Happy Holiday

All of us at aNEW designs wish you a safe and happy holiday. We hope you enjoy your time with friends and family over the next few days. Peace to you and yours during this holiday season.

I.D. Magazine Fading Away

I have been a reader and subscriber to I.D. Magazine for many years now and have enjoyed reading more about design and product design from its pages. It was announced last week the I.D. Magazine will cease publication with it's Jan/Feb issue. I.D. Magazine has been published since 1954, when mid century design was know as design of the day. It is sad to see a fine publication such as this go away. It was one of only a few magazines with a variety so wide. So long I.D. - I will miss your pages in the future.

Here's the official press release:

December 15, 2009
To Readers, Advertisers and Friends of I.D. Magazine:

Since 1954, I.D. Magazine has served as one of America's leading critical magazines covering the art, business, and culture of design. Today it is with regret that we announce its closure. The January/February issue of I.D. will be its last; subscribers to I.D. will receive Print magazine for the balance of their subscription.

Ceasing publication of an iconic brand like I.D. is never an easy decision, but there are several forces that have worked against its sustainability. Certainly the downturn in print advertising has contributed to this decision, but other factors include the fragmentation and specialized information needs of I.D.'s core readers (product designers) and the plethora of information resources available to them--some for free (online and B2B) and others that are highly specialized and targeted to specific industries served.

F+W Media will to continue producing the I.D. Annual Design Review, its flagship international product design competition, in an expanded fashion online. This new web initiative will feature not only 2010's winners but will catalog thousands of notable entries from past competitions. Going forward, in addition to the I.D. Annual Design Review, F+W Media's Design Group is comprised of the award-winning HOW and Print brands--magazines, books, events, and competitions serving the information needs of graphic designers in all media.

We thank the entire I.D. community, past and present--staffers, contributors, readers, and advertisers--for their support of the magazine throughout its 55-year history.

Sincerely,

Gary Lynch
Publisher & Editorial Director
F+W Media Design Community

A Mention on How Design Site

How Design Magazine asked for suggestions for a list of Gifts for Designers. I submitted a link for Eva Zeisel's work that was highlighted on the site. To view the link click here.

Fall 09 Portfolio Show

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 2010 Color of Year Plus iPhone App.

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.

Typographic Ads

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.

People of Walmart

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.

Holiday Shopping for Designers - Core77

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.

Identify Your Clients

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.

Clients From Hell

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.

Happy Thanksgiving

May you have a Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Getting Creative- #9 Get Colorful

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.

Hacienda Fire - La Habra Heights, CA

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.

Designer Shoes For Art Director Club Scholarships

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.

(via UnBeige - mediabistro)

TCHO Chocolates - Building a Brand

How do you build a chocolate brand? from edenspiekermann_ on Vimeo.

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 - Designer of Icons

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.

John Van Hamersveld's work can be viewed at Post-Future and johnvanhamersveld.com.

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 - The Toy Show

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.