idsgn (a design blog)

“A diagram is a diagram. Don’t cheat me,” says a heated Massimo Vignelli during an AIGA/NY event earlier this year. It’s been over 30 years since the Italian designer’s New York subway map was axed, but it’s still a passionate issue.

Vignelli’s now-classic New York City subway map was first introduced in 1972, following his work on the signage system in the late 1960s. Inspired by London’s Underground map designed by Harry Beck in 1933—which, in turn, was inspired by electrical circuit diagrams—Vignelli simplified New York’s complex subway system into a clean graphical system. “A different color for each line, a dot for every station. No dot, no station. Very simple. The whole map is designed on a 45/90 degrees grid with geographic distortions to accommodate the lines,” recalls Vignelli in From A to Z.

In a follow-up to our previous post on award-winning print design at the 57th annual Cannes Lions festival, we have selected some of the notable identity projects in the design category.

Episteme Skincare, Bronze

The 57th annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival recently took place in France, showcasing some of the world’s most innovative advertising and design. Following up our highlights from last year, we have selected some of our favorite print-related winners in the relatively new design category.

Them-and-Us, Bronze

As a graphic designer, typography is the backbone of my practice. Fascinated with the construction of letterforms, my interest lead me to the work of chemical engineer and Holocaust survivor, Charles K. Bliss, who devoted his life to developing a system of bringing people closer together.

This is the story of an international auxiliary language that brought many people a voice they otherwise would not have.

Born in Austria, Bliss grew up among many nationalities that were constantly in conflict. As World War II broke out in Europe, he left his factory in Vienna and fled to Shanghai in 1940, where there was an international settlement that allowed him to stay and work as a photographer and filmmaker. In the six years that Bliss stayed in China, he became drawn to Chinese ideograms and paid scholars to teach him about the history of the characters.

The final couple in our Design Love series truly needs no introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, please say hello to Massimo and Lella Vignelli.

Many people know Mr. Vignelli for designing one of the most beloved renditions of the New York City Subway map. However, the Vignellis’ contributions to design have included everthing from book design to furniture design. Whether it's identities for Bloomingdales, United Colors of Benetton, and American Airlines or their environmental and product design, the Vignellis consistently deliver relevant, beautiful, thought provoking solutions to any problem.

SML Office is an up-and-coming design firm in Zurich, Switzerland.

Based in Zurich, Nico Schweizer and Jennifer Wagner founded SML Office in 2009. Since then they have been taking on numerous projects including everything from branding to typeface design. Their work has been recognized by AIGA, The Type Director's Club, ADC, and the Society for Publication Designers. As a part of our Design Love series, we contacted the busy couple about what makes SML office tick.

WORKSHOP is a Brooklyn-based design studio that knows a thing or two about love.

Aiming to better the world through socially responsible design, WORKSHOP was founded in 2005 by three friends: husband-and-wife couple Creighton Mershon and Jessi Arrington, and their best friend Josh Stewart. Working with clients like TED Conferences and the New York Philharmonic, the trio make time for fun—whether it’s their annual Kentucky Derby Party or an all-rainbow birthday.

Design Army is one of best and brightest design firms in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Started in 2003 by Jake and Pum Lefebure, Design Army works with everyone from the Washington Ballet to AIGA to the Washingtonian. Their work has been consistently awarded and praised across the design industry. As part of our Design Love series, we caught up with Jake and Pum to find out why being a husband-and-wife team has helped their small studio flourish.

Triboro Design is a Brooklyn-based design studio run by the husband and wife team of David Heasty and Stefanie Weigler.

Most recently you might recognize Triboro for their one-color New York City Subway map, their branding of Justin Timberlake’s new clothing line William Rast, or their beautiful experimental work entitled ‘Leftovers.’ As part of our Design Love series, we sat down with David and Stefanie to talk more about what it’s like to have a work/life balance when, in reality, they are completely intertwined.

People marry one another for any number of reasons. Love, convenience, money, lifestyle, all are valid circumstances to say ‘I do.’

I was once told, “marriage is three things, a business, a romance, and a partnership, and hell, these days two out of three ain't bad.” But what if your business, romance and partnership are completely intertwined?

While Western letterpress printing has made a recent revival, what was once considered one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China is no longer a sustainable practice in its country of origin.

Wai Che Printing Company, preserved by its 81-year-old owner Lee Chak Yu, has operated on Wing Lee Street with its bilingual lead type collection and original Heidelberg Cylinder machine for over 50 years. Curious to learn more, I visited Wai Che—one of the last remaining letterpress shops in Hong Kong—to understand how Chinese movable type differed and why this trade has become obsolete.

The Motor City... Motown...City of Champions... Hockeytown... Rock City...

These are a few of the heartfelt metonyms for Detroit, Michigan. A city that has suffered such highs and lows in its recent history that its residents are now calling for a sea change.

One resident calling for that change is Detroit’s mayor, Dave Bing. Bing and his staff have initiated a bold plan to reshape the city in ways that there is little precedent for. Once boasting a population of almost two million, Detroit’s 2010 census is feared to fall below 800,000. Top that with an economic collapse, a battered automotive industry and new reports that Motown’s unemployment rate is hovering around 14%, there is little dispute that this city needs some help getting back on its feet.

Unless your name is Massimo, chances are you have more than three or four typefaces in your collection.

Personally, I have always struggled to keep my font library organized. Over the years I have tried a number of software applications, but never felt completely comfortable with what I've used. It’s a huge investment to try out a new solution, so that typically means putting up with the bloated or sluggish software in exchange for some ‘time-saving’ features like auto-activation and font previews.

Quaker Oats quietly introduces a new logo as the company focuses on “wholesome” products.

The Quaker Oats Company has a rich history dating back over 130 years in the United States. Founding mill owners Henry Seymour and William Heston originally chose the name after reading about The Religious Society of Friends (better known as Quakers) who were known for quality and honest value. Although they had no ties to the religious group themselves, the name stuck. In 1877, the iconic Quaker Man (a fictitious character dressed in traditional Quaker garments) became America’s first registered breakfast cereal trademark. Parents have been grossing kids out with steaming bowls of mushy oats ever since.

Seed packages—designs headed for the realm of the forgettable—make better use of photography and illustration as they circle back to their former visual glory.

Confession: I am a plant murderer. One of my dearest friends, a woman with the ability to coax even the stubbornest patch of bare earth into bloom, used to give me those adorable peat pots with seedlings peeking their baby heads just a few inches above the soil. I watered. I added Miracle-Gro. I put them in direct sun. And… they always turned black and died! A wise gardener, my friend doesn’t even offer them anymore. Nevertheless, I still fantasize about my own lush fields of blossoms and vegetables when brightly colored packs of seeds start popping up on store shelves everywhere at the end of winter, each envelope a tiny poster advertising an abundant future that can be had for just a couple of dollars and some dirt.

Lanny Sommese is a world renowned poster designer and educator. For the past 40 years, he has been a professor and practitioner at the Pennsylvania State University.

His designs and posters have been consistently recognized by design publications and included in numerous permanent collections. He gained notoriety recently when designer, author, and former student Chip Kidd combined Sommese and another professor to create Kidd’s psychotic, viciously critical, design professor Winter Sorbek for his novel The Cheese Monkeys. Sommese’s teaching style and critiques are well known by many of his current and former students.

Our friends at The Dieline recently held their first worldwide package design competition, The Dieline Awards. Winners were revealed at last week’s FUSE conference in Chicago.

Judged by a panel of industry leaders, headed by AIGA President Debbie Millman, winners were chosen in 10 categories from over 800 entries around the world. Here are some of our personal favorites…

Waitrose Breadsticks, Third Place (Food B)

After months of hinting and speculation, Adobe has unveiled the latest version of its popular design toolbox, Creative Suite 5. Beneath a mountain of new features, the suite also received a comprehensive brand refresh. We talked with Adobe’s brand design team to find out more.

Since its humble, grayscale beginnings on the Macintosh Plus, Adobe Photoshop—and more recently, the Adobe Creative Suite—has become a vital component in nearly every designer’s toolbox, forever changing the way we work.

We are about to celebrate our first birthday, and we are curious what our readers think.

How are we doing? What keeps you coming back? What would you change? Most importantly, what’s your favorite color? Let’s get to know each other!

If you have a few minutes to help make idsgn better, please share your thoughts

Abracadabra, Apple’s ‘magical’ device appears at half a million homes this weekend.

Here at idsgn, we’ve been fielding mixed reactions to Apple’s newest major product launch: the iPad. On first glance, we reacted to the user interface that seemed to regurgitate the iPhone’s functionality without much consideration for the iPad’s larger size. We questioned if the iPad will deliver a ‘shake-up’ to traditional publishing and user interface design industries, as many have speculated. But, for the most part, decided to reserve judgement until we could actually see the device in ‘real life.’ After a weekend of intense (sometimes obsessive use), our impressions remain, well, mixed.

Following IKEA’s lead, Apple Inc. has changed its corporate typeface to Verdana.

The California-based computer and electronics company, best known for its Macintosh computers and iPods, announced today the company will be adopting Verdana as its corporate typeface. The typographic change, Apple’s first since 2001, was spotted on several of the company’s international websites Thursday morning, and will soon be visible on all new packaging and marketing materials.

Pepsi has recently unveiled the new logo and packaging for their Sierra Mist brand—the lesser known ‘uncola.’

The lemon-lime-flavored soft drink has sure seen its fair share of brand makeovers during its relatively short ten year existence. Interestingly, the latest comes less than a year and a half after the previous attempt—which was launched alongside Pepsi’s infamous refresh and Tropicana flop (all designed by New York’s Arnell).

An estimated one billion people will turn off their lights for one hour this Saturday to support Earth Hour 2010.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour has become a global event which aims to take action on climate change. Held annually on the last Saturday of March, participants are asked to turn off their lights and any unnecessary appliances for one hour, between 8:30 and 9:30 PM local time.

Sometimes it just drops off the radar.

Designers can easily get caught up in the business of designing. As a graphic designer, busy with everyday client-driven design, I must admit my occasional blindness to the great art and design of our age.

In the days following the Haiti earthquake crisis, I found myself struggling to find a way to contribute in the aftermath. Beyond texting a $10 contribution, what could I do? Frustrated I found myself lamenting the loss of public design. While the AIGA had considerately vetted ways to give back, it was not the creative outlet I was hoping for.

Box Bottle Bag is a new book that showcases the best in modern packaging design from The Dieline.

Since 2007, The Dieline has collected the most unique and recent packaging designs from around the world. Originally created by designer Andrew Gibbs as a weekend project to stay current in the industry, the blog has since become an authority in the field.

The red carpet will roll out for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards this Sunday. While film critics are busy buzzing about Avatar and Sandra Bullock, it’s the animated short films that really caught our attention this year.

We recently had a chance to catch a screening of the animated shorts, here’s a brief rundown on the five that are up for an Oscar in 2010.

Last week, Milton Glaser became the first ever graphic designer to win the National Medal of Arts.

Glaser and eleven others were presented the award in a ceremony hosted by President Barack Obama on February 25th. Perhaps best known for his I Love New York logo, Glaser was cited for “a lifetime devoted to improving the way people communicate through innovation in graphic design, and for memorable visual artifacts that challenge contemporary artists and delight all Americans.”

The legendary graphic designer described the event firsthand during a live discussion this week with Chip Kidd, hosted by the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum.

A study from the University of California suggests that an average American consumes 34 gigabytes of data each day. That’s a lot to sift through. Fortunately, the idsgn Monthly Review highlights the most important happenings over the past month so you don’t miss a thing…

There is a common misbelief that Helvetica is the signage typeface of the New York City subway system. In this ‘Design discussions’, we talk to the author who has uncovered the truth (maybe) behind the story.

Trained as a historian, Paul Shaw has spent the past thirty years as a graphic designer specializing in letterforms. His work has been recognized with awards from the Type Directors Club, Art Directors Club, and AIGA (among others), while his research in design history has garnered numerous grants and achievements.

Graphic designer Haik Avanian has teamed up with an unlikely partner (his mom) to launch his latest project.

The project, ReKnit, turns old knit sweaters into fashionable handmade items like scarves, gloves, or hats.

It sounds a bit like magic: You send an old sweater to Avanian’s mom, she unravels and reknits it into a brand new one-of-a-kind item, and sends it back to you. Since knitting isn’t destructive, Avanian says the unraveling process is much like untying a knot back into its original state. Depending on how the sweater was assembled, it can take anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour and a half to reclaim the yarn.

Creating a design portfolio can be a daunting task. What is the best way to put it all together? What do companies look for? Where to begin?

Thankfully, the folks at Under Consideration have published Flaunt: Designing Effective, Compelling and Memorable Portfolios of Creative Work, a new book which aims to ease the anxiety around putting together and presenting your creative work. Written by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit, Flaunt provides an inspiring showcase of portfolios from many up-and-coming designers—but it’s more than just pretty pictures. The authors turn to industry leaders like Michael Bierut, Carin Goldberg, and Stefan Sagmeister to offer their best advice and share common mistakes.

The dust has finally settled following the heavily publicized ‘Late-Night Wars.’ On March 1st, Jay Leno will return as the host of The Tonight Show, but his logo will not.

For more than a decade, comedian Jay Leno was the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show. Taking over from the legendary Johnny Carson in the early ’90s, Tonight has become the longest running entertainment program currently on air in the United States. The network came under fire in the past year, however, following their decision to move Leno to a new prime time program after his supposed retirement. The Tonight Show franchise was left in the hands of Conan O’Brien, but only long enough for both shows to suffer a ratings slide and cause NBC execs to quickly hit ‘undo.’

Type designers lend an ampersand to help Haiti.

The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) have recently announced their latest Font Aid benefit project. Working under the theme ‘Coming Together,’ hundreds of type designers have contributed an ampersand for a special benefit font, currently under development. All proceeds from the collaborative font will help Doctors Without Borders in their relief efforts following the recent disaster in Haiti.

Designed by an architect, and known today as the face of The New York Times, Cheltenham is the seventh installment in our ‘Know your type’ series.

American architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was known for his involvement in the gothic revival at the turn of the 20th century, designing countless churches and buildings, including the Nebraska State Capitol and the Los Angeles Public Library.

But before that, he designed a typeface.

It’s hard to escape the buzz around this week’s Apple iPad announcement. While everyone is making jokes about the name, it’s really the user interface that has me baffled.

Sure, the physical device is sleek—I don’t know about “magical and revolutionary”—but it really feels like Apple missed an opportunity with the design of its new UI.

When the iPhone was first introduced in 2007, it revolutionized the mobile phone. With a screen at 3.5 inches, a smartly designed interface provided access to thousands of applications at your fingertips. So after years of speculation, when Apple finally announced the iPad, it was shocking to see an awkwardly familiar, scaled-up iPhone home screen.

Mach3. Quattro. Fusion Power. Two centuries (and five blades) later, are razors any better today?

Industrial design is an industry that commands a lot of respect. The magic of transforming a new idea into a tangible, useful object is rarely lost on creative minds.

Gary Hustwit’s film Objectified, looked behind the scenes and revealed the hidden thought poured into everyday objects. In the film, designer Karim Rashid asked the audience to consider: “Why on earth could we have an uncomfortable chair?”

Justine Nagan’s feature-length documentary Typeface tells the story of the Hamilton Wood Type Museum in rural Wisconsin.

Director Justine Nagan first stumbled upon the Hamilton Wood Type Museum while on a drive through the Midwest, stopping for an ice-cream sundae in Two Rivers, Wisconsin (arguably the birthplace of the treat). Amazed by the historic block-long warehouse which houses over 1.5 million wood letterforms, Nagan soon began work on her first film for Chicago-based Kartemquin Films—a not-for-profit film studio where Nagan now serves as executive director.

Vending machines were like the pre-digital internet, where busy shoppers made purchases immediately, day or night. Why do we still love these mechanical outposts selling everything from pretzels to iPods? Perhaps it’s the joy of not having to deal with another human.

The internet is today’s default mode for millions of shoppers who buy everything from cars to groceries with a few quick clicks of the mouse, but the very first anonymous transaction originated with the vending machine. Invented by first-century Greek mathematician Hero to dispense holy water, vending machines didn’t see widespread use until the late 19th century, when they sold postcards and paperback books.

As we enter a new decade, we have taken the opportunity to look back over our most memorable features of 2009.

Scientists say no two snowflakes are alike. Apparently, designers have their own opinion.

From holiday storefronts to ski chalet logos, it seems this six-sided shape can be seen everywhere this time of year. Even spotted on the back of my cancelled airline ticket (thanks the weekend snowstorm in New York), this flake sure gets around. But why? If Wilson Alwyn Bentley was able to capture over 5,000 unique “tiny miracles of beauty” at the turn of the 20th century—is there any reason designers favor this particular snowflake?

Forget lords a-leaping. From axes to Lego, this is what we really want this holiday season.

From Brazilian graphic designer Andre Felipe, Typo/graphic Posters is an online art gallery for the typography-obsessed.

Bursting with typographic goodness, the Typo/graphic Posters project has just been relaunched. The site features posters from over 300 designers and agencies around the world, curated for their strong “typographical and graphical content.”

We’ve waited—and we’ve even seen some early concepts—but today the official Sochi 2014 logo was unveiled in Russia.

Developed by Interbrand in conjunction with Sochi’s own brand council, the new logo is simpler than anything we’ve seen in recent history. Stepping away from the traditional practice of incorporating an abstract cultural image (London 2012 excluded), Russia opted for an all typrographic treatment for the Winter Olympic Games in 2014.

Past ADC Young Guns honoree Chris Rubino continues his discussion with some of the talented young designers who recently joined the ranks in 2009.

Will Staehle, Venice, USA

CHRIS RUBINO: Your book covers are fantastic, have you seen any in recent memories that gave you that “damn, why didn’t I think of that?” moment.

WILL STAEHLE: Yes. I've always had those moments. Back when I was living in New York and doing book covers full-time, I actually had a difficult time walking into a Borders or a Barnes & Noble. Partially, it was for the fact that I could “see” the back stories of various covers and often knew of the painful, ulcer-inducing tales behind their making…

The newest class of ADC Young Guns has just been announced, and as a previous honoree I’m, of course, inclined to scope out the competition.

About every other year since the mid-’90s, the New York-based Art Director’s Club has been selecting a group of designers, photographers, illustrators, etc., all under 30 who are excelling beyond their years in the world of image making. Looking through the latest winners (YG7) I am truly impressed with what I’ve found, a group of incredibly talented, fresh, innovative and unusually modest designers. I’ve contacted a few of my personal favorites from the group to ask some questions in the hopes to get a sense of where they are coming from, where they are going and possibly find out how to make a lamp out of soba noodles.

The company that bombarded us with billions of unsolicited America Online disks moves on, sans-triangle.

Suffering from significant drops in subscriptions (seriously, does anyone still use AOL?), the company announced yesterday in a press release it will adopt a new brand identity. Created by Wolff Olins, the full makeover will be unveiled on December 10th when AOL is spun off from parent company Time Warner.

Could this be the new identity for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia?

After reports of a closed press conference Friday in Moscow, images have begun to surface of what might be the new Olympic Games logo. Saying goodbye to the snowflake design from the bid, the unconfirmed logo features five torch flames (or leaves? feathers?) formed into a ring formation and set in the Olympic colors.

To hawk a centuries-old spirit, vodka manufacturers concoct innovative flavors and get creative with the bottle. Bacon-flavored shot, anyone?

Vodka. It’s the most basic of spirits—colorless, odorless, and nearly tasteless. The drink of the czars, produced in Russia and Poland since the end of the 9th century, presents modern distillers with a thorny dilemma: how best to sell an essentially neutral product to a restless generation that demands a wide range of choice in everything they buy, from triple soy half-caff lattes to sneakers? Two front running approaches are to offer as many different flavors as Vitamin Water, and to package the product in a memorable bottle.

For web designers, it has always been a struggle to make websites look the same in every browser. With new technologies like web fonts and forthcoming versions of HTML and CSS, it’s even harder to keep up with the numerous browsers and devices out there. And that’s okay.

At the Future of Web Design conference yesterday in New York, web designer Dan Cederholm showed off some ‘fancy’ new tricks made possible in the latest versions of Safari and (to a slightly lesser extent) Firefox. Transitions, rotation, opacity, shadows, and rounded corners are just some of what’s possible now, but as Cederholm’s presentation boldly stated, “None of this stuff matters.”

Typography on the web

The future of web typography is coming… but not quick enough.

Nearly fifteen years ago Netscape 1.0 was introduced. With it came the (now retired) <font> tag, giving web designers the ability to adjust text sizes in HTML for the first time.

Since then, the Internet has progressed enormously in many ways—you can watch your favorite TV show in high-definition or chat in real-time with friends across the world—but little has changed in the world of typography since the introduction of CSS a few years later.

Looking back, many designers fondly remember a particular class project that helped build their first portfolio. Design School Confidential is a new book that attempts to showcase these ‘extraordinary’ class projects, compiled from design schools around the world.

Curated by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico, over fifty international art and design teachers were asked to present their most interesting or challenging class projects. The result is 200 pages of fresh ideas—some inspiring, some forgettable, but all lending to an accurate overview of the work coming out of top design schools from Chicago to Seoul.

Following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, all-time low sales, and a new partnership with Italian automaker Fiat, it comes as no surprise that Chrysler wants to reinvent itself.

Yesterday the new Fiat-directed Chrysler Group unveiled its long-awaited 5-year business plan, announcing a plan to sell smaller Fiat-designed vehicles and pay back billions in U.S. bailout loans by 2014. The 7-hour marathon press conference also featured a presentation (PDF) on the Chrysler brand by marketing chief Oliver Francois, which introduced a new logo for the struggling car manufacturer.

Thirty Conversations on Design is a collection of thoughts from 30 inspired designers, authors, and creative professionals.

Releasing the conversations in groups of 10, the project’s initial offering features insight from Erik Spiekermann, Ellen Lupton, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher, among others. The project, created by Minneapolis-based design firm Little & Company, asks participants two simple questions: “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?”

It’s almost Halloween and no trick-or-treat bag is complete without a twisty, colorful roll of (depending where you call home) Smarties, Fizzers, or Rockets.

Admittedly not one of my most favorites, the chalky pastel-colored candy could usually be found near the bottom of my treat bag. Weeks after Halloween they would remain next to the yellow lollipops, little boxes of raisins, and—the worst offender—the rock-hard, black-and-orange wrapped molasses candies (an oddity of growing up in Canada).

After Yahoo pulled the plug on GeoCities this week, millions of horribly designed websites are gone. It’s the end of an era, but it’s an eyesore we could stand to lose.

I remember creating one of my first websites on GeoCities in the mid-90’s. Making myself a home on the “SunsetStrip,” the website likely remained untouched for more than a decade—like an embarrassing time capsule filled with animated GIFs, tiled backgrounds, and (of course) Comic Sans.

Over the weekend a group of artists took to the streets of Manhattan, in a battle of art and advertising.

According to the Public Ad Campaign group, there are over 500 ‘illegal’ street-level billboards around New York City, covered with unauthorized wheat-pasted advertising. Participating in an a second round of ‘New York Street Advertising Take Over’ (NYSAT2), the group attempted to reclaim the public space on Sunday, white-washing and creating art over more than 100 of the billboards.