Latest Posts from GDF Bloggers
Chris Dickman | May 12, 2008, 7:48 AMThe 200th Monster
There's something intriguing about a daily, self-imposed task that imposes formal constraints but which is flexible enough that creative exploration is possible. More than possible—the work is actually stimulated by the rigors of the premise. Luc Grateau's paintings of commuters rendered on Paris subway tickets are a perfect example. And closer to home is Stefan G. Bucher's playful series of Daily Monsters, which recently concluded with number 200.
Mike Lenhart | May 11, 2008, 10:46 AMSwayed By A Logo
There's been a lot of presidential buzz going on this year, and it's not even the fall voting season yet. Quite frankly, I'm tired of the whole thing. However, being the design-and-visual-minded person that I am, I have been able to cut through the rhetoric and grandstanding and take a peek at what really matters - the presidential logos.
Mike Lenhart | April 26, 2008, 11:41 AM
Patriotic Mix-Up
I have to admit it, I've been angry lately - at least for about 5 years now. Maybe longer. I know there are many others out there who've been just as angry. It's not a healthy way to live life and I know, for me, that it has affected my work and creativity. What am I talking about, you ask? Well let's start with the President's occupation of Iraq - all in the name of 'Homeland Security' and the "war on terrorism". Can anyone else say Bullshit? (Please continue on, there is art here...) Mike Lenhart | April 23, 2008, 11:32 AM
Not Your Typical (Boring) Product Design Book
I recently received a book from Chronicle Books on product design - an area of my profession with which I'm not too familiar. I have to admit that my first impression was, "Oh boy, another book crammed with photos of off-the-wall or otherwise unusable 'products' that only a few pretentious people can afford to have." Kind of harsh, I know.
I was so wrong...
Shaun Crowley | April 20, 2008, 3:21 PMWriting ad copy: How to sell
So far we have covered the briefing meeting, conceptualizing marketing collateral, drafting copy, grabbing the reader's attention, and writing in an engaging style. This week I'll reveal some basic tips to improve the selling power of your copy.
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Chris Dickman | April 20, 2008, 11:57 AMWorking for Pennies
Amazon's Mechanical Turk is a web service that Amazon originally developed for internal use before making it freely available in 2005. The concept behind it is interesting enough, since it provides a platform that developers can use to generate data for their own web-driven applications, based on the concept of crowdsourcing, in which a large number of people all work to complete a project, not unlike ants or bees. Ben Kessler | April 18, 2008, 12:22 PM
FUSE Conference 2008 Addresses Design, Culture, and Branding
Pity Terry T. Schwartz, senior director of brand design for ConAgra Foods. After a far-out morning talk by University of Hawaii professor and "futurist" Jim Dator, who urged the crowd at this week's FUSE conference to become "tsunami surfers" in order to build a "dream society," Schwartz had the hard task of bringing the proceedings back to budgets and quarterly reports. By way of a segue, he offered, "I'm not here to talk about the end of the world; this is about how to sell more Poppycock and Fiddle-Faddle." His awkward transition summed up the entire conference, which attempted--sometimes excitingly, sometimes uncomfortably--to straddle the line between "design culture" and corporate culture.
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Chris Dickman | April 6, 2008, 1:45 AMHistory Is a Set of Lies Agreed Upon
While Napoleon wasn't thinking of the rough and tumble world of the inventor when he uttered these words, history has failed to acknowledge the seminal work of more than one bright spark. But sometimes the record is set straight.
Michael Ulrich | April 3, 2008, 1:32 PMGorn
I just finished approving the last printer proof of the May/June 2008 issue of STEP inside design magazine. The May/June issue [on sale April 25] is our Type Annual, guest edited by Allan Haley, but it was the last feature story from the issue that I worked on that has compelled me to blog this week.
The feature, "The Man in The Irony Mask" by Natalia Ilyin, is one of the most interesting design articles I've read in a long time...
Susan Kirkland | April 1, 2008, 12:00 PMSex, Women, Men & QUESTIONS
CREATIVITY, a sister publication to Advertising Age and B2B is a real beefcake treat; every couple of months, it's filled with all the young men in advertising in various states of undress. Of course, it features their work, too, but it's hard to find any articles or features on women in advertising. The only women in that publication is the female editor, Teresa Iezzi and the occasional model appearing in ads. Good news, though, the February issue included a small POV article by Paula Scher. The advertising industry male-dominated power brokers should rely less on their sexual politics and more on the social fact that men and women are equal and roles in society should not be based on gender.
Post a Comment... Or the Cat Gets It
That's right, we're talking to you. Yes you, the one who visits the Graphics.com Network blogs regularly to glean pearls of wisdom from the dedicated blogging team. You've learnt much, haven't you? You've been the beneficiary of our collective insights, correct? And yet, have you taken the time to acknowledge our ceaseless efforts on your behalf, even once? Well, have you? We thought not. Well, buster, we've had enough of your kind. So get typing. Now. We have your IP address, we know where you live. So when fuzzball here gets it, expect a Fed Ex package with the gruesome remains. That's right, the demise of the old fleabag will be on your hands. There's just one way out of this dilemma—type, type like the wind. What are you waiting for? Post that comment! We are not kidding.
Mike Lenhart | March 28, 2008, 2:58 PMThe Art of Public Transportation
I came across an article in the digital version of our local San Francisco paper (SFGate.com) that restored hope in my fellow man - er, artist. It seems that there can be art in many things and many things that we come in contact with on a daily basis really should not be taken for granted. And so it should be with the bus pass.
Chris Dickman | March 28, 2008, 5:06 AMGoing, Going, Gone
We humans are a strange breed. Throughout our history we've managed to bring forth engineering projects on a staggering scale, such as The Great Wall of China. Graceful structures spanning continents and millenia testify to the ancient beliefs and aesthetic refinement of cultures that could have much to teach us. The backdrop for these marvels of human ingenuity is the natural wonder of the Earth itself, at one time a source of spiritual and material sustenance. But rather than cherishing all this, we have systematically destroyed the best of what we have inherited from those who came before, either through neglect, greed or intolerance. And what little remains, is going fast.
Ben Kessler | March 27, 2008, 12:57 PMMediabistro's "Advertising: The New Creative Agency" Panel
The speakers at last night's Mediabistro event at Tribeca Cinemas expressed quite a few essential insights, even if no consensus was reached on pretty much any aspect of the discussion's broad topic: the future of advertising in a digital age.
Chris Dickman | March 18, 2008, 2:51 AMThe Sushi Variations
Blazing Sushi? That seems like a contradition in terms, given that one of the main ingredients of this popular dish is, in fact, raw. But in the world of design, clients with strange names are not unknown. Nor are design briefs that insist on including long strings of relatively dull text that must be somehow elegantly worked into a small area. These, and other perils, await the brave designer hardy enough to take on AbleStock.com Design Brief 8, currently running on Graphics.com.
