It is finished. DONE.
I went to ge tthings printed and bound yesterday. Of course, the colors were atrociously dark so I had to do some last minute lightening. Unfortunately, even though I went in for test printing a week ago, the prints came out beautifully but darker than expected and a little blurry. So while it is "over" and I've completed the project for due date's sake, I am not fully pleased. But printing aside, I think the project is GREAT. The photography came out much better than I thought it would and my client was very happy indeed with the outcome. In fact, we may go on to work further on the book proposal and make it a reality. That would be WONDERFUL. I already have a couple of design projects lined up so it really is on the up and up.
Back to the project. I am turning it in and my heart is singing about a million lyrics of joy. I would definitely say I have grown in my design capabilities, although, there is plenty of room for improvement. I already have my next design goal in mind [learning Flash and gaining a better understanding of the RGB and CMYK relationship... the discrepancy between what I see on the screen and how things print is honestly the bane of my existance...]. Anyway-- Forward, march!!!
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
It's Been So Long
AH! I completely left my blog untouched for 2 weeks. But, not to worry, it was with good reason. I have been terribly busy with photoshoots, editing, and designing. Whew! So let's cover what I've completed...
Photography. It's allll done! We have themed shots, and icon shots. About 800 photos to choose from in all. [I finally understand and appreciate when they warn the models they only have 50 frames on America's Next Top Model! That many frames only produces 3 or 4 perfectly worthy shots...] Some of them are seriously lacking in inspiration, but others are breathtakingly gorgeous. I'm so excited for my final publications.
The logo. It looks so sexy with it's juicy color and high resolution. We're talking professional quality here people. And the "client" has seen it and loves. 3 cheers for getting it right!
The Look Book is DONE. That's right, I have put it all together and it looks fabulous. Now it just needs to be edited, and printed. It's been a fairly tricky process in that my client is VERY self-concious [which isn't a bad thing in terms of PR...] so picking photos that speak to the cohesiveness of message and ddesign has been difficult. She wants to feel pretty [can you blame her] but sometimes fails to see the beauty in particular photographs. Alas, that is the purpose of such a project... learning how to work with a subject and produce something more than satisfactory for both the client and the public or whomever it is inteded for...
That's well and good, you say, but what all is MISSING and queued up to be completed? Well, my good friends, I must complete the book teaser for starters. I need to finish the content and layout examples. It won't be very large, but it still needs to be sharp as a tac in terms of design. After all, it's basically a proposal. Also, I need to finish putting together all of my research. It is currently scattered like a broken string of pearls. Finding and picking them up is easy enough, but they are all over the place and will take some time getting back in order. Yikes.
With that, I must leave you so that I may continue working on my project. But you need some visual munchies to hold you over [I know, words are not enough] until the finished product. So I leave you with a few particularly gorgeous photos of the lovely Ruby Randolph. [My amateur photography skills are gonna leave you jealous and wanting more... I know.]
Photography. It's allll done! We have themed shots, and icon shots. About 800 photos to choose from in all. [I finally understand and appreciate when they warn the models they only have 50 frames on America's Next Top Model! That many frames only produces 3 or 4 perfectly worthy shots...] Some of them are seriously lacking in inspiration, but others are breathtakingly gorgeous. I'm so excited for my final publications.
The logo. It looks so sexy with it's juicy color and high resolution. We're talking professional quality here people. And the "client" has seen it and loves. 3 cheers for getting it right!
The Look Book is DONE. That's right, I have put it all together and it looks fabulous. Now it just needs to be edited, and printed. It's been a fairly tricky process in that my client is VERY self-concious [which isn't a bad thing in terms of PR...] so picking photos that speak to the cohesiveness of message and ddesign has been difficult. She wants to feel pretty [can you blame her] but sometimes fails to see the beauty in particular photographs. Alas, that is the purpose of such a project... learning how to work with a subject and produce something more than satisfactory for both the client and the public or whomever it is inteded for...
That's well and good, you say, but what all is MISSING and queued up to be completed? Well, my good friends, I must complete the book teaser for starters. I need to finish the content and layout examples. It won't be very large, but it still needs to be sharp as a tac in terms of design. After all, it's basically a proposal. Also, I need to finish putting together all of my research. It is currently scattered like a broken string of pearls. Finding and picking them up is easy enough, but they are all over the place and will take some time getting back in order. Yikes.
With that, I must leave you so that I may continue working on my project. But you need some visual munchies to hold you over [I know, words are not enough] until the finished product. So I leave you with a few particularly gorgeous photos of the lovely Ruby Randolph. [My amateur photography skills are gonna leave you jealous and wanting more... I know.]
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Uhhh. Ya.
I know. I know. It's Tuesday. You have been biting your nails all week and there wasn't a post to keep you updated. I'm late. But I wanted to have more to tell you lovelies...
So in the past week I have been working on the more artistic bits of my project. Titles for the client's first book as well as content. Flourishes and secial touches for the book design. Logo design. You will be pleased to know that I am in the process of transferring sketches to photoshop and making them suitable for design and layout work. I like them and so does the client. How did we get there?...
Well I took her out to look at fabrics, colors, and patterns. I took pictures and notes on her ideas and loves for colors and textures and prints. So I have arrived at different elements of designs and sketched them out so they can be pieced together and used for different flourishes and layouts on the book. Instead of copying patterns I had already seen or just copy and pasting, I decided to go ahead and just create my own. So not only are they unique, but they meld together her different inspirations and emotions to be shared with her and her adoring public. Fabulous.
The logo was actually fairly easy. I had an original idea that seemd very basic and possibly done before, but the further I got sketching out other ideas and possibilities, the further away from the brand I strayed. The original idea was the most true to the client, and the brand. It was organic in the sense that it was something that any person might come up with it as their logo or insignia, but everything about breathed the essence of the client and her brand. So I'm sticking to it!
I know that plenty of people would say that I need to branch out and try different things, etc. But I am taking a hint from Paula Scher: If it works than it works. When she designed the Citibank logo after their merger she did it in all of 15 minutes on, like, a paper napkin!!!! She discussed how clients like it when you take your time because they want to feel like they are paying for something but when you are good you are good, and when it's right it is right. That is the way design works. The best design doesn't always come from hard laborious thought and work. Sometimes it is just a random spark-- a synapse out of millions. And Citibank got what they paid for-- great design. Their logo is PERFECT in every way that a logo should be: simple, recognizable, memorable, and usable.
This logo happens to be one of my synapses out of millions. It just works. Disagree if you will, but I've made my design decision. [But you don't get to see it yet, HA!]
This week, we go shopping! Oh yes. the client and I are going hunting for the looks. Since this brand is about a personality, she has to have a "look." I've decided that it's not going to be too brand heavy. This personality may be about "fabulousness" but what is unique is how personable and reachable she is. It's nto about lording greatness, wisdom, and beauty over everyone else. It's about reaching people from where she is to were they are. What she has is unique, but you can get there too. The idea is to be your own original and be just as fabulous... not some New York skalking designer glamazon afraid of a polyester dress or an item off the sale rack.
Also, I will be putting together content for the brand guidelines as well as the book teaser. And as for the research, I am basically there. Survey analysis will be done next week, and I will be putting together a couple of short case studies of other self-made brands. And, unless my eyes deceive me, there is a photoshoot on the horizon... :)
So in the past week I have been working on the more artistic bits of my project. Titles for the client's first book as well as content. Flourishes and secial touches for the book design. Logo design. You will be pleased to know that I am in the process of transferring sketches to photoshop and making them suitable for design and layout work. I like them and so does the client. How did we get there?...
Well I took her out to look at fabrics, colors, and patterns. I took pictures and notes on her ideas and loves for colors and textures and prints. So I have arrived at different elements of designs and sketched them out so they can be pieced together and used for different flourishes and layouts on the book. Instead of copying patterns I had already seen or just copy and pasting, I decided to go ahead and just create my own. So not only are they unique, but they meld together her different inspirations and emotions to be shared with her and her adoring public. Fabulous.
The logo was actually fairly easy. I had an original idea that seemd very basic and possibly done before, but the further I got sketching out other ideas and possibilities, the further away from the brand I strayed. The original idea was the most true to the client, and the brand. It was organic in the sense that it was something that any person might come up with it as their logo or insignia, but everything about breathed the essence of the client and her brand. So I'm sticking to it!
I know that plenty of people would say that I need to branch out and try different things, etc. But I am taking a hint from Paula Scher: If it works than it works. When she designed the Citibank logo after their merger she did it in all of 15 minutes on, like, a paper napkin!!!! She discussed how clients like it when you take your time because they want to feel like they are paying for something but when you are good you are good, and when it's right it is right. That is the way design works. The best design doesn't always come from hard laborious thought and work. Sometimes it is just a random spark-- a synapse out of millions. And Citibank got what they paid for-- great design. Their logo is PERFECT in every way that a logo should be: simple, recognizable, memorable, and usable.
This logo happens to be one of my synapses out of millions. It just works. Disagree if you will, but I've made my design decision. [But you don't get to see it yet, HA!]
This week, we go shopping! Oh yes. the client and I are going hunting for the looks. Since this brand is about a personality, she has to have a "look." I've decided that it's not going to be too brand heavy. This personality may be about "fabulousness" but what is unique is how personable and reachable she is. It's nto about lording greatness, wisdom, and beauty over everyone else. It's about reaching people from where she is to were they are. What she has is unique, but you can get there too. The idea is to be your own original and be just as fabulous... not some New York skalking designer glamazon afraid of a polyester dress or an item off the sale rack.
Also, I will be putting together content for the brand guidelines as well as the book teaser. And as for the research, I am basically there. Survey analysis will be done next week, and I will be putting together a couple of short case studies of other self-made brands. And, unless my eyes deceive me, there is a photoshoot on the horizon... :)
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
I've Been A Bad Girl...
As can easily be noted, this blog has fallen into a state of disrepair complete with cyber cobwebs from lingering spirder-bots betwixt the last post and the gaping space up to now. Tsk tsk.
But no more! To keep myself accountable as a designer with a client to answer to [as opposed to a nutty creative person with answers but no explanations] my goal is to provide an orderly weekly update on my final project as well as tidbits of other design I am working on to fill the mean time. So here goes...
I have had a few meetings with my "client" and I have given her homework. Since I am branding her "personality," it is key that she plays an active role in the process. I have assigned her homework such as creating her own catch-phrases and quotes that embody who she is and wht she stands for. She loves the idea of performing but I have brought the brief back to reality by deciding on promoting her as more of a "lady's feminist and kitsch writer" instead of an all-around character and peformer. She has so many poignant ideas and things to say that are much more realistically introduced to the market through "fabulous literature" instead of an on-stage variety show.
The personality has also been greatly whittled down to key messages and insights. So my research is headed in a different direction than I had originally considered. I'm looking more into communicating "fearless feminine feminism" as opposed to glitter and general performer fabulosity. Hopefully, my research will be completed and analysed by the end of next week. There is much designing to be done, but I can't really get started until I know exactly what to communicate and HOW.
Interestingly enough, my research and work with the client has led me to a different realization of the outcome. I intend to produce brand guidelines as well as a book teaser for what would be her introduction to the market...
In other design news, I have been working on a couple of logo designs for anotehr brief. The logo is for a media team handbook. I considered goign the bland businessy route, but decided that a theme would be much more fun and representative of the media team. I am designing an "academy patch" logo. The idea revolves around high school handbooks and yearbooks/annuals. The magazine/handbook would be a publication given to newcomers to the media team to introduce them to the different teams, their work, and jsut a general handbook to joining the team.As a member of the team I have seen them to be a fun-loving and creative bunch and it's more liek an after-school club than a boring corporate team. So that is a bit of the background. It isn't finished yet, but I thought I would give you a little peek as to how it is coming along...
[The colors and depth haven't translated terribly well but you get the general idea..]
But no more! To keep myself accountable as a designer with a client to answer to [as opposed to a nutty creative person with answers but no explanations] my goal is to provide an orderly weekly update on my final project as well as tidbits of other design I am working on to fill the mean time. So here goes...
I have had a few meetings with my "client" and I have given her homework. Since I am branding her "personality," it is key that she plays an active role in the process. I have assigned her homework such as creating her own catch-phrases and quotes that embody who she is and wht she stands for. She loves the idea of performing but I have brought the brief back to reality by deciding on promoting her as more of a "lady's feminist and kitsch writer" instead of an all-around character and peformer. She has so many poignant ideas and things to say that are much more realistically introduced to the market through "fabulous literature" instead of an on-stage variety show.
The personality has also been greatly whittled down to key messages and insights. So my research is headed in a different direction than I had originally considered. I'm looking more into communicating "fearless feminine feminism" as opposed to glitter and general performer fabulosity. Hopefully, my research will be completed and analysed by the end of next week. There is much designing to be done, but I can't really get started until I know exactly what to communicate and HOW.
Interestingly enough, my research and work with the client has led me to a different realization of the outcome. I intend to produce brand guidelines as well as a book teaser for what would be her introduction to the market...
In other design news, I have been working on a couple of logo designs for anotehr brief. The logo is for a media team handbook. I considered goign the bland businessy route, but decided that a theme would be much more fun and representative of the media team. I am designing an "academy patch" logo. The idea revolves around high school handbooks and yearbooks/annuals. The magazine/handbook would be a publication given to newcomers to the media team to introduce them to the different teams, their work, and jsut a general handbook to joining the team.As a member of the team I have seen them to be a fun-loving and creative bunch and it's more liek an after-school club than a boring corporate team. So that is a bit of the background. It isn't finished yet, but I thought I would give you a little peek as to how it is coming along...
[The colors and depth haven't translated terribly well but you get the general idea..]
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Pull Your Skirt Down! [Your Briefs Are Showing...]
I feel the title is quite appropriate considering the subject of my project ["walk feminine, talk feminine..."]. I have spoken with my "client" and from our discussion and a creative brief I had her answer we worked on the content and foundation of this project. So I have worked on a brief to communicate exactly her desires, and my practical objectives for this final project.
THE BRIEF
Ruby Randolph: Identity Branding
Create a quantifiable representation of Ruby Randolph as a recognizeable and marketable brand.
Brand Objectives
To change perceptions of women in reference to standards of beauty, enjoyment of life, promote an attitude of optimism, and to affect day-to-day confidence of women to rise above optimism reserved for special occasions.
The brand will...
Inspire young and middle-aged women to better affect their world by improving their self-confidence through self-acceeptance and embracing their identity as feminine attractive women of substance and character as opposed to hard feminism or blatant sexual objectification.
Affect and shift the perceptions of women held by young to middle-aged men from chauvinistic tendencies to masculine and gentlemanly respect and appreciation.
Target Audience
PRIMARY: women 24-44- career women, busy women, love life but have or take little time to enjoy it, finished high school, desire to be/are highly educated
SECONDARY: men 27-50- career men, desire to be/are highly educated
TERTIARY: young girls 13-17- urban, suburban, looking for a feminine role model
Desired reaction of target audience...
Women will embrace their femininity with confidence. They will learn to exude femininity and appreciate it as a character trait and not a flaw.
Men will change their perceptions of women as sexual objects, the lesser gender, or simply as "other". They will change their own behavior from chauvinistic and appreciate their masculinity as it is complimentary to femininity and vice versa.
Young girls will look up to and aim to achieve their goals through their personal identity as women of character and beauty as opposed to whatever the next young starlet appears to be in tabloids or any other form of media.
The brand will promote...
Compassion
Glamour [appreciation, embellishment, acceptance, and delight of inner beauty translated to the surface]
Exuberance [passion, joy, optimism]
The brand¹s personality
Feminine, strong, energetic, and intelligent.
Tone of Voice
Feminine: soft, attractive, and bold
Intelligent: well-informed but not inconsiderately loud
Design Elements
- Name and logo
- Typographic style
- Colour palette
- Tone of voice
- Brand guidelines
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
The Final Proposition
Is it just me, or does the title of this post sound like the name of a Harrison Ford movie? Anyway... I have been thinking about the topic for my final project since the first day of courses in September. I pretty much had it narrowed down in February as to what I wanted to do. As I am interested in branding, I have decided to take on a business project.
I have a friend who has this "alter ego." She's a public personality. This persona isn't just another marketable name, rather she is very unique and powerful while being incredibly "feminine." I have always found it interesting and she has always talked about actually having a stage name and promoting this character. So I am in the process of researching and gathering background on not only creating this identity, but building it as a marketable entity and setting down some definite guidelines on how to publicize and use this identity from putting on a show to designing a coffee table book.
I am fully aware that this is a Goliath project, but I'm eager to get a bit messy and figure some things out about branding and identity building and management.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
I Makes Lists To Organize Lists
For the sake of orderliness, I am deviating from my normal method of labeling coursework. Usually I jsut give it funny title that probably only makes sense to myself, but is still clear on the topic at hand. This time, there are 2 assignments, so I have labelled them according to the assigned prompts. Boring, I know, but also effecient.
8.1 Sustainable Design
My thoughts on sustainable design. Wellllll... It sounds like a good idea. I say it "sounds" because I do not believe it is currently an often enough reality. I say "idea" because not enough people have cottoned on to ACTUALLY doing it. Sure you can buy recycled paper, but that's been around since, what, the 80's? Suppliers of the appropriate materials are few and far between. At this point, it should 't be this difficult to get your hands on green materials. They are out there, most certainly, but how accessible are they? I think that the sustainable elements need to be within the reach of the public, and not just designers with the inside scoop. It's lovely to see designers create cheaper, recycled products and packaging that looks AND does good, but it's all just a passing fad if the public has to buy the finished product. It's like we've left all the cleaning up to designers... major designers.
Besides that, I also think that sustainable design isn't just about eco-friendly products and packaging... What messages are we sending as designers? The t-shirt may come in a recyclable wrapping that requires 30% less energy to make than traditional wrapping and also has a really cool graphic design... but who made the t-shirt and it is it costing? If the shirt came from a sweatshop inVenezuela, then we are still supporting whatwe aim to destroy. Sweatshops are not following shiny new eco-standards. Let's be serious, they don't even count when it comes to sparkling social responsibility [or any responsibility for that matter]. Sustainable design isn't jsut about how you promote a product, or how you make a product more efficient and eco-friendly, it's about the bigger picture. I care about the dumps being filled with toxic and non-biodegradable waste. I care more about the impoverished people playing and rummaging through it, living amongst it.
My goal as a designer is to run around that circle as much as possible. Ethically speaking, I can't design an ad or logo for a company's social responsibility campaign knowing the company sells sweatshop clothing in their stores. Nike ran a campaign to promote sports for kids in less fortunate socio-economic areas. It was a pretty big deal. But rum or on the streets, was that all of the promotional t-shirts and products for the campaign still came from sweatshops that already produced some Nike products. What kind of sense does that make? I am not saying it's all or nothing, because then nothing would get done BUT sustainability can't teeter on the fence. Sustainable design is not sustainable unless it comes full circle.
8.2 Ten Things I've Learned During Critical Debates...
1 Progress is a fancy way of looking behind you.
The most progressive designers know how to appreciate a good classic. The proof is in their design. They either have a gift for, or have learned to manipulate the classic principles. Too many people focus on the future of their field, and how they can be the next big thing. Progress isn't about invention. Believe it or not, none of us are creators. We're just people with plenty of raw material and imagination. There's this shirt that says "Bad Artists Copy, Good Artists Steal." So true. Either you will just carbon copy what you've already seen [and, hey, that works for some people but it's hardly monumental], or you will disassemble the parts and manipulate them into something entirely new. Regardless, it all comes form the same stuff... How well can you make you audience believe it doesn't?
2 Experiment.
So if progress is just a new way of using old things, then how else will we arrive to new conclusions other than experimentation? Every inventor was only manipulating the world around him. Edison did not just magically cough a light bulb. He just found a million ways "not to make a light bulb." The operative word being make. Edison had an idea and he worked it over like a fallow potato field in Ireland. The only difference, is that he yielded from it. As designers, we can't just assume every idea that looks good in our minds is going translate perfectly to the real world. Progress in design is about not leaving waters uncharted, and not giving up when it looks like failure. Test your ideas, and if they don't work then you have discovered another way not to design.
3 Who cares if it's just pretty?
Design has to be more than a nice combination of colors and interesting techniques. They have to come to a point. Design is rendered utterly ineffective if things just look good for the sake of looking good. Doritos and Kettle Chips both look tasty but for very different reasons. If the designers were only out to make the chips look good, then either brand could have easily ended up with each other's design. But the packaging says something. Doritos are punch-packed with flavor, exciting and edgy triangles of crunchy satisfaction and delight: faint-hearted tongues need not apply. Kettle Chips are down-to-earth savory potato crisps direct from the ground. Why mash up the potato with chemicals before baking when you can just slice up a fresh potato and lightly dust it with flavor? Sophistication in a slaty snack if I ever saw it. See the difference? Know what you are saying and to whom you speak. Design accordingly.
4 You are never merely a designer.
If you are in this for the making of pretty pictures, then modern art is down the hall, please leave my classroom. As a designer, you have to learn to say more than "Ohhhhh, I look good. Buy me." There a million products, and you see just about half of them every day. I went to a little shop on the corner to buy a soda, and I noticed that the place was FILLED wit color. All of the packaging on those products said a million things, and quite well, because I noticed the vast majority of them amongst all the clutter. But that is exactly why choosing a midnight snack is so hard... all of the chips look good! Well, if we are only designing to make things look good, we're just a piece of straw in a haystack. Welcome to the club. Design is about the total package. We ascribe to different roles in life: I am also a daughter, a sister, a friend, a Christian, a recycle-nut, a mostly vegetarian, a science nerd, an 80's freak, etc. How else can design affect these parts of me? As a designer, I have to see and address these ascriptions in my work. If my work is only telling my audience one thing, then I'm only reaching one target on one level, and that isn't much. Which brings me to my next point...
5 More than words can say...
My English teachers in high school used to always say "Show don't tell." Most of the kids in my class didn't get it. [Or maybe they did but didn't care enough to always follow the advice.] They wrote some okay papers, but my teachers were tired of hearing regurgitated information and ideas. If you can't manipulate words to say more than their superficial definition, then you will never be more than a mere journalist: reporting as is. Well the same goes for designers.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious, I know what it is but what is SPECIAL about your product? There are ten fizzy juice drinks. Why on earth should I buy your brand?"
"Well those guys are 100% juice [HA, from concentrate...], and those slender bottles over there are just overpriced 'lightly carbonated' water with an infusion of flavor [total rip-off]. But MY fizzy juice drinks are NOT just fizzy juice drinks. They are an experience for your taste buds. We don't lightly infuse anything, rather we have perfectly balanced some new flavors using only organic ingredients and fresh water and we've carbonated them just enough so they are light and refreshing and not, well... frat-boy belch inducing. And for this price, darling, we are so much more sophisticated than our price tag would have you believe. That's why."
Design shows. Use all of your elements, including the copy to show. Just by using a different typeface, the words will say something completely new, especially in combination with the color and form of your design.
6 Ethics are not nebulous.
Many people would have you believe that ethics have to be black and white while others would have you thinking it's just one big gray swamp. Well ethics are both. While ethics are not rigid, they have much more form than a dissipating smoke cloud. For people like Michael Moore [you can just guess as to how I feel about his dubious character], you get to pick and choose because ethics are here to serve you and make you look good. Well, ethics don't work like that. No one likes being lied to, and no matter how many ethical issues you address and land on the side of good, it comes down to your heart. If the heart of your words, and your work are not wholly honest and pure, your audience WILL find out, it is only a matter of time. If you don't prescribe to traditionally held ethical values and morals, then be honest about it. But do not pretend to be an ethical champion because you will find soon enough that some will blindly worship you, some will reject you for your betrayal, and the rest will put you on the back burner and ignore you. If you enjoy, even thrive, off of blind worship then proceed as you like. If you value the intrinsic nature of your work and want to share it with others, then respect the sensibilities of your audience. Ethics are not an accessory.
7 You can always do more than your part.
In terms of ethics and, more specifically, sustainability, you can always do more than your part. You are not just a designer. To only uphold ethical values in that part of your life and nowhere else is pointless. I love champions of global warming and climate change who couldn't stop tooting their self-righteous horn for one moment if it would save their life. Martyrs. I don't care if you want to reduce CO2 emissions by designing a hydra-car because you are a fabulous eco-warrior engineer. If you take 10-minute breaks to chain smoke between interviews for your ground-breaking new design, then you diminish the value of your sweat blood and tears. Sure you reduce the amount of poison puffed out by cars, but your addiction/habit is just another way of polluting the air. Again, ethics are not an accessory. If design is just something you do, then it isn't relevant to who you really are. But a responsible designer recognizes the implications of their work: If it is worthy of your hard work, then it is worthy of your personal life too. Do you part as a designer. Do your part is a son or daughter. Do your part as a commuter. Do your part as aconsumer. Do your part as a friend. Do your part as a human being. Do what you can.
8 Design rules the world!!!! [Insert diabolical laughter here]
People would be sad little schmoes walking about aimlessly in this world if it wasn't for design. Our world is beautiful because nature is the ultimate in design principles, and we had nothing to do with it. We get to work in the morning because a group of people designed a freeway or a commuter train to get us there. The only reason I can find a place I've never been to is because someone assigned and address, and another group of people created a system of signs so I could be given understandable directions. Save art in schools, because designers [engineers, and science geeks included] are glorified artists. Design rules the world. It makes our world beautiful, and without it we wouldn't be able to understand the world around us much less communicate in it. [That goes for you to laissez-faire, and capitalism. Business would be pointless if there was no artistic way for consumers to distinguish you from the competition.]
9 Don't let design become your business, it's a lifestyle.
There are two core reasons for this. First, if it's just a business, then it lacks real meaning and carries only the value assigned to it and that's just sad. If there is no feeling behind what you do then it becomes just another entity traded on the NASDAQ [or whatever, I don't get all that econ mumbo-jumbo]. Second, when you own what do as a part of who you are, you'll make more discoveries. As you experiment and implement your design work in your life, you will find news perspectives and ideas that would have otherwise been beyond your realm of understanding. Ingenuity would be limited, and design would suffer. Progress would be slow, and the visuals would just be terribly boring, and therefore rendered useless after awhile. Own your design work! It's beautiful.
10 Don't let design become your lifestyle, it's a business.
You call this a contradiction and I call it "balance." Don't take yourself too seriously. At the end of the day there is a client, and there are consumers. This isn't about you. That kind of design is for your spare time and for experimentation and expressing yourself. Don't forget the purpose behind each task, because your design will also suffer if you are always the only motivation behind it.
8.1 Sustainable Design
My thoughts on sustainable design. Wellllll... It sounds like a good idea. I say it "sounds" because I do not believe it is currently an often enough reality. I say "idea" because not enough people have cottoned on to ACTUALLY doing it. Sure you can buy recycled paper, but that's been around since, what, the 80's? Suppliers of the appropriate materials are few and far between. At this point, it should 't be this difficult to get your hands on green materials. They are out there, most certainly, but how accessible are they? I think that the sustainable elements need to be within the reach of the public, and not just designers with the inside scoop. It's lovely to see designers create cheaper, recycled products and packaging that looks AND does good, but it's all just a passing fad if the public has to buy the finished product. It's like we've left all the cleaning up to designers... major designers.
Besides that, I also think that sustainable design isn't just about eco-friendly products and packaging... What messages are we sending as designers? The t-shirt may come in a recyclable wrapping that requires 30% less energy to make than traditional wrapping and also has a really cool graphic design... but who made the t-shirt and it is it costing? If the shirt came from a sweatshop inVenezuela, then we are still supporting whatwe aim to destroy. Sweatshops are not following shiny new eco-standards. Let's be serious, they don't even count when it comes to sparkling social responsibility [or any responsibility for that matter]. Sustainable design isn't jsut about how you promote a product, or how you make a product more efficient and eco-friendly, it's about the bigger picture. I care about the dumps being filled with toxic and non-biodegradable waste. I care more about the impoverished people playing and rummaging through it, living amongst it.
My goal as a designer is to run around that circle as much as possible. Ethically speaking, I can't design an ad or logo for a company's social responsibility campaign knowing the company sells sweatshop clothing in their stores. Nike ran a campaign to promote sports for kids in less fortunate socio-economic areas. It was a pretty big deal. But rum or on the streets, was that all of the promotional t-shirts and products for the campaign still came from sweatshops that already produced some Nike products. What kind of sense does that make? I am not saying it's all or nothing, because then nothing would get done BUT sustainability can't teeter on the fence. Sustainable design is not sustainable unless it comes full circle.
8.2 Ten Things I've Learned During Critical Debates...
1 Progress is a fancy way of looking behind you.
The most progressive designers know how to appreciate a good classic. The proof is in their design. They either have a gift for, or have learned to manipulate the classic principles. Too many people focus on the future of their field, and how they can be the next big thing. Progress isn't about invention. Believe it or not, none of us are creators. We're just people with plenty of raw material and imagination. There's this shirt that says "Bad Artists Copy, Good Artists Steal." So true. Either you will just carbon copy what you've already seen [and, hey, that works for some people but it's hardly monumental], or you will disassemble the parts and manipulate them into something entirely new. Regardless, it all comes form the same stuff... How well can you make you audience believe it doesn't?
2 Experiment.
So if progress is just a new way of using old things, then how else will we arrive to new conclusions other than experimentation? Every inventor was only manipulating the world around him. Edison did not just magically cough a light bulb. He just found a million ways "not to make a light bulb." The operative word being make. Edison had an idea and he worked it over like a fallow potato field in Ireland. The only difference, is that he yielded from it. As designers, we can't just assume every idea that looks good in our minds is going translate perfectly to the real world. Progress in design is about not leaving waters uncharted, and not giving up when it looks like failure. Test your ideas, and if they don't work then you have discovered another way not to design.
3 Who cares if it's just pretty?
Design has to be more than a nice combination of colors and interesting techniques. They have to come to a point. Design is rendered utterly ineffective if things just look good for the sake of looking good. Doritos and Kettle Chips both look tasty but for very different reasons. If the designers were only out to make the chips look good, then either brand could have easily ended up with each other's design. But the packaging says something. Doritos are punch-packed with flavor, exciting and edgy triangles of crunchy satisfaction and delight: faint-hearted tongues need not apply. Kettle Chips are down-to-earth savory potato crisps direct from the ground. Why mash up the potato with chemicals before baking when you can just slice up a fresh potato and lightly dust it with flavor? Sophistication in a slaty snack if I ever saw it. See the difference? Know what you are saying and to whom you speak. Design accordingly.
4 You are never merely a designer.
If you are in this for the making of pretty pictures, then modern art is down the hall, please leave my classroom. As a designer, you have to learn to say more than "Ohhhhh, I look good. Buy me." There a million products, and you see just about half of them every day. I went to a little shop on the corner to buy a soda, and I noticed that the place was FILLED wit color. All of the packaging on those products said a million things, and quite well, because I noticed the vast majority of them amongst all the clutter. But that is exactly why choosing a midnight snack is so hard... all of the chips look good! Well, if we are only designing to make things look good, we're just a piece of straw in a haystack. Welcome to the club. Design is about the total package. We ascribe to different roles in life: I am also a daughter, a sister, a friend, a Christian, a recycle-nut, a mostly vegetarian, a science nerd, an 80's freak, etc. How else can design affect these parts of me? As a designer, I have to see and address these ascriptions in my work. If my work is only telling my audience one thing, then I'm only reaching one target on one level, and that isn't much. Which brings me to my next point...
5 More than words can say...
My English teachers in high school used to always say "Show don't tell." Most of the kids in my class didn't get it. [Or maybe they did but didn't care enough to always follow the advice.] They wrote some okay papers, but my teachers were tired of hearing regurgitated information and ideas. If you can't manipulate words to say more than their superficial definition, then you will never be more than a mere journalist: reporting as is. Well the same goes for designers.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious, I know what it is but what is SPECIAL about your product? There are ten fizzy juice drinks. Why on earth should I buy your brand?"
"Well those guys are 100% juice [HA, from concentrate...], and those slender bottles over there are just overpriced 'lightly carbonated' water with an infusion of flavor [total rip-off]. But MY fizzy juice drinks are NOT just fizzy juice drinks. They are an experience for your taste buds. We don't lightly infuse anything, rather we have perfectly balanced some new flavors using only organic ingredients and fresh water and we've carbonated them just enough so they are light and refreshing and not, well... frat-boy belch inducing. And for this price, darling, we are so much more sophisticated than our price tag would have you believe. That's why."
Design shows. Use all of your elements, including the copy to show. Just by using a different typeface, the words will say something completely new, especially in combination with the color and form of your design.
6 Ethics are not nebulous.
Many people would have you believe that ethics have to be black and white while others would have you thinking it's just one big gray swamp. Well ethics are both. While ethics are not rigid, they have much more form than a dissipating smoke cloud. For people like Michael Moore [you can just guess as to how I feel about his dubious character], you get to pick and choose because ethics are here to serve you and make you look good. Well, ethics don't work like that. No one likes being lied to, and no matter how many ethical issues you address and land on the side of good, it comes down to your heart. If the heart of your words, and your work are not wholly honest and pure, your audience WILL find out, it is only a matter of time. If you don't prescribe to traditionally held ethical values and morals, then be honest about it. But do not pretend to be an ethical champion because you will find soon enough that some will blindly worship you, some will reject you for your betrayal, and the rest will put you on the back burner and ignore you. If you enjoy, even thrive, off of blind worship then proceed as you like. If you value the intrinsic nature of your work and want to share it with others, then respect the sensibilities of your audience. Ethics are not an accessory.
7 You can always do more than your part.
In terms of ethics and, more specifically, sustainability, you can always do more than your part. You are not just a designer. To only uphold ethical values in that part of your life and nowhere else is pointless. I love champions of global warming and climate change who couldn't stop tooting their self-righteous horn for one moment if it would save their life. Martyrs. I don't care if you want to reduce CO2 emissions by designing a hydra-car because you are a fabulous eco-warrior engineer. If you take 10-minute breaks to chain smoke between interviews for your ground-breaking new design, then you diminish the value of your sweat blood and tears. Sure you reduce the amount of poison puffed out by cars, but your addiction/habit is just another way of polluting the air. Again, ethics are not an accessory. If design is just something you do, then it isn't relevant to who you really are. But a responsible designer recognizes the implications of their work: If it is worthy of your hard work, then it is worthy of your personal life too. Do you part as a designer. Do your part is a son or daughter. Do your part as a commuter. Do your part as aconsumer. Do your part as a friend. Do your part as a human being. Do what you can.
8 Design rules the world!!!! [Insert diabolical laughter here]
People would be sad little schmoes walking about aimlessly in this world if it wasn't for design. Our world is beautiful because nature is the ultimate in design principles, and we had nothing to do with it. We get to work in the morning because a group of people designed a freeway or a commuter train to get us there. The only reason I can find a place I've never been to is because someone assigned and address, and another group of people created a system of signs so I could be given understandable directions. Save art in schools, because designers [engineers, and science geeks included] are glorified artists. Design rules the world. It makes our world beautiful, and without it we wouldn't be able to understand the world around us much less communicate in it. [That goes for you to laissez-faire, and capitalism. Business would be pointless if there was no artistic way for consumers to distinguish you from the competition.]
9 Don't let design become your business, it's a lifestyle.
There are two core reasons for this. First, if it's just a business, then it lacks real meaning and carries only the value assigned to it and that's just sad. If there is no feeling behind what you do then it becomes just another entity traded on the NASDAQ [or whatever, I don't get all that econ mumbo-jumbo]. Second, when you own what do as a part of who you are, you'll make more discoveries. As you experiment and implement your design work in your life, you will find news perspectives and ideas that would have otherwise been beyond your realm of understanding. Ingenuity would be limited, and design would suffer. Progress would be slow, and the visuals would just be terribly boring, and therefore rendered useless after awhile. Own your design work! It's beautiful.
10 Don't let design become your lifestyle, it's a business.
You call this a contradiction and I call it "balance." Don't take yourself too seriously. At the end of the day there is a client, and there are consumers. This isn't about you. That kind of design is for your spare time and for experimentation and expressing yourself. Don't forget the purpose behind each task, because your design will also suffer if you are always the only motivation behind it.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
PSA For Sale
Advertising is packaging on steroids. Imagine if packaging had a mind of its own. Consumers don't have to buy the product or be standing by the shelf in the store to see it. It's like the packaging walks right into their living room, or sits in the passenger seat of their car doing a song and dance telling them everything they need to know in the most colorful language. Everything the packaging has to say is not limited by shape and size of a product. The sky is literally the limit. THAT is advertising. Of course there are still laws on what can and cannot be said as well as information that MUST be provided. But no law states how creatively the information must be displayed.
With all of the possibilities and open windows, advertising is a tricky business. Try telling an artist with the gift of creative persuasion to lock up his imagination. Ethically speaking, that is exactly the way advertising works... at least it should. With art, there are no limitations. An artist is allowed to say what he wishes and express it as best he can, or however he so chooses. Advertising is intended to persuade. It's not another art form relaying arbitrary information or messages. So besides the obvious don't-blatantly-lie-to-the-consumer ethic, there are other implications to be considered. Because advertising is commercial by nature it should take all consumers into consideration.
This isn't just about what's offensive, and to whom. If that were the case "sex sells" would never be an acceptable explanation for ads like Lynx/Axe, especially considering that they are owned by Dove [that's a conflict of interest if I do say so myself]. It's about knowing exactly when far is too far. Here's a pretty solid ethical standard: Don't emotionally or mentally abuse or affront consumers-- including the ones outside of your target market. Before pushing the envelope on socially sensitive topics like race, sex, religion, and gender consider how far you go creatively. Creativity in lieu of blatant truth can be very dangerous territory. Disclaimers are your friend... there is nothing worse than misleading a consumer [especially since people have more recently felt VERY comfortable with suing for false advertisement].
You have to know your consumer and the world they live in. There are a number of ads that are entirely acceptable in Europe that wouldn't last a day in the USA. Why? Culture. In many cases, ethics can be a fairly black-and-white business. Advertising is full of shades of gray especially because international companies have more than one audience to consider. Not every campaign can bridge nation to nation, culture-to-culture.
Some of the best advertising, however, knows exactly how to bridge cultures, create world community and steer entirely clear of questionable ethics. McDonalds landed a gold mine on the I'm Lovin' It campaign. A phrase translated into a number of languages all over the cups and bags with the Olympic logo slapped on the side [since they are a sponsor] and you have feel-good advertising magic. They could take that campaign to any country and would hardly have to change a thing because the campaign doesn't focus on tiny cultural differences or expectations. The whole idea behind the campaign is togetherness and community: individuality and difference all come together because we are all lovin' it! I personally do not like McDonalds, but I find myself singing "I'm lovin' it," and then I want a Big Mac. Phenomenal.
Bad advertising, on the other hand, doesn't even have to be unethical to put a foot in its mouth. It doesn't have to be sexually, racially, or even religiously offensive. It just has to fail to motivate or effectively brand. [Actually, even offensive advertising can be good in the sense that it gets people curious or even interested, but that's another story...] To illustrate my point, I can't even think of an example. Bad advertising is easily forgotten for either its lack of innovation and creativity, or the exact opposite. Sometimes, advertising gets in its own way. There is too much focus on creativity or humor that the brand is minimized or simply forgotten. Spend as much as you like and be as memorable as you can, but if I can't name the brand when I recall the ad: massive fail.
With all of the possibilities and open windows, advertising is a tricky business. Try telling an artist with the gift of creative persuasion to lock up his imagination. Ethically speaking, that is exactly the way advertising works... at least it should. With art, there are no limitations. An artist is allowed to say what he wishes and express it as best he can, or however he so chooses. Advertising is intended to persuade. It's not another art form relaying arbitrary information or messages. So besides the obvious don't-blatantly-lie-to-the-consumer ethic, there are other implications to be considered. Because advertising is commercial by nature it should take all consumers into consideration.
This isn't just about what's offensive, and to whom. If that were the case "sex sells" would never be an acceptable explanation for ads like Lynx/Axe, especially considering that they are owned by Dove [that's a conflict of interest if I do say so myself]. It's about knowing exactly when far is too far. Here's a pretty solid ethical standard: Don't emotionally or mentally abuse or affront consumers-- including the ones outside of your target market. Before pushing the envelope on socially sensitive topics like race, sex, religion, and gender consider how far you go creatively. Creativity in lieu of blatant truth can be very dangerous territory. Disclaimers are your friend... there is nothing worse than misleading a consumer [especially since people have more recently felt VERY comfortable with suing for false advertisement].
You have to know your consumer and the world they live in. There are a number of ads that are entirely acceptable in Europe that wouldn't last a day in the USA. Why? Culture. In many cases, ethics can be a fairly black-and-white business. Advertising is full of shades of gray especially because international companies have more than one audience to consider. Not every campaign can bridge nation to nation, culture-to-culture.
Some of the best advertising, however, knows exactly how to bridge cultures, create world community and steer entirely clear of questionable ethics. McDonalds landed a gold mine on the I'm Lovin' It campaign. A phrase translated into a number of languages all over the cups and bags with the Olympic logo slapped on the side [since they are a sponsor] and you have feel-good advertising magic. They could take that campaign to any country and would hardly have to change a thing because the campaign doesn't focus on tiny cultural differences or expectations. The whole idea behind the campaign is togetherness and community: individuality and difference all come together because we are all lovin' it! I personally do not like McDonalds, but I find myself singing "I'm lovin' it," and then I want a Big Mac. Phenomenal.
Bad advertising, on the other hand, doesn't even have to be unethical to put a foot in its mouth. It doesn't have to be sexually, racially, or even religiously offensive. It just has to fail to motivate or effectively brand. [Actually, even offensive advertising can be good in the sense that it gets people curious or even interested, but that's another story...] To illustrate my point, I can't even think of an example. Bad advertising is easily forgotten for either its lack of innovation and creativity, or the exact opposite. Sometimes, advertising gets in its own way. There is too much focus on creativity or humor that the brand is minimized or simply forgotten. Spend as much as you like and be as memorable as you can, but if I can't name the brand when I recall the ad: massive fail.
PSA For Sale
Advertising is packaging on steroids. Imagine if packaging had a mind of its own. Consumers don't have to buy the product or be standing by the shelf in the store to see it. It's like the packaging walks right into their living room, or sits in the passenger seat of their car doing a song and dance telling them everything they need to know in the most colorful language. Everything the packaging has to say is not limited by shape and size of a product. The sky is literally the limit. THAT is advertising. Of course there are still laws on what can and cannot be said as well as information that MUST be provided. But no law states how creatively the information must be displayed.
With all of the possibilities and open windows, advertising is a tricky business. Try telling an artist with the gift of creative persuasion to lock up his imagination. Ethically speaking, that is exactly the way advertising works... at least it should. With art, there are no limitations. An artist is allowed to say what he wishes and express it as best he can, or however he so chooses. Advertising is intended to persuade. It's not another art form relaying arbitrary information or messages. So besides the obvious don't-blatantly-lie-to-the-consumer ethic, there are other implications to be considered. Because advertising is commercial by nature it should take all consumers into consideration.
This isn't just about what's offensive, and to whom. If that were the case "sex sells" would never be an acceptable explanation for ads like Lynx/Axe, especially considering that they are owned by Dove [that's a conflict of interest if I do say so myself]. It's about knowing exactly when far is too far. Here's a pretty solid ethical standard: Don't emotionally or mentally abuse or affront consumers-- including the ones outside of your target market. Before pushing the envelope on socially sensitive topics like race, sex, religion, and gender consider how far you go creatively. Creativity in lieu of blatant truth can be very dangerous territory. Disclaimers are your friend... there is nothing worse than misleading a consumer [especially since people have more recently felt VERY comfortable with suing for false advertisement].
You have to know your consumer and the world they live in. There are a number of ads that are entirely acceptable in Europe that wouldn't last a day in the USA. Why? Culture. In many cases, ethics can be a fairly black-and-white business. Advertising is full of shades of gray especially because international companies have more than one audience to consider. Not every campaign can bridge nation to nation, culture-to-culture.
Some of the best advertising, however, knows exactly how to bridge cultures, create world community and steer entirely clear of questionable ethics. McDonalds landed a gold mine on the I'm Lovin' It campaign. A phrase translated into a number of languages all over the cups and bags with the Olympic logo slapped on the side [since they are a sponsor] and you have feel-good advertising magic. They could take that campaign to any country and would hardly have to change a thing because the campaign doesn't focus on tiny cultural differences or expectations. The whole idea behind the campaign is togetherness and community: individuality and difference all come together because we are all lovin' it! I personally do not like McDonalds, but I find myself singing "I'm lovin' it," and then I want a Big Mac. Phenomenal.
Bad advertising, on the other hand, doesn't even have to be unethical to put a foot in its mouth. It doesn't have to be sexually, racially, or even religiously offensive. It just has to fail to motivate or effectively brand. [Actually, even offensive advertising can be good in the sense that it gets people curious or even interested, but that's another story...] To illustrate my point, I can't even think of an example. Bad advertising is easily forgotten for either its lack of innovation and creativity, or the exact opposite. Sometimes, advertising gets in its own way. There is too much focus on creativity or humor that the brand is minimized or simply forgotten. Spend as much as you like and be as memorable as you can, but if I can't name the brand when I recall the ad: massive fail.
With all of the possibilities and open windows, advertising is a tricky business. Try telling an artist with the gift of creative persuasion to lock up his imagination. Ethically speaking, that is exactly the way advertising works... at least it should. With art, there are no limitations. An artist is allowed to say what he wishes and express it as best he can, or however he so chooses. Advertising is intended to persuade. It's not another art form relaying arbitrary information or messages. So besides the obvious don't-blatantly-lie-to-the-consumer ethic, there are other implications to be considered. Because advertising is commercial by nature it should take all consumers into consideration.
This isn't just about what's offensive, and to whom. If that were the case "sex sells" would never be an acceptable explanation for ads like Lynx/Axe, especially considering that they are owned by Dove [that's a conflict of interest if I do say so myself]. It's about knowing exactly when far is too far. Here's a pretty solid ethical standard: Don't emotionally or mentally abuse or affront consumers-- including the ones outside of your target market. Before pushing the envelope on socially sensitive topics like race, sex, religion, and gender consider how far you go creatively. Creativity in lieu of blatant truth can be very dangerous territory. Disclaimers are your friend... there is nothing worse than misleading a consumer [especially since people have more recently felt VERY comfortable with suing for false advertisement].
You have to know your consumer and the world they live in. There are a number of ads that are entirely acceptable in Europe that wouldn't last a day in the USA. Why? Culture. In many cases, ethics can be a fairly black-and-white business. Advertising is full of shades of gray especially because international companies have more than one audience to consider. Not every campaign can bridge nation to nation, culture-to-culture.
Some of the best advertising, however, knows exactly how to bridge cultures, create world community and steer entirely clear of questionable ethics. McDonalds landed a gold mine on the I'm Lovin' It campaign. A phrase translated into a number of languages all over the cups and bags with the Olympic logo slapped on the side [since they are a sponsor] and you have feel-good advertising magic. They could take that campaign to any country and would hardly have to change a thing because the campaign doesn't focus on tiny cultural differences or expectations. The whole idea behind the campaign is togetherness and community: individuality and difference all come together because we are all lovin' it! I personally do not like McDonalds, but I find myself singing "I'm lovin' it," and then I want a Big Mac. Phenomenal.
Bad advertising, on the other hand, doesn't even have to be unethical to put a foot in its mouth. It doesn't have to be sexually, racially, or even religiously offensive. It just has to fail to motivate or effectively brand. [Actually, even offensive advertising can be good in the sense that it gets people curious or even interested, but that's another story...] To illustrate my point, I can't even think of an example. Bad advertising is easily forgotten for either its lack of innovation and creativity, or the exact opposite. Sometimes, advertising gets in its own way. There is too much focus on creativity or humor that the brand is minimized or simply forgotten. Spend as much as you like and be as memorable as you can, but if I can't name the brand when I recall the ad: massive fail.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Pack It Up, Pack It In
We can cry about branding, marketing, and advertising all we want, but it is all useless without the maintenance of good packaging. You can't jsut sell a product as is. Most products need to be packaged to contain the product [food, drink, medicine, etc.], to keep the product sterile, or simply to be up to commercial codes. So between the twenty light bulbs in white boxes a consumer has to choose from, why on earth are they going to choose yours?
As previously promised, I will now discuss packaging as designed by Celery Design Collaborative. To start, it's all about the branding. Package design and layout tells a consumer everything they need to know about the product inside. Basic information... What is it? Who makes it? Are there any dangerous or pre-cautions? Exactly how will the product add to or detract from daily life? And most importantly, what does buying this product say about me as a consumer: elegant, masculine, wise, green, healthy, happy, etc. Packaging isn't just about what's inside.
A package tells the consumer about who they are... or at least who they THINK they are or would like to be. Enter lemnis lighting. These are not your ordinary CFL lightbulbs. These guys use LED technology, mercury free, and last an average of THIRTY-FIVE years. Nice. They are $25 each. Not so nice. But Celery Design Collaborative decided that for $25, your not just spending less than a dollar year on a healthy lightbulb. Special lighting deserves extra special packaging. Consumers need some instant gratification [it's nice to know you won't have to change the light for as long as you live in the house, but thirty-five years is a long time to wait]. So they decided to create more than a box. This high-tech lightbulb comes in a box that tells you what you're getting and also folds into an icredibly cool lampshade. Bonus!
What they tapped into was more tha packaging for the sake of standing out on the shelf. They are creating a whole new kind of brand loyalty. Buying this green bulb isn't just about going green. Go green with style. You're not just part of a fad movement when you buy these lightbulbs. You are showing that you are also aesthetically driven. [Who wants to be a granola munching tree hugger with no taste?]
What I love about this example is that it also discusses the ethics of packaging. It's a necessity. Every company takes advantage of the opportunity to brand and advertise wiht their packaging, but not we are seeing more responsibility. Lush cosmetics come in little yellow bags that say "Is there life after this?" They answer their own question with suggestions on how to best recycle the bags such as putting them on your compost pile in the garden or placing them in your sock drawer to act as a freshner since they smell like the yummy organic soaps they've been wrapping. Waste not, want not.
It's important as designers that we recognize everything not for the obvious... but for the potential. Packaging isn't just another surface to design and sell a story. Packaging is an opportunity to enhance the quality and the value of a product. Give the consumer the gift of sustainable design that adds to their life and helps them achieve something new.
As previously promised, I will now discuss packaging as designed by Celery Design Collaborative. To start, it's all about the branding. Package design and layout tells a consumer everything they need to know about the product inside. Basic information... What is it? Who makes it? Are there any dangerous or pre-cautions? Exactly how will the product add to or detract from daily life? And most importantly, what does buying this product say about me as a consumer: elegant, masculine, wise, green, healthy, happy, etc. Packaging isn't just about what's inside.
A package tells the consumer about who they are... or at least who they THINK they are or would like to be. Enter lemnis lighting. These are not your ordinary CFL lightbulbs. These guys use LED technology, mercury free, and last an average of THIRTY-FIVE years. Nice. They are $25 each. Not so nice. But Celery Design Collaborative decided that for $25, your not just spending less than a dollar year on a healthy lightbulb. Special lighting deserves extra special packaging. Consumers need some instant gratification [it's nice to know you won't have to change the light for as long as you live in the house, but thirty-five years is a long time to wait]. So they decided to create more than a box. This high-tech lightbulb comes in a box that tells you what you're getting and also folds into an icredibly cool lampshade. Bonus!
What they tapped into was more tha packaging for the sake of standing out on the shelf. They are creating a whole new kind of brand loyalty. Buying this green bulb isn't just about going green. Go green with style. You're not just part of a fad movement when you buy these lightbulbs. You are showing that you are also aesthetically driven. [Who wants to be a granola munching tree hugger with no taste?]
What I love about this example is that it also discusses the ethics of packaging. It's a necessity. Every company takes advantage of the opportunity to brand and advertise wiht their packaging, but not we are seeing more responsibility. Lush cosmetics come in little yellow bags that say "Is there life after this?" They answer their own question with suggestions on how to best recycle the bags such as putting them on your compost pile in the garden or placing them in your sock drawer to act as a freshner since they smell like the yummy organic soaps they've been wrapping. Waste not, want not.
It's important as designers that we recognize everything not for the obvious... but for the potential. Packaging isn't just another surface to design and sell a story. Packaging is an opportunity to enhance the quality and the value of a product. Give the consumer the gift of sustainable design that adds to their life and helps them achieve something new.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Behind Schedule
These past few weeks have been unbelievable in quite a few ways. As such, my posts have been rather delinquent. I'll be updating a few things in the next couple of posts, but first, let's discuss some ethical design groups.
Then first group is pretty straight forward. The Ethical Design Collective. Their primary philosophy: the encouragement of education and development, philanthropy towards our fellow beings, and care of our planet and the flora and fauna it supports. Personally, I think it sounds a bit fluffy and self-important, but that doesn't change the fact that they have wholesome goals and a healthy purpose. The idea behind the collective is to bring designers together under a common purpose. It is a forward-thinking group in that it is more of a connection for designers than a design office with headquarters in New York. In terms of their output, I think their portfolio is in its growth stages, but they are relatively young, and I look forward t seeing more of their work.
One thing I enjoy is that they don't just display their work... they display their experiments as well. Many design groups and studios just display their work. While this shows their strengths, it doesn't exactly give a client the opportunity to see rage of skill and ability. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but innovation [especially in this new age of green and ethical design] is the child of experimentation. They remain true to their philosophy by encouraging designers to appreciate and participate and just playing with design. Even the high end design studios can be stuck in the rut of innovating classics. We are in an age of more than great design... looking good isn't good enough. You have to mean good-- BE good. [I am really beginning to appreciate playing with type and creating arbitrary pieces of art in my spare time. It's the random things that inspire.]
The second design group I found is such a little gem of design. Celery Design Collaborative. [How organic is that!?!] I thi k the name just about says it all. The cleanest design does not have to be classically minimalistic. They take a new approach to design that they call "engaging upstream."
"The major goal of engaging upstream from the traditional designer’s role is to shift the focus of 'green' design from a battle over cost to a strategic conversation about value."
Designing ethically, for them, means taking initial responsibility. We have little control over production and distribution because it simply isn't part of what a designer does or it isn't within their resources... but the design is. So instead of blaming circumstances and availability, the idea is to look ahead and include your intentions in the original design. They call it designing backwards. Genius.
They have me all excited and about to jump outside of my seat. They have the neatest lightbulb packaging innovation. PLEASE visit the site and read all about it. Seeing as packaging is the next assignment, I will talk more about it in the next post. Until then... enjoy the taster :)
When I first read the prompt for this assignment, I was frustrated. My ambitions were never to work for a major ad agency. The corporate world has only left a bitter taste in my outh. The quest for design fame and glory and the accompanying monetary rewards have created money-hungry monsters. Advertising, branding, design, etc. have become increasingly corporatized. As such, people aren't always designing to an ethical or moral standard, just to whatever gets them up the next rung of the design ladder. I really enjoy design but I had determied that I ultimately wanted to do in-house design work with a non-profit, or freelance design for non-profit only. That way, all of my work would be ethical and stand for what I believe in. I am beginning to realize that ethical design is'nt about standing ona soap box in a corner and drawing with a self-righteous pout on my face... Just get out there and do it. People, groups, studios, clients... they're all catching on. Ethics are not dead. Au contrare-- they are spreading!
Then first group is pretty straight forward. The Ethical Design Collective. Their primary philosophy: the encouragement of education and development, philanthropy towards our fellow beings, and care of our planet and the flora and fauna it supports. Personally, I think it sounds a bit fluffy and self-important, but that doesn't change the fact that they have wholesome goals and a healthy purpose. The idea behind the collective is to bring designers together under a common purpose. It is a forward-thinking group in that it is more of a connection for designers than a design office with headquarters in New York. In terms of their output, I think their portfolio is in its growth stages, but they are relatively young, and I look forward t seeing more of their work.
One thing I enjoy is that they don't just display their work... they display their experiments as well. Many design groups and studios just display their work. While this shows their strengths, it doesn't exactly give a client the opportunity to see rage of skill and ability. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but innovation [especially in this new age of green and ethical design] is the child of experimentation. They remain true to their philosophy by encouraging designers to appreciate and participate and just playing with design. Even the high end design studios can be stuck in the rut of innovating classics. We are in an age of more than great design... looking good isn't good enough. You have to mean good-- BE good. [I am really beginning to appreciate playing with type and creating arbitrary pieces of art in my spare time. It's the random things that inspire.]
The second design group I found is such a little gem of design. Celery Design Collaborative. [How organic is that!?!] I thi k the name just about says it all. The cleanest design does not have to be classically minimalistic. They take a new approach to design that they call "engaging upstream."
"The major goal of engaging upstream from the traditional designer’s role is to shift the focus of 'green' design from a battle over cost to a strategic conversation about value."
Designing ethically, for them, means taking initial responsibility. We have little control over production and distribution because it simply isn't part of what a designer does or it isn't within their resources... but the design is. So instead of blaming circumstances and availability, the idea is to look ahead and include your intentions in the original design. They call it designing backwards. Genius.
They have me all excited and about to jump outside of my seat. They have the neatest lightbulb packaging innovation. PLEASE visit the site and read all about it. Seeing as packaging is the next assignment, I will talk more about it in the next post. Until then... enjoy the taster :)
When I first read the prompt for this assignment, I was frustrated. My ambitions were never to work for a major ad agency. The corporate world has only left a bitter taste in my outh. The quest for design fame and glory and the accompanying monetary rewards have created money-hungry monsters. Advertising, branding, design, etc. have become increasingly corporatized. As such, people aren't always designing to an ethical or moral standard, just to whatever gets them up the next rung of the design ladder. I really enjoy design but I had determied that I ultimately wanted to do in-house design work with a non-profit, or freelance design for non-profit only. That way, all of my work would be ethical and stand for what I believe in. I am beginning to realize that ethical design is'nt about standing ona soap box in a corner and drawing with a self-righteous pout on my face... Just get out there and do it. People, groups, studios, clients... they're all catching on. Ethics are not dead. Au contrare-- they are spreading!
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Ethically Speaking, Of Course...
I find ethics to be quite a tricky thing. We can argue them all day long but it will inevitably lead us to a conversation on morals, and that seems to be something none of us can agree on. [The whole "what's right for you is right for you" argument is terribly weak yet continues to prevail. It's a bit of a monotonous cycle.] That being said, I am sure that there are some ethics that the "good people" can agree on. For instance, the whole Disny scandal. Many people still hold a grudge about Disney's subliminal sexual animated antics. While I do agree that Disney should be responsible for all of the content in their movies [honestly, the production time takes years and the animators should be held to a code after all their work is for the viewing of impressionable young children], they cannot be expected to take all of the blame for the small things. Accidents happen, and the screeners are human [i.e. not perfect]. Problems like these beg the question: Exactly how aware and responsible should a company be?
For starters, ethics must begin with the consumer. In a capitalistic society, they only make what you will buy. So if we insist on cheap clothes, then it is more than likely going to come at the cost of child labour SOMEWHERE. If overt sexuality is a right and a part of "adult" pop-culture, then how can we expect that they won't produce something containing "offensive" material. It might be for kids and families, but kids and families aren't the ones making the films, shows, and merchandise. So it's nice to see people taking a stand for what they believe in. For instance, a friend of mine from University is trying to get the student population to come together and force the campus bookstore to be a sweat-free shop [no paraphernalia made in sweatshops or child labour shops]. He's started a group and calling the students to come together and actually stand for something instead of just whining about it now and then.
As much as I applaud the consumer for stepping up, I do think companies need to come forward. Know what your company stands for and just do it, don't flaunt it. Ethics should never be a selling point. They should be a standard. Continue to treat something as special and prized and it will remain so. Make employees sign contracts with ethics and responsibility clauses. My high school made every student sign a behavioral contract when they joined the school stating that all of our behavior reflected on the intsitution regardless of when or where it was committed and that we would abide by school rules and expectations at all time. This isn't to say that no one will slip up, but when people continue to make deliberate offenses they can be held responsible.
One company I find to be stand-up is Lush. Originally its founder worked for The Body Shop but found that the company just wasn't doing enough to stand by itsethics. So Lush products are NEVER tested on animals, they are made fresh and mostly vegan/vegetarian, and each product has a sticker with the expiration date and the name and the face of the employee who made it. They also take part in a number of charitable things... but these events are never part of ad campaigns. Ethics isn't something they do, it is what they are. I plan to only work in an environment like that of Lush. If I don't agree with the ethics, or the company standard, then I won't work there. Should I decide to start my own business, ethics won't just be some charity we support. It will come right down to the quality and the content of our work and even the clients we choose to work with.
For starters, ethics must begin with the consumer. In a capitalistic society, they only make what you will buy. So if we insist on cheap clothes, then it is more than likely going to come at the cost of child labour SOMEWHERE. If overt sexuality is a right and a part of "adult" pop-culture, then how can we expect that they won't produce something containing "offensive" material. It might be for kids and families, but kids and families aren't the ones making the films, shows, and merchandise. So it's nice to see people taking a stand for what they believe in. For instance, a friend of mine from University is trying to get the student population to come together and force the campus bookstore to be a sweat-free shop [no paraphernalia made in sweatshops or child labour shops]. He's started a group and calling the students to come together and actually stand for something instead of just whining about it now and then.
As much as I applaud the consumer for stepping up, I do think companies need to come forward. Know what your company stands for and just do it, don't flaunt it. Ethics should never be a selling point. They should be a standard. Continue to treat something as special and prized and it will remain so. Make employees sign contracts with ethics and responsibility clauses. My high school made every student sign a behavioral contract when they joined the school stating that all of our behavior reflected on the intsitution regardless of when or where it was committed and that we would abide by school rules and expectations at all time. This isn't to say that no one will slip up, but when people continue to make deliberate offenses they can be held responsible.
One company I find to be stand-up is Lush. Originally its founder worked for The Body Shop but found that the company just wasn't doing enough to stand by itsethics. So Lush products are NEVER tested on animals, they are made fresh and mostly vegan/vegetarian, and each product has a sticker with the expiration date and the name and the face of the employee who made it. They also take part in a number of charitable things... but these events are never part of ad campaigns. Ethics isn't something they do, it is what they are. I plan to only work in an environment like that of Lush. If I don't agree with the ethics, or the company standard, then I won't work there. Should I decide to start my own business, ethics won't just be some charity we support. It will come right down to the quality and the content of our work and even the clients we choose to work with.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Re-Arrange Us
Right then. So last Thursday we [as students] decided to come together and discuss our projects. Being as I tend to have anti-social tendencies, I was mildly surprised to find that the input I received was far more intuitive then I had expected and got me re-thinking my layout plans. As such, I have been able to really edit my work. I started with 30 pages for layout and am now down to 15. [Less is more, especially in design.] One of the suggestions for creating the book was to actually each design and stack them like discs on a holder. I had thought of something literal like that before but dismissed it rather quickly. What I failed to realize was that I can be literal without being literal. So I am considering doing an actual cd insert. What if I created a list of "lyrics"? Then I could create an insert with a playlist, "lyrics" and the whole design and background would contain the creative content. It may sound a bit abstract and confusing, but I think that perhaps something beyond jsut a basic book is in order here. After all, my subject isn't exactly basic book content.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
She's So Animated!
Right, so about animation. I have to say that I have always found it a bit interesting. When I was younger, I was beyond amazed to discover that The Lion King was actually over thousands and THOUSANDS of pages meticulously drawn and filmed. I was even more shocked to find that different people contributed by each doing their own characters and scenes... [Although I ahve to admit it made much more sense than one person sitting about and etching for days on end.] When I found out that full-length features took a couple years I was just amazed at the amount of dedication it took to create one 90 minute movie. Crazy!
I had always noticed animation and special effects. In older movies they used them to create the opening credits. [Quite fancy for the times.] I also watched Animaiacs after school. I always hated anime [not a fan of the Japanese lined eyes and huge tear drop to show stress... just didn't do it for me.] My first real Disney movie was Aladdin, so I never saw the classics until I was older. I never knew I was missing anything. I have an artist friend who makes a joke of the animation of The Lion King versus Bambi. "Simba... everything before you is poorly animated and based on Bamabi." Loathed as I am to admit it... so true!
Walt Disney was the first to use a new type of animation that required different cells. Panoramic scenes would be layered. So the camera could actually zoom through the layers giving the scene much more depth and movement. Amazing! So while Bambi is full of color, shades, and depth... The Lion King is full of brightness, line, and relies heavily on fantastic characters singing and moving to Sir Elton John's musical genius.
I can't say that I know much about animation. It has always fascinated me, but I've never really looked at it in depth. Looking back from where we've come from the thaumatrope all the way to Pixar's beautiful 3-d animation features. To be honest, I'm nto quite sure how far we'll go with animation. I think the most recent step forward has been work like that of the recent film Beowulf. Realtime and animation have been combined before such as the Alice Comedies, Walt Disney's early work before Mickey. It puts real characters in a fictitious world and vice versa. But Beowulf was first filmed in realtime then finshed with animation. I can't possibly fathom going any further with animation, but then again I'm not at the forefront of animation.
With advent of computers and the amazing things they've done for production and animation, I would think that the next step would really just be combining some of the best attributes of different forms of film and production. Granted there is "digital enhancement" for classic animation, but my hope is that animation will not continue to reinvent itself by becoming more complex. I think it would be quite an interesting turn to see an amalgamation of different forms of animation. For instance, using Walt Disney's technique of layering with 3-d animations to create more vivid and deep scenes giving the characters more life while allowing the background and scene to be just as full of motion and vibrance.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but I am willing to bet that in the cse of animation, the next step forward will be the child of boundless creativity.
I had always noticed animation and special effects. In older movies they used them to create the opening credits. [Quite fancy for the times.] I also watched Animaiacs after school. I always hated anime [not a fan of the Japanese lined eyes and huge tear drop to show stress... just didn't do it for me.] My first real Disney movie was Aladdin, so I never saw the classics until I was older. I never knew I was missing anything. I have an artist friend who makes a joke of the animation of The Lion King versus Bambi. "Simba... everything before you is poorly animated and based on Bamabi." Loathed as I am to admit it... so true!
Walt Disney was the first to use a new type of animation that required different cells. Panoramic scenes would be layered. So the camera could actually zoom through the layers giving the scene much more depth and movement. Amazing! So while Bambi is full of color, shades, and depth... The Lion King is full of brightness, line, and relies heavily on fantastic characters singing and moving to Sir Elton John's musical genius.
I can't say that I know much about animation. It has always fascinated me, but I've never really looked at it in depth. Looking back from where we've come from the thaumatrope all the way to Pixar's beautiful 3-d animation features. To be honest, I'm nto quite sure how far we'll go with animation. I think the most recent step forward has been work like that of the recent film Beowulf. Realtime and animation have been combined before such as the Alice Comedies, Walt Disney's early work before Mickey. It puts real characters in a fictitious world and vice versa. But Beowulf was first filmed in realtime then finshed with animation. I can't possibly fathom going any further with animation, but then again I'm not at the forefront of animation.
With advent of computers and the amazing things they've done for production and animation, I would think that the next step would really just be combining some of the best attributes of different forms of film and production. Granted there is "digital enhancement" for classic animation, but my hope is that animation will not continue to reinvent itself by becoming more complex. I think it would be quite an interesting turn to see an amalgamation of different forms of animation. For instance, using Walt Disney's technique of layering with 3-d animations to create more vivid and deep scenes giving the characters more life while allowing the background and scene to be just as full of motion and vibrance.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but I am willing to bet that in the cse of animation, the next step forward will be the child of boundless creativity.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Tacky Typefaces
Right, so I've made some A3 collages of storefronts/facades. Each of them has a name or something to say. If you see it, then great! If not... then hopefully you see something else. Enjoy!
Bits and Pieces
Bob Pace Matches Cox and Power
Shady Duck
Palm Beach
The Natural Kitchen, Agnis B!!!
Agnis B. Matches Coco Momo Of Course
The Sunny Steps of Machu Picchu
Bits and Pieces
Bob Pace Matches Cox and Power
Shady Duck
Palm Beach
The Natural Kitchen, Agnis B!!!
Agnis B. Matches Coco Momo Of Course
The Sunny Steps of Machu Picchu
Finding Your Way
So in terms of wayfinding, what could be more perfect than traffic signs? Seeing as America was made for driving, I have spent many a silent moment gazing out a car window pondering the origins of highway signs. Why are directional signs on highways white and green? Why do construction zones hog up all of the orange, and why are Yield and Stop signs both red? And exactly who thought black and white was a good idea for signs that have important information like... Wrong Way? [You would think that earned a nice bright juicy color like red or orange. It's a pretty big deal.] Interstingly enough, traffic signs were not really an issue until the invention of... you guessed it, automobiles!That does however beg the question why didn't they have anything more than markings for railroads, mile markers, and town names?
The official history of traffic signs and signals began in the early 1900's in America. This was due to the advent of the automobile and the danger it posed to the public with higher amounts of automotive traffic. [Thank you industry, and progress.] The first centerline painted on the road appeared in Michigan in 1911. The first redcorded stop sign was in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It had black letters on a white background. By 1922, the sign was used so often that it became clear that rules, regulations, and order needed to be set. For example, the first traffic light was actually in London. It was traffic signal using colored lights installed in December of 1868 at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets near the Houses of Parliament to protect members of parliament and pedestrians in the heavily trafficed area. The result was that by the 1930's over 10 versions of traffic lights and towers. Some required electricity, worked on timers, or had to be manually operated.
In 1924, the first National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) was held. They debated and decided on color coding as well as shape design of signs. Originally, yellow was chosen for Stop signs for daya nd night visibilty [this was before fade resistant red paints and glass-bead retroreflectorization had been invented]. Shapes and colors were given a hierarchy beased on the danger value of the infor
mation being displayed.
Circle: railroad crossing [and also the most dangerous at the time]
Octagon: the need for stopping at intersections
Diamonds: ordinary conditions that may present danger
Recatangles: regulatory and direcitonal information
What resulted was the Manual for Uniformity of Traffic Control Devices [MUTCD]. Requirements and regulations evolved with the needs of each era in America. In 1942, regulations were mandated for blackout ready signs in case of wartime blackouts. In 1948, corrections and ammendments to the MUTCD addressed better organization to obtained during peacetime. By 1954, the Stop sign was officially changed to red with white letters. [It had been changed to yellow with red letters in 1935.] Also regulations began to focus on guide sign s and directions... not just danger warnings. The MUTCD has continued to change and develop based on current and future needs of traffic and the safety of the public. Essentially it is a constantly evolving wayfinding system.
In terms of design, the MUTCD orginally focused on shape and color. The theory was that people would recognize shape and color while ignoring wordings. In 1948, they became more corncerned with readability and instituted a rounded letter alphabet. Sign conten
t was reduced. For example, Wrong Way signs used to say "Stop. You are going the wrong way." It's no wonder that people would ignore wording. Driving requires multi-tasking perceiving and using different pieces of information simultaneously. So content has to be minimal and straight forward for a driver.
In 1971, the MUTCD went under a complete rewrite. It included concrete definitions on "should" "may", and "shall." It also included school area markings and ground markings such as centerlines, words in lanes, and painted curbs. In general, the MUTCD has stood behind it's shape and color theory allowing states a bit of room to add their own shapes and colorings for specific information relating only to that state. Background colors have been set to a specific set of 6 pantone colors. Flourescent signs have no set pantone color.
Brown - 469 [recreational information]
Red - 187 [stop, yield, highly important restrictions]
Yellow - 116 [warnings, cautionary]
Green - 342 [guide, directional information]
Blue - 294 [interstate name/information]
Orange - 152 [construction]
Black and white signs are reserved for basic traffic information such as one way streets, and lane directions.
It seems like such a simple system. Red means stop, green means go, follow the arrows, etc. But for something so mainplace it is a meticullously designed system and highly critical to every day life. It's so easy to miss it because it's just about everywhere, but it is easily the one wayfinding system that absolutely affects every person's life whether they use it or not. Content is minimized and the typeface is designed for maximum readability of capital letters. Colors and basic geometric shapes have clear, consistent, and definite meanings. Traffic signals and signs inform, guide, direct, and protect. This system must be applauded for its ability to simplyify such an intricate and complicated system as the traffic of millions in one area.
By the way, the green and white highway signs in America were adopted into the MUTCD in 1954. Now I know. :)
The official history of traffic signs and signals began in the early 1900's in America. This was due to the advent of the automobile and the danger it posed to the public with higher amounts of automotive traffic. [Thank you industry, and progress.] The first centerline painted on the road appeared in Michigan in 1911. The first redcorded stop sign was in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It had black letters on a white background. By 1922, the sign was used so often that it became clear that rules, regulations, and order needed to be set. For example, the first traffic light was actually in London. It was traffic signal using colored lights installed in December of 1868 at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets near the Houses of Parliament to protect members of parliament and pedestrians in the heavily trafficed area. The result was that by the 1930's over 10 versions of traffic lights and towers. Some required electricity, worked on timers, or had to be manually operated.
In 1924, the first National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) was held. They debated and decided on color coding as well as shape design of signs. Originally, yellow was chosen for Stop signs for daya nd night visibilty [this was before fade resistant red paints and glass-bead retroreflectorization had been invented]. Shapes and colors were given a hierarchy beased on the danger value of the infor
mation being displayed.Circle: railroad crossing [and also the most dangerous at the time]
Octagon: the need for stopping at intersections
Diamonds: ordinary conditions that may present danger
Recatangles: regulatory and direcitonal information
What resulted was the Manual for Uniformity of Traffic Control Devices [MUTCD]. Requirements and regulations evolved with the needs of each era in America. In 1942, regulations were mandated for blackout ready signs in case of wartime blackouts. In 1948, corrections and ammendments to the MUTCD addressed better organization to obtained during peacetime. By 1954, the Stop sign was officially changed to red with white letters. [It had been changed to yellow with red letters in 1935.] Also regulations began to focus on guide sign s and directions... not just danger warnings. The MUTCD has continued to change and develop based on current and future needs of traffic and the safety of the public. Essentially it is a constantly evolving wayfinding system.
In terms of design, the MUTCD orginally focused on shape and color. The theory was that people would recognize shape and color while ignoring wordings. In 1948, they became more corncerned with readability and instituted a rounded letter alphabet. Sign conten
t was reduced. For example, Wrong Way signs used to say "Stop. You are going the wrong way." It's no wonder that people would ignore wording. Driving requires multi-tasking perceiving and using different pieces of information simultaneously. So content has to be minimal and straight forward for a driver.In 1971, the MUTCD went under a complete rewrite. It included concrete definitions on "should" "may", and "shall." It also included school area markings and ground markings such as centerlines, words in lanes, and painted curbs. In general, the MUTCD has stood behind it's shape and color theory allowing states a bit of room to add their own shapes and colorings for specific information relating only to that state. Background colors have been set to a specific set of 6 pantone colors. Flourescent signs have no set pantone color.
Brown - 469 [recreational information]
Red - 187 [stop, yield, highly important restrictions]
Yellow - 116 [warnings, cautionary]
Green - 342 [guide, directional information]
Blue - 294 [interstate name/information]
Orange - 152 [construction]
Black and white signs are reserved for basic traffic information such as one way streets, and lane directions.
It seems like such a simple system. Red means stop, green means go, follow the arrows, etc. But for something so mainplace it is a meticullously designed system and highly critical to every day life. It's so easy to miss it because it's just about everywhere, but it is easily the one wayfinding system that absolutely affects every person's life whether they use it or not. Content is minimized and the typeface is designed for maximum readability of capital letters. Colors and basic geometric shapes have clear, consistent, and definite meanings. Traffic signals and signs inform, guide, direct, and protect. This system must be applauded for its ability to simplyify such an intricate and complicated system as the traffic of millions in one area.
By the way, the green and white highway signs in America were adopted into the MUTCD in 1954. Now I know. :)
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
I'll Type Your Face
Birth Of A Hero is a typeface created by Gyom Séguin, a Canadian designer. It was designed just last year as were some of his other typefaces. His work can be found and downloaded on dafont.com. In his designer profile, he says that he "listens to rock music and designs rocking fonts." This influence is apparent in his style. This typeface in particular is a very bold and linear design. Rock music, though some might consider it messy, has more recently been more of a controlled chaos. While it moves and makes noise and goes in a million directions, there don't really seem to be many grey areas as to what's rock and what isn't. More recently, rock design and presentation has become "controlled chaos." Instead of colors and textures running together or a seemingly careless design, the style has been strong, bold and linear. There are fewer layers within the design usually only containing a hierarchy of 2-3 with colors the compliment yet contrast such as green and brown, or black and electric blue.
The most interesting quirk in this type face is the angled A and the tilted G. It gives the typeface a sort of abstract movement. Though it is a seemingly clear and concise typeface, it stands out with strong well-placed differences. I love the name because it kind of represents a rocker attitude: amongst the many, rock is being bold and and fearlessly different like it's a good thing... rock gives life and stands for the heroes. Visit his website!
Billy Argel designed Green Piloww in 2008. This typeface is full of content and depth so thought it is a highly useable font, it's definitely intended for making short and poignant statements... not essays. The designer even gave it a tagline "Green piloww for green minds." That basically says it all. He designed the typeface in an era when actively caring about the environment is just a way of life but a highly popular style of life. The typeface actually has something to say in it's design. IT makes no demands, rather it is a statement about the person wearing it, or the activity advertised. It says, "Being good natured is about caring for nature and I've got to say it feels good. Want to join?"
I have to say the most interesting thing about this typeface is that it's designer live sin Sao Paolo... Brazil! I have recently been discovering some joyous bits of design, and Brazil seems to be the place for new and happening design as well as designers. That definitely says something else about the typeface... whatever it reads and certainly implying what's current and "in."
The most interesting quirk in this type face is the angled A and the tilted G. It gives the typeface a sort of abstract movement. Though it is a seemingly clear and concise typeface, it stands out with strong well-placed differences. I love the name because it kind of represents a rocker attitude: amongst the many, rock is being bold and and fearlessly different like it's a good thing... rock gives life and stands for the heroes. Visit his website!
Billy Argel designed Green Piloww in 2008. This typeface is full of content and depth so thought it is a highly useable font, it's definitely intended for making short and poignant statements... not essays. The designer even gave it a tagline "Green piloww for green minds." That basically says it all. He designed the typeface in an era when actively caring about the environment is just a way of life but a highly popular style of life. The typeface actually has something to say in it's design. IT makes no demands, rather it is a statement about the person wearing it, or the activity advertised. It says, "Being good natured is about caring for nature and I've got to say it feels good. Want to join?"
I have to say the most interesting thing about this typeface is that it's designer live sin Sao Paolo... Brazil! I have recently been discovering some joyous bits of design, and Brazil seems to be the place for new and happening design as well as designers. That definitely says something else about the typeface... whatever it reads and certainly implying what's current and "in."
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