An all-star team of experts with world-renowned environmental and baby product design credentials have joined forces for the “Wee Generation” project to develop an environmentally safe, impeccably designed baby bag certain to be the “It” bag among green celebrities, the eco-chic and the health-conscious. To influence the design process, current and future parents are encouraged to weigh in at www.weegeneration.com and share their own stories and insights of baby bag usage.

Posted by Megan

The work of San Francisco-based artist Tauba Auerbach is extremely typographic and interesting.






via Hi + Low

Posted by Megan

We just got an interesting press release about Sweat Equity Enterprises (SEE), a design and entrepreneurship program for underserved youth, and their recent partnership with Nissan North America (NNA). The partnership brought together 18 high school students from New York City and Providence, RI to develop a concept for a low-cost vehicle targeted toward youth in metropolitan areas. From February to May, the students worked with Nissan Design America designer Bryan Thompson to conduct market research, predict upcoming trends and produce detailed professional-quality designs for the car’s exterior, accessories and interior elements. 

Working in teams, students came up with six car concepts which were submitted to Nissan for competition. Nissan chose the Pure concept vehicle designed by Chris Jones, Paul Ayala, Alex Rodriguez and Shakirra Torain. The designs were so well received that Nissan created digital animated models of all six designs, and a 3-foot professional model of Pure, which they will reveal at the Los Angeles Auto Show this November.
 
“The goal of the Nissan Pure is to be as iconic as the original Mini Cooper, as legendary as the Nissan Skyline and as economical and fun as the Datsun 510,” says 16-year old SEE designer Chris Jones. “The Pure gives you that classic car feel and all the right things to bring the essence of what made us fall in love with cars in the first place.” 
 

Posted by Megan

Nobody wants to end up with their foot in their mouth while dazzling a prospective new hire during an interview. But embarrassment isn't all you risk when you conduct these meetings. It's not too hard, in fact, to mistakenly ask a discriminatory question. Even a seemingly innocent query such as "Where were you born?" can result in legal problems for your company. Anti-discrimination and consumer-protection legislation passed since the 1960s restricts the type and scope of pre-employment questions that you can ask. Moreover, court decisions and administrative rulings have refined what you can and can't ask, and—if things weren't already confusing enough—standards vary from state to state.

Click here to learn which specific questions could cause problems.

Posted by Megan

Fast Company has a great story about building key relationships as a freelancer or small business owner. Here's a bit of it:

Gather a team

When you work alone, without other people to tell you how you're doing, it can be difficult to see how you can improve. A friend of mine from the consulting firm Deloitte & Touche calls this syndrome "inhaling your own exhaust fumes."

Build a board of advisors who feel free to kick your ass when your solitude weakens your judgment. You'll need five people, with different backgrounds and perspectives. Your dream team might include:

• a longtime friend
• a mentor
• a marketing expert
• a colleague in your industry
• a former boss

My board of advisors includes Tad Smith, a one-time business partner of mine. When I was out of work and wanted to become the CEO of a major corporation, Tad told me to forget the big, prestigious Fortune 500 companies that I was targeting. Find a smaller firm that can grow, he said. Tad was right, and I soon became CEO at the game company YaYa.

Report to the board on your successes, failures and goals on a regular basis. Listen to their advice and criticism. If most of them give you the same advice, follow it.

Posted by Megan

That's what happens when our Chief Bloggess, Megan, takes a vacation: it all goes to hell. Actually, Megan's gone to Hell, and sent a postcard. Trust us, it's MUCH hotter here.

Feel like all you’re doing is scratching your head when it comes to marketing your design services and getting new clients? In our October issue (which just hit newsstands yesterday), we included a handy-dandy, yearlong calendar just for you: It tells when and what you should be doing when it comes to marketing. And that includes whether you’re new to the game or have been at it for some time.

Lucky for you, we’ve also posted a copy on our website that you can download, print out and tack up—marketing made easy!


Posted by Carmen

I was just skimming the newly posted list of attendees at the In-HOWse Designer Conference coming up in about three weeks, and spotted designers from a bunch of primo companies, including:

Coca-Cola
Whole Foods
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Fossil
Boston Market
Hobby Lobby
PetSmart
Time Warner

Plus, designers from a bunch of universities will be attending (like Texas Tech, UW-Madison and UC San Francisco), and creatives from a wide range of smaller companies and nonprofits. Should be a great group in Austin!

If you're a designer in Denver, Portland or Philly, take note: HOW Forum folks are arranging meet-ups in the coming weeks. Check out the Forum for dates & locations.

Adobe recently announced the winners of the 2007 Design Achievement Awards. You can see all the winners here. My favorite piece is a design engine that allows users to control combinations of color and shape to create infinite variations. The Generative Engine was designed by Kyle Phillips, a student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Posted by Megan

The deadline for HOW's International Design Competition is less than three weeks away! Eek! That means it won't be long before we're hauling entries to a huge rented space and carefully laying them all out on long tables for the judges to peruse.

Posted by Megan

Lately, there's been a bunch of stories in the news about how bad bottled water is for the environment (like this one and this one). I gave up my beloved  Fiji water about a month ago, but I still haven't found a great solution for taking water to office meetings or in the car.

(I have a cool Camelbak bottle, but I stored it under the sink next to the dishwashing powder and now the soap taste won't wash out.)

So today, I jumped onto Amazon and did a quick search for water bottles. It turns out there are a bunch of great designer choices. Now I just have to decide which one to order. Here are a few of my faves.

Sigg offers many good options like this loop top water bottle or these gorgeous round top ones.

I also like the simplicity of this Klean Kanteen.



And finally, this New Wave Enviro bottle comes with a nifty hook you could clip to a bag or at least dangle from a couple of fingers when you're trying to carry a bunch of stuff to a meeting.

Posted by Megan