Sign In


Subscribe | Renew | Give a Gift | HOWdesign.com
# Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Bookmark and Share

Monster Bags
Posted by Megan

via BoingBoing

Keep your laptop safe and warm this winter with these adorable monster laptop sleeves from Barry's Farm.


Gifts and Goodies
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 8:25:55 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Bookmark and Share

The Science of Sleep
Posted by Megan

sosposter.jpg

I saw "The Science of Sleep" on Saturday and I can't stop thinking about how it's really a perfect movie for designers. It's a love story of sorts, but it's really more about the power of creativity and what the world looks like when you have an overactive imagination. The movie's website captures the feel of the film perfectly and provides a nice interactive gem—a Flash-based interface that lets you make your own "stop-motion" animation using images from the movie.



Just for Fun
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 6:24:20 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Bookmark and Share

37signals Blog
Posted by Carmen

With our December issue starting to hit subscribers' mailboxes, people are already starting to talk. It's our Business Annual, and 37signals is one of the five firms profiled in it. They have a nice shout-out to the piece on their blog that you ought to check out for a sneak peek!


HOW Magazine
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 5:20:58 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [0] 
# Monday, October 16, 2006
Bookmark and Share

Advertising for Change
Posted by Megan


Can a marketing campaign for a beauty product also mount an effort to improve women's self-esteem around the world? It's easy to be cynical, but Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty seems to be doing just that. The Flash video showing a model being transformed from ordinary to stunning (through the magic of makeup and Photoshop) really drives home the point that the perfect models we see in magazines and on billboards are much more ordinary than they seem.


Thought Provoking
Monday, October 16, 2006 8:27:20 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [3] 
Bookmark and Share

OFFICE Space
Posted by Bryn

In the design competition, we saw some cool identity materials from Office, a retro-hip office-supply store in Portland, OR. (I shouldn't say this, but yeah, they won a spot in the annual. Sssshhhh.) Turns out, the creative team behind the shop has some serious design chops: marketing director Kelly Coller daylights at Twenty Four • Seven (which has scored more than one HOW design award), and creative director Tony Secolo used to be at Getty Images. No wonder we liked their stuff.


Designers
Monday, October 16, 2006 6:54:05 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Bookmark and Share

Seriously Viral
Posted by Megan

snap.png

Lots of people forward viral marketing efforts to me. My friends and my husband are very internet saavy and always seem to know about the latest thing. So I was totally shocked when I got an email from my Grandpa Jack this morning with a link to the Snapalope Hunting Association of America, a seriously funny website promoting Slim Jim. And I was only one of the 25 people on Grandpa's email list. Marketers take note, Gen Y teenagers aren't the only ones who pass your viral videos on to their friends. Better start paying more attention to hip octogenarians.



Just for Fun
Monday, October 16, 2006 4:07:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Bookmark and Share

We Were Sorry to See 'Em Go
Posted by Bryn

Is it possible that a week of competition judging was actually ... fun? When you're spending time with this year's crew of judges, it is possible. By the time Justin, Terry and Amy left on Friday, we were all trading bathroom jokes and quoting inane movie lines like old friends. Oh, and they picked some killer design work, too—an interesting collection of projects that seems to define easy aesthetic categorization (i.e., it doesn't all look the same). Keep an eye out for the big HOW design annual in March to see what they selected. This was the best team of judges we've had (with all due respect to previous jurors) ... wish we could invite them back.

HOW Magazine
Monday, October 16, 2006 3:48:45 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [0] 
# Thursday, October 12, 2006
Bookmark and Share

a competitive week
Posted by Tricia

In addition to our own International Competition this week, the AIGA/Omaha chapter's design competition held it's judging this weekend. I was honored to be asked to judge along with Brian Edlefson from Target and Debbie Millman of Sterling Brands.The fine designers of Omaha knew they had some typophiles for judges so they booked us in a hotel with this for a view.



Between the steaks and the practical jokes, we did manage to have some interesting converstions about design and see a lot of great work. Debbie and I did podcasts for Be A Design Group. When that gets posted, I'll post a link. You can catch Brian's Be A Design cast here. Also, each of the judges gave a short talk at the judges reception. Brian spoke about his process and showed some fascinating images from sketch to final. I'm looking forward to hearing his longer talk at the HOW conference in Atlanta next summer. Debbie, too, made some thought provoking points as she talked about things she's learned by making mistakes. One of my favorites: Have a personal design philosopy.

Hello and thanks to all the Omaha designers. I had a great time getting to know you all.



Thursday, October 12, 2006 3:43:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [1] 
Bookmark and Share

After Hours
Posted by Bryn

After a looooooong day of judging: pizza, beer, ice cream sundaes.


HOW Magazine
Thursday, October 12, 2006 1:03:10 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [3] 
# Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Bookmark and Share

One Down, 3,499 to Go
Posted by Bryn

Day 1 of HOW International Design Competition judging: Amy Hawk, Terry Marks and Justin Ahrens have a lot of work in front of them: evaluating nearly 3,500 entries. The HOW staff has spread all the projects out on tables, stacked in layers sandwiched between sheets of paper. The judges will work their way through the categories today and tomorrow, and they'll choose the Best of Show on Monday. At first glance, the quality of the entries is pretty strong (Megan suggested that clients are slowly becoming more design-savvy). We'll report in periodically throughout the judging process (but you'll have to wait until HOW's March/April design annual to see the winners!).


HOW Magazine
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 2:19:37 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #  Comments [2]