This is graphic design that moves me, considerably. I was struck by the visual, but not nearly as much as the words contained in this piece by Toronto-based Way Shape Form. The “last words” by the inmates is very potent stuff. It should make you think long and hard—which I believe is the intention…
“A book designed in response to the record number of inmates who were executed during the time that George W. Bush, Jr. was governor of Texas. Blind Eye chronicles each death, beginning on the day that Bush was elected Governor and ending on the day that he was elected President.
Winner of the Output 09 Silver Award, 2006. Also featured in Fully Booked, published in 2008 by Die Gestalten Verlag.”
This entry was written by , posted on 05/28/2009 at 8:26 AM, filed under Design, Life. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
More graphik design inspiration destinations. Both via Sweden (as far as I know). Both blogs using the same Wordpress theme.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/25/2009 at 7:41 AM, filed under Design and tagged Inspiration. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I’m a massive user of the iPhone music-making, sequencing, synth, and techno music production apps. Making electro music was how I first became truly aquatinted with the personal desktop computer. What is now possible on the iPhone/iPod Touch is breathtaking. We’ve come so far, in such a short period of time.
There is 1 essential ingredient missing—a true audio sampler. Not a voice recorder, those are a dime-a-dozen in the App Store—but a traditional sampler.
To be able to “record what you hear” on the iPhone, save it as a WAV, and then export to the desktop is currently the missing link. Have a beat playing in Randgrid or TechnoBOX you are diggin’? No problem—we should be able to sample, save, and use this file in another iPhone app. Currently, in v2.0, once an app is closed (other than the built-in iTunes music player), everything stops—that’s it, game over. I am really hoping that this is addressed in v3.0 next month. This would add such an enormous new world of sonic possibility.
It’s an exciting time to be a… producer of mobile electro beats.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/23/2009 at 11:46 AM, filed under Design, Future, Mobile, Technology and tagged iPhone, Music. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950’s that emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity. Hallmarks of the style are asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk, and flush left, ragged right text. The style is also associated with a preference for photography in place of illustrations or drawings. Many of the early International Typographic Style works featured typography as a primary design element in addition to its use in text, and it is for this that the style is named.
International Typographic Style.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/20/2009 at 8:40 AM, filed under Design, Typography and tagged Akzidenz, Helvetica, Swiss. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Analogue. Are we not?
This entry was written by , posted on 05/19/2009 at 7:56 PM, filed under Design and tagged Analogue. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Microsoft, just stop. Enough. Before I put-forth anymore of my own personal opinion, I recommend you read this commentary on the recent Microsoft ad campaign (the “give people $ to buy a laptop and see what they can find for that price” spots).
Just as the article states—Microsoft, you need to stop worrying about Apple, and concentrate your efforts on making your own flagship product better. I never thought I’d think this (let alone say it), but I think Microsoft was better-off with Bill Gates at the helm. When Mr. Gates ran the show, we simply didn’t see Microsoft take such desperate measures (because these stink of desperation).
Maybe they were different times, and maybe things have changed (they have)—but if Microsoft would just ignore Apple for 5 min, and get-to-work improving what they do best, then I think they’d be doing the consumer a huge favour. A lot of Windows users aren’t Windows users by choice—it just happens to be the OS sitting on their desk at the office. Make Windows 7 the best it can be. Listen to what your customers tell you they want. Don’t steal features from Leopard—design and implement your own. When this keeps happening, over, and over, and over—the cracks start to show.
Microsoft pounced on the perception that Macs are too expensive. Hey, I’ve been bitching about Apple’s pricing for years, but I’ve come to accept it. They’ve definitely lost a sale from me here and there, because of high pricing—but it is what it is. The problem with this campaign, though, is that Microsoft played the “recession card”, and in doing so, placed the Windows machine in the same league as the Mac. They simply are not. You can not compare the 2. Not for a second. Sure, they both do the same thing, they both take you to the same places—but if you think there is little or no difference, then you’ve not used a Mac for nearly long enough (or at all).
So, in conclusion, all I will say is: Microsoft, please stop worrying about what Apple is doing, or is going to do. Concentrate all that R&D on a new killer OS. You’d be making the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people a little better. Stop trying to make MP3 players (what’s a Zune?), stop trying to “out search” Google.
Just stop. You were better before. You are starting to look like the guy from college that still goes to high school parties.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/18/2009 at 8:07 AM, filed under Business, Design, Future, Technology and tagged Apple, Microsoft. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
It’s an exciting time to be a designer. I find there is certainly no shortage of amazing work to view, study, learn from, and wish it had been you that created it. This is simply a link-dump to some gems I’ve come across recently. A few are design-related blogs, 1 is full-service design agency, and the rest are a mish-mash of design-findings I feel deserve a mention. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/17/2009 at 2:25 PM, filed under Design and tagged Inspiration. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I don’t think I would have come across this Wikipedia entry (or the network of related articles) if Twitter (or a service like it) did not exist.
“Design Thinking”. I “think” you should design a straight-path directly to this article, and read it.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/14/2009 at 5:59 PM, filed under Design and tagged Design, Twitter. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I’m quite surprised. One would think, with all the talk about the power of the iPhone, the mobile revolution, the App Store, reaching as many users as possible—and using as many digital channels as possible doing so, that many of the more “forward-thinking” (for lack of a better term right at this very moment) design studios would have an iPhone-optimized version of their company website. You’d think so, right? Well, think again: none of whom I’ll deem the “heavy-hitters” of our industry (without naming names) have an iPhone/iPod Touch optimized site. Zero. Of course my list of “heavy-hitters” will differ somewhat from yours—but I think you’d find many of the same studio names on both of our lists. Even if some of the studios that I tested (and my list of new media studios, design companies, and ad-agency big-shots was extensive) did have a mobile version of their web property, they fail in my eyes for not having some form of detection script running. If they did, then my Touch would have been routed to the correct version. I saw nothing. Until Apple releases it’s mysterious new Macbook/iPhone hybrid device, I feel there is enormous value in having a dedicated iPhone site to accompany and compliment your standard desktop-browser offering(s).
This is a realm we will no longer over-look when it comes to our own web presence. If you’ve got decent XHTML and CSS skills, then you should have no problem developing an iPhone-optimized website. In fact, we strongly embrace this exciting platform—personally, I find the iPhone, and it’s enormous ecosystem, to be as exciting as many of the other major web milestones we’ve all collectively experienced: the dawn of the web itself, the dotcom boom and bust, and the explosion of social media.
So, in conclusion, I will say this: that until things change, it’s best that you offer 2 versions of your web experience. The iPhone audience should not be ignored—especially if you are a producer of digital media, and you currently have a Flash-only website.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/09/2009 at 6:24 PM, filed under CSS, Design, Mobile and tagged Design, iPhone. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Analogue (that’d be us) has finally moved our hosting to (mt). What does this mean? It means bye-bye Blogger, hello Wordpress. Expect only greatness.
This entry was written by , posted on 05/07/2009 at 6:21 PM, filed under Business, Future, Technology and tagged Analogue. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.