Yesterday evening marked the end of the Fall quarter for graduating Graphic Design majors at the Art Institute of California - Orange County. The students have worked hard over the last quarter finessing their portfolios to be viewed by the public and prospective employers. I wish the grads all the best in their careers as designers. You now have the skills to create and I look forward to hearing great things about you in the future.
Pantone has announced this week that it projects that Turquoise Pantone 15-5519 will be the color of the year.
"Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing."
Pantone has also released a nifty iPhone App for working with Pantone colors. You can view how it works in the video below. The current cost is $9.99 but you will never leave home again without your swatchbook.
Who does not love a great use of type? Check out this posting over at the GraphicDesign blog of 30 examples of typographic print ads. Some interesting work and concepts are presented. The Australia Post ad is my favorite.
For more great type, don't forget to check out the We Love Typography site daily for inspiration.
First we had the Sexy People blog, now we can take a look at society not from past old photos but by some of the people visiting Walmart. In the days past, people would try to look good when they went out in public. They would do things like put on shoes, pants, a dress, overall, they wanted to look good, not go out in a robe or their pjs. Now, based upon these photos from the People of Walmart site, we have gone to hell in a handbag.
Oh how I miss Paris where fashion is a staple of life and if you can not afford the high end you at least try the best you can to look good. Enjoy your holiday shopping and your next trip to Walmart, take some photos for this People of Walmart site and don't look for me, I am a snob and would not be caught dead in Walmart.
One of the best holiday shopping guides for designers can again be found over at Core77. This year's shopping guide is filled is 77 gifts for under $77 (mostly). The selection ranges from t-shirts and books to items for the home and everyday use. Check it out and find that special and unique gift for the designer on you list. I am digging the t-shirt above myself.
As a designer we face numerous different types of clients on a daily basis. One key to getting the project complete is being able to identify your clients so you know how to work with them. Smashingmagazine.com has a great article that can help with the identification of different styles of clients and how to deal with them. The article cover typical clients from the Nit-Picker to the "I Could Do This Myselfer" to the Control Freak. Read the complete article to help you identify and deal with your clients over at smashingmagazine.com.
Stories from hell dealing with the craziness of our profession - this sums up this website dedicated to spreading the word of the madness we all have to encounter from time to time. Check out Clients from Hell, enjoy a good laugh, submit your own story and learn a bit about some of the demands that clients request.
Color can be one our strongest tools to help invoke an emotion or characteristic of a company for a design. So many times I see designers getting stuck trying to come up with the perfect color combination to fit the project. There are two tools I would like to pass along that will help in those wearisome decisions, one is the "edit" color window in Illustrator and Adobe's Kuler.
In Illustrator you can select the edit color window and you will get an window like above. From this window you can select a color and it will help choose those that go along with it by sliding around on the color wheel. You can then save and use in any project.
Adobe has a wonderful color website called Kuler. This site allows you to interact with color in several ways. First, you can take a look at the many color combinations that others have made and saved on the site. Second, you can go in and edit any combination making your own color palettes in the following ways; analogous, monochromatic, triad, complementary, compound and shades. You can then save or copy down the color numerals to use in your projects. The third great use of Kuler includes an option where you can upload or pick a photo from Flicker and pick colors from the image. Kuler will give you the colors and they you can save that for your projects.
I hope this helps you get creative with color on your next project. Now go crazy with color.
On the afternoon of November 23, I assisted on a brush fire of several acres on Hacienda Blvd. in La Habra Heights, CA. The fire broke out on a hillside and endangered several homes at the crest including a senior housing unit. I worked as the incident commander for the La Habra Heights Fire Department and set up a unified command with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. LHHFD responded with 3 engines, a rescue squad and two command vehicles. LACoFD responded mutual aid with a full brush assignment which included numerous engines, hand crews, air attack helicopters, and command personnel. The fire was knocked down in approximately one hour followed by several hours of checking for hotspots. Many thanks to all the firefighter from La Habra Heights Fire Department and the LACoFD in helping to control this fire quickly and saving all endangered homes.
Several designers have custom designed on Tom's Shoes to help benefit the Art Director Club Scholarship fund. These designer Tom's are available to bid upon on eBay for the next few days with all proceeds going to the scholarship fund to help design students. The designer that are represented including John Maeda, James Victore, Christoph Niemann, Ellen Lupton, Jessica Helfand, and Louise Fili. I in particular like the shoes by Ellen Lupton for the dyslexic type fan and as always Louise Fili's Italian flavor. Take a walk in the shoe's of your favorite designer at this link to place a bid.
Enjoy this video on the making of the TCHO Chocolate brand from start to finish. The film reviews early concept develop to the package design and website design. A very interesting short design video. This brand, TCHO, is very successful over the many market channels with a consistent look and feel. The design was completed by Edenspiekermann. I am sure the care that went into this brand also went into the taste of each piece of chocolate. Now if I only had one of those pieces of chocolate. I wonder in TCHO sends out samples?
John Van Hamersveld is a designer of icons, from the Endless Summer movie poster to a Beatles Album cover. John Van Hamersveld was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1941 and took to art at an early age. He found his way to the West Coast and has been involved in the music and film industry as a designer since he created the bold and saturated sunset for the Endless Summer poster in 1966. John has may iconic designs that have become a part of our design world including his Jefferson Airplane Pinnacle Indian Poster 1968, the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour cover, the Rolling Stones cover for Exile to Main Street, Johnny Face (Crazy World Ain't It?), Jimi Hendrix, and posters for Cream at their Royal Albert Hall Reunion in 2005.
John is still working and designing today for the music and fashion industries creating works that reflect his 60's origins with a current modern day twist. His work is still very fresh and conveys a free spirt that seem to emanate across his career. The contemporary Mozart and Beethoven for the New West Symphony are wonderful and expressive. His current posters for Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton take us back to a day when concerts where about the music first.
I had the pleasure to meet John a few weeks ago at the Art Institute of California - Orange County where I teach. AICA-OC has a small show up on his work and John will be at the "official" gallery opening this evening, Nov. 18th from 4:30-7:30 if you are in the area and would like to meet him and have a poster signed.
Mike Tracy will be featured in a group show at the Lora Schlesinger Fine Arts Gallery November 21st - December 31st. An opening reception will be held this Saturday evening from 5-7pm. Mike will have many of his wind up toy painting from the "little monster" series on display. These little painting capture a radiance and energy of life that is reflected in bold brush strokes and a fervor of color. Mike's little monster series has been very well received and they have made themselves homes in many a collectors house. Lora Schelesinger Fine Arts is located in Santa Monica, CA. For additional information and directions please see their website or check out Mike at this link.
Visiting a local museum can be a great creative spark to keep your designs on fire. Museums today are not what your mother saw 30 years ago. Today, the range of work that you will find on display at a major art museum goes from the classics to modern to design to graphics to sculpture to photography. What a wonderful mix. Take along a camera and shoot what inspires you for inspiration later. Look at the details of these great works, study them and think how you can bring these ideas into your own work. I try to visit my local museums in LA on a very regular basis (I am lucky to have so many wonderful museums nearby) including LACMA, MOCA, The Getty, The Norton Simon, and OCMA. Go out and get a membership, they are very well priced and a few visits during the years will cover the cost. Take the day, go visit a museum!
To continue to celebrate Eva Zeisel's 103 Birthday today, watch and enjoy her from the TED conference in Feb. 2001. She speaks of her playful search for beauty, how she thinks of herself as a "maker of things" and how she got started as a designer.
The search for the fountain of youth has been going on for ages, it seems Eva Zeisel who turn 103 on November 13 has found it. If one was to ask Eva her secret, I am sure she would answer, Design, Passion, Family and Friends. Eva was born in 1906 in Hungry and studied art and pottery in her early years. She has helped shape the world we live in as an industrial designer. “I can’t stop thinking of making things,” said Eva in a recent interview. Eva is still designing and produced several new products that have come to the market.
I have long admired Eva's designs, her passion and zest for life. Her work is naturalist and futurist. Eva has been quoted as saying she is always looking for the "playful search for beauty" in her designs. I believe she has been very successful in this quest.
Eva was one of the first to design dinnerware for mass production in 1928 with the Schramberger Majolica Fabrik in Germany. She moved to Russia in 1932 to design dinnerware, bath fixtures and numerous household products. In 1936 while working in Moscow, she was arrested by the Stalin regime and placed in a prison camp for 15 months. She was charged with “plotting against the life of Stalin”. She was finally released due to the influences of important European intellectuals that contacted Stalin. Upon Eva’s release in 1937, she traveled to Vienna then to England. She married Hans Zeisel at this time.
In late 1938, Eva and Hans move to New York. She starts working on numerous designs and began teaching at the Pratt Institute in 1939, forming the industrial ceramics curriculum. Eva’s designs have been sought after over these many years. She has designed dinnerware and products for all the major china companies the world over in her career.
In 1946, Eva Zeisel had the first one women show at MOMA. Her work can be found in every major museum collection around the world from MOMA and the Metropolitan in NYC to the Victoria and Albert in London.
In 2005, Zeisel was awarded the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement.
(A film from Eva Zeisel's 102nd Birthday party and her working with her Design Assistant, Olivia Barry)
Eva’s work is available today at Eva Zeisel Originals run by her grandson, Adam Zeisel. Her designs are also available at such major outlets like Design within Reach and Crate and Barrel along with many art museum stores and galleries. Eva is still actively designing today. She works with a Design Assistant, Olivia Barry, who helps translate her ideas and Eva personally reviews the progress and designs during development. Eva has authored a book, Eva Zeisel on Design.
We can all learn from Eva Zeisel. Design with passion. Live life with passion. Love your family and friends. The fountain of youth has been found in each of Eva's designs. Happy Birthday Mrs. Zeisel!!!
Twenty years ago history happened, the Berlin Wall came down. The 28-mile-long Berlin Wall stood as a border between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Read more at this page that shows before and after the fall of the wall from the NY Times.
Everyone loves Lego. So how would the world look as Legos? Take a classic photo, recreate it with Legos, then shoot it - this is the work of Mike Stimpson, Photographer of Plastic. View the creative work of Mike Stimpson at his website and at his Flickr page..
Spread out and let your creative ideas flow with this innovative product, IdeaPaint. IdeaPaint is the only paint out there designed to allow you to paint a surface and turn it into a dry erase board. Once you see IdeaPaint in action your mind will go crazy with all that you can do by turning all most any surface into a dry erase board. Your dry erase board can take on any shape that your wall or surface covers. The paint was formulated to work with all dry erase markers and allow you to erase no matter how long it sits. From a cost stand point, IdeaPaint is cheaper then a standard dry erase board, so easy to install (you just pick up a paint brush and roller) thus no drilling required.
The packaging design was done by the design firm, Jones. I love the design and believe it helps to emphasize the product's ease of use and the modern thinking that IdeaPaint will spark.
To learn more about IdeaPaint and to get a gallon, go to their website at this link. I am inspired and can think of several uses. I hope to get my hand on some soon and try IdeaPaint out myself.
Don't forget that when your change your clocks back this evening to also change the batteries in your smoke detectors. I have seen first hand how a working smoke detector saves lives. The $3 investment may save you and your family's life should a fire break out. Change It Up, Test It Out - Make sure your Smoke Detector Works.
The film Art & Copy will be showing at the Art Institute of California - Orange County on Friday, November 6, 2009. This showing / event will be free and is sponsored by the AICA-OC student chapter of AIGA, AIGA-OC and the Art Institute. The evening starts off at 4:30 with the film showing at 5 pm. After the film, a round table discussion will take place with "mad men" ad creatives and a producer of the film. The evening should be a great event.
Seating is limited to 300, so reserve your tickets now. To reserve tickets (limit of two), please email full names, email address, number of tickets, and your job title / position to aiga-oc@live.com.
I look forward to seeing you on Friday for a great film and conversation.
With all the new fonts coming to the market how do you break through and stand out? HypeForType has come up with a creative way to showcase new fonts through small videos like above. I think it is a creative way to show off your new font and put it in an environment that many fonts are going into, interactive. The video is short and upbeat and let you see possibilities of what you can create. To view more of HypeForType, additional font videos and their complete line go to this link or to see their blog this link.
With Halloween only a few days away, take a look at these creative ways to mark your place on the earth. Who would have thought this much would go into tombstones. View more unique tombstones at this link to get you into the "scary" spirit.
Is your day job killing your creative insights, looking to give back a bit and design for the social good. You should look at doing design work for a non profit organization. There is bound to be an organization that you can relate to and feel strongly about. You can seek out a local non profit or utilize a site such as the Taproot Foundation that links creatives with non profit groups. You will find that non profits appreciate your creative skills, give a great deal of freedom and you will feel good about helping. Go seek out a non profit and let your creative energy flow.
I don't own a dog but if you do, you need to check out these creative costumes for your pooch. It is amazing how crazy and creative this time of year can make us all. I am lovin' the iPhone dog. Click here to view 25 great costumes for dogs.
Too many times as designers we resort to what we have always done because we found it works. Why not take a chance and look at the problem from a new angle or try a solution you have not pursued. Going out on a limb will take your designs to a new place and most likely to a new level. Go ahead, take a chance, you will be glad you did!
This week marked 50 years for the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. First opened on October 21, 1959, the famous building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and modeled after ancient ziggurats of Mesopotamia. The Guggenheim is a wonderful museum to explore and a must do when in NYC. Their collection is great and the exhibits that they show are always timely. The design of the Guggenheim is truly unique and a masterful statement to the skills and vision of Frank Lloyd Wright. Slate Magazine has set up a nice slide show of early images and a more detailed history of this most famous of museums and building as it turn 50 at this link.
This coming Saturday and Sunday, October 24 and 25, is the Fall Artwalk in Los Angeles at the Brewery. Dallas Raines over at ABC7 says it will be a TAD COOLER with a temp. of 83 and sunny for Artwalk. You should plan your visit. While you are visiting the artists, one you will not want to miss is Mike Tracy. Mike will be showing at his studio - 642 Moulton #W16 all weekend from 11am to 6pm. I have found Mike's work to be original, engaging, exquisite and very alluring over the many years we have known each other. Mike paints with true passion and each of his expressive works are full of impressions that show his true nature as an artist. To view more of Mike's work check out his website and blog. For directions to Artwalk go to this link for the Brewery.
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