Crafty commentary

In Cozying Up to Cozies, Penelope Green of the New York Times writes of the blog kraftomatic.blogspot.com, on which writer Marian Lizzi posts various odd crafty items she finds on the craft-laden site Etsy. Lizzi also adds humorous commentary to the pictures of strange items. She uses the "just sold" feature on the site and writes only of these items; as she says, "The thing about the just-sold feature is that it shows you what people are actually buying, that matches are being made. And that makes me so happy.” Among the items cited are crocheted turkey legs and soaps shaped like dentures. As the article emphasizes, "In a world gone mad, there is something comforting about the fact that someone is painstakingly stitching spotted dick, the British pudding, out of felt, or molding shea butter soaps in the shape of dentures, and that someone else is cheerfully snapping them up." Such quaintness is often the underlying joy of crafting; though these items are certainly not needed, there is something fun about the fact that they are being created for sheer creation's sake. As a design student, it's impossible not to make the comparison between such superfluous crafting and design. How many times have we, as students, been asked what exactly defines design and separates it from both arts and crafts? In my opinion, this exercise in recognizing craft for the sake of craft highlights the underlying definition of design: that it exists for a purpose, whether to sell, inform, guide, or explain.

Jason Santa Maria lecture

Swissmiss highlighted Jason Santa Maria's lecture at SVA regarding print vs. web design. The lecture is quite interesting. First, Jason focuses on the nature of print design and how magazine and newspaper layouts are generally much more inspired and interesting than their web versions. Next, he explores the web medium and the particular problems it poses, such as the fact that designers don't know where the site will be viewed (on a computer, iPhone, or Kindle); cannot be sure how the page will be displayed (font sizes, etc. can differ on different computers); and cannot count on the chronological aspect that books and magazines provide. Finally, Jason highlights how he has attempted to bring techniques of print design to his own web design style, focusing on his personal website, jasonsantamaria.com. I definitely recommend listening to the lecture, as it certainly pertains to Interactive Design, as well as design as a whole.

Kings of Convenience

Seth Godin points out that marketers typically work in Circles of Convenience: "They stick to the tactics, products, people and channels that they are comfortable with, instead of rethinking what the market demands." It's difficult to do, but business requires serious risk-taking. Rather than doing what has always been done, successful businesspeople must try new things that have never been done. Instead of looking at often-used solutions and applying them to current situations, they must look instead at the problem and situation and develop entirely new solutions. They must clear their heads of existing ideas and arrive at something entirely different. While it may seem risky, it seems to be the only way to differentiate oneself from "the pack"—and thus, gain success.

Kindling interest in the Kindle

Nussbaum asserts that the Kindle, Amazon's new medium for reading, is especially loved by Boomers. I have to agree with him from what limited discussion I've had regarding the Kindle; my father and his friends seem to be very intrigued by the device, yet my friends look down upon it. This fact is somewhat counter-intuitive. One would think that younger readers would more readily embrace the new technology, while older generations would prefer traditional books. Nussbaum writes,

Boomers read and the Kindle satisfies this desire. It’s a platform that is light, small, easy to use and better than carrying around heavy books (remember, pain is a constant, especially in the hands, from 55-onward).

I think the weight is a huge factor in the Kindle's popularity. My dad, who travels often for work, cites the fact that he could bring multiple books with him on one device as the main reason for wanting one. The question is: why do Gen-Y'ers not want the device? Is it because, more and more, we read different things (i.e. blogs, social networking sites, and Internet news) instead of books? Is it because we stare at a screen all day long and want to rest our eyes when it comes time to read a book? It's an interesting question and one worth exploring. Further, I wonder how Amazon is pursuing marketing the Kindle and whether Boomers have been their target in marketing efforts.

The High Line - take two

At the risk of beating a dead horse regarding the High Line (which seems to have crept up in every NY news source over the past week), I enjoyed this Design Observer article about the park. The article explores the design process that went into the park, along with the implications of the narrow, elevated space it inhabits. As the article argues, the narrow pathway, which at times gives way to landscaping, causes parkgoers to meander slowly through the directional forces of its structures (including planks and benches), as well as its curvy shape. Plentiful benches and lounge chairs underscore the idea of a slow stroll. Each structure along the way functions in multiple ways, and in doing so, reduces clutter. The surrounding buildings and landscapes become picturesque sights, causing viewers to stop and admire them. The park's unique form is perhaps what has attracted so much public attention, as it seems to be a reflection of what urban life will be in the future.

Plugged in

What a great idea! The node power strip from Metaphys in Japan provides an attractive and functional alternative to traditional, ugly power strips. The device contains two notches near its perimeter, which allow the user to plug in various electrical appliances. Meanwhile, at the center of the "strip" is a button that allows the user to turn off all the devices at once.
I love industrial design that rethinks the way every day objects work—and makes them better. Its often even more difficult to re-imagine current objects than it is to create new objects, as we're used to seeing them a certain way. It can be very easy to get stuck in a creative rut when we have the look and feel of a current product stuck in our minds. This power strip, however, breaks away from tradition nicely, and I'd love to try it out myself.

Pet Airways

A true lesson in absurdity: Pet Airways, the airline for pets that was featured on Cool Hunting this week. The all-pet airline provides amenities such as pre- and post-flight walks, in-cabin kennels, and personal attendants who walk/carry pets onto the plane. As of now, the airline only flies once weekly to select major cities (New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles), but hopes to expand in the near future.
I personally am surprised that the company is launching amidst the current recession. The idea seems a bit extravagant in this market, and I wonder if it will be popular. It seems it would have been better suited for the bull market of a few years ago.

Feedback

I enjoyed Seth Godin's posting about feedback. His observations are true not only in the workplace, but also in a school environment. Often, teachers tend to be stubborn about their stylistic viewpoint and are thus stubborn about the praise or rejection they give students. This method of feedback often causes students to focus merely on what the teacher wants, and because of this focus, miss out on truly engaging with the project.

Never say never

Yet another book review piqued my interest on Swissmiss. Never Use White Type on a Black Background And 50 other Ridiculous Design Rules takes a look at the various rules that design schools and professionals often pass along to beginners and turns these rules upside down. According to the review, the book essentially tells designers that, rather than be governed by a set of rules, design is to be experimental and free of restrictions. I agree that it is difficult to use a specific set of rules in design; such constraints can limit creativity. Instead, designs must be approached on a case-by-case basis. While it is important to have a foundation of knowledge to draw on, it's also important to free oneself from too many restrictions.

It's not easy being green...

This post on Cool Hunting reviews the new book Design is the Problem by Nathan Shedroff. The book discusses the need to reassess what we as designers consider "green" and often arrives at counter-intuitive conclusions. Though I haven't read the book myself, the ideas presented in the review sound compelling. So much work has been put into marketing products as "green," yet I find it doubtful that many of the purportedly "green" products actually stand up to their claims. In my opinion, more products should be developed specifically to be green, rather than simply re-branded as such. From the sounds of this book, it will help designers do so.


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Banksy vs. Bristol Museum

This Core77 posting takes a look at street/graffiti artist Banksy's new exhibit at the Bristol Museum in his hometown. The exhibit was planned in secrecy, and not even the museum's director met Banksy; instead, the artist worked on the exhibition anonymously amidst his large crew. Ironically, Banksy is famous for his (illegal) graffiti throughout Bristol, yet is now showing at a government-funded museum. His illegal behavior, then, has made him famous throughout Britain and the world.
It will be interesting to see what the public response to the exhibit is and how his work translates in a museum setting. His art is known for its political commentary, a fact that dovetails nicely with his usual forum of graffiti on the sides of buildings. Will this message be weakened if he instead shows his work in such a traditional setting?

Circumspect

After our in-class discussion about cool hunting / trend forecasting, I found this article from the NYTimes about the evolution of sunglass trends particularly interesting. The article focuses on the summer's new trend of sporting round sunglasses, but covers the larger process of defining, starting, and spreading trends in general. The author points out that many style makers see the same art exhibitions and current events, and that this exposure often influences them in similar ways. For example, a pair of John Lennon's signature round glasses were auctioned recently at a high price—a fact that many designers likely noticed. As designers, we must pay attention to such trends, and it's thought provoking to examine the origins of them.

Hooray for the Highline

As Nussbaum points out, the High Line has opened at long last. I'm excited about the park—not just for the new space to stroll in the summer, but for the great design used in developing the park. As you can see from the pictures below, the park uses some innovative structures and is anything but boring. It's projects like these that will allow NY to keep its cutting-edge reputation. As Nussbaum illustrates in his post, the park will help revitalize the area, as many new retail stores, restaurants, and even hotels (The Standard) have opened along its path. I'm looking forward to checking it out this weekend!

A Stress on Letterpress

I love browsing the "Today" posts on Design Observer, which catalog inspiration for the week. This week's posting was of particular interest to me, as it details various examples of letterpress printing, as well as the history behind it. As the post mentions, letterpress printing has experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years—a fact that dovetails with the current backlash against mechanical, computer-based typography. In this post, Eric Baker explores letterpress's tradition of highly ornamental typography, often drawn by hand. I personally love the look of letterpress printing and would love to learn the craft myself. Furthermore, I am exploring the "return to the past" as a possible thesis topic, and this post underscores some of the themes I've been examining in Directed Research. See below to check out some of the images featured in the post.

Social Media and the Workplace

Nussbaum's amusingly titled post VP of Twittering examines the new and popular role of VP of Social Media. He goes on to remark,

many VPs of Social Media do not have significant social media footprints on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Wow. I guess many corporate bureaucracies still can’t trust the younger members of their culture, because Gen Yers absolutely live in social media. In fact, there is a growing split between “young” Gen Yers and “old” Gen yers on how they use social media.

This statement echoes our exploration of the millennial generation in class. Similarly, I consider myself an "old" Gen Yer...I have not yet fully embraced social media (namely, Twitter). It's interesting to see that, according to the post Nussbaum tags, there is an effective and credible way of going about Twittering—and it's very similar to in-person networking.

Blogging 101

As the writer of this blog, I found this article from this weekend's NYTimes to be interesting. I always wonder how many of the millions of blogs out there are actually read, and according to this article, the answer is: not many. The article explains that, while many people start a blog with the hopes of obtaining a book deal, advertising money, or wide viewing audiences, most people are let down by a lack of readership. Indeed,

According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled.

There are many reasons these blogs are abandoned, including a lack of anonymity or quite the opposite: a lack of readership. Whatever the reason, it's clear that blogs, though increasingly popular reading sources, are often not all they are expected to be.

CreativeMornings

The CreativeMornings events, as described in this post on Swissmiss, look like informative, useful sessions for designers. It's always helpful to hear experienced designers talk about what they have learned—something I've been glad to see integrated more fully into Pratt's special events series this year. Some of the main points this week's CreativeMornings speaker, Khoi Vinh brought up were:

1. Tell The Truth
2. Understand the problem
3. Don’t Skimp
4. Fads are bad
5. Let things be what it is
6. A little bit of self-delusion goes a long way

Hopefully, I'll be able to catch a CreativeMornings session sometime soon.

Sketchy business

Core77's book review of Richard Brereton's Sketchbooks: The Hidden Art of Designers, Illustrators and Creatives reads like it was written by one of my Pratt professors. By this, I mean that the author stresses the utter importance of sketchbooks to designers, stating, "sketchbooks can serve as practice pages, ways to fill time, as a finished products [sic], or even what graphic designer Pep Carrio beautifully describes as 'warehouses of memory.'" Indeed, as a student, I've found how useful sketchbooks can be in developing ideas for a project. Similarly, Brereton's book looks as though it would be interesting to peruse for inspiration. As the review mentions,

"While looking at the notebooks of a Da Vinci, I'm stricken simultaneously with awe and despair by his utter mastery of line and form, but Brereton sets us a far more reasonable bar. With Da Vinci a reader might feel compelled to meticulously copy the masters work, but by including both 'wow' and 'I could do that' moments, Brereton's readers might actually be inspired to pick up a pencil."

True to this statement, the images included in the review are, in fact, inspiring. Upon viewing the few shots, I'm compelled to set off sketching myself. To "draw like no one is looking," as the review states, is a liberating and important component of any creative project.

Deeper vs. Wider

In his post Deeper or Wider, Seth Godin examines the differences between "deeper" and "wider" targeting. He argues that, in order to be successful and "grow the size of [its] customer base," a company must choose between the two tactics, either creating a wide variety of options so that 100% of the population will be satisfied or creating an "expert-like" focus on one item so that it becomes a specialty. I think this is an effective way to think about marketing. Too many companies fall somewhere in between, and in their lack of definition, fail to strike a chord with anyone.

Trumping the Real Estate Market

In the world of brand identity, Donald Trump is, no doubt, an expert. This post on Design Observer examines the beginnings of his Trump Tower logo and the brand identity that emerged thereafter. It's interesting that the logo's designer, Der Scutt, admits his design decisions were purely visual. Here at Pratt, our teachers constantly remind us that every design must have a conceptual basis and meaning; simply designing because something "looks nice" will not suffice. Clearly, however, Scutt's logo—along with Trump's decision to double it in size on the building's facade—have had a lasting impact on Trump's legacy.

It's a Small World, After All

This project by Edgartista (aka Edgar Gonzales) on Cool Hunting is an example of how a small, daily project—such as a doodle—can often become something much larger. As I begin attempting to come up with a thesis topic, this idea is particularly inspiring (and comforting-?). While the artist began his project simply as a doodle of the NY cityscape while on his way to work, it has evolved into something far more conceptual.

As stated on Cool Hunting,

Inspired by the urban landscape, the upshot is a large-scale futuristic drawing that incorporates major landmarks from cities around the world, signifying unification among everyone to create this new life for the future. . .[The artist] also refers to his utopian image as the "The New Hope," representing the ideal that one day the world will be a better place.