Action Science Adventure

• Apr 26, 2010

  The truth about logos is that they are not that hard to do.

  —  Michael Bierut being interviewed at Facing Sideways. Lots of great advice therein.

• Apr 19, 2010

  

  Wonderful student project from Julian Hansen. My favorite question is “What is your opinion of Eric Gill?”

• Mar 9, 2010

  Design Metaphor Cheat Sheet

  It’s so easy! Now you can do it too! When in doubt:

  • Make something that isn’t a map look like a map (e.g.: “Look, it’s the human body as the London Tube map!”).
  • Make something that isn’t a Penguin book cover look like a Penguin book cover.
  • Make a movie poster for something that isn’t a movie.

  More to come.

• Feb 26, 2010

  I’m always ready to take on anything and everything, if the client has an open mind and doesn’t want a repeat performance of something that I did before, or that is already in the marketplace. I love to design, and I am still hoping to do my best work.

  — Paula Scher being interviewed at Pr*tty Sh*tty on design, community, and practices.

• Feb 15, 2010

  The iPad allows periodicals for the first time to do digital content with all of the same values and artistic range that are the hallmark of print magazines.

  — 

  Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine Editor-in-Chief on how bringing print design to a screen will solve all their problems.

  Listen, the web has been able to do what you’re talking about for at least a decade, but you’ve had your head in the sand. Now you think that the iPad will be your savior? Sure, embrace the iPad, it’s perfect for this sort of thing. But, the Wired website is where your good content goes to die. Neglecting the notion that you could’ve pioneered the “artistic range” of magazines on the web is just shameful.

  Let’s hope they approach the iPad differently than the web; as a different experience with its own attributes and design considerations. Throwing your magazine on a touch screen, just like throwing your magazine’s content on a webpage, isn’t enough.

• Feb 7, 2010

  

  I love Aime Jalon’s illustration style.

• Feb 2, 2010

  Can you blame us? Have you seen how many things there to be disappointed about these days? Love. Sex. Marriage. Stock market. God. Gas mileage. Death. Air travel. 5/9ths of the Supreme Court. It’s all just a big goddamn letdown. The list is endless. And getting endlesser.

  — Mark Morford, Why are you so terribly disappointing? I love every word of this rant on American disappointment.

• Feb 2, 2010

  Fantastic presentation by Michael Bierut on how to foster good client relationships. I struggle a bit with his one point, “Never talk about ‘educating the client.’” Michael talks about how we shouldn’t weigh our clients down (unless they really want to learn, of course) with technical details of our design work. I still try to give my clients a bit of background on why a decision was made, even if it’s not asked for. With web design, there are many more factors for use and interaction that one may encounter in a book or poster, and often, a client is even less experienced with these concerns. In these cases, I find it essential to guide them through why I’m suggesting a particular direction.

• Feb 1, 2010

  I think some of the reason “Calvin and Hobbes” still finds an audience today is because I chose not to run the wheels off it.

  — Bill Watterson, creator/illustrator Calvin and Hobbes in his first interview in 20 years. Sometimes even when something is so mind-bogglingly good, it needs to end in order to preserve that goodness.

• Jan 27, 2010

  A Faster Horse

  Here we are, just hours before Apple’s event where they are all but confirmed to announce a new/revolutionary/breakthrough tablet device. With each year and each new release, the amount of punditry grows. Reporters and bloggers everywhere weigh in on what Apple’s unannounced product will or won’t do. Consumer’s won’t buy it. It won’t save old media. It won’t revolutionize gaming.

  The amazing thing is that Apple has proven people wrong year after year. Is it because they are smarter than reporters? Perhaps they’re just better thinkers.

  The thing about a breakthrough of any kind is that it changes and challenges our existing notions. Pundits say they won’t buy an Apple tablet based on the technical specs that they formulate from existing technologies. But when something truly new happens, it isn’t a rearrangement of what’s already out there, it’s something different.

  This is what separates most of us from being truly creative thinkers. Coming up with a new direction means actually first understanding the problem to be solved, not just jumping to solutions.

  From the visionary Henry Ford, regarding the first car he ever built:

  If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.