Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

"In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored this summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public."

Posted by Megan

No one on the Forum seems particularly impressed with the new Xerox logo. I prefer the logos from 1948 and 1949 that the New York Times shows on a timeline of the logo's transformation over the years. (The new logo looks oddly similar to the green Xbox 360 logo.)

Posted by Megan

"I'm charmed by all of the cute, creepy creatures he has created."

Posted by Megan

Posted by Megan

The new Zune Arts Film "Laika" was released last night. Created by 72andSunny and Curious Pictures, the film imagines what might have happened to Laika, the dog launched into space by the Russians fifty years ago. The charming tale incorporates 2D and 3D still photography and textures to create a planet that might as well be doggy heaven.

Posted by Megan

"I look forward to working with the incredibly inspiring and creative community of RISD to realize the possibilities for the world’s first truly 21st century university of art and design.”

For some artists, our expectations of ourselves and our work form a subconscious barrier to full, free creativity. In my work with creative pros, I've uncovered three main sources of potentially unhealthy expectations.

Unhealthy Expectation No. 1: Our heroes
Many of us began making art because we were inspired by others to do so. If we're not careful, however, our "hero worship" can become a creative noose. We can easily begin to think that our work is sub-par because it doesn't seem to measure up to the invisible standard we've unknowingly set.

In his incredible book "Free Play," Stephen Nachmanovich writes, "It's great to sit on the shoulders of giants, but don't let the giants sit on YOUR shoulders! There's no room for their legs to dangle."

In other words, we can carry the weight of our heroes on our shoulders and feel the burden to carry their work forward. When we do this, we're denying our own creative skills and passions and trying to live up to someone else's standard. We're also discounting the failures, doubts and missteps that our heroes made on the way to creative success. It's great to strive for brilliance, but it's also important to be patient with our own growth process.

Read more.

Posted by Megan

New York City has a population of approximately 9 million people in all five boroughs, plus the visitor influx. The average per capita annual use of agricultural produce is approximately 711 pounds (12). The combined per capita consumption of the entire population of New York City is nearly 3 million tons, which translates into 266,000 acres of cropland needed solely for growing produce for New York City. The total ecological footprint of food consumption alone for New York City, as a whole, is over 28.8 million acres. This is 1.2% of the total U.S. land area.