"...There are, however, some designers and even clients who insist that the public deserve and will respond to much higher standards in graphics. They are convinced, as Charlie Chaplin was convinced, that the best way to entertain the public is to first entertain oneself."
“It costs every designer money to make beautiful [things]…”
—Saul Bass
Wow. All those nights of madly trying to find the right shape, the right colour or the best proportions don’t seem so insanely wasted now. Beautiful things just take time. Sometimes you succeed in making them, sometimes you don’t. Many times you feel like quitting. But it’s all part of being a designer. We all have our ups and downs. The important thing is to keep searching, pushing yourself to do something better, more beautiful, wittier, to keep learning more and more.
Luckily, we have the great ones to remind us why we do this:
It’s always so inspiring to listen to Michael Bierut. This time he talks about five things, ‘five secrets’ he’s learned while working, and he shares them while explaining five relevant projects.
If you’re lazy or just here for a quick reminder, here are the five: • Listen first, then design
• Don’t avoid the obvious
• The problem contains the solution
• Indulge your obsessions
• Love is the answer
While Robert Brunner’s departure seemed to make a little more sense, as his studio seems to be focused more on industrial design than on communication and corporate design, Kit’s departure is not so clear. The press release doesn’t give any hints, and, as always in such cases, nobody involved will—we can only speculate what could possibly make you leave one of the most acclaimed (if not the most) companies in the world—and after 24 years, mind you. Has this been triggered by the recession? Is it a personal dispute? Is Mr. Colin Forbes‘ business model not working so well anymore? Or is it just the right time for a change for Mr. Hinrichs? We’ll never know for sure.
One thing I know, it makes me feel sad to learn about Mr. Kit’s departure—I don’t know why, maybe because Pentagram loses one of its own—but I also feel glad for him. I know very well how good it feels to try something new, especially after such a long time. It feels like being born again. Good luck to Mr. Hinrichs.
Awe-inspiring photography, thought-provoking quotes—watch and read some of the great ones that lived on this planet on—what better name than—the Impossible Cool.
My favourite quote: “If you want to have clean ideas, change them as often as you change your shirts.” — Francis Picabia
Mifune
Ray Charles
Caine
Clint
Sophia
Style oozes from their persona. You can easily feel that they almost don’t give a damn, that is what makes them so cool, so admirable. As Gore Vidal says: “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn.”
I don’t usually shoot homeless people. I don’t find it romantic or appealing like a lot of street photographers, and if you asked homeless people they are probably not to happy about their situation either. That’s why I was surprised to be so drawn to taking a picture of this gentleman.
I was being interviewed for an article in British Vogue; and while we walked down Bowery back in April I barely stopped walking when I took the shot. Fiona Golfar, the writer, asked why I took the photo. At that moment I couldn’t really explain – but I just had a feeling about the power and grace of how he was sitting there. It wasn’t until later that night when I was working on the image that I realized why I had noticed this man.
Usually people in this man’s position have given up hope. Maybe this gentleman has too, I don’t know, but he hasn’t given up his sense of self or his sense of expressing something about himself to the world. In my quick shot I had noticed his pale blue boots, what I hadn’t noticed at first were the matching blue socks, blue trimmed gloves, and blue framed glasses. This shot isn’t about fashion – but about someone who, while down on his luck, hasn’t lost his need to communicate and express himself through style.
Looking at him dressed like this makes me feel that in some way he hasn’t given in or given up.
Reminds me of Siddhartha. Or Narcissus. For all we know, he might be living his last life cycle. Who knows. But my guess is he’s free. Unlike most of us.
“They went cheap, in other words,” counters Bucharest designer Iancu Barbarasa, who blogged about the font change on his website. If he sounds somewhat bitter, there’s a reason. With its attention to the curve of even a $9 lampshade, Ikea has become renowned for its understanding of good design. “Designers have always thought of Ikea as one of their own,” Barbarasa notes. “So now, in a way, the design community feels betrayed.”
I can’t express what joy it brings me to be cited next to London, Tokyo and Melbourne designers. Thank you, Lisa.
Here’s the whole interview:
1. How did you first learn about Ikea’s switch to Verdana?
I first heard of it from a fellow designer on Yahoo messenger, then read about it on twitter which linked to Typophile and Please Copy Me (used Google Translate).
2. What’s you’re opinion of the new font? And why do you think Ikea adopted it?
Verdana is a typeface specifically-designed for screen use. It is efficient in small sizes, but bland in display sizes, especially in print. Seeing the new catalogue, Verdana seems to be working a lot better than I expected, but that is because it has been carefully typeset (through extensive use of negative tracking and leading). In outdoor communication however, which is done locally, things are not so good, since most advertising agencies do not have good type-trained designers or art directors (I’m not talking about UK, Netherlands or the few countries with strong design-conscient population). All in all, IKEA’s brand recognition will be affected by this. How much remains to be seen—after all, most people can’t tell the difference between sans and serif typefaces. Maybe it will be all forgotten in a few months.
Most probably, IKEA chose Verdana because its wide world availability, having support for nearly all languages (they have to thank Microsoft for that). Otherwise they would have had to pay for the design of additional language support. They went cheap, in other words.
3. A lot of design-related people are unhappy with Ikea using Verdana. Do you have a sense of why the change would provoke such outrage?
IKEA has always been a very loved and respected brand, especially among designers, who thought of IKEA as one of their own, one that understands good design. Any change would’ve upset people. Since the change is not for the better, at least not in an obvious, unarguably way, the buzz is even bigger, giving instant birth to petitions and blogs-twitter-forums bashing. In a way, the design community feels as if betrayed.
Soul-stirring art by a free individual: S.K. Thoth’s street performance (“prayformance”, as he likes to call it, and for good reasons) is out of this world (both literally and metaphorically). Weird and intriguing at first, resembling native american dances combined with countertenor-voice and an ambidextrous violin, it grips you shortly after, taking you to the magical lands of his imagination. The short documentary on his life and performance won an Academy Award in 2002. After watching it you easily understand the depths of his craft, the sincerity of his art. He definitely has a touch of genius (for more information check out his site, his MySpace or Wikipedia—you can buy the dvd on Amazon)
You can watch the full documentary on Youtube (42 min). Make sure you’re watching and listening in HD:
Catching some office gossips like San Francisco designers being the best among international design offices like Pentagram and MetaDesign, I was curious to see who exactly was or were partner-in-charge at Pentagram San Francisco. In comes Robert Brunner (the other Pentagram partners are Kit Hinrichs, designer and Lorenzo Apicella, architect).
Reading about Mr. Brunner on wikipedia, I was startled to find out that he leads a team at Ammunition LLC, just after reading that he had joined Pentagram in 1996. Browsing the Ammunition website, I found out he is no longer with Pentagram, since he left with his team to form his own company in july 2007 (press release). In 2008 he was joined by two other top professionals, Creative Director Brett Wickens and Band Strategist Matt Rolandson, both former leaders from MetaDesign San Francisco.
The interesting thing is that Mr. Brunner was previously the Director of Industrial Design at Apple, between 1987-1996, and was the one that hired and later proposed Jonathan Ive as director after his departure (you can watch the youtube interview).
Ammunition specializes in product design, identity design and interaction design, and you can easily see from their portfolio their work is of highest quality. And of course, they have a smart, classy logo.
Mifune
Ray Charles
Caine
Clint
Sophia
