MoMA!

http://www.moma.org/

Start familiarizing yourselves with the visual world that is the MoMA! The place is of course absolutely amazing, and there's more than we can see and do in just one visit. And while the museum has a wide range of galleries exhibits from all parts of the visual arts, take a look at some of the exhibits that focus a bit more on design, such as "Print/Out," "Millennium Magazines," and "Printin'," among others. Browse the collections and check out the Architecture and Design Galleries... that's where we'll focus.

Remember that our trip is Saturday, April 14. We'll all meet there (along with the other section of Intro to D&VC class) and start our trek through the museum. More details to follow (in class) of course.

Just My Type

 

http://observersroom.designobserver.com/rickpoynor/post/typographic-stories-of-the-city-streets/33078/

 

Great stuff.

 

Interesting comment by one of the readers: "Brooklynites and other intrepid souls should check out (meaning: take the A or G train there and walk around) this installation by Steve Powers, a wonderful case study in the power of painted text to lets us see structures and space anew: http://blog.eyemagazine.com/?p=8996 "

 

 

Oh, great...

 

 

Now we're competing with record players.

 

http://www.core77.com/blog/tools/turntables_having_design_dreams_robert_howsares_drawing_apparatus_22069.asp#more

 

 

The History of (Our) World

 

http://www.designhistory.org/

 

Alright... this is an important one. As you spend time as a design student, you'll cover the history of design in different ways in many of your classes. This is a bit of a primer on the subject. It's broken up very neatly, and compartmentalized into small tidbits which make it very easy to read and digest. I don't want you to become overwhelmed with a subject like this, and this site presents it in a way that helps prevent that.

 

I will, however, stress the unquestionable importance of this material. Designers sometimes think that with every project they create, they've invented fire or the wheel. That is not always so. This sort of history keeps us in check. It tells us where we've been, and therefore, where we should be going. You must begin to familiarize yourself with this. It's of course a fascinating subject, and directly related to why we (as designers) are all here today. Read, young design minions. Read. And understand. Immerse yourselves in this world.

 

 

Not Your Granny's Kettle

 

http://www.yankodesign.com/2012/03/27/not-your-grannys-kettle/

Hmmm... sounds familiar.

See? We're not the only ones who think of these things.

Thank you to Melissa for the link!

Designers of the Week

 

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: A revolutionary in architecture. He, along with others like Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius changed the look of the modern world. And, it just so happens that today is his birthday! Check out the Google Doodle of the day. All das Beste zum Geburtstag!

http://www.miessociety.org/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/mies-van-der-rohe-google-doodle-celebrates-german-architects-crowning-achievement/2012/03/26/gIQAOoiJdS_blog.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/27/mies-van-der-rohe_n_1382025.html?ref=chicago#s818838&title=EVP


Florence Knoll: Influential American architect and furniture designer. And she just so happened to study under the gentleman above, Mies van der Rohe.

http://www.knoll.com/designer/designer_detail.jsp?designer_id=83

http://www.r20thcentury.com/biography_detail.cfm?designer_id=71

"Design it around this."

http://blog.2modern.com/2012/03/designing-around-1-element-a-yellow-chair.html

Would this possibly work as a design direction? Base an entire design (an interior space in this particular case) around one element? Like this yellow chair? There was a commercial by Kohler (the bathroom fixture manufacturer) that also brought this idea up, albeit in a more whimsical way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hTteyEKWNo

What do you think? Can this work? Can one item, or object, or shape be the basis for a much more far-reaching design scheme?

Keep it (too?) Simple

 

http://www.yankodesign.com/2012/03/09/bathroom-on-a-wall/

An entire bathroom, modular in its various components, designed and assembled as part of one wall. Flawed, but interesting.

So... cool? Or creepy?

Bright Idea

http://www.dezeen.com/2012/03/07/designed-in-hackney-plumen-001-by-samuel-wilkinson-and-hulger/

Compact fluorescent bulbs are more energy-efficient than incandescent. They're also (usually) a lot uglier. Even with the newer designs that have the classic bulb "shell" around the very industrial-looking coil, they look so antiseptic and boring. Plus they don't work well (aesthetically) in fixtures in which you see the exposed bulb. The solution? Redesign the shape.

I see what you did there. (Or not.)

 

http://mocoloco.com/mr/people-people-invisible-speaker/

Some of you submitted images of home theater setups for our "redesign needed" project. Here's one example that might help. Interesting thought. But as some of the readers ask in the comment section, is glass the best substrate for this? The folks at Corning who made the "A Day Made of Glass" videos may be able to answer. Interesting concept nonetheless, in a world of the ubiquitous black sound box we call speakers.

Designers of the Week

Please remember that the links I provide here are just a few of many online resources concerning the work of our "Designers of the Week." Go beyond these few in your research of these subjects.

Yoshiko Sato
I bring up the work of Ms. Sato because not only was she a designer whose work I've admired for some time, but because she was in the news recently due to her passing from cancer. It was an unquestionable loss for the design world.

http://www.morrissato.com/index.htm
http://www.cualumni.com/s/1289/indexNoRtcol.aspx?sid=1289&gid=1&pgid=628


Massimo Vignelli
Believing that “If you are able to design anything, it is possible to design everything,” Massimo Vignelli proved this to be true with this varied career in design that ranged from graphic design to packaging to furniture to interiors/showrooms and more. I guarantee that even if you don't realize it, you've seen Vignelli's work somewhere. And I further guarantee that you've seen the work of all the myriad designers who have been influenced by this man.

http://www.vignelli.com/
http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/vignelli.html

Thinking Creatively!

 

Alright, kiddies... Thinking Creatively is almost upon us! Please head over to the website and check out all of the details and schedule, etc. Remember that you are required to attend at least one day of the conference. But please don't think of it as a "requirement" at all. It really is an amazing opportunity and quite a privilege to be a part of such an event.

http://thinkingcreatively.org

Please see me for registration details for Kean students.

A complete rebrand every six months

 

Why does everything have to be computer-perfect and overly mechanized? Well... it doesn't.

http://identitydesigned.com/urban-outfitters/

Take a Seat.

Well, the exhibit itself isn't coming anywhere near us (Pennsylvania is the closest), but take a look at some of the images and designs.

http://www.core77.com/blog/exhibitions/the_art_of_seating_two_hundred_years_of_american_design_traveling_exhibition_21897.asp

http://www.artsandartists.org/exhibitions/chairs.html

No.

No.

Just... no.

I don't care how hard you try, or how "ironic" you try to be, Comic Sans just isn't a good typeface, despite what these people think. If your goal is to have type that looks like it's from a comic book or comic strip, that's fine. Then you go to professional comic book font repositories like Comicraft ( http://www.comicraft.com/ ) which makes typefaces based on actual hand lettering (the very thing you're trying to emulate with a font like CS.) It doesn't change the fact that CS is just poorly designed. Take a look at some famous logos redesigned using CS: http://comicsansproject.tumblr.com/

This is presented in a somewhat silly way, but the point is nonetheless serious. Mark Twain once said, "The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter— it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." The same could be said of typefaces.

Ah. An Infographic.

Hey, look... it's an infographic on... graphics. Well, type, to be completely accurate. Important info, disseminated in an easy way.

http://mashable.com/2011/12/08/typeface-font-history-infographic/

Interesting Opportunity...

Take a look, kiddies...

http://www.houlihans.com/art/Houlihans%20Call%20for%20Art%20Program.pdf

 

Designers of the Week

Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry is one of the most well-known modern architects out there. His style is one of the most usual out there, and he challenges our preconceived notions about architecture. We've already seen some of his work in class, including the Guggenheim in Bilabo, Spain, as well as the Disney Concert Hall. I'll be honest-- not everyone likes his work or can relate to it, but either way, his position as one of the most renowned architectural designers is secure.

http://newyorkbygehry.com/

http://www.sonyclassics.com/sketchesoffrankgehry/

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/g/frank_gehry/index.html

Paola Antonelli

Recently called one of the top one hundred most powerful people in the world of art, Italian native Paola Antonelli is a current Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the MoMA. "Paola Antonelli’s goal is to insistently promote design’s understanding, until its positive influence on the world is fully acknowledged," a quote from World Technology Week, says it all.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/paola_antonelli.html (Watch her discussions from TED. Terrific.)

http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/antonelli.html

http://productsofdesign.sva.edu/faculty/paola-antonelli/