February 2010
44 posts
The surprises at Orgori Cafe →
Orgori Cafe in Japan offers a unique ordering experience and you are always in for a surprise:
Located inside the Urban Design Center Kashiwa-no-ha, the Ogori cafe looks innocuous enough, but holds a surprise in store for its patrons. In a nutshell, you get what the person before you ordered, and the next person gets what you ordered. Thus, if you’re in on the game, you can choose to be either a...
Who Owns Student Work? →
Meredith Davis:
A number of years ago, curious about the ownership of student work produced in a class, I asked a lawyer friend who specializes in art and design copyright law if schools had the right to reproduce student work in their recruitment publicity without the students’ permission. He informed me that the student, despite advice from faculty who may have shaped the work, owns the work and...
January 2010
62 posts
9 tags
Buying a Printing Press and the Way we Consume...
The common phrase goes: “there is only freedom of the press for those who own a printing press.” For many years this was true. Up until the past few years, if you wanted to distribute content—whether it be a book, an article, a movie, an album, a television shot, etc—you had to go through the big media companies to get it out there. If you wrote a book, you had to find a publisher. If you had a...
A Message to the Internets Regarding the iPad →
Michael Pusateri:
I am a technology professional. For almost 20 years I’ve tested, used, broke, fixed, and played with all kinds of technology from broadcasting to air conditioning to software. I am not easily swayed in these things. But even with all my skepticism, I think the iPad is something different. A new way of computing that will become commonplace.
I’m reading this sort of thing...
See it for yourself →
Stephen Fry:
You know how everyone who has ever done Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? always says, “It’s not the same when you’re actually here. So different from when you’re sitting at home watching.”? You know how often you’ve heard that? Well, you’ll hear the same from anyone who’s handled an iPad. The moment you experience it in your hands you know this is class. This is a different order of...
Behind the Scenes of the Sherlock Holmes Title... →
I loved both the opening and closing credits in Sherlock Holmes. It’s interesting to see the steps it took to get them to the finished product.
‘Art is created to have impact’ →
Seth Goden:
My definition of art contains three elements: Art is made by a human being.
Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
Art is a gift. You can sell the souvenir, the canvas, the recording… but the idea itself is free, and the generosity is a critical part of making art.
By my definition, most art has nothing to do with oil paint or marble. Art is what...
3 tags
The 2009 Feltron Annual Report →
Nicolas Felton’s 2009 Annual Report is now online and available for sale and it’s better than ever. Constantly a source of inspiration.
Thread & Water →
The images coming in from Haiti in the aftermath of last week’s horrific earthquake continue to affect us all profoundly—and like you, we feel compelled to respond. But how? Do we give money, and to whom? Can we do MORE? As designers, developers and illustrators we could have simply given our own money and talents to relief, however we chose to unite to exponentially increase our efforts and...
On Japanese Aesthetics →
When coming back to Tokyo from abroad, my first impression usually is: What a dull airport! And yet it’s clean, neat and the floors deeply polished. To the Japanese eye, there’s a particular sense of beauty in the work of the cleaning staff. It’s in the craftman’s spirit — “shokunin kishitsu” — which applies to all Japanese professionals, be they street construction workers, electricians or...
Could Conan Go Indie? →
Frank Chimero:
his fans are also a bit of an enigma. For the most part, they’re between 20 and 40, and I’d venture to say post-big-media. The paradox is that Conan has a television show (well, used to), but I bet that Conan fans, for the most part, don’t watch television. (At least, not on television.)
Could Conan be the first major media figure to jump ship on television and embrace the internet...
Real artists ship →
Joel Johnson:
The fact that Apple does not reveal prototypes but shipping products is the fundamental difference between their entire business strategy and that of the rest of the industry. It evokes a feeling of trust between Apple and consumers—that when Apple actually reveals a product, it’s something that they’re confident enough to support for years to come.
A terrific article on...
Conan O’Brian and NBC Officially Part Ways →
Gavin Palone:
In the end, Conan was appreciative of the steps NBC made to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of his own pocket.
True class act, right there. This whole situation is a disaster; I’m sad to see him go.
Trailer for ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ →
A film from Bansky. This looks promising.
On Studying →
Frank Chimero:
To study means to spend time with something. Music and books have the benefit of having the qualities of time baked in to them. I can’t experience November Rain in 2 minutes. I can’t watch Citizen Kane in 20 minutes. Infinite Jest is a bonding experience because it asks so much.
I think that is why I enjoyed Irving Stone’s novel Lust For Life so much. It’s a long book....
Massimo Vignelli: In The Kitchen →
Massimo Vignelli on packaging design:
The unfortunate thing in America is that only sophisticated products have beautiful packaging. The supermarket packaging is a disaster; it is vulgar. There are countries that do better work— England and Scandinavian countries—even for public packaging. But here there is a tremendous misconception of what public is. The marketing people think they are giving...
The History of the Ampersand →
Web Designer Depot:
The word “ampersand” was first added to dictionaries in 1837. The word was created as a slurred form of “and, per se and”, which was what the alphabet ended with when recited in English-speaking schools. (Historically, “and per se” preceded any letter which was also a word in the alphabet, such as “I” or “A”. And the ampersand symbol was originally the last character in the...
Final Season of LOST Promises to Make Fans More... →
This is hilarious and describes me perfectly during LOST seasons.
Bob Noorda, 1927–2010 →
A tribute to the great Italian graphic design who passed away last week.
Confidence for Good →
The always insightful Liz Danzico on confidence, fear, and self promotion:
People, both women and men, should be so fiercely passionate about good ideas that self-promotion is a natural extension. Otherwise, why is it worth doing in the first place? It’s when confidence and self-promotion are obfuscated from passion that the claims become flimsy and empty. Confidence can bridge the gap between...
300&65 Ampersands →
This is my kind of site.
The Original Tablet →
John Gruber has a great piece on Apple’s “original tablet,” the Newton MessagePad, why it never took off, and why the new Tablet will:
Thinking of the Newton got my gears turning. It’s a fascinating comparison point for both the iPhone and whatever it is Apple is set to release. I suspect most of you reading this have never used, let alone owned, a Newton, which is a shame. They really were...
Starbucks Gets A Makeover →
A nice feature on how Starbucks is adapting it’s brand to fit into local cultures:
Starbucks stock began dropping in 2007, the Seattle-based company realized, among other things, that the cookie-cutter approach to store design had fallen out of fashion. Last year, Starbucks announced it would renovate its thousands of company-owned stores, in 52 countries, to be more sustainable and to look,...
The Importance of Routine →
A fascinating peek into the routines and rituals of some famous thinkers. Some of my favorites:
CS Lewis: Writer and thinker CS Lewis had a very clear schedule of his day, with activities such as work, walking, meals, tea, and socializing down to the very hour they should be done. He even describes when beer should be enjoyed (not at 11:00 for fear of running over the allotted 10 minutes for the...
The Fall of I.D. Magazine →
Julie Lasky, former editor of I.D. writing for Design Observer:
I stayed at I.D. for the next six years. Over that time, the parent company, which had been owned by a private equity firm based in Providence, Rhode Island, was sold to a private equity firm based in Boston. The new backers introduced a new CEO (an art-loving guy who had written his undergraduate thesis on the symbolism of bread in...
Conan O’Brian Statement Regarding ‘Tonight Show’ →
Incredibly eloquent, thoughtful and funny.
Why Introverts Can Make the Best Leaders →
Jennifer Kahnweiler for Forbes Magazine:
It has been reported that a full 40% of executives describe themselves as introverts, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates, the über-investors Warren Buffett and Charles Schwab, Avon’s chief executive, Andrea Jung, and the late publishing giant Katharine Graham. Odds are President Barack Obama is an innie as well. What does that mean? That introverts, not just...
The Small Caps Debate →
Joe Clark, arguing against the use of small caps in acronyms:
This nonsense, promulgated by snobs like that bore Bringhurst who have not read anything written after Jane Austen croaked, ostensibly improves typographic colour. What it actually does is inhibit reading: Acronyms are not regular words. All-small-caps setting fools the reader into thinking an acronym is a real world. That discomfort...
From Print to Pixels →
Terrific piece from Alice Rawsthorn interviewing Tobias Frere-Jones and John Hoefler about designing type for screen.
This American Infographic →
EJ Fox is creating an infographic for every episode of This American Life:
My new years resolution is to make an infographic on every This American Life ever made. The idea is to expand and add context to the stories and information contained in the shows. Basically, anything I am curious about while listening to the pieces.
I love everything about this.
Donald Murray’s Writing Process →
Donald Murray on how he writes his column for The Boston Globe:
Usually I write fast to run ahead of my knowing. I think that speed at one sitting, then I have a life change and can only find time to write in small chunks, a paragraph or two at different times, then go over it to make it spontaneous. I hear what I am writing and can create the first draft with the screen turned off. Voice is...
“Is that what being an artist means—selling? I thought it meant one who is always...”
– —Vincent Van Gogh in Irving Stone’s novel Lust for Life.
I just finished reading this book and I can confidently say it is one of the best books I have ever read. I couldn’t put it down and was saddened to finish it. I can’t recommend it enough.
WatchThe video lookbook for Steven Alan’s Spring 2010 collection is absolutely gorgeous. It plays more like short film but is perfectly directed and paced. The atmosphere is spot on.
Roger Ebert declares ‘Synecdoche, NY’ the best... →
Roger Ebert:
“Synecdoche, New York” is the best film of the decade. It intends no less than to evoke the strategies we use to live our lives. After beginning my first viewing in confusion, I began to glimpse its purpose and by the end was eager to see it again, then once again, and I am not finished. Charlie Kaufman understands how I live my life, and I suppose his own, and I suspect...
