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Creative Bee

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 26, 2011

Sometimes a design solution is so obvious that many designers miss it because they are too busy trying to make complex connection to the product attributes, uniqueness, emotional appeal, market positioning, yada yada yada. All the while an elegant solution is buzzing right before their eyes. Such is the case with the packaging for Babees Honey, created by Ah & Oh Studio in Poznan, Poland. The familiar black-and-yellow bands on the bumble bee instantly suggest the product’s original maker, and the handwritten logotype is drawn like a bee merrily flitting from blossom to blossom collecting nectar. Simple. Charming. Sophisticated. Geometric. What’s not to like?

Posted in Announcements | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

“Return on Design” Conference held in Vegas

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 21, 2011

Pssst! Need a legitimate business reason to go to Las Vegas? Come to the AIGA Las Vegas “Return on Design: Business + Design Conference on November 17-18.

According to Patty Mar Simmons, event co-chair and president of AIGA Las Vegas, “We are uniting designers and business leaders to foster a better understanding of how good design can help drive tangible results for any size company.”

On the business/marketing side, speakers include Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts International; Jamie Naughton, Zappos.com; Richard Worthington, Molasky Group of Companies; Vince Alberta, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; Christina Barr, Nevada Humanities; Brian Gordon, Applied Analysis, and Luke Heffron, Shutterlfy. Design side speakers include Debbie Millman, Sterling Brands and AIGA National board member; Andrew Naudin, ExhibitForce, and yours truly – Kit Hinrichs, Studio Hinrichs and design director, @Issue, and Delphine Hirasuna, editor, @Issue.

The cost to attend is $175 per person and includes a reception on Thursday evening, plus the conference sessions, breakfast and lunch on Friday. Come early, spend the weekend. Support the Las Vegas economy. For more information, visit returnondesignvegas.com.

Posted in Announcements | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Vernacular Typography Featured in
2012 Typography Calendar

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 18, 2011

Some typefaces aren’t meant for everyday use. They often aren’t readable as running text or even for headlines. Most will never be licensed for public use nor are they commercially available. But they set the mood, add their own graphic interest, and tell their own slice of the story. That is the case with several of the typefaces featured in the 365 Typographic Calendar for 2012.

Take Girder, for example. Asked to create the identity for the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge next year, Kit submitted an alphabet as part of his presentation. The alphabet took its inspiration from the riveted girders that formed the unpinning of the bridge. The immediate association with San Francisco’s most famous landmark offered a visual linking device in the visitors’ gift shop, and made a distinctive image for all kinds of tourist souvenirs, from key chains to coffee mugs.

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Posted in Typography | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Infographics That Dare Recruits to Apply

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 15, 2011

At a recruitment tool, UK-based Dare digital marketing agency produced an infographic self-promotion in 2010 to show recent graduates that they are a young, creative, fun and progressive place to work. Dare posted the video on its YouTube channel and then invited graduates to submit their applications through Facebook.

Posted in Information Graphics | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Wicker Architecture and Cardboard Signs

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 14, 2011

The wicker basket façade of the Spanish Pavilion, designed by Barcelona-based architects MiralleTagliabue EMBT, for the 2010 Shanghai Expo has appropriately garnered awards and accolades—to the point where the cardboard signage system inside has not attracted much media attention, which it also deserves.

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Of Saul Bass and the History of Film Titles

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 10, 2011

Years ago designer Saul Bass explained how he approached film title sequences to me when I interviewed him for an article. “Find an image that will be provocative, seductive yet true to the film,” he said. “It has to have some ambiguity, some contradiction, not only visually but conceptually. Not just isolating the prettiest frame, but finding a metaphor for the film.“

Beginning with his 1955 work on Otto Preminger’s “The Man with the Golden Arm,” Bass transformed the way film title sequences were perceived forever. He approached the task with a graphic designer’s eye, so that stills from his title sequences easily translated into a powerful iconic poster for the movie.

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Posted in Animation | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Steve Jobs In His Own Words

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 6, 2011

Elegant. Simple. Intuitive. Graphic. These are descriptions not applied to technology until Steve Jobs dazzled the world with the Macintosh, the iMac, the iPod, iPhone, iPad and more. He understood the purpose of design on a visceral level and not only transformed the way designers work, but elevated public awareness that design is not merely an aesthetic marketing device, but the heartbeat of innovation. Thank you, Steve. Well done. Rest in peace.

Posted in Industrial design | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Death to Violence

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 5, 2011

Chicago-based commercial photographer Francois Robert has a unique way of seeing things that most of us don’t see. About 20 years ago, Francois and his Swiss designer brother, Jean, made us aware of anthropomorphic features in inanimate objects such as padlocks, mops, door knockers and light switches, and photographed these expressive faces and presented them in the book, “Face to Face.”


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Posted in Photography, Public service campaign | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Urban Stimuli or Graphic Assault?

By Delphine Hirasuna | October 3, 2011

City-dwellers know that we are constantly bombarded with graphic messages. It’s the “white noise” of urban living. Most of us tune it out like the omnipresent sound of traffic and pedestrian chatter.

This 2006 award-winning film, made by Netherlands-based Studio Smack for Museum de Beyerd in Breda, has become a classic. Like an x-ray, the film “Kapitaal” zeroes in only on the graphic stimuli encountered by an “unseen commuter” waiting on a platform for the train, riding the subway and walking through the city. Everything but the graphic information is reduced to black silhouettes. Signage, logos, ads, train timetables, graffiti, posters and packaging labels stand out in stark white contrast. There is no voiceover commentary, just the claustrophobic visual assault pressing in from every direction. It begs the question: How much do people really notice in a world of information overload? How can designers and advertisers avoid adding to the visual clutter and give the public something they really want to see?

Posted in Environmental graphics, Pop Culture | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Chester Zoo’s Wild Typography

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 29, 2011

Manchester-based Music has rebranded Chester Zoo in Chester County, England, by creating a Crayon-colored typeface and logotype that look like they were drawn and embellished by a child — or a clever chimpanzee.

Playful, uninhibited and gleeful, the letterforms, created in collaboration with illustrator Adam Hayes, look like they were done in the wild with crude implements, away from digital devices that would edit out quirks and enforce uniformity. Free-wheeling details spring out of letterforms suggesting that these characters exist outside of captivity. As individually distinct as the letters are, collectively they make up a cohesive font available in four weights and upper and lower case. If animals had opposable thumbs and were able to hold a crayon to create their own font, this is probably how they would describe the Chester Zoo environment — relaxed, happy and free to be who they are.

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Posted in Brand logos, Typography | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

A Soft Drink for Grown-Ups

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 19, 2011

Two guys from the London brand/design consultancy Wonderland WPA walk into a classy bar and ask for a soft drink that is not the kind you can get out of a vending machine or in the refrigerated section of a truck stop.

That may seem like the set-up for a joke, but it is how Story beverages came to be invented. Finding the choice of alcoholic drinks in fine restaurants and bars limitless, but the availability of upscale nonalcoholic ones few and far between, Wonderland WPA saw a market niche begging to be filled. They defined a new category of soft drinks that would be offered exclusively in bars, restaurants and hotels, and created a brand identity that looked stylish and grown-up. The simple, elegant packaging enhanced the perception of being sophisticated and worthy of drinking on a special night out. Launched in August 2011, Story will initially be sold only in the UK, with plans to introduce it into export markets in 2012.

Posted in Product Design | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Museum of Communism (Really!)

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 13, 2011

The fact that the Museum of Communism in Prague is next to a casino and above a McDonald’s burger restaurant is an ironic “thumbing one’s nose” at the oppressors who kept the Czech Republic under nearly a half century of totalitarian rule. The museum, which has as its slogan “Communism: The Dream, the Reality, the Nightmare,” is dedicated to relating what daily life was like living behind the Iron Curtain, right up to the Velvet Revolution that led to the overthrow of the Communist government in 1989. It includes everything from video clips, Soviet memorabilia, and a replica of a Soviet interrogation room.

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Posted in Advertising, Pop Culture | Comments (1) | Permalink | del.icio.us

Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles of Good Design

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 12, 2011

World-renowned German industrial designer Dieter Rams defined the latter half of the 20th century with a parade of landmark products. Head of design for Braun A.G. until his retirement in 1998, Rams’ many designs — coffee makers, AV equipment, consumer appliances, calculators, radios, record players, office products – found a permanent home at many of museums, including MoMA. His Universal Shelving System for Vitsoe is still considered as contemporary and functional as it was the day it was introduced. Rams once described his design philosophy as “Less is Better.” In the early 1980s, he pondered the question: What is good design? The result is the 10 principles stated above.

Posted in Design Education, Product Design | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

CCTV Ad Makes Ink Painting in Liquid Animation

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 7, 2011

For a Central China Television (CCTV) promotional commercial, Chinese ad agency, MMIA, undertook to retrace the history of China in an animated version of a traditional Chinese ink-and-wash landscape painting. Ink-and-wash is an art style that developed thousands of years ago and is noted for brush strokes that range from bold forms to faint ink washes that render scenes in a dreamlike mist. To simulate this liquid effect, MMIA turned to Troublemakers.tv, a production company based in Paris, and German director Niko Tziopanos of weareflink. The result is mesmerizing, a merging of design, computer graphics, visual effects and live action blending seamlessly together to appear that an ancient ink painting has come to life.

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Posted in Film title sequence, Motion Graphics | Comments (0) | Permalink | del.icio.us

  • Publisher:
    Corporate Design Foundation

    Editor: Delphine Hirasuna

    Design Director:
    Kit Hinrichs, Studio Hinrichs


  •  

    • Redefining What’s Possible Through the Power of Design

    • IDEO is an innovation and design firm that uses a human-centered, design-based approach to help organizations in the business, government, education, and social sectors innovate and grow.

    • When it Comes to High-Efficiency,
      the Choice is Yours.

    • Marketing and advertising tabletop photography. Food. Still life. Beverage. Portraits. Commercial films. Books.

    • Ziba is an innovation and design consultancy that creates beautiful experiences.

    • Sappi Fine Paper

      Learn how to reduce your carbon footprint. Click here to read about Sappi’s new eQ tools.

    • Studio Hinrichs

      Studio Hinrichs, founded by Kit Hinrichs in 2009, is a San Francisco-based design consultancy engaged in all aspects of design, including packaging, brand identity, corporate communications, environmental graphics, interactive media, and publishing.
      To find out more about the 365 Typographic Calendar.

    • The “designer’s printer” of high-end corporate marketing materials and advertising. Consistent winner of the most prestigious printing and design awards.

    • Multidisciplinary design firm with offices worldwide, specializing in graphic design, architecture, interactive and industrial design.

  • Gung Hay Fat Choy!

    This traditional, paper cut dragon features this years Chinese zodiac animal. Happy lunar new year!

    Your Profit
    Is My Fear

    Jean-Benoit Levy, noted Swiss poster designer, created this poster concerning the powerless position an individual has facing the war effort throughout the world.

    Altered Lanscape

    Altered Landscape, a celebration of the Nevada Museum of Art's 80th Anniversary is now on exhibition in Reno, Nevada. A lavish book, designed by Brad Bartlett.

    Vanishing Species Stamp

    This commemorative stamp, featuring an Amur tiger cub, is the latest edition to the USPS campaign to raise funds for vanishing species. It was illustrated by Nancy Stahl.

    Limited Edition 9/11 Poster Available

    Studio Hinrichs has produced a limited edition 9/11 commemorative poster to benefit the NYC Firefighters Brotherhood Foundation.

    Spark Pro Competition

    The 2011 Spark Competition registration runs through September–November and is open to all designers, architects, and industrial designers.

    Happy Birthday Hatch Show Print!

    A Nashville original, Hatch Show Print celebrates its 132nd year as a letterpress shop. They have created posters for America's country and western stars for generations.

    Cheeky Covers

    Bloomberg Businessweek introduces two covers for the Valentines issue on the "Infidelity Economy". Click here to peek at the men's cover.

    Industrial Designer Stamps

    United States Postal Service announces the publication of 12 commemorative stamps on American Industrial Designers in July 2011.

    Happy Lunar
    New Year!

    @issue team wishes everyone a prosperous year.

    @issue

    Back issues (single copies or complete sets) of @issue: Journal of Business and Design are available for sale from Corporate Design Foundation. Contact CDF here.

    365 Typographic Calendar

    The 2011 365 Calendar is now available for the tenth year. For more information, click here.

    American Craft Redesign

    American Craft Magazine, published over the last 70 years by the American Craft Council, boasts a new look and feel in the December/January issue.

    Levi’s
    Water<Less Jeans

    A change in the finishing process let’s Levi’s cut water use by as much as 96% in its new Water<Less jeans line, a total savings of 16 million gallons of water by spring 2011.

    Twitter Cookbook

    Author Maureen Evans condenses over 1,000 recipes – from lemon lentil soup to biscotti – down to 140 characters or less.

    Unique Poster

    35th annual American Indian Film Festival

    “Day of the Dead” Tequila

    Dr. Lemon Tequila in Argentina marks Latin America’s Day of the Dead festivities (November 2) with this advertisement, designed by Plenty in Buenos Aires.

    Logo Licious!

    Peleg Top’s latest book on international logos has just been published; it’s an interesting array of global large and small firms.

    Hand/Eye Magazine

    Hand/Eye describes people, places, products, projects and ideas that bridge the worlds of art and craft, design and development, culture and commerce, and environment and ethics.

    Scout's Honor

    US Postal Service has just released a commemorative stamp celebrating the 100 anniversary of the Boy Scouts in America, designed by Craig Frazier.

    PUBLIC Bikes

    Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach, has launched PUBLIC, a collection of modern bikes and gear for cyclists who want to ride in style.

    TO Watch

    From designer / architect Tokujin Yoshioka comes a sculptural stainless steel watch for Issey Miyake. The hands are interior faces that move independently to tell the time with hour etched on the outer face.

    Ammunition adds HeartBeats
    for Lady Gaga

    This is the latest extension to Beats by Dr. Dre highly successful headphone line. It's both a fashion accessory and a high-end audio product.

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