T-shirt concept for the Dutch Football Federation by Bas van de Poel and Daan van Dam. If you are watching the matches in the office, it would probably not be a good idea to wear one of these shirts...
KAPITAAL from STUDIO SMACK on Vimeo.
A fairly excellent source for international groundbreaking and often extravagant design has decided to end it's relationship with the internet today. Apparently blog life just ain't what it used to be. ;)
Augmented Sculpture by GROSSE8 & LICHTFRONT / Passagen 2010 from Lichtfront on Vimeo.
1. Avoid
Do something else, wash the car, back-up your data, do errands…
2. Think
Sit back and think about the issue, just let your mind go…
3. Research
Look up stuff, go through your old projects, but avoid Google — it takes too long to find anything useful…
4. Collect
We all have lots of stuff; there must be something in there that is waiting to be used…
5. Sketch
Drawing is great, even if you have no talent. Just visualising the simplest things makes them come alive…
6. Deconstruct
Take the problem apart, look at the parts and then put them back together…
MINE
To me there are three factors that contribute to creative block: One, believing you’re stuck. Two, knowing you’re stuck but not knowing how to get out. And three, knowing you’re stuck and knowing how to get out, but doubting your ability to do it. Here are my solutions, respectively:
1. I ask myself, am I really stuck? Sometimes we think we’re stuck or we want to think we’re stuck but we’re actually on track and just don’t know it. Some paths are inevitable. Remember, a rut is also a groove.
2. I do nothing. Being stuck is usually a matter of not seeing the problem clearly. The best medicine for that is perspective. I measure perspective in units of time and distance. Getting a away from a problem helps give me better view of it. Instead of flailing away I’ll do something unrelated — like go to a museum or watch a movie. Inevitably, something in that other experience presents itself as the answer to the problem I’m trying to ignore.
3. I become awesome. Sometimes I’m faced with a problem to which I know the solution, but executing on it just seems too hard. One trick I use to get over that feeling is to work on other, easier tasks. They don’t have to be related — finally touching up that paint above the office light switch, finishing a blog post, organizing the garage are all fine examples. Taking on a bunch of little things that I can do quickly (and well) puts me in the mindset of being able to accomplish things. Then when I come back to that insurmountable problem it’s just the next task to check off the list. No more anxiety.
Rethink Scholarship at Langara 2010 Call for Entries from Rory O'Sullivan and Simon Bruyn on Vimeo.
The new Boscolo Hotel in Milan features a candyland of chrome and neon. Click the link for a virtual LSD trip.
This is one of those things that make me think "I wish I had thought of this first." Click here to see Grant Hamilton's portfolio of Polaroid photographs. A comment from Grant via Daily Tonic is included below:Breeze reflection by Djeff @ "Mal au pixel" France from djeff on Vimeo.
From the NYTimes, an article on some refreshed logos that, according to the article have toned down type, friendly flourishes, and happier colors. Below is an excerpt from the article:“A logo is to a company what a face is to a person,” said Michel Tuan Pham, a professor of marketing at the Columbia Business School. "It’s hard to memorize facts about a person when you only know their name but you haven’t seen their face.” So logos remind consumers about companies’ traits and pluck at emotions — “the glue that ties all the information about the brand name together," Mr. Pham said. The economy, environment, image repair — new logos may address all of these. They are also meant to stand out in a crowd, but there are striking similarities among recent redesigns.
I wish people would use these at conferences and trade shows, so I could have an alternative to throwing them away. Come to think of it, all communications should be laser etched into beef jerky..."I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time."
"The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running."
"Rather than a marketing project inititated by Nike, the film was something proposed and produced by myself, and as such I hope represents a much more equal collaboration with a brand."
Skype has made their brand book available for download along with logos and illustrations. It's definitely worth a peek if you have a few moments. You can download the files from here.
Sweet new mural series coordinated by Pentagram. An initiative to inspire young minds, and to revitalize and bring some consistency to NYC public school libraries. Murals were contributed by several well known artists and designers, including Charles Wilkin, a college instructor and mentor of mine. Click the title for the full story.
Ooooo, a new Apple product, so sleek and small and simple. So sexy. This time a redesign of their micro-mp3 player the ipod Shuffle. Discuss amongst yourselves.
According to the NYTimes, Tropicana is going back to its previous packaging design. Below is an excerpt from the article, and is an example of rapid consumer feedback influencing not just the product itself but also how it looks:The about-face comes after consumers complained about the makeover in letters, e-mail messages and telephone calls and clamored for a return of the original look. Some of those commenting described the new packaging as “ugly” or “stupid,” and resembling “a generic bargain brand” or a “store brand."
"Do any of these package-design people actually shop for orange juice?” the writer of one e-mail message asked rhetorically. “Because I do, and the new cartons stink.” Others described the redesign as making it more difficult to distinguish among the varieties of Tropicana or differentiate Tropicana from other orange juices. Such attention is becoming increasingly common as interactive technologies enable consumers to rapidly convey opinions to marketers.
And people say designers are the only ones that care about these things...
