Last week five of the top U.S.-based magazine publishers joined forces to launch a multi-million dollar “Power of Print” campaign, extolling the advantages of ink-on-paper magazines.
Over the coming months, nearly 100 magazine titles owned by Wenner Media, Time Inc., Conde Nast, Meredith Corporation and Hearst Magazines plan to print 1,400 pages of “Power of Print” ads, reaching an average of 112 million readers a month.
Created by Y&R New York, the ads will appear in prime magazine positions, that typically would cost regular advertisers around $90 million. The ads will roll-out in May issues as full-color spreads boasting headlines such as, “We Surf the Internet. We Swim in Magazines” and “Will the Internet Kill Magazines? Did Instant Coffee Kill Coffee?” In June, another set of ads will feature covers of popular magazines embedded in text.
An exhibition of “The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946” opens today at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C. It is curated by @Issue’s very own editor, Delphine Hirasuna, and based on her book of the same name, which was designed by @Issue’s very own design director, Kit Hinrichs.
The exhibition (and book) features art and objects made by some of the 120,000 ethnic Japanese who lived on the U.S. West Coast and were forced into barbed wire enclosed/heavily guarded internment camps for the duration of World War II. Allowed to take only what they could carry, they were sent to live in remote uninhabited locations in the deserts and swamps.
How do you brand a banana? It’s a generic fruit, like an apple or peach. right? If you live in the tropics, you can grow bananas in your backyard. Still, for the past 65 years, only one banana has a brand identity, not to mention, a name, a face and a personality – Chiquita.
Back in 1944, Chiquita charmed consumers by turning a caricature of Carmen Miranda, the flamboyant Brazilian samba singer/dancer with the tutti-frutti hat, into its brand icon. Then to reinforce its slogan “Quite Possibly the World’s Most Perfect Food,” it created a little blue sticker that to this day it affixes by hand onto every single banana it sells.
Hospitals are notorious for making people sick. In the U.S. alone, the government estimate says that one in ten hospital patients catches a hospital-borne infection, and such infections contribute to about 90,000 deaths in the nation annually. What’s particularly disturbing is that studies have shown that one-third of these infections are considered preventable. Thorough sanitizing of surfaces, for instance, has been effective against staph infections and gastroenteritis.
What can we say, we have always been inspired by Milton. He is a born teacher that always inspires. In 2006, Chris from C. Coy shot this short video of Milton Glaser sketching a portrait of William Shakespeare and musing about how the act of drawing makes him conscious of what he is looking at and focuses his mind on the world around him. In addition to the thoughtfulness of his comments, it’s impressive to see that he draws confidently without ever pausing or erasing — or losing his train of thought.
Sports Illustrated and Wired are the latest magazines to demonstrate a prototype of how its online content could work on an iPad-like tablet. While dazzled by the possibilities, as someone in the communications design field, I started wondering about all kinds of practical production matters. This may seem silly but I wondered if reporters and designers would be “joined at the hip” creatively, assigned to sit side-by-side, desk-to-desk, in the editorial office and work in unison to produce “content”? It used to be that editorial and art departments were separate entities and sequential processes. And the interactive staff often was not even in the same part of the building. Now, more than ever, visual, interactive and editorial content have converged. How will that change the physical configuration of an editorial office?
Transformation is in the air. Business leaders across industries are recognizing that “old school” management isn’t up to the task of nonstop innovation. As a result, companies that were once run from the top down are steadily shifting to a more networked style of management in which employees and customers play a greater role in driving innovation. Networked cultures tend to be more creative, more agile, and better able to anticipate the needs of customers.
How do you create a culture of innovation? By recognizing one simple fact: If you want to innovate, you’ve got to design. Design and design thinking are the tools that create new products, new services, new business models, new markets, and new industries. The best way to leverage innovation—as outlined in my latest book—is to build a “designful company”.
To find out where you are on the culture curve, take this simple test: Share a total of 10 points across each of the 10 pairs below. For example, if your company is more siloed than collaborative, you might score it 6 and 4. When you’ve finished, add up the two columns to measure your progress. If your totals come out to 60 and 40, for example, you could say that you’re 40% along the path to an innovative culture.
Since Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879, designers have often used the familiar pear-shaped product as a graphic device to represent a “bright idea.” Think again, designers, because the European Union restricted the sale of incandescent light bulbs in favor of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs in 2009. It also targeted the phase out of Halogen bulbs by 2016. Cuba and Venezuela actually started phasing out incandescent lights in 2005. Other nations have scheduled phase out plans – Australia, Ireland and Switzerland in 2009; Argentina, Italy, Russia and the UK by 2011, and Canada in 2012. A late adopter, the United States will begin phasing out incandescent lights in 2012.
Just when traditional annual reports have all but disappeared in the business world, a guy named Dan Meyer in the beach town of Santa Cruz, California, has produced his own personal 2009 annual report in video format. A high school math teacher by day, Meyer aimed for the kind of accuracy that even an independent auditing firm would admire. On his blog, he credited his speed in getting his report out so fast to having a “working knowledge of a) the degree measure of angles, b) proportions, c) percents, d) coordinates, e) 3D space, f) modular arithmetic, and g) linear interpolation. “ He adds that he even calculated an integral.
Stephen von Worley on Weather Sealed posted this chronological growth of Crayola colors from the line-up of original eight introduced in 1903 by Binney & Smith to the 133 colors available today. By von Worley’s calculations, Crayola colors double every 28 years.
For a product targeted heavily to consumers who are too young to read or to talk about the good ole days when reds were redder, it is interesting to note that Crayola has remained dedicated to innovation, upgrades and product naming. In addition to its standard colors, Crayola has launched specialty sets with names like Magic Scent and Silver Swirl. It has discontinued colors with low market appeal; apparently, Maize, Raw Umber, Blizzard Blue and Thistle just didn’t cut it with seven-year-olds. Other names, of course, had to be retired for political correctness. Prussian Blue was renamed Midnight Blue in 1958, Indian Red became Chestnut. Also, bowing to pop trends, Crayola introduced metallic FX colors like Big Dip O’Ruby and Blast Off Bronze, and glitter shades like Red Violet with Glitzy Gold Glitter (a name that rolls right off the tongue), and Silly Scents like Sasquatch Socks, Big Foot Feet and Alien Armpit. It had to discontinue regular scents like Chocolate and Jelly Bean because parents complained that kids found they smelled good enough to eat – and did.
All this effort makes Crayola even more endearing, especially when you consider that with just four colors – c, m, y, k – you can arrive at any color in the spectrum, and Crayola’s target customers aren’t so jaded that they’d reject a product because it’s “last year’s model.”
Kulula, South Africa’s first no-frills commuter airline, makes up with humor what it lacks in global stature. Its two-plane fleet, which flies short-hops from Johannesburg to Cape Town and Durban, is painted a conspicuous lime green with callouts identifying each part of the aircraft, including the cockpit area where the “the big cheese” (captain) sits, and the “loo” (lavatory) “or the mile-high club initiation chamber.” This is a brand identity that you are not likely to forget. In fact, you may even look for Kulula planes on the runway to amuse yourself.
The inflight instructions are equally irreverent, with the flight attendant advising passengers to make sure they have all their belongings with them when leaving the plane, but if they have to leave anything behind “make sure it is something the cabin crew can use. Preferably not children.”
Or telling passengers before takeoff: “If you have a child with you, please be sure to fasten their seatbelt first. If you have more than one, please select your favorite now and fasten their seatbelt.”
In cafeterias and restaurants around the world, the coffeepot with a distinctive orange band around the neck is immediately recognized as the one containing decaf coffee. Today most people don’t know how that tradition began. Actually, it was once one of the world’s most effective branding campaigns, even though these days consumers don’t associate the color with the product that started it all.
The orange label premiered in 1923 when Sanka, the first commercial decaf coffee, appeared on grocery store shelves in America. In 1932, General Foods bought Sanka (a catchy contraction of “sans caffeine”) and set out to promote the brand to restaurants and diners by giving away free “Sanka-orange” coffeepots and a few samples of the product. Customers and waiters came to recognize that orange signified Sanka, and over time it became the generic color-code for any and all decaf coffee brands.
In January 2007, Sao Paolo, Brazil, did something that would send chills down the spine of most ad agencies. In an effort to rid the city of what the mayor called “visual pollution,” Sao Paolo enacted a Clean City law that banned all billboards and most other large outdoor advertising.
Known as one of the world’s worst billboard jungles, Sao Paolo was rife with illegal billboards and signs. Advertisers had bought up virtually all available street and wall space in the city to hang their gigantic marketing messages. To earn money, some poor residents even sold the front of their homes or space in their gardens to post ad signs. Unable to determine which were legal and which not, the city banned them all.
Since the law went into effect more than 15,000 billboards, 1,600 oversized signs and 1,300 metal ad panels have come down. Strict regulations mandated smaller storefront signage and limited them to hang only above the store entrance and not extend into the street. Even pamphleteering in public spaces was made illegal. Those who didn’t comply faced hefty fines.
In the mountainous village of Granados in central Guatemala, Peace Corps volunteer Laura Kutner came up with a way to solve several problems at once – the need for more classrooms, the shortage of building materials, and the abundance of plastic trash littering the ground.
Kutner rallied the community of roughly 860 people living in the village and surrounding area and together they collected more than 4,000 discarded plastic soda bottles. From there, students and volunteers used sticks and hands to cram the plastic bottles with more plastic — used bags, packaging and grocery sacks – to give the containers heft and form, then stacked them like bricks held in place by chicken wire, and “stuccoed” them with a cement-sand mixture.
Editor’s Note: In his inimitable style, Marty Neumeier, author, lecturer and director of transformation at Liquid Agency, makes complex marketing principles seem logical and easy to understand. Here from his book “Zag: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands,” Neumeier explains why in a world of “look-alike products and me-too services” it is important for brand marketers to zag when everyone else zigs.
“Print With Purpose” shares compelling statistics on the result-generating power of printed communications & demonstrates its positive impact on the bottom line. click here for more
After 23 years as a partner of Pentagram Design, Kit Hinrichs announces that he has left the international consultancy to establish an independent design firm in San Francisco.
The “designer’s printer” of high-end corporate marketing materials and advertising. Consistent winner of the most prestigious printing and design awards.
Get the expert scoop on how to use tactical innovation in the design process to create a timeless company identity. click here for more
Mohawk’s Felt&Wire Gets New Look
Mohawk’s blog FeltandWire.com has just been redesigned by Pentagram to accommodate wider coverage of the world of paper, print and design. While you’re there, check out the original paper products at the Felt&Wire Shop too.
Gung Hay Fat Choy!!
February 14 marks Valentine’s Day and the Chinese New Year. As every year, Seattle designer Juliet Shen created her own New Year’s card, using the calligraphy for tiger to shape the letters in the “tiger” sign off.
Typographic Conundrums
Pentagram London partner and typophile Harry Pearce launches his new book, Typographic Conundrums, filled with pages and pages of thought-provoking wordplay.
Fashion Designer’s Logo
San Francisco-based Rob Duncan Design created a simple and elegant signature for fashion designer Rebecca Beeson by using warm gray, black and white to carve the “r” letterform out of the letterform “b.”
Gifts of the Street
Sam Smidt, legendary San Francisco Bay Area designer and teacher just released a book, Gifts of the Street, showing some of the thousands of vernacular images collected from the highway.
Lip Gloss from P.S. Aeropostale
This flavored lip gloss in a tin is part of Aeropostale’s new P.S. line for girls aged 7 to 12. Michael Braley Design in New York created the graphic identity, naming system and packaging for P.S.
Growing Mold
After six years of experimenting, a Chinese farmer trained pears to grow in a mold to produce baby-shaped fruit. The novelty pears are selling faster than they can be plucked from the tree.
The FEED Bag
A fashion statement that says you care, the FEED tote - from Feed Projects and the UN World Food Program – is sold to help feed the world’s 400 million starving children. Proceeds from one bag will feed one child in school for a year.
Disney buys Marvel
Disney buys Marvel Entertainment creating a powerhouse of pop icons.
PACT Underwear
A fuseproject-venture that blends design and sustainability to support social and environmental causes.
Revitalized Logo
Designed by Lippincott, the updated logo for Meredith interlaces “m’s”, signifying the media and marketing giant’s multi-platform distribution capabilities.
New SparkChina Awards
With CitiExpo, Spark Design and Architecture Awards will extend its role in the booming China design industry through SparkChina.
Kid-Size Saarinen Chair
Knoll has introduced a line of furniture for kids, including a scaled-down version of Eero Saarinen’s 1948 Womb Chair.
The Obsessive Images of Seymour Chwast
A book that shows how Seymour Chwast, illustrator and co-founder of Push Pin Studios, transformed the American visual language.
Jock's Cuba Portraits
When photographer Jock McDonald isn't shooting faces on assignment, he is doing it for pleasure in places like Russia and Cuba. Collectible as art, his Cuba portraits are packaged in "cigar" boxes.
Lego Architecture
Lego collaborated with architectural artist Adam Reed Tucker to create the Lego Architecture Series for several iconic landmarks.
iPhone Games for Designers
From Jason Franzen of FORMation Alliance in Dallas, three app games for designers: Press Check, Eye vs. Eye, and Kern: Space, the Final Font Tier.
Salt&Pepper Cell
D size battery Salt & Pepper shaker by Antrepo. Made from steel and glass, the power indicators on the side shows the amount of spice inside.
Y Water
Yves Béhar of Fuseproject has created a boldly-colored water bottle that is also a children's toy.
Method Hand Wash
Another bright idea from designer Karim Rashid – Method’s lightbulb-shaped packaging for an eco-friendly hand wash.
Signs of the Times
Photographers Randal Ford and Michael O’Brien teamed with writer/musician Joe Ely to focus on the homeless in America, the subject of Pentagram Papers 39.
Another Lesson by Milton Glaser
What can we say, we have always been inspired by Milton. He is a born teacher that always inspires. In 2006, Chris from C. Coy shot this short video of Milton Glaser sketching a portrait of William Shakespeare and musing about how the act of drawing makes him conscious of what he is looking at and focuses his mind on the world around him. In addition to the thoughtfulness of his comments, it’s impressive to see that he draws confidently without ever pausing or erasing — or losing his train of thought.