Marketing, Etc.

7 Cool Links

2008-10-30T13:54:07-08:00

I don’t have a lot of time this month, so I thought I’d clean out some of the bookmarks I’ve been collecting. Here are seven interesting sites to keep you amused and informed (okay, probably more amused than informed).

Here we go…

Designing For Democracy

2008-09-29T16:17:47-08:00

Can graphic designers help save our democracy? The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) seems to think so. And I happen to think they’re onto something.

Fizzing Up a Major Brand

2008-08-30T18:33:24-08:00

Once you own you one of the most well-known brands in the world, you generally don’t want to screw around with it.

Then again, no brand can stay the same forever. Times change. Tastes shift. And the brand must move on.

Right now, Coca-Cola seems to be doing just that – moving forward with some innovative approaches to product design and styling.

$@*%! Editors!

2008-07-30T20:26:59-08:00

When I read about Giles Coren, a writer for The Times in the UK, I was reminded of that old saying, “An egotist is a self-made man who worships his creator.”

I’ve met plenty of creative people with enormous egos, but Giles seems to be so full of himself, I’ll bet the airlines make him book a second seat (maybe a whole row) to make room for his ego.

Fun With Semicolons

2008-06-29T19:50:13-08:00

Kurt Vonnegut evidently didn’t have much respect for semicolons, pointing out that they serve no purpose and that “the only reason to use one is to show you’ve been to college.” And one of New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s favorite put-downs for intellectual bureaucrats was to call them “semicolon boys.”

That’s probably because “semicolon boys” (and “semicolon girls,” of course) spend their days debating the delicate nuances of various sentence clauses, coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and other grammatical subtleties you’ve either never mastered or just plain forgot.

Form Follows Me

2008-05-27T16:37:53-08:00

If “form follows function,” then how should multi-function devices be designed?

According to industrial designer Tamer Nakisci’s solution, the perfect form does not exist. So just create the perfect form for each function, and voilà, “form follows you.”

An Internet of Things

2008-04-14T16:31:25-08:00

Noted sci-fi author Bruce Sterling wrote a non-fiction book a few years ago called Shaping Things, presenting his vision on how humans will interact with the world of the future—not just with fellow humans, but with all the objects, both important and trivial, that impact our lives.

One of the main points Sterling raises is that our world is rapidly being reshaped, whether we like it or not, into an Internet that represents not just information, but things.

The Bloch Sphere

2008-04-11T18:09:03-08:00

Turns out there’s a sphere with my name on it.

No, it’s not really named after me, but the Bloch sphere does illustrate the power of animation for visualizing complex concepts.

Thinking Outside the Rim

2008-04-07T03:28:09-08:00

Most designers would probably be thrilled to have the privilege of creating a postage stamp. But what about a coin, something they’ll be minting for a generation or two?

Or what if were an entire set of coins, one that’s destined to set a new standard in design, sculpture, and national identity?

How many designers have done that?

The latest in this rarefied group of designers is Matthew Dent of London, who won a public design competition by creating an absolutely stunning look for the UK’s new coins, blending traditional and contemporary imagery in a clever interactive way. And he’s only 26 years old.

I Still See Yellow

2008-03-29T19:21:36-08:00

Slate ran an article on phone books – asking “Why Won’t Phone Books Die?”

In the article, Bill Gates is quoted as predicing that “Yellow Page usage among people, say, below 50, will drop to zero—or near zero—over the next five years.”

I’m not so pessimistic on the future of printed phone books. Certainly usage is on the decline. And while it’s been a long time since I’ve actually used the white pages to look up someone’s phone number, I still use the yellow pages from time to time.