iconolith

RISD Alumni Art Sale

This Saturday, 03 May 2008, is the Rhode Island School of Design’s Spring Alumni Art Sale (whew, say that 10 times). Since I live in Alaska I won’t be going, but am delighted to be able to look through some of the work that will be for sale by visiting their Flickr set. The great thing is that each item on Flickr links out the the artists’ web sites.

There are a couple pieces that definitely catch my eye:

Joel Greeb’s Illuminated Ballistic lamp. [more info on his site]
Mike Libby’s clockwork beetle [visit the InsectLab gallery]

A Personal Annual Report

Nicholas Felton has designed the Feltron, an annual report to summarize his personal experiences in 2007. Brilliant and beautiful. [via pica+pixel]

One Designer’s Reflection on Unused Work

Last year, for his presentation at the HOW Conference Armin Vit took a look at sample of 100 of his old logo designs, either ignored or discarded after other designs had been selected by clients, and attempted to extrapolate meaning. What really attracts me to this article is the visual presentation of the statistics culled from his analysis. 30% of the designs are abstract, 42% use typography, 58% use a graphic icon or illustration. Fascinating. It never dawned on me to examine my creative work in this way.

Beyond gratuitous visualizations, he also takes some time to reflect on how the designs are now somehow lost on lonely storage media. This aspect of the design process is something I have pondered numerous times. In the past I used to fill sketchbooks up with ideas and drawings, but that was years ago. Now much of work, well let’s be honest, all of my work is digital and rarely sees the light of day again after a project is over. Thumbing through old sketchbooks is immensely more gratifying than scrolling through cold files on a CD. All the time spent creating each piece of work, now lost.

Armin’s presentation was such a creative reason to pull it out again and give it all another chance at meaning.

Image courtesy of chethan shankar on Flickr

Graphic Design History: Backfill

In graphic design, as with all other creative professions, it is just as important to know what came before you as it is to have a vision for where you are going. Surfing around this afternoon, I came across The Design Encyclopedia - an effort to make design history available using a wiki platform. What caught my eye was the wiki theme and the care that was taken to make it appear unwiki-like.

The Design Encyclopedia, part of the underconsideration network

Come to think of it, there are a few other historical graphic links I have stashed away for reference and inspiration:

DesignMuseum.org
Mid-century Illustrated group on Flickr
Swiss Graphic Design History
Graphic Design in Russia
Chinese Propaganda Posters
International Posters (Vintage)

Inappropriate Touching?

Is it possible to enjoy the feel of a web site too much? You know, in a way that is flattering it at first, but then you can’t stop because of one overly-gratifying, sexy feature it has? Is there a line there to be crossed? I think maybe there is, because I can’t stop rolling over the navigation on this site to the point that I kinda feel dirty. Check it out:

Lipsum Cuffs

I’d really like to have one of these - but I would LOVE to have two so I could run around like Wonder Woman deflecting poorly set type with my giant bracelets. You know, like a sort of anal-retentive super hero.

Philippe Starck on Design

I’m a big fan of the TED Talks, brief snippets of visionary inspiration, and what better time to catch up on them than while I’m typesetting course guides for work. Perfect. Mind-numbing leading and alignment tasks are now tolerable.

What more appropriate talk to listen to than Philippe Starck’s talk on design. Unaided by ppt slides Starck paints a humble and vivid picture of human beings in an [affectionately] outrageous French accent, and from a long view shares his motivation to design.

Yo Gabba Gabba

While reading this month’s issue of Print, or some magazine of similar content, an article about the new kids’ show Yo Gabba Gabba caught my eye. Not being a kid, or even having any can be a huge disadvantage, particularly when it comes to keeping up with cool stuff - and this show looks pretty cool, which is why I’m just now hearing about it.

With the vibrant colors, high-energy songs, regular appearances by Biz Markie and Mark Mothersbaugh, and guest appearances by the likes of Tonk Hawk, The Aquabats, and the Paul Frank Monkey I can only imagine the uber-generation of future designers, marketers, and entertainers that are being brought up on this show right now.

It looks like a beautiful show. Thankfully, there’s YouTube to fill in the gaps for us oldbies:
Yo Gabba Gabba intro
The Party in My Tummy song
An appearance by the Aquabats

Super Happy Funtime Friday

I’m seriously thinking about changing the Funtime Friday post to Super Silly Saturdays seeing as how I have rarely managed to actually make a Funtime Friday post on a Friday. On the other hand, Fridays are becoming fun again now that we’ve made it through the really busy season at work. Maybe I’ll give it a little more time.

60+ Places for Design Inspiration - a great collection of sites, magazines, and books. While there are many things on this list that I already read regularly, I some new sites and book recommendations that are great.

Superuse - A site dedicated to reuse and recycling. [via]

If you’re into reuse design you may also enjoy Emotionally Durable Design (isbn: 1844071812) - my best read yet this year.

The Serif - A design inspiration blog that is heavy on typography.

I’ve often wondered if the characters on those futuristic shows like StarTrek ever enjoyed Fridays or if they simply didn’t follow the convention of the traditional “Earth” calendar. I’m not much of a fan, but it seems I can’t really recall them ever making reference to weekly events, and why would they need to with star dates and all that? So, do they just relegate themselves to living at work and committing their lives dutifully to some remote federation light years from their duty stations? Are their crew quarrels over those who hog the holodeck schedule? Maybe I’m just not idealistic enough for intergalactic space exploration yet.

The Design Within Reach Airstream

Design Within Reach is now selling an Airstream model with its own brand of design flair. When I first read about it I was irritated. To me, RVs of all shapes and sizes represent everything that is wrong with consumers and our culture of convenience. Why do people feel the need to cart their earthly possessions around behind them when they vacation? What is the attraction in creating a microcosm of one’s home life in the pursuit of “getting away from it all”?

To my horror, the more I think on the DWR Airstream design the more I find myself appreciating its clean efficient use of space and tasteful decor. Somehow it seems to appeal to my design sensibilities, curses! Nevertheless, I will not allow myself to be lulled by its siren song of materialism - and remain resolute that my vacationing and enjoyment of the outdoors remain free of a portable kitchen, recessed halogen lights, and Nelson Ball Clock.

When it comes down to it, for $50k I can travel to so many places not reachable by the National Highway System, without buying something that most closely resembles a ball and chain - bouncing along behind my vehicle.

An Airstream spotted in the wild, not far from home