Many talented young designers today have abandoned their roles as improvers of the general visual environment. Many only want to work on cultural work, or not-for-profit work, or on projects they perceive as “good-for-society” which may have a high profile within the design milieu, but don’t really reach ordinary people. These designers are afraid to get involved in mainstream packaging, promotion or corporate work. They forget that these are the products and messages that most people really encounter in their daily lives, that these products and services are at the heart of the American condition, and that there is responsibility for us as designers, always, to raise the expectation of what design can be. We are responsible for that daily experience. These “ivory tower designers” leave the job to others (ad agencies, schlock shops, etc.) who are simply doing it for the money, and are often cynical about the outcome.
I still hate the name, but I’m coming around to the idea.
This interview with Wired’s Creative Director, Scott Dadich shows great insight into why printed publications need to begin designing for the tablet device.
http://nytimes-roulette.appspot.com/
Chat roulette for the newsie in all of us.
I have no method-to-my-madness for reading online news, but it usually involves a four year old mentality of clicking on the nearest shiny object. I would like to think of myself as an intrigued reader of the various political issues and I do my fair share of duty-reading (ie the latest on health care reform, Afghanistan, etc.), but without the tactile paper artifact in my hand I fall victim to my ADD.
Enter news roulette. The ultimate way to satisfy the four year old and seeker of knowledge in all of us. It’s so nice to get out of the rhythm of going straight to the art+design section or feeling guilty about clicking on the fun image just to the right of the article about the new asshole stealing our money.
Sometimes timing is perfect. I was driving home last night and pulled up along the above downtown Baltimore (now defunct) club “Bedrock” when my favorite guilty pleasure song came on my favorite guilty pleasure radio station. Awesome.
I think this graphical breakdown of Baltimore is extremely informative as well as beeeeutiful.
Having just worked with the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance on their new website, I can appreciate the concise informative solution these maps and charts offer to the viewer.
I found this article and illustration work at a perfect time.
Maybe it’s the years worth of luggage under each of my eyeballs or maybe because I went for a run yesterday and ended up about four miles from my apartment without noticing.
It seems that Obama is seeking the visual skillzz (that’s right, i put two) of Edward Tufte to help us idiots visualize the way the stimulus money is being spent. Smart move.
Then I came across this 2008-ish diagram. Tufte dissected the iphone interface and if his own experience is in any way congruent with how the next few weeks of my life will be spent then I am, well, screwed.
Read the Newsweek article here and check out smashing for great infographics inspiration.
Not my only project going on at the moment, but one of importance.
The website is going to have several stages, but due to my current schedule it will take a little bit to get it there. Eventually it will provide videos and photo galleries for each exhibition and the content will be managed by the entire gallery and not a select one (me).
New Article by Bret McCabe in this weeks CityPaper.
“The problem is that in that space between the sink and the tub where a traditional commode should be is a more upright, jet-engine-looking silvery blue contraption lined with something that distressingly looks fleshy and human. Is it a some newfangled kind of washing machine? Or a bidet on steroids?”
