shoestring modern...

Brad Green, my surrogate uncle, has got to be one of the coolest guys I know--into modern art, Ayn Rand, Miles Davis--and a brilliant architect. The above image is a shot of his cottage on Sunny Lake, appropriately named The Roc, as it's built on a cliff. Not only is it extremely interesting and absolutely gorgeous in its De Stijl-inspired way, its form somehow emulates its surroundings perfectly. Yes, it's colourful and geometric, but it still manages to feel like it's meant to be a part of that cliff, that it's the only thing that could have possibly been built there.

This theme, that architecture and external design should be created to compliment and flow with surrounding elements, has clearly played a huge part in the creation of The Roc, and it's been the central theme of one of my favourite designers, the prolific Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was a major figure in the movement of organic architecture, this idea that the design should be completely harmonious with its natural surroundings. Perhaps the most well-known example of this is Fallingwater, a residence Wright designed for a family in Pennsylvania.

Its stone balconies echo the stone outcroppings of the waterfall and its surrounding area, and the building's placement creates a sense of some kind of dialog with the waterfall and the steepness of the land.

Theorist David Pearson created a set of rules for designing to organic architecture, and I think they're certainly relevant to everything we're doing as graphic designers, organic or not.

"Let the design
-be inspired by nature and be sustainable, healthy, conserving, and diverse.
-unfold, like an organism, from the seed within.
-exist in the "continuous present" and "begin again and again".
-follow the flows and be flexible and adaptable.
-satisfy social, physical, and spiritual needs.
-"grow out of the site" and be unique.
-celebrate the spirit of youth, play and surprise.
-express the rhythm of music and the power of dance."

Essentially, every element should relate to the others, reflecting the relationships present in nature. Sound familiar?

[image source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3675&id=1048985333#pid=3675
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright]

on cutlery...

When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother why we had forks and knives when mostly we just used the side of our fork to cut soft things...I mean, why get a knife dirty if you're eating something like meatloaf? And so I thought I came up with a great invention when I thought up the combined fork-knife (I called it a fife). Logistics ruined the whole thing for me, though, when I realized that people would probably cut the sides of their mouth open due to the Fife's sharp cutting edges. I scrapped the idea.

Fastforward to now: I've stumbled upon a website on Australian nostalgia, and the Fife has already been invented! It goes by the name Splayd, and was invented by William McArthur in the forties. In the sixties, the general public caught on to their innovative and oh-so-convenient design, and over five million sold worldwide. Which begs the question--what happened to them? I'd like my own Splayd collection! Maybe people got tired of having all that extra cutlery--forks, knives, tablespoons, teaspoons, and Splayds...I mean, I guess you don't really need a Splayd when you've got your fork and your knife, and the fork/knife combo is imperative for things like steak. Still, an interesting piece of very neat design.

[image source: http://www.legendfeelco.com.au/whatever.htm]

pirates and beer...

I'm sure you're all aware of Molson Ex's redesign since I've been bringing it up at every possible opportunity, but I figured I'd post a before/after sort of thing since it seems nobody's actually seen it. Above is the redesign, and below is the old logo.


I love the redesign. The red's richer, the sail looks less like an armadillo, and the type and white tattoo-y stuff around the sail is just so hip. Strangely enough, the redesign actually seems cleaner than the old version, even with the starburst, banners, and swashes. Maybe nasty Ex will actually draw in a younger, cooler market! Their site's been revamped, too--unfortunately, it seems they've only got the Quebec version up, and it's all in French.

What do you think? (I'd still never touch the stuff, but I'm not in their target market)

[image source: before: http://www.timinganddelivery.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/me.gif
after: http://www.molsonexport.com/index.aspx]

lace 'nades and umbrella guns...

Brooklyn-based designer/artist Dan Funderburgh has crafted a wonderful collection of what look to be vintage wallpaper/arts and crafts-inspired "tools"--he's done grenades, a gunbrella, saws, wrenches, a chainsaw, and more (there are 40 in total). All are done with incredible patience and attention to detail, and they're all an ironic juxtaposition of delicate femininity and hard-edged weapon (of sorts).

See all the tools in his kit here.

Also check out his personal site for more of the same flavour--he's done a ton of work for Ecko, including print ads, identity pieces, and hang tags; and his wallpaper designs are absolutely incredible, with more of the same irony featured in his tool exhibition.

sidenote:

While emptying my dryer tonight, a dishtowel flew out at me and landed on my shirt. I don't think I can remember the last time I was consciously inspired by an event like this; the colours just popped right out at me and I fell in love. For those of you who are interested, I've posted the numbers below.

red: c0 m80 y75 k0
green: c34 m15 y87 k1
blue: c88 m44 y15 k1


[image source: http://kitsunenoir.com/blog/2008/05/13/dan-funderburghs-work-at-fellow-traveller/]

media usage tally: one week

My media consumption this past week:

Reading
Newspaper- 30 min
Magazines- 4h
Books- 9h

Music
Radio- 30 min
CDs (at home)- 36h
ipod- 9h

Electronic Media
TV- 0
Movies- 8.5h

Interactive/Web
Video Games- 0
Sent Emails- 28
Surfing- 16h
Facebook- 5h

Mobile Device
Talking- 119 min
Messages Sent- 26

boys! treat your rifle like a lady...

In my travels as an active procrastinator, I came across this rifle maintenance manual from the 1960s. Now, I know, as a member of the female species, that I should be pissed about the insane amount of objectification of women in this manual. BUT, aside from making reference to the female body as the various parts of a rifle, the manual does have some good tips for its users:

-respect her and treat her right, and she'll be ready when you need her
-get to know her needs and whims, know what makes her tick
-be gentle, and know that your life depends on her

Yep. That's right. From the US Army's M-16 Rifle Manual, Treat Your Rifle Like a Lady, circa 1969. Who knew they were so sensitive?

And since this is a design blog...

The manual's art was done by Will Eisner, a prolific giant in the world of sequential art (he was the first to coin the term "sequential art" in reference to comics and graphic novels, actually). Eisner was also one of the first artists to start moving comics away from "the funnies" and did some of the first adult-oriented graphic novels in the 1970s.

The real beauty of this manual, however, is its incredibly simple hierarchy and instructional graphics. The manual is easy to read (I feel like I'd be comfortable stripping my M-16) and the graphics are clear without any chartjunk (keeping in mind that this is a comic)--and this was before Tufte! And, of course, the genius of the medium. Creating this manual in the form of a comic was an incredibly smart move when considering the target audience, a slew of boys and men, probably 18-25, in 1960s US.

See the whole manual here.

[image source: http://www.ep.tc/problems/25/02.html]

make more GIF files...

...and other advice for first-years at University College Falmouth in England. Professor John Stanbury founded a project in 2006 called Advice to Sink in Slowly: a brief was sent out to 19 recent and working graduates of UCF asking for a poster to pass on advice and inspiration to first-year students, and the resulting 25 posters were randomly given to 300 freshmen as a welcome gift. The project was so well-liked, it was repeated again in 2007, and is now expanding to include different types of media including video, audio, and written content.

What a great idea! Being able to see what graduates are capable of upon finishing the program is definitely inspiring, and generates a good sense of faith/respect for the school and program. But the best part of this project is the personal aspect--this is certainly the coolest move I've seen to get rid of University's cold and impersonal stigma. And how great would it be to get a realistically inspiring, well-designed poster made specifically for your year? I'd love to see something like this at Humber.

Check out the project's site here.

[image source: http://flickr.com/photos/adviceposters/1311322424/in/set-72157602720078403/]

type design as lego

Designer/engineer Rob Meek has created a new free font-building program called FontStruct, which lets users create fonts constructed from geometric shapes—you arrange the shapes ("tiles") on a grid by dragging and dropping, and you're pretty well good to go.

What's especially interesting about this is that since FontStruct's been released to the public a little over a month ago, over 20 000 users have registered. 20 000! Are these users typographers, designers, 12-year-old video game addicts? It's amazing how accessible font creation (albeit very amateur font creation) has become.

Check out the introductory video here.

[image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/2386500152/in/pool-fontstruct/]

call me a keener...

...but the ridiculous amount of caffeine coursing through my veins has successfully prevented me from going to sleep at a reasonable hour (I know, shocking) and I'm disturbingly excited about sharing design-related stuff with everyone/reading what everyone else posts. So I'm starting now.

Since this morning's class and that shocking moment where I discovered that I couldn't actually name any of the designers I like, I've been searching and bookmarking design sites like a monkey on speed. My web travels led me to Eric Kass, a designer from Indiana who's so well-established, I'm absolutely shocked I haven't heard of him.

His style is clean and fresh, while at the same time edgy, organic, and kind of grungy. I love how everything he does has a very hand-made and tactile quality. Check him out for some inspiration!

[image source: http://funnel-eric-kass.blogspot.com/]