iancul

The “well-dug-in-the-ground-reaching-for-help” Bruce

Illustrator Martijn Rijven wrote several weeks ago about his involvment in redrawing Akzo Nobel’s “Bruce” during the rebranding project started by Saffron and finished by Pentagram. It was a beautifuly-written article about ups and lows in the design process, about the final version proposed by Saffron and the final-final version approved by Akzo under Pentragram’s watch (probably a “design-by-comitee” solution) and its short-comings. A rare-to-read insight in the development of large rebranding projects.

Unfortunately, Akzo (or Pentagram, who knows) felt that the article was not the kind of PR their new logo needed so they brought in the big-mean-law-guns and forced Mr. Rijven to censor the article completely. It’s a real shame. I can understand commercial interests, hell, we are working with them in mind on daily basis, but freedom of speech and design ethics should not be trampled under feet. In the end, we’re graphic designers, it’s not like we’re saving lives every day, we just make people’s lives a bit easier and more pleasant—or, if you prefer the empty side of the glass, we just help sell things people don’t really need.

But I guess nothing else matters when big money is involved.
It’s the cold, chilling truth.

I try not to throw stones. Nobody’s perfect and that’s a fact.

But Mr. Alexandru Ghildus managed to make me shriek “grab your torches and pitchforks!” once more (after his attempts to become some sort of local lord ruling over all designers - read about the infamous design law). This is his “designed” xmas tree for a charity xmas-tree-selling campaign:

For those that live in Bucharest or at least have been here it might seem familiar. Does this ring any bell?:

It seems Mr. Ghildus will never give us a break from his pyramid-mania. It is truly a shame that such a man is the head of the design school in our capital and truly a great shame that he is the one that wins “fair and square” (and pink pigs went flying in circles around my block) most of the pitches for public monuments and such. Are all architects in Romania so bad that a “designer” must show them how it’s done? Or is it just that they don’t have the “talent” (read money/relationships) to win those pitches?

Nobody is truly evil. But Mr. Ghildush is definitely running for the title of “the Sauron of romanian design” or “one designer to rule them all”.
And by the way, I wish at least romanian journalists learnt the difference between “designer” and “fashion designer”.

Disclaimer (a kind of):
Some may think young designers should just bow down in front of the older ones, but quality, wisdom, skill or greatness don’t come by simply growing older. It takes a whole lot more to become a “master” and earn respect. I strongly believe in learning by doubting and questioning. And if the emperor is naked, we must shout it out loud.

(xmas tree image from Wall Street Journal)

Please vote here against this shameful identity and please give the reasons, maybe they’ll understand that design is also a profession, not a hobby.

Grab your torches and pitchforks, romanian public administration has a new identity. Actually, I really hope it is still a proposal (they’re not very specific on the site), or even better, an April’s fool. First, “enjoy” the logo (isn’t it about time we left the so-called revolution behind?):

I won’t start complaining about fonts, symbols, colours, readability and so on. Even if professionals will spot the problems right away, sometimes it’s also a question of taste (even if there are unbreakable rules in design, after all). But seeing this will surely give you a clear idea of how knowledgeable the designer is (if he/she is a designer at all):

Since when is 50% black the same with C62 M53 Y53 K24? But wait, there’s more: why, oh why, do you have to put gradients over the symbol (on this biz card, some other stationery and the wep page layout)?

Here’s what different counties’ logos supposedly should look like (spot the “i”’s, if you can):

Visit the site (romanian) if you want to see(endure) more.

I am optimistic by nature, even though many friends keep saying that we should just leave this damned - as it many times seems to be - country. This is actually quite a trend among romanian advertisers, wanting to leave the country for good, in search of the graphic-design-el-dorado or something alike. Wonder why they seldom do :P

But, seeing this kind of work so often, especially for big companies and institutions (if only they could just copy from other great designs, like the spanish government did), and, on the other side, hearing about great countries that worship design, like UK, Nederlands, Denmark, Norway and so on… Man, do I feel my feet burning.

(got the word via Kit)