An Architect’s Toolbox and Quality Management System Bio Russell Curtis is the founder and director of London-based architectural practice RCKa, a finalist for 2011 Young Architect of the Year. His firm employs Evernote as its main content management and collaboration tool. I use Evernote, Everywhere WindowsiPadAndroid I use Evernote for managing content and collaborating with colleagues at my architectural firm I started using Evernote about four years ago, but in the last twelve months, it’s become a core tool at my firm. Evernote as a central database Besides being a tool that everyone at the firm uses for various projects, Evernote is the universal database for our practice. Working together on the go Evernote is hugely helpful for storing all information related to a building project because we can carry all of this documentation with us everywhere. Evernote has fundamentally changed the way we do business. Whether we’re at the office or on the go, we are constantly adding information to our Shared Notebooks. More ways to use Evernote
Animation Trends 2012: Discover the hottest new forms and styles - Feature There’s a buzz around animation at the moment – and not simply because the most recent UK budget contained a government promise that the animation industry would be granted the same tax breaks as film companies already enjoy. Accompanying this is a widespread sense that what is possible within animation is entering ever more exciting territory. If there is one overarching theme, it is that the artificial boundaries between the different genres – CG, motion graphics, handcrafted, stop motion – are being torn down. “It’s not super-new, but there definitely seems to be a trend in mixed-media animation,” says California-based animator Gabe Askew. Brazilian animator Guilherme Marcondes, who is based in New York, agrees. The boundaries between CG, 2D and handmade – and between what is considered animation and motion graphics – are blurring. Part of this shift is down to creatives getting bored with the perfection of entirely digital work. Intro 1) Stop motion animation is hip again
3D Printing and the legal system; if you think Napster was tough - Global Toy News 3D printing has arrived. How can you tell; because a consumer products company has filed a lawsuit against a user? What is going to happen next is a bit like what happened to the music and video industries except this one is going to involve the toy industry and anyone else who is in the consumer products business. Jean-Christian Jung, a co-owner of Globe Trotoys (the make of “Deglingos) and soemone who follows 3D printing closely, sent me an article from Wired Magazine entitled “Clive Thompson on 3-D Printing’s Legal Morass.” When I first heard about 3-D printers, I figured the trend wouldn’t go mainstream for decades, if ever. This has all the makings of an epic and surreal legal battle. Thompson goes on to say, however, that in this case, the law is more favorable to the copiers then were the laws regarding music and video. What is going to happen next? As I have been writing for several years now, 3D printing is a disruptive technology that could It appears that the future is now.
Now You Can Become a Micro-Movie Producer and a Toy Manufacturer - Global Toy News Common wisdom is that you create a new product and then you come up with a marketing plan. But maybe, in the 21st Century you do the reverse. That’s according to a very interesting article in Fast Company by Ben Paynter entitled: “Want to Make a Hit Toy like Air Swimmers? Engineer The Video Before The Product.” The article focuses on Mark Forti, founder and CEO of the William Mark Corporation who drove sales of “Air Swimmers” in the US by creating a series of funny videos which he posted on YouTube. His efforts were so successful that he says it actually reversed the way he thinks about products. Forti has, over the years tried everything from DRTV to QVC to in-store videos to live demonstrations and what he has found is that what is most effective in moving a product is people seeing it in action. The video should be are “pretty low-fi.” Here is what I think: Though what Forti is doing is a breakthrough in conventional thinking it really is not that new.
Would You Buy a Logo From This Man? Update: In January 2013, Bill Haig will host a HOW U workshop breaking down his credibility-based logo design process. Bill Haig, Ph.D, is not a graphic designer. But he’s been in the design field for over 50 years, initially as a “design rep,” and then as CEO of his own firm. His doctorate is in logo design and his specialty is applying “credibility principles in communication persuasion” to planning and creating solutions that work. The so-called credibility-based logo and package design theory are his own coinages. Bill Haig, Ph.D. Few non-designers understand the psychological underpinnings of design. It is hard to be a design rep who sells his company’s “pretty“ design work to company managers who, for the most part, don’t understand graphic design or what they are looking at. Psychology or pseudo-psychology has long been part of the advertising equation. Simply put, designing a logo based on how we persuade: credible source > message > channel > receiver. Designed by Jerry Gould
Vintage Orange Crush Soda Bottles Take a Ribbing I grew up drinking Orange Crush and hearing my mom tell stories of how it used to come in brown bottles, supposedly to protect the flavor. But by the time I was a kid, those days were long gone, and Crush’s bottles were clear. I was also aware that Orange Crush was made in my hometown, Evanston, Illinois—or at least it had a plant in town. One day when I was about 12 years old, I was riding my Schwinn Sting-Ray down Asbury Avenue, and I noticed that a house in the neighborhood was being demolished. This piece concentrates specifically on the Orange Crush bottles. Like many early soft-drink beverages, Orange Crush was created by a chemist, Neil C. A 1917 carbon copy (ever wonder what "cc" stands for ?) A 1925 publicity photograph showing an Orange Crush delivery truck Evanston, Illinois, served as one of Crush International’s headquarters in the 1960s. 1960-80s Crush International building at 2201 Main Street, in Evanston, Illinois. Here are the bottles. . . Same as above in green glass.
TEDxMuscat Building Israel Through Posters Dan Walsh’s incredibly rich Palestine Poster Project Archives includes much in the way of protest, but it also contains a trove of rare Zionist/Israeli posters from the 1920s through the ’50s, largely before partition. The ones excerpted here are from the Mahmoud Darwish Memorial Gallery, which includes a collection of Zionist Worker agency posters calling for increased development of Palestine. The affairs of the workers of Eretz Israel should be in the hands of the workers of Eretz Israel, 1935. To experience the role of posters in the birth, growing pains, and ultimate conflict, this is perhaps the best online resource. Here’s what Walsh collects: 1) international artists and agencies; 2) Zionist and Israeli artists and agencies; 3) Palestinian nationalist artists and agencies; 4) Arab and Muslim artists and agencies. And here is what he says about his collection of over 6700 posters: To fortify our home - use Hebrew cement, 1937. Come and See the Palestine Exhibition - Vienna, 1925.
An Arab World Competition Hala A.Malak and Tarek Atrissi have announced the launch of KAFLAB Foundation, through which they will create a community and start discourse on the Arab world through design. “Exploring sensitive and controversial topics,” they say, “will help social change and push a generation of designers to challenge the status quo and redefine identity, religion free! ” Their first project, Al-Kafiye (traditional male headdress and more), will deal with identity and design by examining “what we believe is the strongest symbol to come out of the contemporary Arab World.” they add. They kick started the process with a competition. Are you fed up with stereotypes, religious assumptions and just plain haphazard design? COMPETITION: How do you translate and incorporate the Kafiye and what it represents in your own creative expression? ELIGIBILITY: Any creative, artist or designer is eligible to enter. ENTERING: Enter up to three (3) distinct options per person. - Full name and contact info
Transforming the education system by design The intention of this article is to illustrate the importance of transforming the current secondary education system, to create impact to the future most promising industry, Design. By Muhamad Razif Nasruddin. Being a part of the complete circle of the pre-existing framework of our national education system (primary to tertiary), one can experience not only academic learning, but also participate in co-curricular activities in enhancing their ability to become capable individuals. From Razak Report 1956 to Education Review Report 1979, re-contextualizing the purpose of education has been the sole conversational thread, rooted in nation building varied in cultural / language-centric to economic-driven purpose. However, the current model of economic-driven alone is flawed by the recent global economic meltdown that the world has experienced for the past 20 years. In the whirlwind of inconsistent global economy, today’s financial institutions have become complex beyond comprehension.
Creative briefs: Stop telling me the solution By Mike Clark of www.shelfidentity.com Clients/Buyers seem to always have an answer. Maybe after being burned by bad creative, they learned to do this to protect them selves. Let’s say there’s a new, natural, organic hand soap that needs packaging. But instead of telling you the problem that needs solving—they tell you the solution. Here’s what this looks like: Telling you the solution: “It needs to look natural, so I expect to see green trees, leaves, water droplets and earth tones.” Telling you the problem: “It needs to look premium. When they tell you the solution, it halts your creative reins, and often times, they get something mediocre that looks every other natural hand soap package. On the other hand, when they tell you the problem, you can create something that will truly answer the need and make this product stand out. It’s as simple as that. What should you do about it? I’m famous among my buyers for saying, “Stop telling me the solution, and tell me your problem.”
Fuel Your Product Design Tattly Takes a Stand Against Ugly Temp Tattoos There’s a new craze, and it’s one your mother would approve. Tattly is making temp tattoos cool again by partnering with über-talented designers like Julia Rothman, James Victore, Jessi Arrington and Blanca Gómez for design goodness you can adhere to your skin, at least for a little bit. Tina Roth Eisenberg (@Swissmiss), creator of design studio and blog Swissmiss, and her talented team are freeing this world of rancid clip art, one temporary tattoo design at a time. In the words of Eisenberg: “Life is too short to drink bad wine and wear ugly temporary tattoos. Right?” We couldn’t agree more and had to dive deeper into Tattly, a collaboration that both kids and adults can appreciate. HOW: I feel like this is one of those amazing projects with a very cool back-story, perhaps involving a horrid smiley face plastered on a child’s arm for a week after a birthday party. Tina: It was in fact my daughter that inspired me to start the project. HOW: What makes a great tattoo design? Tina: YES!