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Most people don’t have a clue what goes into designing a logo, let alone a complex identity system. Pentagram’s Paula Scher has written this little essay that takes on the common gripes and misunderstandings about identity design, specifically, What They Don’t Teach You About Identity Design in Design Schools.
For what it’s worth, this is my favorite passage…
I never knew a designer that got hundreds of thousands of dollars to design a logo. Mostly, designers get paid to negotiate the difficult terrain of individual egos, expectations, tastes, and aspirations of various individuals in an organization or corporation, against business needs, and constraints of the marketplace. This is a process that can take a year or more. Getting a large, diverse group of people to agree on a single new methodology for all of their corporate communications means the designer has to be a strategist, psychiatrist, diplomat, showman, and even a Svengali. The complicated process is worth money. That’s what clients pay for. The process, usually a series of endless presentations and refinements, persuasions and proofs, results, hopefully, in an accepted identity design.
Photographer and mathematician Nikki Graziano overlays graphs and their corresponding equations over full color nature photography. This set of engaging compositions reminds us of the elegance and “art” of math, and its essential function as a descriptor of natural phenomena. Click through the image below (and keep clicking) to check out the full “Found Functions” set.
By Nikki Graziano
The current issue of I.D. magazine has an interesting feature about toys. Actually, it’s not about toys as much as it is about our recollection of the toys we grew up with. They ask a series of designers and critics to consider their favorite toys from their youth and write a brief essay about what that toy meant to them. The result is subtly fascinating. Each essay serves as a tiny memoir, a love letter to the toy, and a dissection of the object itself. They take something that has been taken for granted, or relegated to nostalgia, and breathe some new life into it.
I love sports. I love infographics. Therefore, this site, FlipFlopFlyBall really hit the spot. It offers several dozen, fresh, beautifully-designed infographics that show you a side of sports that you don’t usually see. Take the above graphic, for example. It’s a lovely poster that shows the relative size and shape of the thirty MLB parks.
While it focuses heavily on baseball, the site seems to be delving into other sports. Note the “size comparison of lots of sporty balls” towards the bottom of the page.
Enjoy.
Over the years, my opinion of Armani has swayed radically. In the 80s, I coveted his aesthetic, the guy was ‘it’ for a frenzied generation weaning itself off disco and punk. In the 90s, I chafed at the glut excess of a static attitude gone, I thought, nowhere - a brand for laggard Eurotrash wannabes. Nowadays, I have utmost respect for the man. He has endured, and in retrospect, may actually transcend generational shifts with his personal zeitgeist.
Excerpts from a recent Metropolitan Home interview:
- On Inspiration: “It comes at you when least expected; I can be inspired by almost anything: a book ,a film, or something as simple as the smile of a child walking down the street.”
- On Taste: “The most important thing with taste is to reflect your own character; real good taste is not about an abstract ideal.”
- Fashion vs. Style: “Fashion is often about trends, whereas style is about more eternal qualities.”
- On Design: “The essence of good design lies in the consistency of the approach. Good design should aim to produce things that are both beautiful and functional. If it’s a chair, it should be well made and a pleasure to sit in; if it’s a leather bag, it should hold its contents and be comfortable to carry.”
- On the significance of “Home”: “A feeling of warmth and tranquility; a place of physical and mental refuge.”
The guy just spent millions and millions of dollars to open a store in NYC, which surely didn’t need another high-end store but definitely can benefit from a ‘shot in the arm’ anchor; demonstrating someone is willing to make a significant investment in Gotham during these troubled times with everyone reflexively pulling back, ’rewinding’, seeking a bailout,, or simply walking away from commitment . Given his age of 74 years, he will never see a dime in return. Rather, I think he did it because, aesthetically, it made intuitive sense. This guy is not going golfing…
An interesting lecture series is underway in Amsterdam this year, focusing on the concept of “new” in the arts and within greater culture. The program synopses on the website trigger initial thought – I’m hoping they post the lectures later this year.
Intriguing that the program’s curators are considering “new” as a brand element, in addition to exploring the idea of “brand new.” More info from the link below.
