RegardingDesign

Onto another one

Well, here we are saying goodbye to 2008. When people say, "I can't believe another year has passed," I often think, "Another year??? I can't believe another week, another hour, another breakfast has gone by!!"

In the case of this blog, it's hard to believe I've been doing it for 7 whole months. I want to close the new year by once again thanking all my readers and subscribers for their attention during this time. And let you know that you'll be seeing some changes to Regarding Design in the new year. We hope you like what you see and keep coming back for more....

Here's to all of us having new, fun, and interesting adventures in the coming year!

Choo, choo

I think trains are cool.(And train graffiti is really cool, although sadly, my camera couldn't pick up the artwork from these fast moving cars.) I love traveling by train as is makes the trip itself an actual journey, rather than simply a way to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. When I have to go to New York City, I hop a train just over the Hudson from Albany, New York and in the 2.5 hours it takes to get to Penn Station, I get to watch the river, the hillsides, marshes, ruins, backyards, mansions, Palisades, former castles, and more go by outside the window while I nestle in my comfy, oversized seat, which, unlike a plane or car, has an outlet for my computer. In the winter when the trees are bare, I often see not only myriad of ducks and geese, but also majestic bald eagles.

The town where I live is quite the transportation corridor. As it is the narrowest part of the Mohawk River valley, which runs east to west through New York State, most of the byways -- including major and minor highways, a canal, river, and train tracks, are squeezed cheek-by-jowl and side-by-side in a strip. To get to the former towpath that runs along the canal for my daily perambulation, I cross a 4-lane road, go under train tracks, over a river, and am within a mile of a major interstate. And that's all within a 1/2 mile of my home.

I recently found another path that was once a regular road, now closed to traffic, that runs alongside the river. It was from here that we got these pics of this wicked cool railroad logo. I love the ways the letters are organized around each other, the crafted quality of the letterforms, the way the C seems reaching out for the rest of the word. It's "wrong" in so many ways, breaking so many rules of balance and symmetry. Which makes me enjoy it all the more.

Making things new again

Well, as we approach the new year, it's that time when people start thinking about re-invention. How have things been going? What changes do we need to make? How can we still be relevant in the coming months? What's working and what's not working?

If you're thinking about some business reinvention and wondering how best to express the new you, Sean Adams has pulled together some impressive ideas and work on logo and identity design in his book "Masters of Design Logos & Identity." Each chapter profiles a designer and their work, and the designers are a refreshingly international lot, including folks like Vince Frost in Australia, Imadesign Corp in Moscow, and Estudio Mariscal in Spain, among others. In addition to work, Adams provides thoughtful and informative commentary that illuminates the process behind the designs. There are also great call-outs on everything from "Advice for identity designers" from C&G Partners, to "The strangest place my logo appeared," from Imadesign Corp.

Happy Holidays!

If any of you live someplace where you'd like a little snow to make the holidays more festive, come get some from us! While it snarls travel plans, it sure does make things look pretty.

Regarding Design will be offline for the rest of the week enjoying some family time -- hope my readers are getting the same. We'll be back early next week for a couple of days before the new year. I want to take this moment and say thank you to everyone who has tuned into this blog, read my musings, written me comments, signed up for email and feeds, and all the rest.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season!

Make your resolutions green

If you're thinking about New Year's resolutions -- and let's face it, given the precarious state of the world, who isn't? -- one good one is to try and be more "green." While sustainability is on all of our minds, the subject is so far reaching and multi-faceted that it can drive one to distraction. However, don't despair -- there is a slim green (literally, as in the color) volume that can come to your rescue.
 

The Little Green Handbook, 145 Simple Steps to Save the Planet is wonderful collection of, as promised, simple things each of us can do. As we know, the accumulation of small actions, repeated by millions of people, has a huge impact. Just look at our last election! Divided into sections on what you can do at the home, office, while out and about, and by speaking up, each page contains a single action you can take -- complete with charming illustrations, a soothing color palette, and a hip stripe pattern. I know you designers are generally great about encouraging your clients to print on recycled paper and such, but what about what you personally can do? This book is a great place to start.

Fix leaks. Don't hoard office supplies. Carry a mug and water bottle. Inflate your car tires to the proper pressure. Shop for only the things you need. Buy local. Buy in bulk. Don't use air fresheners. Install a programmable thermostate. Pack your lunch. Recycle ink cartridges.

Maybe you're doing tons of this stuff already. If so, get the book anyway because it will not only give you even more ideas, but you'll feel good about yourself by checking off things you've already done. If each of us did some portion of the 145 things, wow, think about the difference we could make!!!

How about this for a really GOOD idea....

Marc Stess of Stressdesign in Syracuse, NY was working on a print project that was completed using 100% wind power. The design team tried to find a cool wind power logo to include on the project. Marks like this are powerful at communicating good deeds and associations, not to mention hopefully inspiring other organizations to do likewise.

 

However, they ran into a problem. “When we looked for a wind power logo,” Marc reports, “there was nothing good to be found.” Undaunted by the paucity of well-designed windmill images, they “took matters into our own hands” and designed a lovely icon.

 

However, they didn’t stop there. Not wanting other design firms to face the same dearth of this oh-so-important sustainability message, they’re making their windpower logo available for anyone who wants it. Visit Stressdesign to download high-res files of this rather handsome image next time you’re doing a project that is produced with windpower. Which is hopefully soon. And more and more frequently as time goes on.

How about this for a really bad idea....

I recently received a press release from overseas that got my attention. But for none of the usual reasons. Normally, I’m inundated with interesting ideas, beautiful designs, inventive approaches to branding. This press release boasted of the latest accomplishments of a Croatian ad agency, Bruketa&Žinić^OM, which was apparently tasked with introducing the Puma collection for spring/summer 2009. Their brilliant idea was to create a pseudo animal, taxonomic name, Pumus trendycus, and introduce the new line, in, um, a CAGE at the Zagreb Zoo. Maybe they don’t look at zoos quite that same way we do here, but when was the last time a caged animal represented the athleticism and freedom of movement that I’d think a brand like Puma – not to mention it’s namesake – represents?!?!?

So many design blogs and magazines focus on great design and branding, I thought it might be interesting to do a post about what seems to me to be a spectacularly BAD idea. If you’ve ever had a bone-headed marketing idea, take heart – you are not alone.

The Future of Regarding Design

Taking a bit of a break from the gift giving theme we've established these past weeks, we're turning to our readership for some advice.

As we look towards the end of one year and the beginning of another, we, like so many people, are taking some time to reflect upon and assess our years last and forthcoming. Part of what we're looking at is how we're spending -- or, perhaps INVESTING is a better word -- our time. Time, like money, needs to be invested wisely; certainly, sometimes we're frivolous with our time, sometimes frugal. The rewards of time well spent -- however we define it -- come in a wide variety of forms, including sharing activities, creating memories, cementing relationships, meeting new people, expanding our horizons.

All of these attributes apply to blogging. As do other, lesser, more exasperating ones, which include head scratching over what to write, waking up in the middle of the night wondering if anyone's reading, fretting whilst in a meeting with clients about whether the post has actually posted, etc. So there has been some discussion recently among us whether we should continue, can we afford the investment that continuing demands, is this investment "worth it", however we want to define "it", and if we continue, should the blog continue in its current format?

Since we don't have the answers to these questions, we're asking YOU our readers. Please post a comment or send us an email letting us know what you think.

For Stuffing Into Stockings

Here's a couple of cute -- and practical -- books for the punky design/art kid and/or frilly design/art kid on your list. Design Parts Sourcebooks supply a whole range of steal-able artwork to use wherever you want, from tattoos to scrapbooking. You'll find themed fonts, florals, patterns, illustrations and more.

Design Parts Sourcebook Rock & Street Culture includes categories like Skull & Bones, Tatoo & Tribal, Surf & Skate, Sexy, and Band. Design Parts Sourcebook Romantic includes chapters on Flowers, Animals, Lace, Ribbons, Pattern, and Photos, among other things. Both books come with a CD so you can pull all the images onto the computer to manipulate and make them your own. Each image is supplied as both a JPEG and PNG file.

For the entire design industry

Design is not just a job, it's an industry. Because the industry does so much for individual designers -- like provides jobs and helps educate clients -- they should do at least a little for the industry. The simplest and perhaps most important thing a designer can do is support the leading industry organization, the AIGA.

"AIGA, the professional association for design, is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice."

If the designer on your list is not already a member, give them a membership. Rates are as low as $95/yr for students and just a few hundred for long-standing professionals, with a few other levels in between. You will be doing a good deed for the designer, as well as their industry, as being part of the AIGA opens them up to a whole world of design history, education, inspiration, networking, and so much more.