June 2005 Archives
Can Animals Create Works of Art? What's more important than defining art is who controls the definition of art. Quite simply it's those who pay for it, and yesterday three of Congo the chimp's paintings sold for $25,000. So you tell me.
Taking client participation to a whole new level, "architect Will Alsop is helping a group of prisoners to design their own jail." The goal is to make the incarceration facility more conducive to rehabilitation than punishment. If you were a prisoner what changes would you make?
Catherine Fishel offers some advice on how to grow as a graphic designer.
The folks at SpeakUp want you to contribute to their growing list of design cliches, which include the light bulb, the globe, the compass, and the swoosh, among others. Some ponder whether a design cliche list is itself a cliche?
Fast Company magazine's June issue is dedicated solely to design. You can access over 30 articles on the topic, including results of their survey that measured "how critical a role people believe design plays in their organizations." The survey also measures the perception respondents believe their managers have of design.
Too Sexy for Times Square? After the decision by Times Square billboard owner Boston Properties not to allow the Plugg Jean Co. ad, M Media's creative director, Michael Cooper, is tasked with designing something more appropriate without undermining the authenticity of the creative.
A well-crafted design brief can help change the perception of design from a service to a core business resource. Here are some tips on creating a design brief.
Trends in design come and go. In an increasingly ephemeral visual culture, is it even worth aiming to transcend the here and now? In The Value of Timelessness, AJ Kandy explains why creating lasting designs shouldn't be considered old-fashioned.
Seattle Times article on the money and time Microsoft poured into the design of its next game system, Xbox 360. A great read on the design challenges and the process they went through to overcome them. A quote from the article about the final design:
"When people there were asked what company might have made the console, they guessed Sony or Apple. That thrilled Microsoft executives." I'm sure it did.
In conjuction with LogoLounge.com's Third Annual Visual Trends Report, GD USA reports on 15 trends in logo design for 2005. Do any of your logos contain these "trendy" elements?
Film or Digital? Well, for some it's not an either/or proposition. The New York Times features photojournalism veteran David Burnett who explains the desire for both.
GDF member Chris Gee and other graphic designers believe that the title "graphic designer" short changes and devalues the profession. What titles can you come up with that more accurately describes what you do?
Michael Blowhard at 2Blowhards.com examines the new graphics language and blogs about some of the new conventions and cliches that the computer era has created for graphic design.
This Wall Street Journal story via post-gazzette.com addresses the growing trend in men starring in mainstream cosmetics ads in Asia. Not sure if GDs in the western hemisphere need to be too concerned -- yet.
Web consultant Brian Eisenberg offers up five crucial, yet commonly overlooked, Web design elements to help a site "feel right" and convert visitors.
Connecticut judge orders Gillette to pull "unsubstantiated and inaccurate" ads that depict M3Power razors raising hair up and away from the skin. This begs the age-old question once again. What should a designer do if he or she is creating misleading visuals?
Steve Heller offers some insight on design entrepreneurship on graphics.com. For those of you who don't want to deal with clients any more, this may the route to take.
