"Push To Add Drama"

Push play to enjoy drama.

Milton Glaser Designed Carpets

We all know of Milton Glaser's extreme talent and variety of work over the years.  Now a new line of custom limited edition hand-woven carpets (code for I know they are expensive) are available from Lapchi with Milton's designs on them.  I know these carpets would become the showcase of any home. Learn more about this beautiful series of carpets from the Lapchi site.  

Colorado Wildfire T-Shirts Help Victims

Over the last month, Colorado has been devastated by a series of wildfires destroying forest and homes alike.  A group of graphic designers have gotten together to help by selling t-shirts were all proceeds go to assist wildfire relief agencies.  Another great example of design helping out in a time of need. Show your support and help out by visiting Wild Fire Tees.

Flag Day

Today we celebrate Flag Day. The Continental Congress passed an official resolution on June 14, 1777, “that the flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white; that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

 On of my favorite flags from U.S. history comes from Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812. This flag went on to be the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became "The Star-Spangled Banner." I send many school trips growing up visiting Ft. McHenry and it inspired my love of history. To see this most famous flag in person, take a visit to the Smithsonian.

Time Management For Creatives

Do you struggle with the hours in the day to get your projects completed? Are you seeking out those double shot expressos to get you moving? If you are like most of us, the answer would be yes. We don't seem to have enough time to get things done to the creative level we want. To help you with this problem that we all face, is this video by Tony Schwartz recorded at the 99 Percent Conference. Schwartz points out several ways for us to utilize our internal energies to be more productive and creative. One of the key points is getting sleep. He tells us that 97% of us actually need 7-8 hours at a minimum to be at our peaks. Schwartz also speaks of turning off the distractions that invade our lives during those periods where we need to concentrate. The idea of "multi-tasking" during these concentration periods is false. In fact he points out that by succumbing to these distraction, we actually add upwards of 25% more time to completing the task at hand each time we are distracted. I am interesting in learn more of Tony Schwartz's theories and will pass them along in the future.

I hope some of these ideas in the video will allow you to work more efficiently and at a higher level of concentration, thus giving you additional time to refresh. Let me know your thoughts.


 

Logo Analyzes By A Five Year Old

I found this over at the Brand New site_

Cincinnati, Ohio-based identity designer Adam Ladd asked his 5-year-old daughter her impressions on some popular logos — my favorite is her response to the Republican Party logo. This is both adorable and some of the best and most authentic field research out there.

This will show you the power of a logos from a 5 yr old and hopefully will brighten your Friday up.

Julius Shulman

Think of modern design and the photos of Julius Shulman will cycle through like a Kodak Carousel. Shulman's work help define modern design and architecture and life in California and elsewhere. The NY Times had a recent article on Shulman and visiting some of the famous homes he photographed in the LA area. You may also be interested in learning more of Julius Shulman through a film that was created just prior to his death in 2009, Visual Acoustics, The Modernism of Julius Shulman by Eric Bricker. It is a wonderful film that narrates modern design and a life full of beautiful images. Visual Acoustics will not disappoint and shows a wonderful creative who had an impact on a generation of architecture through his eye and the lens.

Tequila Packaging

With Cinco de Mayo coming up this weekend, The Dieline has a round up of Tequila Packaging to get you in the mood.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

(Poster from Israel to Remember the Holocaust, 2012)

For two minutes in Israel today sirens wailed to remember the 6 million Jews that died in the Holocaust. All life comes to a stop to remember and pray that "we never forget."  Learn more by visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum site.

Wayfinding - a video

Navigation with way-finding graphics from Ubelly on Vimeo.

Enjoy this interesting video on wayfinding from Tony Howard, the Managing Director of the London based Transport Design Consultancy.

Titanic Images

Several images from the Library of Congress on the Titanic.

Titanic Stamps

The Edmonton Journal has a great collection of stamps to commemorative the sinking of the Titanic a hundred years ago today, April 15, 1912. Take a look and see how the world is remembering this event.

The Living Principles

With Earth Day coming up it reminds us of our responsibility to do what we can to save the planet. As designers, we can help to move the cause forward and do a little good. One site that is a great resource is The Living Principles.

The site started out of the AIGA's Sustainability effort. Jump on board and see where you can help, make a change and learn more at The Living Principles.

The Living Principles for Design framework is a catalyst for driving positive cultural change. It distills the four streams of sustainability – environment, people, economy, and culture – into a roadmap that is understandable, integrated, and most importantly, actionable. Designers, business leaders, and educators can use The Living Principles to guide every decision, every day. This website is a place for the global design community to co-create, share and showcase best practices, tools, stories and ideas for sustainable design across all disciplines. Help us move the conversation, the industry and the world.

Package Templates

Looking for new templates for your package designs? Check out iStockPack for new templates that are free for use that are uploaded by users.

Happy Leap Day

Every four years we get to experience an bonus and extra day. Happy February 29th. Happy Leap Day.

Get Your Map On

The USGS has a site where you can download historical topographic maps. The maps are in high resolution and cover the United States.

For more than 125 years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps have accurately portrayed the complex geography of the Nation. The USGS is the largest producer of printed topographic maps, and, prior to 2009, USGS topographic maps were created using traditional cartographic methods and printed using the lithographic printing process.

Because historical maps are stored in a limited number of collections and are not readily available, the USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) is converting these historical printed topographic quadrangles to an electronic format (GeoPDF). This scanning and processing effort serves the dual purpose of creating a master catalog and digital archive copies of the irreplaceable collection of topographic maps in the USGS Reston Map Library, as well as making the maps available for viewing and download from the USGS Store.

The processing of this invaluable collection is well underway, with more than 141,000 GeoPDF maps of the approximate total 180,000 currently available for download. Over the next months the number of files available, in a variety of published scales, will continue to expand until all of the topographic maps created throughout the Survey's history are once again available to the public.

To search and view, go to this link.

Super "Boring" Bowl Logo

The NFL has decided that it needs a consistent logo for the Super Bowl from now on. To accomplish this task, they are using last years logo and adding an I. The NFL says it will stay this way from now on at this point. Let's hope the NFL takes the boring out of the current long lasting logo and gets back to something super that will represent the game. (See top two logos) Taking a look at some of the past logos shows you just how special a mark can be to represent this iconic event and also keep with the spirit of the NFL. Here is to an exciting game on Sunday that is not representative of the new "boring" shown in the logo.

NPCA Logo Revision

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), an independent, nonpartisan voice working to address major threats facing the National Park System. NPCA was established in 1919. The mission of the NPCA is to protect and enhance America’s National Park System for present and future generations. They have continued to be a strong voice in this cause over the years.

To enhance its voice, the NPCA has revised their logo to better service over a variety of mediums from print to digital media. The redesign was performed by NPCA's Graphic Designer, Annie Riker.

The redesign is elegant and respectful of the long history of the NPCA and their mission. I believe the mark makes a bold statement and projects the strength of this worthy organization.

Annie Riker explains,

"Our previous logo served us well for almost fifty years, but had come to look dated and traditional. My goal was to create something clear, clean, memorable, and, most importantly, readable across all media—from Twitter and Facebook to publications and event invitations.

Our intent was to make the change be an evolution, not a revolution."

You can read a complete article about the design process that Annie Riker took at the newly designed Park Advocate, the NPCA's blog.

Defend What's Yours

The State of California is planning to close 70 state parks this year due to budget issues. If you live in California, I urge you to visit the California State Park Foundation to learn how you can voice your thoughts on keeping them open. Our parks are places for all to enjoy, places that help the local economy, and places in trust for future generations. Please express to your legislative representative that there are better ways to save a few million dollars.

Eva Zeisel Dies at 105

This past Friday, December 30, 2011 marked the end of a beautiful life and career of Eva Zeisel. I have blogged often about Eva, her passion, her life and her designs. The world will miss her creative "playful search for beauty". Design was always a pleasure for Eva who continued to design and release new lines and products. Design kept Eva youthful, discovering and pleasing us all with her immense talent.

Eva Zeisel was one of our most influential industrial designers. Ms. Zeisel had the first one women show at the MOMA and her creative visions are in the permeant collections of every major museum. Her work was non conformist, full of life and beauty. Her joy was creating products for the home and the past few years have seen a huge selection of her work in retail outlets and museum stories.

Please read the New York Times article and the Los Angeles Times article on her life.

Eva's spirit and creative passion will live on and I will think of her each time I use her products in my life. Thank you Eva for sharing your playful search of beauty with us all.

(photos via New York Times and Los Angeles Times)

Happy Hanukkah

My best wishes for a Happy Hanukkah. My your candles burn bright to illuminate family, friends and lots of latkes.