Posted by Bryn

Posted by Bryn

I'm a regular reader of Eric Karjaluoto's ideasonideas blog and so I hopped right over this morning after Eric emailed me a heads-up about a new post.

My editor's note in the brand-spankin-new International Design Annual had me thinking about design competitions in general—and, more broadly, about design style vs. substance. So Eric's post —and its provocative title—really struck a chord:

The challenge here is that as we are bombarded by these styles, designers, by their own accord and that of their clients and peers, gravitate towards reiterating whatever the style-du-jour happens to be. (Think of the swoosh logos of the late 1990s.) It's easy to do, the pay-off is immediate, and for a short while, one's portfolio seems deceptively strong. Most times though, this work is void of the research, strategy, and logic that are necessary to do something effective. As a result, it's in fact a big pile of shiny bullshit.

Read more of Eric's post.

To support his recent project/book, Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far, Stefan Sagmeister created a blog where he posts cool type treatments created by other people about the things they've learned. This would make a great creative challenge for a snowy afternoon.

Posted by Megan

Posted by Bryn

From the slew of press announcements coming in this week:

• Adobe is discontinuing its royalty-free stock photo service; customers must make their final purchases by March 31 and download an uninstaller.

• Corel is now shipping its CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4, with tools for page layout, illustration, photo editing and tracing.

• Mohawk announced the winners of its Strathmore Letterhead Contest for Q4 of 2007: Jenni Undis of Minneapolis printer Lunalux picked up the Gold (and also the 2007 Grand Prize) for her identity for Post-Luxury Accessories. Christine Mathison of Lindsay Hill Design won a Silver for her Lineplot Productions identity; Judy Kohn of JK Design scored the Bronze for her I.D. for High Meadows Fund. Entries for the Q1 2008 contest are being accepted now through March 31.

• CTI Paper has revamped its Splendorlux brand of cast-coated colored papers, with new heavier weights, new finishes and new colors. A new swatchbook is available; email samples@thepapermill.com.

• CreativeHub.com is a new online marketplace that connects freelance creatives and the companies who want to hire them.

• International Paper's Accent Opaque Smooth text and cover papers are now certified to run on HP Indigo and Kodak Nexpress printers.

• The Art Directors Guild and California State University, Long Beach, are teaming up on an October conference called 5D, which will explore visual storytelling and design technology across all media.