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# Monday, March 24, 2008
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Auto Advertising Done Right

Having spent much of the weekend glued to NCAA basketball games, I spotted this way-cool ad for the Pontiac G8 several times, and my jaw hit the floor with every replay. It's a riff on the old computer game "Spy Hunter" -- and all the gamers are proclaiming how true to the original the ad is.




Posted by Bryn

Just for Fun
Monday, March 24, 2008 8:28:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 
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A Little Birdy Told Us ...

... that the Early Bird registration deadline for this year's HOW Design Conference is Friday. C'mon, peeps! Sign up this week and save 80 bucks -- that ain't chicken scratch.

</bad bird references>

Posted by Bryn

Events | Industry News
Monday, March 24, 2008 2:11:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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Graphic Design Vs. Fine Art

Designer Stefan Bucher sent over a link to an interesting story in the Los Angeles Times about the blurring lines between art and design. The story specifically focuses on Ed Fella and Geoff McFetridge, but also mentions Gary Baseman, who is the subject of an upcoming feature in HOW.
In one instance, a teetering tower of squirming hand-drawn fonts spells out the title message. Fella employs the central units of graphic design -- text and image -- to craft a self-contained pictogram that advertises nothing but its own joy. Besides sharing a fondness for hand-drawn whimsy, Fella and McFetridge match up in Worthington's view as a telling timeline that illuminates the evolution of graphic design as a purely creative outlet. "Geoff has essentially turned upside down the traditional designer-client relationship with this massive overlap," Worthington says. "He works as an illustrator and he shows at art galleries but still essentially has design at the core of his practice, whereas Ed always had to keep his experimental practice totally separate from his commercial practice. By putting Geoff and Ed together, you can see how design has shifted culturally in relationship to art and illustration."

Posted by Megan


Industry News
Monday, March 24, 2008 1:27:11 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 
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A Crest for Your Car

If you're a Scion driver, that is. (My fellow blogger, Megan, should show this to her husband, who steers a Scion to his web-design job.) Advertising/marketing firm StrawberryFrog developed a website for die-hard drivers to create a coat of arms or crest for their trusty Scions. ScionSpeak.com allows users to play with graphic elements created by graffiti artist Tristan Eaton, then post their designs in an online gallery or download them to print and apply to their cars.

via NYTimes.com



Posted by Bryn

Creativity
Monday, March 24, 2008 12:43:01 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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Thirty-Thirty

Still going on through the end of this month: 30 Days–30 Pieces, an online gallery where 20 designers and artists are posting a new work each day from March 1 through March 31. Amid a nifty Flash interface, you'll find daily artworks in media ranging from photography to illustration to collage.

via the HOW Forum




Posted by Bryn

Industry News | Just for Fun
Monday, March 24, 2008 12:33:23 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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Peeps Nightmare

Love them or hate them, Peeps are a sure sign of spring and also of creativity. For the second year in a row, The Washington Post sponsored a Peeps diorama contest. One of the five semifinalists is graphic designer Peter Byer whose entry is titled "Nightmare in Pink."
The bedposts are crayons, and the slippers and vases are made of Sculpey. The dresser and wall mountings (including a portrait of a Peep labeled "Mom") were drawn in ink on white paper, then scanned into a computer and reversed into white lines on a black background. As evidenced by the precision, Byer is, in fact, a graphic designer. But he deals mostly in print and has never worked with models or dioramas. Might we suggest a side career?

Posted by Megan


Just for Fun
Monday, March 24, 2008 12:31:15 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
# Friday, March 21, 2008
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Tons Of Type In Motion

Popping up all over the blogosphere today is a link to a wonderful post on Always Watching about TV and movie scenes that rely entirely on type and sound.
But what happens when you combine typography with motion? That''s the process of kinematic typography and the results, when paired with some excellent scenes from your favorite films and TV shows, can be moving and marvelous.

Posted by Megan


Typography
Friday, March 21, 2008 3:38:24 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 
# Thursday, March 20, 2008
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No Bag

Part of It works with artists to create products for causes they are passionate about. Sales from products benefit charities chosen by the artists. For instance, sales of this alphabet bag by London-based designer Daniel Eatock benefit The International Dyslexia Association.

Posted by Megan


Gifts and Goodies | Typography
Thursday, March 20, 2008 5:58:42 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
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Bloxes

On the first day of the SXSW Interactive Conference, I noticed one corner of the convention center being taken over by interlocking cardboard shapes. The display morphed and grew over the four days as attendees played between sessions. Turns out, these "toys" are called Bloxes and were designed to build movable walls to dampan sound in offices and just build cool things. A case of 20 Bloxes in white or brown costs $59.95 and each Blox measures 9.5 inches square when assembled.



Posted by Megan


Gifts and Goodies
Thursday, March 20, 2008 1:43:52 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
# Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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Kawaii Not

"Kawaii" means cute in Japanese, which inspired the aesthetic of illustrator Meghan Murphy's cute creations that are starring in a brand new book from HOW called Kawaii Not. The "not" is what's important as it hints at the snarky personality she gives to anthropomorphic cupcakes, rainbows, cell phones and more.



What makes the book even more fun is that it's spiral bound with a built-in display stand to show off the colorfully off-color drawings.



Plus, each page is perforated so you can pull out individual strips to give to friends or post in your cubicle.


And, as if that wasn't enough, the book includes two pages of stickers in the back.



Want to see more? You can download a PDF preview here.

Posted by Megan


HOW Books
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:31:32 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1]