Air cooled People

I ran across these ads from 1963 while touring the Antique Trove. This place is one of my favorites when it comes to finding antiques and collectables. You really have to love Volkswagen.

It's Not Just The Alphabet

Have you ever really taken the time to look at a word? To see it as art? Just think of the impact that is portrayed by the way a letter is curved, stretched, shrunk, and made bigger. It gets a certain point across just by the way it looks. In the book Typography Workbook by Timothy Samara there are endless demonstrations of how to communicate with type. It shows the mechanics, form and function of a letter as well as how type and image can be integrated.

Visual Thinking

If you asked a classroom of elementary school-aged children for a show of hands as to who among them is an artist, you can bet that nearly every hand is raised. As children we love to draw and have not yet developed a fear of our art being critiqued. Somewhere around the time when drawing is no longer part of our daily learning - and instead becomes an "elective" - many people become uncomfortable drawing, especially in front of others. The book "The Back of the Napkin" offers a bit of pen-to-paper therapy for people who have internalized the statement, "I can't draw." The author writes from the perspective that any problem can be made clearer with a picture and that the use of computer-generated graphics (aka clip art) causes us to limit our visualization of creative solutions.

10 really useful iPhone tips

I've noticed lately that, while the iPhone has a very broad appeal, it seems to have been adopted particularly quickly by marketing and advertising professionals.  The iPhone has so many different uses, and if you have one, you know what I mean.  I have quite a few apps on my multiple home screens, so sometimes the 'phone' part of this little device becomes obscured by its other functions.  Part of this is because the phone is controlled almost entirely by 'virtual' buttons - so the tactile feel real buttons has been lost.  Here's a tip to get the tactile feel back to the main function of your iPhone: in Settings > General > Home Button, you can set a preference to make a double-click on your Home Button take you to your Favorites list.  The nice thing about this is that you can this without looking, scrolling, and tapping - like when you're driving :).  For more really useful tips, visit the Taptaptap blog here.

New York Holiday Spirit

If you are looking for one of many spectacular sites to see during the holiday season there is no place like New York. This photo taken by Gerald Brimacombe shows the illumination one will see when they visit Rockefeller Center. There is also a huge ice rink for all to come and skate away on while enjoying classical holiday music. Make sure to add a visit to Radio City Music Hall for a show of a lifetime!

Visual Presentation of Information

In his book “Beautiful Evidence,” Edward Tufte discusses how ready-made PowerPoint templates have the unintended consequence of weakening verbal and spatial thinking by replacing a thoughtful exchange of ideas with the reading of bullet points. Tufte aptly states, “PowerPoint allows speakers to pretend that they are giving a real talk, and audiences to pretend that they are listening.” A company’s marketing department does a great disservice to the organization when it becomes preoccupied with adhering to prepared format rather than evaluating the best method for delivering content.

Starts with a sketch

"Progress depends on how fast we can let go of the past"

This picture and quote above came from one of my most favorite brands John Deere and the book "Genuine Value" the John Deere Journey.

In the 1900's, most of the great ideas at John Deere would have been sketched with chalk on the shop floor and then tried in steel or wood. The factories at John Deere had rows of drafting tables where engineers hand-figured calculations before making scale layouts and drawings of their latest ideas.

Today I'm reminded once again of how important that sketch paper really is...

Jack of all Arts

Evgueni Naverniouk is a name that is probably unfamiliar to most, and that is truly a shame. He was born in Moscow then his family immigrated to Vancouver to make a better life for themselves. Evgueni is an extremely talented web designer, writer, graphic artist, and musician/composer. Pop over to his site and see for yourself. I would especially recommend the music section on his site where he tends to blend a little Paul Simon with Tangerine Dream to make a delightfully refreshing sound.

Santa's Come In All Mediums

Here is a beautiful example of someone who has the gift of wood carving. This Santa mask was carved from basswood, painted with oils and then sealed with an antique wash for that aged look. Very unique! Check out HGTV share my craft for more visions of creativity by Nay and others.

These Cards Are Anything But Wooden

If you are looking for a holiday card that will be displayed front and center on grandma's credenza, check out Night Owl Paper Goods. Their clever combination of retro imagery, colors and textures seem to create what I can only describe as the print design equivalence to holiday comfort food.

Cutting edge Flash

We know the power of Flash as it relates to a rich experience on the web.  We use Flash to create user interfaces for web sites, and we use Flash to view video on sites such as YouTube and Google Video.  But the depth of Flash can be much, much deeper.  Paul Neave is pushing the limits of Flash in a fun and visually creative way.  His online lab has games, and plenty of eye candy - check it out.  Neave Labs

Flicking the Light: The Fall

The Fall is a visually stunning movie. While there is a definite plot and some decent acting, this is more about the scenery and locations. This movie was shot entirely in 26 locations in 18 different countries and contains no computer generated special effects. From an artistic standpoint, it's spectacular to watch. Almost like watching a giant painting that goes on for nearly 2 hours. A definite must for the eye-candy enthusiast.

The Power of Paint

Browsing through the book called Trompe L'oeil At Home I found this one of a kind masterpiece. Artist Thomas Masaryk has created this piano to look like it has been inlaid with stones such as tiger's eye, lapis, lazuli, and marble. I have never seen such a colorful and detailed instrument. Unbelievable!

To see an outstanding variety of images and techniques view the book:

Trompe L'oeil At Home by Karen Chambers

Forewood by Jocasta Innes

Published by Rizzoli

Data as Art

Any time a large amount of data is collected, we tend to see patterns emerge - these patterns can easily be put into bar graphs or a pie chart and the significance of the data is easily apparent.  But sometimes data doesn't easily flow into a chart because it is too complex, or sometimes it overlaps other parts of data that have equal or more importance relative to the first data set.  This requires a special display of the statistics that, when treated with a creative eye, can become visually rich and even beautiful.  More examples of beautiful data can be found here.  Hat tip to Shawn for sharing that link.

Design for All?

A new hive catalog arrived in my mailbox this week. Hive sells products by some of my favorite designers - Charles & Ray Eames, George Nelson, Eero Saarinen. There is this clever wall clock that I’ve been eyeing for some time. It’s the Nelson Ball Clock and hive sells it for $337. This got me thinking about the idea of good design being set a price point where only true design enthusiasts can afford to purchase it versus Target’s motto of Design for All. Target sells what they call a “wooden ball clock inspired by George Nelson” for $40. What accounts for this price disparity? Is it simply the result of one product being an original George Nelson design? Is there a difference in the materials used to produce these two products? Does the price difference indicate a discrepancy in the labor conditions and environmental standards under which the clocks were manufactured? Does buying a well-designed product at a higher price point ensure that the lifecycle of that product is ethically and environmentally sound? Does it guarantee that you can be proud to display the product as a statement of your design taste as well as a statement of your humanity?

Electric Arguments

If you like your sonic landscapes so thick that you can actually see the ridges and valleys, then the upcoming new release by The Fireman is for you. "Electric Arguments" will be their first album to feature vocals and their third offering in fifteen years since their debut album, "Strawberries Oceans Ships Forests" (1993), and their sophomore release of "Rushes" (1998).

To coincide with this new album, they have just unveiled their first website: The Fireman Music. Fresh out of the bubble wrap it still has that new site smell. The effort poured into the sonic experience has spilled over to the effort put into the visual experience of their site. Check it out!

[album image taken from Amazon.com]

Cultural icon

Bond's appeal has remained global since the release of Dr. No, launched in 1962.
Even today, almost anyone from any generation can name their favorite Bond.

"James Bond" movie posters - the official collection from Tony Nourand captures the graphics that defined the legend. If you haven't seen this book and you love Bond and classic movie posters this will be a favorite. The featured Poster is from designer David Chasman - Date of release May 1963