Design news | Jul 08
A Brief History of Avant Garde by Duane King
“As a fan of typography, the work of Herb Lubalin and Avant Garde magazine I wanted to share what I had learned about the colorful past of the magazine’s namesake font. Many of the people associated in the tale are personal heroes of mine, but if you are a bit of a design geek, I think you’ll find it’s quite an amazing story.”
Release The Freaks replenishes the store with a new collection of cool vinyl and plush toys. Shown, Colorblok's Mono by DOMA.
Sportingood becomes SPGLAB! Mostly into live action and motion graphics. Check their latest reel!
My good friend Philippe Gully who is one of the founders of the longest running French design portal Praktica has updated his portfolio site which about sound design and music either for motion, TV, Web and radio for a roster of impressive clients.
A work space is currently available at La Banque. If you are a visual or new media artist, designer, architect, video artist, computer programmer, name it! and are looking for a work space, please contact me, Emmanuel (sevigny@playmind.com).
La Banque is located on the Plateau Mont-Royal (corner Roy E and Hotel-de-Ville). It’s a large, open space (formerly a bank) with a mezzanine that hosts the work desk. The central space on the ground floor can be used for building projects or events. There is also a basement that can be used for working on dusty materials or for storing equipment.
The space is approximately 1400 square feet, 15 feet of ceiling + mezzanine 500 square feet and basement of 1400 square feet.
If anyone running their own studio in the NYC area would prefer to focus less on business development and more on doing great work, but also has a firm distaste for “sales guys”, we know a candidate you should think about speaking with. He's more at home with designers than account people, a welcome addition to any brainstorming session, a great writer, and equally comfortable discussing strategy with the clients and ideas with the designers.
He cares more about bringing designers interesting projects. If anyone is interested, let us know... write NYC in subject line and we will forward your inquiry.
StudioK has got a new interface and is reloaded with new works spanning across many medias.
De Barbaren is a Belgian based multidisciplinary design studio that masters - except for barbaric - many languages. Sounds like grizzly?
IWANT design luvs birds and design and as a small creative agency working across a range of media they are presently looking to expand their team.
Recently discovered new photographers who have in common awesome portrait and lifestyle portfolios:
/ Ron Berg humoristic twists
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/ Chris DeFord in your face and more
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/ Harold Lee Miller reality check contexts
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/ Espace Urbain puts the fun back into photography
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/ Quarto studio beautiful website btw
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/ David Sacks highly conceptual staging
Jaime Hayon Works by Jaime Hayon, publisher Die Gestalten
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He is Spanish, a designer and artist, has interned at Fabrica and this first monography of his work is the total deal. I've discovered his work about 3 years ago and was enthused by the sheer elegance and beauty of his pieces.
The book which he has written, takes you to a bird-eye view into his fanstatic imagination and what he perceives as good design. In his case, good is simply exceptional. He has garnered a network of dedicated craftmans from wood turning, pottery and ceramics who fully supported his creative process which yielded some of the most beautiful and sometimes extremely large pieces ever displayed and designed by a single artist.
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Not satisfied with turning his doodling into 3D renditions and real-life accessories, he was commissioned to design interiors and shops which all bear the same refinement and simplicity of form and colors.
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ndlr: This book is stuning by its quintessential value and the best investment to stock your design reference bookshelf. So much inspiration was sparked and encouragement to forge ahead.
Hyperthesis Visual Lab has a knack for strong editorial layouts with unexpected creative solutions. Gotta luv the Fall font. There is a mix of strong contrasts and soft textures.
After all these years, still going strong!
Maywa Denki is famous for his out of this world construction of the most eclectic and fully functional and automated music instruments ever to be created. More like robots than conventional he has travelled extensively doing performance installations.
He's also designed toys and a fish spine looking electrical cord and various widgets. He runs contests and experimental labs as well.
zeixs has just released their new cool format collection: great new characters, t-shirtdesign and websites2.
/ T-post® blew me away! A collection of tees for both gender and the concept of the website is around that. Now have a look at spoofy and fun photograph. But there is more.
Illustration comes current news and the wayit works is that it is by subscription. Upon becoming a member your receive your first tee, then every 6 weeks, a new one, all to a flat fee.
Now that is one heck of a smart business model.
Michael Wong of the top toy designer is launching a limited edition at the Taipei Toy Festival 2008. Shown the special DIY Galaxie Bunch 8" Alpha version. Vew the new collection and sketches.
Elephant design promotes the development and production of innovative products, designed to meet individuals needs and preferences in various industries, regarless of mass marketing contrainsts.
By using its unique `Design to order` (DTO) technology, when enough products have been voted, the proceed towards a feasibility assessment.
ChauhanStudio is a product design agency based in London and run by brothers Tej and Sach. They produce slick and elegant products, mostly related to tech and garnered exceptional awards for doing so.
Well well, their Ideas are still Skinny but also have gone Fat and vice-versa and more! Hats off to Veer for pulling another visual stunt! You guys rock!
Gotta luv their type! Village has got all kinds of fonts. I think their flashing placeholder is a smart brand placement with the 'Hi' faintly appearing through the semi-transparent layer.
Ah! Fantastic flash website! That's a really creative navigation! Luv it - mouse over and the little circles expand with an animated punched out hole which is part of the project in Wilhem Arnoldy portfolio website.
He states being an independant graphic and web designer. From France with luv!
Manystuff compiled a .pdf Around the Process that was answered by designers who were all asked the same questions:
“When you work, do you think in terms of forms or in terms of a creation process? Do you have a clear vision of your final image or does it come only from an upstream creation process?”
Each reply is illustrated.
Wayne Harris is still running around in his brief in the top left portion of the interface and since being first added to the illustration directory, much critter evolution took place.
As always, his characters are just delightful, full of spunk and pretty harmless. Oh, and beautifully executed.
Kim Rosen is a freelance illustrator and does what she loves. Her editorial projects are outstanding somehow always locked in an invisible moving flow.
Bold, loud, in your face and driven, Nathan Fox has got one of the coolest interface design I've seen in a while that totally enhance the core of his skills as an illustrator!
Luv the retro yet edgy look and feel. Must see!
Wanna own a Nanibird? Or design one? Josh (McKible) is alway looking for artists and designers? All the lil' birdies are free for you to enjoy. Download, print, cut and play! Batch Two is out!
Toolbox updated with new stock photography websites:
Ryan Robinson is probably one of the most gifted photographer I know and who has tremendous conceptual abilities. Gotta luv his new work! Getting better and better!
Look ma, no flash! Another list of links only on a bared white page as a website? Yepp - but nice scripting that makes all projects thumbnails appear nicely upon click. Nice handy work by Mirko Zarkovic, currently based in Singapore.
JUXT Interactive one of the first proficient agency on the web that started designing with flash in its infancy, produced some fancy flash 3D freshness for Adobe Creative License.
Have a look at Martin Klimas photography of exploding porcelain figurines which he captured as if in movement! Wonder how this was done?
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via: _Blank_Issue_3
Get blown away by the sheer genius of Yves Behar who is behind the product design and packaging of Fuseproject.
Luca Laurenti aka MKLANE has a forte in illustrating striking portraits of the well-known and not so well-known people.
Aaitski! is coolafied T-shirts! Me wants a Roxygirl! Luv the bold graphics!
Robert Stadler is another talented and off the main route product designer. He has done the Alquimista lamp that became the book cover of Furnish, which I highly recommend.
Postpanic Postman Returns has got some excellent 3D animations and rendering in this short promo film.
Compelling! Simon Duhamel is an upcoming new rising star which photographic works have appeared in many different magazines. Already mastering light, composition and retouching.
Some of his portraits are outstanding.
Benbenworld is a graphic designer living in Belgium who luvs typography, neon patterns and colors, print and web design.
Watch this cool animated poster! Nice!
Max Hergenrother has cumulated an impressive education background and does commercial art, retouching and commissions. His artwork is both well-executed with a slant charicactural comic side to it.
Ashkahn is an art director at Ubiquity records in Newport Beach and also run a small design studio and makes wierd videos / shirts / posters to sell. Check this awesome cover he did.
Quote of the day: “Risk and survive. Stall and die. Jump and rise. Fail and learn. Defeat your insecurities. The unknown is not comfortable. Nothing is missing. Creativity is the sheer and pure manifestation of intelligence mixed with a high dose of imagination.
Be inventive when facing delicate requests, unmanageable deadlines and unreasonable expectations. Learn to do with what you don't have and pretend you can.”
More articles I wrote to feed your mind!
Design by Twopoints is a communication design bureau founded in 2007. It is specialised in coordination, creation, development and implementation of visual identities. Especially for festivals and editorial projects.
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Besides directing and teaching a master on communication and editorial design at the private design school Elisava, they are teaching regulary at different design schools around Europe, but as well organize our own workshops.
Verve: endurance, fire, force, gumption, gusto, intensity, moxie, passion, spunk, stamina, strength, toughness, vigor. Photographer and photo editor Geoffrey Hiller has created Verve to feature photos and interviews by the finest young image makers today and a reminder of the power of the still image.
Geoffrey and I go back a while and I've always admire is directness and passion for whatever he enterprises. Verve is the demonstration of his skills as editor and photographer and the willingness to explore our world without much compromises in regards with fantasy.
His picks are of extraordinaire quality! You into photography? This is a must bookmark.
Me luvs fresh, vibrant, colors used by Eve Duhamel in her pseudo-psychelia like paintings and illustrations all containing a little dose of whimsical doodles.
They design across media and just about any medium, meet Gas As Interface, a creative platform that gives shape to your imagination.
Ghostly International is a record label that embodies music of eletronic methods and humanistic aims.
A totally cool fashion label * w h e a t B r e a d L i f e puts emphasis on street digs as a way of life. Music included!
Not exactly a beautiful interface design but why is HORT website still working? Well I guess it reflects on how they approach design, out of the box, out the trends, out of the expected.. Get it?
Probably one of the top design agency in the world in ref with the quality of their projects which amply speak for themselves.
Pimp my shirt man from Coltesse showing one designed by extra talented artist NDEUR who is a fashion design rising star!
Creativity? The pursuit of change by Carole Guevin
While I was looking for something else, I found this article, read it and thought in retrospect, it is still right on the spot, perhaps even moreso today. It's a quick dip into the philosophy of creativity, revolving around 5 key words. A short easy read that will perhaps raise some relevant pointers.
“Creativity is the capacity to evaluate, organize, deconstruct, interpret and synthesize chaos. The result? Assigning a systemically simple well-packaged new proposal to a problem.”
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ndlr: Free to distribute to fellow designers — make sure you give proper credit back as to author and source url.
Introducing the exquisite work of Tatsuro Kiuchi that retained so much of my childhood favorite (image) books. The website is in Japanese but the navigation to his work, is in English.
Loads of original mix-media, editorial and illustration design by Anna Haas. Particularly like the tshirt Happy Crowd.
Sam Flores art and illustrations are bold lined and seem extracted for many years of tagging and Asian culture influences. As you will see, there is an enigmatic and recurring central character.
Annie Wharton beautifully colorized morphed forms are now collected by renowned museums, collectors and corporate clients.
Blaine Fontana mixes excellent sketch skills with tag like more youth scene vectors and achieves stunning results. His installations are remarkable.
Vendredi soir dernier on fêtait les 5 ans d'Urbania au chic CCA! We attended the Urbania b-day at the chic CCA which slowly filled with the smart street wise all around cultivated artistic intelligentsia of Montreal.
A couple of pictures are available on their FB profile.
Since January 2008, at the initiative of agence Marc Praquin, DesignAndDesign website has enabled designers from all over the world, to have their voices heard, finally liberated from the monopoly of major publishers. It offers them a free opportunity to present their work in the first book entirely devoted to the best of graphic and product design.
The 2008 Design and Design Book of the Year shows the 730 award-winning designs which were honored each day.
Erik from M-A-D were spoofing around both complaining about the weather while stating how hot it was in California. He sent this video along: Pop corn with cell phones! Can you fracking imagine what happens to our neurons?
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ndlr: Tx to Hasan for watching over us! “The contents of these videos are fictitious..." Read the full disaclaimer here...
“What advice would you give to the young?
Bruce Sterling: I hate to say this absolute bullshit design professor stuff, but really - follow your bliss! I mean try and do something that you don't mind doing. if you get into some line of work that's like a pain in the ass but it pays a lot, it's not really going to be worth it and you won't do a very good job.”
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via: Designboom
On first sight, I thought these were photographs until I paid attention to the skies and wondered - why is he photoshoping these? Presenting hyper real paintings by Niklas Hughes.
Immersive experience awaiting to discover Mioke hidden artworks which are an exquisite travel into beautiful flora and strange fauna. One of the best surrealist artist I've discovered!
Welcome to a new powagirrrl.
BARCODE PLANTAGE transforms a simple product bar code into a unique tree in the garden of globalisation brought to you by a design student, Daniel Becker. Now will someone contact this guy and hire him!
Information design never looked so good! You can see the random or even punch a code and see what happens!
Let's do clean! Erwin Bauer just sized it right - loads of white space - intriguing caption and visual. In Deutsch only - but you can easily appreciate what I'm referring to. Click one of the start-up thumbnails to see what happens! Hold mouse and move screen around.
Luv it!
Joseph Joseph is the a real joint venture: twin brothers Antony and Richard Joseph launched their company in September 2002. The company has its roots in a family glass business stretching back three generations. Joseph Joseph has now developed into a strong brand that encompasses mostly kitchen and table-ware.
Moytoy carries the cool Rolito Safari set D. Jean Paul & Jean Piere and Spicy Henry which are the fourth pair of mini-characters in the Rolitoland Safari series by the artist, Rolito! Limited to only 300 sets worldwide.
Shown - the one sitting at the base of one of my monitors in my design workstation and the other on JF code and music workstations.
He'g got his hands in many pies and don't mess any, meet Maciej Mizer! Awesome work in 2D, 3D, graffiti, photography... need I say more? This guy masters the art of light and cultivates an organic and futuristic vision!
Have a look at some of his illustrations to see what I mean... breathtaking!
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via: Fairspot
