Chado-Design.com

by Richard AnwylMarch 05, 2008

Each day our world changes, the old quickly vanishing, displaced by inspired new designs, new perspectives and brilliant imaginative creations. Society seemingly demands it, our fascination and appetite for embracing the new apparently endless. Who of us is not awed by the scale of Dubai’s architecture, amused by the latest television commercial, drawn to the value and logic of the Prius Hybrid automobile or the aesthetic and functional design of Apple’s iPhone?

But what of the abandoned—what responsibility do we have for preserving our displaced creations, yesterday’s symbols of inspiration, logic and creative ingenuity? Champions for the salvation of one such creation is the Center for Design Study, where I serve as executive director. This Atlanta nonprofit foundation is battling to preserve a seminal piece of America’s design history that for 20 years was mounted on the cafeteria wall of the CBS building. While some may not be aware of this inspiring three-dimensional memorial to typography, many are familiar with its creator, Lou Dorfsman. The CBS cafeteria wall is as legendary as its visionary designer and art director. Conceived in the mid-1960s and ultimately completed in 1966, the expansive wall, spanning over 35-feet wide and 8-feet tall, is a national design treasure. In producing the wall Dorfsman enlisted support from life-long friend and design legend Herb Lubalin. Lubalin, along with Tom Carnase, masterfully crafted the typography for the aptly dubbed “Gastrotypographicalassemblage.”

(more…)

03.05.08

Knudson makes machines that roll-form metal into gutters, studs and roofing panels. Sexy, right? Thanks to well-made machines and an innovative approach, the company has always enjoyed a solid reputation; however, from a marketing standpoint, it had been quiet for so many years that people had begun to wonder if the manufacturer had fallen on hard times. With this print campaign, Denver, Colorado-based Cactus, restated Knudson’s status as a major player. Consisting of simple vignettes that tell it like it is, copy that speaks the language of the audience and stories about how Knudson machines can be relied upon to last, the ads embody Knudson’s leadership and toughness in tone and design and cut through the clutter

Brian Watson, writer; Norm Shearer, creative director; John Johnston, photographer.

www.sharpideas.comwww.knudsonmfg.com

New media like YouTube offer more outlets for agency executives to tout their agendas

March 3, 2008

-By Gregory Solman

Eric Hirshberg

LOS ANGELES “Stop working for the ni**er.”

The year was 1975. In the client’s mind, George Lois had crossed a line: On his own time and dime, he’d mounted a controversial newspaper ad campaign and solicited celebrity endorsements to free boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter from jail.

Lois hadn’t consulted with his partners, James Callaway and J. Ronald Holland, before undertaking Carter’s cause. When you lose the big accounts, he said recently, “you gulp. But [my partners] more than understood.”

(more…)

LOS ANGELES It’s not as dramatic as the futuristic world imagined in 1982’s Blade Runner that had Harrison Ford seemingly unable to escape high-tech signage promoting anything that could be advertised, but digital billboards nevertheless have descended on Los Angeles and other big cities.

Wednesday, Clear Channel Outdoor is launching its third network of digital billboards in L.A., and for the first time they’ll feature breaking headlines bought and paid for by a major newspaper: the Los Angeles Times.
(more…)

The Politics of Design

by Paul Rand

http://www.paul-rand.com

It is no secret that the real world in which the designer functions is not the world of art, but the world of buying and selling. For sales, and not design are the raison d’etre of any business organization. Unlike the salesman, however, the designer’s overriding motivation is art: art in the service of business, art that enhances the quality of life and deepens appreciation of the familiar world.

Design is a problem-solving activity. It provides a means of clarifying, synthesizing, and dramatizing a word, a picture, a product, or an event. A serious barrier to the realization of good design, however, are the layers of management inherent in any bureaucratic structure. For aside from the sheer prejudice or simple unawareness, one is apt to encounter such absurdities as second guessing, kow-towing, posturing, nit-picking, and jockeying for position, let alone such buck-passing institutions as the committee meeting and the task force. At issue, it seems, is neither malevolence nor stupidity, but human frailty.

(more…)

Bizi Bee Flora

If you are ever in Seattle and looking for a florist who offers flower arrangements, bouquets and an immediate delivery? Perhaps you’d like to send flowers out of town? Maybe you are from somewhere other than Seattle and wish to send flowers to someone here in the Seattle area…Look no further! BiZi Bee Floral & Gifts promises to show you what “Get BiZi, Bee Happy!” is all about! http://bizibeefloral.com/

(more…)