Pecha Kucha

Lately I've been feeling incredibly uninspired and creatively blocked. In an effort to get out of this "funk" I've decided to make a concerned effort to attend more creative activities around the city. I live in San Francisco where interesting things are happening all around me, so there's no excuse not to take advantage of them! A couple of weeks ago my fellow CREW mate, Sarah, turned me on to Pecha Kucha, an evening of presentations by creative professionals. I know what you're thinking, "Why would I choose to sit through a bunch of boring design lectures?" Well, you see, that's the beauty of Pecha Kucha. Each presenter shows 20 slides and has only 20 seconds to discuss each image. Pecha Kucha nights are held all over the world, and fortunately San Francisco offers one almost once a month. And the best part, it's free! But a $5 donation is gladly accepted at the door.

I went to the event last week blissfully unaware of what I was about to experience. The event took place at a bar/lounge in San Francisco's SoMa district and it quickly grew crowded with designers, architects, and artists from all walks of life. The series of presentations that followed were incredible; each one completely unique and engaging. While some chose a formal structure describing their work, others told stories and shared valuable life lessons. I was left feeling amazed, inspired, and completely in awe of the creativity that surrounded me.
Check out this website for a Pecha Kucha Night near you! Oh, and don't worry, you'll figure out how to pronounce "Pecha Kucha" when you attend the event. ••••

Found in Boston: Fort Point

Today's "Found In Boston" feature is the Waterfront neighborhood known as Fort Point, home to artists' studios, hip boutiques, and a charming mix of modern and vintage architecture. It is an area I was largely unfamiliar with until this year, but when I last visited I was struck by the dichotomy between new and old found on every street corner. Within an industrial building covered in faded signage, you might find a high-end furniture store. Turn the corner, and you are likely to come across some quirky graffiti nearly hidden in an alleyway. Notably, Shepard Fairey's handiwork was well represented on buildings in the area—this weekend, the Obey Giant seemed to be everywhere I looked (but maybe this has something to do with the fact that his one-man show is just a few blocks away at the ICA?)

It's a visually rich area, just a few minutes walk from South Station— hopefully you enjoy these snippets of the scenery as much as I enjoyed shooting them! ••••

Rotten Oranges

Bad News for everyone of you who praised the new Tropicana packaging.

"PepsiCo, reportedly bowing to consumer demand, is reversing a decision to change the packaging of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. The longtime symbol of an orange with a straw in it was replaced with a glass of orange juice. The New York Times reports customers complained. The old design will be back next month." via NPR

Good while it lasted.

Lack of Craft

A recent article on BrandWeek.com stated: "As the economy gets uglier, logos are getting prettier." Personally, I wouldn't call the the recent re-branding efforts by various established brands prettier. True, tough economic times call for desperate measures; however, do they call for tacky design as well? Unfortunately, this appears to be the case. Kraft Foods is the latest victim of a child-like and playful re-branding effort. I understand the concept -- make the logos softer, more approachable -- but I don't agree with the execution. Much like the recent Wal-mart re-branding, Kraft Foods opted for a new color palette, lower-case font, and the addition of a sun burst-esque symbol meant to convey a smile (cringe!). In both cases, I think that a "softer, more approachable look" could have been attained without relying on symbols that are more fitting for a day-care center, or children's hospital. An example of this can be seen in the Cingular Wireless logo which has unfortunately been retired due to corporate merging. Playfulness, approachability and freshness were achieved while maintaining a sophisticated, sleek appeal....or maybe I just really love the color orange. The article goes on to state that this current trend in branding is a direct result of the Google mark by claiming, "Google’s multicolor design and the company’s willingness to tweak its logo for holidays and such have been widely influential." Again, I can see the correlation, but the final product of both Wal-Mart and Kraft do not hold the same sophistication as the Google logo. If the current marks are meant to be influenced by Google they should remember why Google is so successful -- simplicity. Simplicity is the cornerstone of the Google logo; primary colors, clean font, and the lack of additional marks or symbols make the logo effective. Wired.com ran an article about the evolution of the Google logo. I love seeing a logo transform from start to finish, especially one that we are all so familiar with now. Again, looking at the early phases one can see how the designer played with the idea of using symbols and various color schemes, yet ultimately came back to the simple and straight-forward design that remains compelling today. Do you think any of these early stages would have made the same impact as the current logo? I highly doubt it. ••••

Happy Birthday!

Happy Quarter Life Century to Crew member Meghan B aka dramamine! ••••

Hogwarts School of Design

I just finished reading all of the Harry Potter books for the first time in rapid succession, so needless to say I was drooling all over my keyboard when I stumbled across the site of M.S. Corley, who cleverly re-imagined the Rowling series as Penguin Classics. I really love the restricted, graphic illustration style of these—and the fact that he is planning to release the series as prints. Approved by the Ministry... and the Crew! ••••

No need to refresh, it's just fresh.

My love for Mr. West is no secret. I didn't expect this song to be released as a single, or even have a video but this thing is really original. According to his website, there is another video coming out soon that employs the same technique so he had to get it out there. Don't adjust your screen, those compression artifacts are the whole visual language of the video. I don't know who Kanye surrounds himself with, but he always seems to be at the forefront of cutting edge design, art and fashion that becomes mainstream months later. Soon everyone will be rocking a mini-mullet, praising Hedi Slimane and collaborating with Takashi Murakami. Not a bad crowd. Let me know what you think...I am ready. ••••

The Shepard Fairey Debate

Since this *IS* is design blog, I think we would be remiss not to touch on the recent lawsuit brought against Shepard Fairey by the Associated Press. For those of you who aren't familiar with the case, the AP is claiming that Fairey violated copywrite law when he referenced a photograph taken by Mannie Garcia (a freelance photographer for the AP) to create his now famous Obama poster. Fairey has since filed countersuit against the AP, saying that there was no violation because he dramatically changed the appearance of the image. Garcia himself seems pleased that the image was used, and has no problem with not being credited. The fair trade argument has been debated and debated and debated ad naseum on blogs over the past month. Even Milton Glaser has chimed in! I've found that a lot of commentary on the subject amounts to either mudslinging by dissidents or hero-worship by fans, so I think the subject deserves some considerate and open-minded debate by designers. After all, this is an ethical middleground that designers and artists deal with frequently.
Last week, I visited the Fairey retrospective, Suppy and Demand, that is now showing at the ICA, and had my own mixed feelings about the show. I was impressed by much of the work—the processes and layering Fairey used elevated many of the pieces to the level of fine art. For example, the piece above references a travel poster of the geyser from Yellowstone National Park, but Fairey reappropriates it to form a social commentary on the war in Iraq. The poster now on exhibit at the ICA is highly textured and clearly labored over— it is truly impressive to see in person. Beyond that, it makes a statement that is clearly the artist's own. Here, my instincts say "fair game."

However, posters like the one above did somewhat bother me. Unlike the geyser poster, or even the Obama poster (which is similarly rich in texture), this appropriated Müller-Brockmann image is a flat, stylized version of the original. I don't feel that Fairey has added anything of particular substance to his version, and I can't help but cringe knowing that many people who walk into the gallery may not recognize that the original image is not of the artist's own creation. But maybe I am wrong— maybe this Swiss poster is so much a part of our visual culture that it has become fair game (much like Warhol's soup cans). At any rate, plagarism does not seem to apply—although Fairey does not directly cite the work for those who may be unfamiliar, he is also clearly not trying to hide his reference.

If this is the case, does it matter that it was not immediately obvious Mannie Garcia was the source for the Obama poster? And although Garcia seems okay with the fact that his work was not credited, would our opinion be different if the photographer himself was suing, rather than the AP? For me, the answer is yes. Incidentally, but perhaps pertinent to the argument, Fairey himself balked at the reappropriation of his Obey Giant image by Baxter Orr in 2008, issuing a cease and desist against the latter for a negative parody based on his image (above).

In my mind, I keep going back to the case brought against Jeff Koons not so long ago for copywrite infringement. Design Observer had a very thoughtful write-up on the lawsuit that is well worth the read. In summary, a relatively unknown photographer, Art Rogers, sued the very famous Koons for making a sculpture based on his above image of a string of puppies— and won. To me, it seems obvious that Koons made extraordinary alterations to the image, not to mention the change in media. But should Rogers still have been credited? He work may be somewhat less respected in the fine art world, but should it not still be protected? At the same time, where do we draw the line? Clearly, artistic licence and freedom of speech are also at stake.

There is almost too much to be said on the subject to fit in one blog post! Sound off in the comment section to give your point of view. ••••

25 Random Things About Graphic Design

I jacked the majority of this list from Design + Writing = Blog, but took it upon myself to make a few motifications:

1. Claude Garamond, publisher and legendary type designer responsible for designing the letterforms that led to some of the most widely used typefaces throughout history, died in poverty at age eighty-one.

2. The Michelin man has a name, Monsieur Bibendum. He’s also a century old.

3. The Nike swoosh was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971, while she was a student at Portland State University. She was paid $35.

4. Woody Allen uses the same typeface in the titles and credits of nearly all of his movies. The typeface is Windsor.

5. Peretz Rosenbaum is one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th century. He is responsible for the IBM logo, the old and arguably most recognizable UPS logo, the Westinghouse logo, and many other design icons. You know him as Paul Rand.

6. According to Salary.com, the median salary for a graphic designer in the United States is $45,704.

7. The worlds first website(as we know them today) was launched in 1992. You can still visit the URL here.

8. What we now call sans-serif typefaces were once known by a number of names: Egyptian, Antique, Grotesque, Doric, Heiti, Lineale, and Simplices. I think sans-serif works just fine, thank you.

9. Walker, the sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for the Walker Arts Center has up to 5 “snap-on” serifs that can be attached to each letterform using keystroke commands.

10. Georgia, another typeface designed by Matthew Carter, is named after a tabloid headline which reads “Alien heads found in Georgia.”

11. Baseline magazine, first published in 1979, was originally intended to be a promotion vehicle for new typeface designs.

12. Newly defunct The Designers Republic was hired to design the in-game artwork, packaging and manual for The Wipeout video game series as part of a carefully marketed ploy to position the game among the “fashionable, club-going, music-buying” audience the publisher was trying to attract. The results make Wipeout games some of the most visually stunning ever.

13. Due to the incompatibility of the letterforms in the title of Avant Garde magazine, Herb Lubalin first created the typeface Avant Garde, with its many ligatures, out of necessity. It wasn’t until later that he created a full set of glyphs.

14. The term “Web 2.0” emerged sometime in 2002 (despite the claim that Tim O’ Reilly coined it in 2005) with Dermot A. McCormack’s book Web 2.0: the Future of the Internet. . .

15. The Coca-Cola logo was made using a style of hand lettering called Spencerian Script.

16. Jerry West is the silhouetted player in the NBA logo.

17. The late Tibor Kalman once had a party in a supermarket to commemorate the arrival of his book Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist. As party favors, he gave guests signed canned goods.

18. The Great Seal of the United States was designed in the 1770’s by the then secretary of congress, Charles Thomson.

19. The Red Cross is known as The Red Crescent in Muslim countries. Its logo also changes from a cross to a crescent.

20. Raymond Loewy, known primarily as an industrial designer, also designed a crap-ton of logos including the logos for Hoover Vacuums, Exxon, and Shell.

21. Vince Frost is the shit.

22. Facebook uses a modified version of the typeface Klavika for its logo.

23. Myspace, Arial Rounded Bold.

24. Who originally coined the term "graphic design" appears to be in dispute. It has been attributed to Richard Guyatt, the British designer and academic, but another source suggests William Addison Dwiggins, an American book designer in the early 20th century

25. "Design is intelligence made visible."-Don Newgren
••••

Creative Block? Try a bit of blue.

In a new study, published Thursday on the Web site of the journal Science, researchers at the University of British Columbia conducted tests with 600 people to determine whether cognitive performance varied when people saw red or blue. Participants performed tasks with words or images displayed against red, blue or neutral backgrounds on computer screens.

Red groups did better on tests of recall and attention to detail, like remembering words or checking spelling and punctuation. Blue groups did better on tests requiring imagination, like inventing creative uses for a brick or creating toys from shapes.

Changing my desktop background to blue. Check!••••

Best Illustrated Bar

Yesterday I took a day trip to New York, and after visiting a few museums I was introduced to a hidden gem of the city (at least to me): Bemelman's bar at the Carlyle Hotel. Bemelmans bar is thus named because it is painter from floor to ceiling by Ludwig Bemelmans, writer/illustrator of the Madeline series. The walls are filled with paintings of giraffe families, fully dressed bunnies smoking cigars, and, of course, twelve little girls in two straight lines. Even the lampshades are painted! Bemelmans undertook the project in exchange for lodging at the hotel over the year and a half he worked on the mural. I've never blogged about a bar before, but this one is truly unique— pricey drinks are well worth it for the chance to see this in person. ••••

I guess you don't want to talk to me anymore

The Very Short List sent me a link to this blog a while ago, but I just checked up on it this morning and remembered how awesome it is. Kelly Shimoda's "I guess you don't want to talk to me anymore" project chronicles peoples text messages. I have no idea how she gets the images, I can't imagine someone approaching me and asking me "hey, can I take a photograph of that weird text you just received?" "okay!"

She also has an impressive portfolio of other photography. Check it out! ••••

My Computer Could Paint That

In case you're bored at work this should keep you entertained -- www.jacksonpollock.org
I think it sort of mocks Pollock's artistic vision *sigh*, but it's definitely a good distraction! ••••

A Different Way of Looking at Things

Upon looking at Meghan B's San Francisco slideshow I thought that I would recognize it as the city I live in. Much to my surprise it was as if I was viewing pictures of a city I had never even been to. Therein lies the best part of being an artist -- as artists, we view the world differently; often in abstract ways. Ok, so maybe this trait is not exclusive to artists, however, I do think an artist's perspective is unique. Following this similar theme, artist Christoph Niemann took a regular pile of legos and was able to see an entire cityscape in front of him. The entire collection of "lego narratives" combine humor with simplicity and imagination. Just one more example of how some of the best ideas are the most simple and often right in front of you...even if you have to look a different way. ••••

Found In: San Francisco (MB Style)

Happy February, all! Let me usher in the new month is a new slideshow of some eye candy from my trip to San Francisco. The trip happened a few months ago, but these slideshows have been a tricky thing to figure out! While I was there, I was able to see the lovely Meghan C in a very short half-crew reunion. The full scale crew reunion is soon to come, until then, there is always the blog! It was my first time on the West coast. That area of the country is painted with a different brush, I loved it, it was terribly hard to come back to the Northeast! Enjoy these pictures! ••••