate itself from its greenwashing competitors?

Click image to enlarge.

Brand expert Richard Seireeni interviewed over two dozen "ecopreneurs" from a broad range of industries - home improvement, transportation, household products, food and beverage, energy, real estate, finance, and fashion. The collective experience of leaders such as Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm, Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, and the grandsons of Dr. Bronner, as well as other green experts, are a rich source of wisdom for green businesses getting off the ground or for any business aiming to improve its environmental performance.

The result of these interviews is the discovery of "The Gort Cloud" - a term coined by the author that describes the vast and largely invisible network of NGOs, trendspotters, advocacy groups, social networks, business alliances, certifying organizations, and other members of the green community that have the power to make or break new green brands. Read more...

MIT's Sixth Sense Machine Makes Reality Better

2009-02-06T10:40:00.003-05:00

By: Kit Eaton
Augmented reality on smartphones may well be a killer app, but MIT's Fluid Interfaces group is already moving beyond the confines of a GPS-capable cellphone to create a data-driven "Sixth Sense."
The group, part of MIT's Media Lab, designed a device that gathers data on the environment around the user, searches for information using the Internet as a data store, aggregates the results and presents it back to the user via a display. Think of it as a meta-data system for real life.
Dr. Pattie Maes demonstrated the system at the TED conference. It comprises an off-the-shelf webcam, mirrors, smartphone and a pico-projector all hung on a lanyard. The device recognizes the movements of the user's hands via the webcam (and color-coded finger-gloves worn on index finger and thumb,) enabling gesture-commands like the classic "frame" gesture which makes the device snap a photo.
Read more...

Wireless Electricity Is Here (Seriously)

2009-02-06T10:31:00.002-05:00

I'm standing next to a Croatian-born American genius in a half-empty office in Watertown, Mass., and I'm about to be fried to a crisp. Or I'm about to witness the greatest advance in electrical science in a hundred years. Maybe both.

Either way, all I can think of is my electrician, Billy Sullivan. Sullivan has 11 tattoos and a voice marinated in Jack Daniels. During my recent home renovation, he roared at me when I got too close to his open electrical panel: "I'm the Juice Man!" he shouted. "Stay the hell away from my juice!"

He was right. Only gods mess with electrons. Only a fool would shoot them into the air. And yet, I'm in a conference room with a scientist who is going to let 120 volts fly out of the wall, on purpose.

"Don't worry," says the MIT assistant professor and a 2008 MacArthur genius-grant winner, Marin Soljacic (pronounced SOLE-ya-cheech), who designed the box he's about to turn on. "You will be OK." Read more...

By Paul Hochman, Fast Company

Fast Company sets the agenda, charting the evolution of business through a unique focus on the most creative individuals sparking change in the marketplace. By uncovering best and "next" practices, the magazine and website helps a new breed of leader work smarter and more effectively.

Comics grammar and tradition

2009-02-03T21:29:00.003-05:00

Comic book lettering has some grammatical and aesthetic traditions that are quite unique. What follows is a list that every letterer eventually commits to his/her own mental reference file. The majority of these points are established tradition, sprinkled with modern trends and a bit of my own opinion having lettered professionally for a few years now. The majority of these ideas have been established by Marvel and DC, but opinions vary from editor to editor, even within the same company. I'm often asked to bend or break these rules based on what "feels" best, or more likely, the space constraints within a panel. Read More...

by Nate Piekos

Special thanks to Todd Klein, Clem Robins, Scott Allie and Jason Arthur for their time and contributions.

DESIGNING *for humans: Ergonomics for Interaction Designers: Part 1

2009-02-02T08:56:00.005-05:00

Firstly, this is not about adjusting your chair so that you're not slumped over the screen when working on a Flash prototype (although office ergonomics is a very important subject). Rather, the topic of discussion is the increasing value of ergonomics knowledge to the interaction designer. Ergonomics is necessary for 3-dimensional, tangible product design where issues of physical fit and comfort are critical. But for interaction designers in the 2-dimensional world of the display screen, ergonomics has largely been...irrelevant. For example in most cases, interfaces are designed for existing, defined hardware that are out of the control of the interaction designer. But things are changing... Read more...

Ergonomics for Interaction Designers: Part 2

Ergonomics for Interaction Designers: Part 3

Welcome to the Human Factors Professional Interest Section of the Industrial Designers Society of America website. This is one of several IDSA professional interest section sites.

The aims of the Human Factors (HF) section are to promote interest, knowledge, and responsibility for the cognitive, ergonomic, and perceptual aspects of product design and use.

The Next Digital Experience--Davos Session.

2009-02-01T17:05:00.005-05:00

I’m sitting in front of a panel with Chad Hurley of YouTube, Mark Zuckerber of Facebook (wearing a tie unde a fleeze sweater), Shantanu Narayen, of Adobe, Hamid Akhavan of T-Mobile International, Eric Clemens, Wharton, Mike Arrignton of TechCrunch and Craig Mundie of Microsoft in a session of social networking and the future of mobile. It’s a packed room with a mob outside wanting to come in. Read more...
Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on January 30

About Bruce Nussbaum

Want to stop talking about innovation and learn how to make it work for you? Bruce Nussbaum takes you deep into the latest thinking about innovation and design with daily scoops, provocative perspectives and case studies. Nussbaum is at the center of a global conversation on the growing discipline of innovation and the deepening field of design thinking. Read him to discover what social networking works—and what doesn’t. Discover where service innovation is going and how experience design is shaping up. Learn which schools are graduating the most creative talent and which consulting firms are the hottest. And get his take on what the smartest companies are doing in the U.S., Asia and Europe, far ahead of the pack.

Student Ideas - Adam Taylor

2009-01-29T18:41:00.008-05:00

http://onelovedivine.deviantart.com

Born and raised on the Caribbean island paradise of Barbados, I have been surrounded by what most people in the world consider Beauty. A beautiful tropical paradise with white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters. However, over time you notice faults and flaws. Minor cracks in the egg, only seen when held up to the light of experience. I feel very attracted to the decay, amidst the paradise. The derelict houses and factories, the faces of tragedy, in a nation with a history of ripping the children from the womb of Africa. You can find beauty and pain, and love and sorrow. I love this about my country, you can swim with sea turtles or you can enjoy the
solitude of a building forsaken on a cliff over looking the ocean. You can stumble across lonely coves by the sea, or hidden graveyards which date back to the 1600's, overgrown with vines in the middle of a forest. Theres a natural mystic flowing through the air, if you listen carefully - you will hear. :)

Art is a reflection of the self, and a reflection of society. Insight into the soul of the artist, beyond the facade of skin-deep beauty, your white picket fence, your $300 curtains. There is beauty in honesty, and honestly showing the beauty amidst the chaos and the perfection in the broken.

Art is self.

I really like this idea, it gives us insight into the soul of humanity, a cool 'fine art' type project i suppose, not really graphic design. I guess it could be called photography. http://beforeidieiwantto.org/

A really nice collection of crisp clear fonts
http://350designs.com/resources/photoshop/clean-font-showcase

Some of these are hard to look at. But we need honesty.
http://photosthatchangedtheworld.com/

Nice photographic portfolio http://www.antilimit.com/

Pretty big collection of cool photoshop tutorials.
http://www.creativecloseup.com/monster-size-selection-of-awesome-photoshop-tutorials

"Creative portfolios, projects and collaborations" http://www.behance.net/

Illustration - Shadowplay Studio

2009-01-23T21:14:00.002-05:00

Established six years ago, Shadowplay Studio is a design and content studio located on the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles. Shadowplay created the opening title sequence for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which is now in theaters and Juno.

The Art Directors Club

2009-01-22T17:43:00.003-05:00

Don't miss the professional deadline extension of January 23, 2009 and the January 30, 2009 deadline for Students. It's your chance to win a Gold Cube in the 88th Annual Awards. Enter your Advertising, Design, Interactive, Photography, Illustration and even unpublished work in Playground. There are also breakout categories, ADC Hybrid and ADC Design Sphere, and a sponsored award from Corbis! So go ahead, enter now!

Please note: Your package needs to be postmarked on or before the deadline. All payment and packages must be received by February 2, 2009 for your work to be judged in the Annual Awards.

METALLIC INK Final Part

2009-01-21T23:15:00.000-05:00

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOUR PRINTER THINKS THE METALLIC INK WILL LOSE ITS SHINE COMPLETELY ON THE PAPER YOU’VE CHOSEN?

There are always options. If your metallic silver ink stands a chance of looking grey on the rough, uncoated sheet you have chosen for your project, you can always choose foil stamping instead of ink. The foil will sit up on top of the paper completely. Since it is not an ink, the foil will not be absorbed into the paper at all and will maintain its shine on any substrate.

Nevertheless, you will pay a price for this. The printer will need to create a stamping die and then affix the metallic foil to the press sheet with heat and pressure using a letterpress instead of an offset press. Some printers will have to subcontract this work out, which will also add to the cost and turn-around time of your job.

To achieve your printing goals while saving money, talk with your printer early in the process to determine the most economical--and most appropriate--printing technology for producing metallic effects.

NEW DIRECTIONS: This entire arena of metallic printing has been undergoing dramatic changes recently, with liquid foils, inks that aren’t absorbed into the paper, and other unique options coming onto the market under various trade names. Some metallic ink processes even include UV inks, eliminating the need to wait before printing a second pass, since the “curing” (drying) of UV inks under ultraviolet light is instantaneous.

In short, whenever your design piece involves metallic effects, the most sensible approach is to give your offset print provider actual samples showing what you want to achieve. This will help him determine the best avenue for success.

ONE FINAL CAVEAT: Here’s one final piece of information that may help you avoid nasty surprises: If the printed piece will need to be fed into a laser printer (or another high-heat digital press) after being printed, tell your printer early. Metallic inks need to be formulated in such a way that they will not melt and streak in your laser printer. Properly prepared metallic offset printing ink will protect the laser printer rollers as well as the metallic printed pieces themselves.

_________________
*[Steven Waxman is a printing consultant. He teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, sells printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the industry for twenty-five years, working as a writer, editor, photographer, graphic designer, art director, production manager, and print buyer.]

METALLIC INK Part 2

2009-01-13T17:40:00.001-05:00

THERE ARE OPTIONS: Laying down a flat metallic ink (or even a metallic halftone) and then dry-trapping other non-metallic colors on top of it is not your only option. Ink manufacturers and printers are now mixing quantities of metallic inks directly into spot colors, or even into process colors, to create new and different hues. In fact, any color can be transformed into a metallic by adding metallic paste to it. (The color will just no longer be the same hue as the original PMS or process ink.)

Another option is a process called MetalFx, which first lays down metallic silver and then overprints the metallic with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. This patented process (similar to the dry-trapping noted above, but without the wait) allows the printer to match a wide range of metallic colors due to the transparency of the process inks and the show-through of the metallic ink below. Be aware, however, that this is a proprietary technique for which not all printers have received training.

The good news is that in this operation, the process inks behave like a varnish to protect the metallic ink base and keep it from scuffing. In addition, the final effect is opaque enough not to require two hits of the metallic ink. In fact, the entire process can be completed in one pass on a five-color press.

METALLIC INK Part 1

2009-01-07T15:04:00.002-05:00

WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT METALLIC INK?

First of all, what is metallic ink?

It is essentially varnish (a vehicle) with flecks of real metal (such as aluminum or bronze) suspended in the liquid. As the liquid dries, the metal flecks rise to the surface and begin to reflect the surrounding light.

Metallic inks, unfortunately, are far more susceptible to rub-off than conventional inks. (That is, you can accidentally scrape off the ink with a fingernail or just by rubbing part of the brochure or flyer, or whatever, against another part of the printed sheet.) Therefore, to maximize rub-resistance, it is prudent to choose a coated or smooth uncoated--rather than rough uncoated--paper substrate. You may also want to varnish the printed sheet for protection. (You would do this after the press sheets have dried.) This presents its own problems, however, since over-printed varnish can dull the metallic sheen. To minimize this, your printer may choose to add back a little metallic ink into the varnish to maintain the ink’s reflectivity. (Unfortunately, although this will accentuate the metallic sheen, it may dull down the other, non-metallic inks on the press sheet. So it’s a bit of a trade-off.)

As with any rule, there are always exceptions. Sometimes you will need to print metallic ink on a textured, uncoated press sheet for design reasons. In this case, to minimize rub-off, ask your printer about running a thicker film of metallic ink, or perhaps even a second hit of the ink printed after the first one has dried.

The key to success with metallic inks is “dry-trapping,” which means that your printer will lay down the metallic ink in the first pass and then let the press sheets dry completely before printing the other inks or varnishes in a second pass.

Brand New: Best & Worst of 2008

2008-12-29T23:48:00.003-05:00

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.