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 Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Bigger, Dammit!
We got a funny T-shirt, microwave popcorn and a press release today from the folks at Agency Fusion, about their new mock-u-mercial at MakeMyLogoBiggerCream.com. (If you want to catch an editor's eye, send a funny T-shirt.) We're planning to pop and watch this afternoon. 
Industry News
11/6/2007 11:57:12 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Designer Gifts
Gifts and Goodies
11/6/2007 8:50:13 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Serious Play
The Art Center College of Design just announced the lineup for its 2008 Conference, Serious Play, which will explore the essential role of play in business, the arts, science, storytelling, technology, etc. Speakers include Paula Scher, John Maeda, Michael Bierut and more.  Posted by Megan
Events
11/6/2007 8:41:41 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 05, 2007
More from MYOB
Picking up from this report, a bit more info from HOW's Mind Your Own Business Conference in San Diego, which wrapped up yesterday (November 4). The big highlight of Day 3 -- and of the conference overall -- was Deborah Dawton, CEO of London's Design Business Association. Our peers across the pond are beginning to get their collective heads around the massive challenge of measuring (really!) the bottom-line value of design. Like, in terms of goods sold, or dollars saved, or reputation enhanced, or effectiveness increased. Dawton didn't have all the answers, but she DID have all the questions: specifically, the questions designers must ask their clients in order to measure design's effectiveness and, in turn, to define their work's worth. She noted that "The businesses you work for aren't all that different from the businesses you work in" -- in other words, the very same business challenges a design firm faces (profitability, staffing, efficiency, differentiation) are the ones the client faces, just on a larger scale. So it's imperative for designers to understand their OWN businesses as well as their clients'. The first step to measuring design's value, she noted, is to determine the client's current business state before the project begins -- it's impossible to peg increased sales to a brochure design when you don't know what sales were before the brochure. And it's critical to then define, "How will we know if this project is successful?" and, finally, to get as much information from your client about business results. Afraid they won't give you that info? Ya gotta ask. After some late-night discussions and early morning roundtables, the conference wrapped up on Sunday with " Crucial Conversations," in which Ron McMillan outlined some tools to use when we're engaged in touch conversations where emotions, stakes and differences of opinion run high. Thanks to all the principals who participated this year!
Events | HOW Magazine
11/5/2007 4:44:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Dear Future Me on Pop Candy
I just found out that the HOW book Dear Future Me got a mention late last week on USA Today's pop culture blog, Pop Candy. Here's what blogger Whitney Matheson had to say: But one thing I'm also reading is this cool book called Dear Future Me: Hopes, Fears, Secrets, Resolutions (F+W Publications, $16.99). It's a compilation of letters to FutureMe.org,
where you can go and submit and e-mail that will be sent to you
sometime in the future. The letters are funny, poignant, revealing,
heartbreaking ... I think fans of Found and PostSecret might get into it.
Posted by Megan
HOW Books
11/5/2007 1:32:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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You're Welcome
Poking around the P22 site today, I came across these two very inviting welcome mats. Designed by Dard Hunter Studios the mats sell for $39.95 each.  Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
11/5/2007 1:07:41 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Book Review
When Debbie Millman was here judging the International Design Competition, she kindly gave me a copy of her new book How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer. I figured I'd get around to reading it someday, but after skimming the first few pages, I was totally hooked. I sat there and read the whole darn thing! It's amazing how honest the superstar designers in the book are. They reveal their fears and struggles, dreams and desires. I came to realize that the people I idolize in this industry are only human and, in the end, it made me love them even more.  Posted by Megan
Design Resources
11/5/2007 12:58:06 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 02, 2007
Live from MYOB
Here in (now) sunny San Diego, we're with 300 design-firm principals who are super-focused on sessions geared toward improving their business success. It's a pretty intense group; people are deep in discussion in between sessions and during breakfast. One underpinning (and unintentional) theme of this year's MYOB conference is differentiating your firm with a unique, distinctive positioning. As an editor who sees a ton of capabilities packages from design firms of all stripes throughout the country, I'm continually amazed at how, well, the same all of them are. In fact, opening keynote speaker Tim Williams read positioning statements from real agencies, and the audience chuckled at how cliche and lame they all were. Clearly, designers need to turn the mirror on themselves and define their own brands. The same kind of discussion continued today, when Brent Hodgins started his presentation by acting out a typical pitch presentation, and again the audience laughed at how silly it all sounded. In what's become a tradition at MYOB, conference partner David Baker conducted a real-world, live business analysis with a principal who volunteered his firm as a case study. Fascinating.
Events | HOW Magazine
11/2/2007 8:11:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wheels
Almost like snowflakes, car rims come in huge variety of patterns. And, as it turns out, the shapes are gorgeous when screen printed onto round cards. The Memowheel game, created by German designer Jakob Straub, lets you match 32 pairs of rims to test your visual memory.  Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
11/2/2007 3:25:55 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Powerful Design
The Graphic Imperative is a select retrospective of forty years of international sociopolitical posters, 111 in all. Themes include dissent, liberation, racism, sexism, human rights, civil rights, environmental and health concerns, AIDS, war, literacy and tolerance, collectively providing a window to an age of great change. The exibit is on view at The Luckman Fine Arts Complex in Los Angeles now, but you can see all the posters on The Graphic Imperative website.  Steff Geissbuhler, 1985 Posted by Megan
Events
11/2/2007 2:58:08 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, November 01, 2007
Limited-Edition Toy Cameras
HOW Books editor Amy Schell just passed along a link to a super fun gift idea from the Lomographic Society: a White Stripes edition of the Holga and Diana cameras. Each camera set is packaged within a custom gift box and contains a
treasure-trove of accessories. Pricing is $180 and 150 EUR per set.
Purchases are limited to 1 JACK Holga set and 1 MEG Diana+ set per customer.
  Posted by Megan
Gifts and Goodies
11/1/2007 11:16:55 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Choosing A Digital SLR Camera
In time for Christmas, HOW tech writer Paul Mormack has put together a review of affordable, quality digital single lens reflex cameras. Need quick, quality, custom photos for a project? Ready to supplement
the stock photos you're buying now? Getting the photos you want with a
digital SLR camera is easier and more affordable than ever. But
selecting the right DSLR has never been tougher. Prices are lower,
image quality is better, hardware is faster and feature-rich—and
there are more choices. That's great news for buyers.
HOW Magazine
11/1/2007 11:09:27 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Fighting Fire With Love
Inspired by the Hurricane Poster Project that raised money for the Red Cross after hurricane Katrina, designer Josh Higgins is starting the So-Cal Fire Poster Project. He posted all the details about the project here. San Diego based Morris! Communications is also working on a public-awarness and fundraising campaign called "San Diego Loves You." You can get all the details about that project here.  Posted by Megan
Industry News
11/1/2007 9:13:31 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Last Minute Costume
If you still don't know what to dress up as this Halloween, designer Stefan Bucher has come to the rescue with his adorably silly monster mask. Just download the PDF, print it out and find a way to keep it on your face. The mask is inspired by the creatures at his Daily Monster blog. Get your fill of creepy creatures this Halloween!  Posted by Megan
Just for Fun
10/31/2007 12:54:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Happy Halloween
Awesome design/fashion blog Fly has a link to illustrator Andy Smith's portfolio today. I stopped by for a look and realized I'd seen his work before. In fact, the poster below was hanging on my office wall for a while (maybe last Halloween).  Posted by Megan
Typography
10/31/2007 12:47:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Finding The Way
When I heard, a few days ago, that New York City was starting a pilot program to place wayfinding "compasses" outside Subway stations, I rejoiced. Every time I go to to NYC, I walk up the stairs only to realize that I have no idea which direction to go. I have to walk at least half a block before I can see the cross streets and make sure I'm going the right way. So I thought it was cool when I got an email from the company the manufactured the vinyl street decals, GSG. "Though the first four compass decals are part of a pilot program, they’re designed each to be readable and decorative for years to come," says GSG president Ken Madsen. "Once the program is deemed a success, we look forward to producing the additional compass signage per the city’s needs.”  Posted by Megan
Industry News
10/31/2007 9:38:17 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Hot Wheels
Yesterday, Hot Wheels announced the winners of its first-ever Designer’s Challenge, where the company invited designers from leading automotive manufacturers to design and create an original Hot Wheels vehicle. The Designer’s Challenge was created as a way for Hot Wheels to honor its automotive partners and have them actively participate in the die-cast brand’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2008. The selected designs will be the basis of a new 40th anniversary Designer’s Challenge product line, which will hit store shelves in spring 2008.
One of the winners is General Motors designer Amaury Diaz-Serrano who took the competition very seriously. “If I blew it,” he explains, “I would never have another opportunity to design a Hot Wheels car again for the rest of my life.” Diaz-Serrano is devoted to the tiny cars and has a collection of more than 3,000.
Diaz-Serrano says designing the Hot Wheels 1:64-scale die-cast car was very similar to designing Camaros and Corvettes at GM. “We’re here to design the coolest cars we can, so you give it 100 percent.” There is a twist, however. “With ‘The Chevroletor,’” he explains, “I had to blend the Hot Wheels cool facto‚ with the Chevrolet heritage and General Motors history.” Just as he does with his life-size creations, he sculpted and submitted a 3D version of his entry, which was chosen out of more than 100 submissions by GM car designers.
You can see the rest of the winners here. Posted by Megan
Industry News
10/31/2007 9:30:28 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
How (Not) to Enter a Design Competition
Sheesh! I'm post-happy today, no? On the heels of last week's judging, here are some sure-fire ways to be sure your entry to (any) design show gets a fair shake—or not: • DO fill out the entry form neatly and completely. If there's a typo in the show annual, it's probably the result of the entrant's sloppy handwriting. Make sure that doesn't happen. • DO include a paragraph that tells the judges about the project: its particular challenges, why it succeeded, how you developed the concept. • DO consider how you assemble or package your entry. If the judges need a box cutter or jackhammer to extract your project from its wrapping, they'll give up. • DO use design competitions as an occasion to assemble your body of work from the past year in a sort of self-critique. Look at everything you've done, note what worked and didn't, and learn from it. • DON'T let your competition wins go unnoticed. When your work appears in any design show, book, publication, whatever, by all means send a letter or press release to your clients telling them about it. • DO make design awards part of your regular marketing efforts. Going into 2008, consider all the places you'll want to enter your work, make note of entry deadlines, budget for the fees and plan for the follow-up. And good luck!
Call for Entries | HOW Magazine
10/30/2007 10:44:30 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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This Week's News
Buncha news releases have been piling up over the past 2 weeks, so here are a few tidbits: Domtar has released a promotional series titled "Why Paper?" that explains why, even in this digital age, paper is still the go-to for communication. The piece was designed by Dallas-based Squires & Co. and printed by Anderson Litho.  Alien Skin software released its new Exposure 2, which includes effects and settings that add warmth, softness and grain to digital images, allowing designers and photographers to mimic the look of film and darkroom processing. Mohawk tapped Chicago-based VSA Partners for a two-part promo for its Strathmore Writing and Script brands. "From Exploration to Implementation" parts 1 and 2 document the development of identities for high-end clients and showcase (with pull-out samples) the paper's application for letterhead and brand systems. Posted by Bryn
Industry News
10/30/2007 10:06:24 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Observations on Design
After spending five days last week in the company of thousands of design projects, we came away with some broad observations about the scope of work. As judges Debbie Millman, John Foster and Nathan Hendricks paced among the tables of entries, scoring pens in hand, we asked them to keep track of what they saw. Generally, some of the trends we've seen repeatedly in recent years seem to be on the wane: tiny patterns, cute wildlife, palettes of brown matched with spring green or pale blue, prettiness. The work that rose to the top was a bit sharper, grittier. The handmade aesthetic is still strong, but it's rougher in a deliberate way. The judges noted that they could imagine a designer sketching an image on paper and then, instead of bringing that sketch into Illustrator for refinement, deciding that the sketch itself was appropriate for the project. No need to sand off the rough edges. As in all competitions, the judges bemoaned inconsistency: a dynamite book cover whose lackluster interior pages shot the project all to hell, good ideas poorly executed, great executions of crappy ideas, well-designed annual reports with rotten photography, huge budgets that allowed for reckless production values with no meaningful payoff. Foster especially noted challenges with printing and paper: "The printing gap has widened severely. It seems as if you either have a massive budget and you throw tons of bells and whistles at a piece, or folks are legging it out, digitally printing parts like a belly band or even running stuff off their color laser. On both counts I just caution to never let the printing get in the way of the design. If it's overly extravagant with no purpose other than to spend money it becomes a turnoff, and while I appreciate the ingenuity of using economical resources I hate to hold a piece in my hands and think it feels cheap and thrown-together.
"Paper choices are still amazing to me. I would say a tenth of the work turned me off the minute I felt the gross stock the designer had chosen. Get samples and 'touch' your work beforehand."
We'll publish the results of the trio's deliberation in HOW's March/April International Design Annual. Meanwhile, if you're looking for inspiration, check out the gallery of past HOW winners. 
Events | HOW Magazine
10/30/2007 9:29:45 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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