Nissan Leaf

The world's first Nissan Leaf arrived on United States soil this past weekend, and it is said that the Leaf is the beginning of the end for gas-powered cars.

The Leaf was preordered by over 27,000 people, and for good reason. In addition to the ability to accelerate to speeds upwards of 90 mph, unusual in electric cars that don't have the name Tesla on them somewhere, the Leaf has comfortable seating, electronic panels that explain just how much of a carbon footprint you're leaving as you leave it, an ipod application in the works, and numerous entertainment abilities for families and the bored commuter. It even has a pedestrian warning, and, possibly most important of all, it's affordable and will cost 15% less annually to upkeep than a regular car. 

   The design of the car is what catches people, as it's a bit snazzier than Nissan has been in the past, and therefore a bit more futuristically attractive than most people thought it would be. 

Industrial Design at its Finest: Johnathan Ive

Jonhnathan Ive is the Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple. He has been the head of all of the great creations at Apple from the PowerBook G4 to the current iPhone design. He is absolutely amazing.

Chermayeff & Geismar logos animation

I don't think I've seen anything like this.
This is a great way to show how connected logos are as well as the unique characteristics in them. his video can teach you a lot about designing a logo.

Interview with the man behind the FedEx logo via thesneeze.com

When did you design the logo?

1994, as Senior Design Director at Landor Associates, San Francisco.

Has the logo won many awards?

To my knowledge, over forty worldwide and they continue. In its May 15, 2003 35th Anniversary �American Icon� issue, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it as one of the 8 best logos of the past thirty-five years. Along side Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, IBM, Starbucks, McDonald�s and Playboy.

Is this the most �famous� logo you have designed?

In terms of sheer ubiquity, absolutely. Though the logos for Ryder trucks, CIGNA, the NCAA and Latin America�s largest bank, Banco Bradesco (Sao Paulo, Brazil) are familiar in their own right.

Do you get free FedEx deliveries for life now?

I wish. But I did get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to command an MD-11 flight simulator at the Memphis hub. Unfortunately, I crashed the plane into the sand dunes at LAX on approach from Hong Kong. Nobody hurt, though.

At what point in the design process did you realize you could create an arrow with those letters?

First of all, by the time we�d gotten to this point we�d already created and reviewed over 200 designs; some close-in to the �old� Federal Express logo and others progressively more daring (though all the while retaining the enormous cache of the famous orange and purple (despite the fact that many respondents in focus groups thought the Federal Express colors were �red and blue�). The current design was one of six semifinalists that were being refined for a presentation to very senior management.

If you put a lower-case �x� to the right of a capital �E� (Ex) you can begin to see a hint of an arrow, though it is clumsy and extremely abstract. I thought that, if I could develop this concept of an �arrow� it could be promoted as a symbol for speed and precision, both FedEx communicative attributes. And, by the way, different kinds of arrows were utilized with some of the other semi-final candidates, though none of those were �hidden.�

Once I decided to refine the concept of the embedded arrow, I found that, to make the arrow more legitimate and identifiable, one needed to actually reconstruct the letterforms in order to make the arrow happen. This leads to your next question:

Did you have to manipulate the font in anyway to create a perfect arrow?

Yes, indeed. I was studying Univers 67 (Bold Condensed) and Futura Bold, both wonderful faces. But each had its potential limitations downstream in application to thousands of FedEx media, from waybills and embroidered courier caps to FedEx.com and massive signage for aircraft, buildings and vehicles. Moreover, neither was particularly suited to forcing an arrow into its assigned parking place without torturing the beautifully crafted letterforms of the respective faces. To avoid getting too technical here, suffice it to say I took the best characteristics of both and combined them into unique and proprietary letterforms that included both ligatures (connected letters) and a higher �x-height,� or increased size of the lower-case letters relative to the capital letters. I worked these features around until the arrow seemed quite natural in shape and location.

Why choose to keep the arrow so subtle? It seems to show remarkable restraint. Weren't you or the people at FedEx ever tempted to make it more obvious with an outline or a different color?

A good question and one that I am frequently asked. An arrow, in and of itself, is one of the most mundane graphic devices in visual communications. Truly, there is nothing unique or particularly strategic (marketing-wise) in using an arrow as a brand identifier. Early on, before the brand rollout in mid-1994, FedEx�s public relations agency was preparing to emphasize the arrow as a secondary graphic to underscore the �speed/precision� positioning. They proposed to leverage this in their FedEx communications. Landor put its foot down and said, �No way.�

The power of the hidden arrow is simply that it is a �hidden bonus.� It is a positive-reverse optical kind of thing: either you see it or you don�t. Importantly, not �getting the punch line� by not seeing the arrow, does not reduce the impact of the logo�s essential communication. The power of the logo and the FedEx marketing supporting the logo is strong enough to convey clearly FedEx brand positioning. On the other hand, if you do see the arrow, or someone points it out to you, you won�t forget it. I can�t tell you how many people have told me how much fun they have asking others �if they can spot �something� in the logo.� To have filled in the arrow, or to somehow make it more �visible� would have been like Henny Youngman saying �Please take my wife� instead of �Take my wife. Please.� Punch lines that need to be explained are neither funny nor memorable.

Is there anything else interesting about the creation of the logo that you can remember?

Well, in �selling� an identity into a company it always comes down to the CEO. Fred Smith is a marketing genius and understands the vital role of design in brand building. A smart, intuitive man. After a year of worldwide focus groups and brand strategy revitalization, Mr. Smith accepted the strategy to change the communicative name of the company from Federal Express to FedEx for a whole host of reasons I won�t get into here.

In authorizing us to commence the next phase of developing a graphic identity for this �new� name, he sent us off with these charges: 1), �If you come back and tell me our colors need to be pink and green just give me very good reason to do it and 2), �If I�m standing on a street corner, I need to see a FedEx truck from five blocks away.� Meaning that the brand expression needed to be large, impactful and differentiating, which was accomplished with this specific design system, one of five presented to Mr. Smith and his executive team on April 23, 1994 in Memphis. And, in the process, we made the orange more orange and the purple less blue.

What separated this candidate from the others? Among other reasons,
Mr. Smith was the only executive in a room of 12 that spotted the arrow right away.

Are you like a rock star in the world of logo design now?

Well, we Fortune 1000 identity guys and gals are behind the scenes most of the time. We do get our individual recognition from design competitions, but generally speaking, the design public only hears of the branding firm that created the design; in this case, Landor Associates. And the public at large doesn�t know who designs something or even cares to know. So, these days you won�t find me ducking crowds screaming for my autograph. No.

Have you ever been asked to autograph a FedEx truck?

I�ve never been able to find a Magic Marker big enough for the job. But I have signed FedEx letter envelopes and boxes. And, of course, my autograph is on my monthly check to FedEx.

What's it like to see something you came up with, all over the place?

Fabulous. And very gratifying. It takes me back to my very first employer out of Art Center in Pasadena, the renown Los Angeles designer Saul Bass. Toward the end of his career in 1980 or so, an interviewer asked him if still got out a thrill out of it all after some 40 years and a million awards in the corporate identity and film industries. Saul said he had been in a car one day recently with his 5 year-old daughter who exclaimed, �Look Daddy! There goes one of your [AT&T] trucks!� And Saul said to the interviewer, �You know, seeing that truck coming down the road still makes me proud after all these years.�



http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000273.php

I have to talk about this new video from Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg and Akon. I love the concept of it. The main performers are moving through a world and not really being part of if. I feel like this is a love or hate it idea. I love it!

Weird Bike. Cool Concept.

Sam Dunne writes

"Taking a lot of inspiration from those funny three wheeled scooters and high-speed tilting trains, design graduate Berk Asal came up with the "Triblean" retrofit kit as part of his thesis work.
Berk's addition to the bicycle retrofitting world transforms an ordinary road bike into a rather peculiar 3-wheeler that, on top of being a comfortably stable ride, allows the cyclist to lean into corners for maximum speed and exhilaration."


I'm sorry but everything "peculiar" isn't necessarily great. I can lean into my bike comfortably with little space and be just fine. This third wheel seems rahter unnecessary for practical use. Still, a great design.

TRON-inspired skateboard

Since I was a kid, I've always loved the movie "Tron." I was one of my grandfather's favorite films and we always watched it. I never quite understood the plot, but the idea that there were people living in a game console was enough to hook me. He loves sci-fi movies and I am so happy to see the sequel with him in theaters.

Alon Karpman has apparently dug into his own childhood love and has come up with a new skateboard inspired by the new film. What does he do with it? Parade around the city of course! He's the man! It took him many hours and plenty of prototypes to run through before he came up with his own legacy. I hope Disney buys the product from him for mass distribution. This goes to show you hard work and creativity pays off.

Sound Art

     There is a prize given yearly in London called the "Turner Prize", given to one artist who pushes the boundaries of contemporary art, in new and exciting ways. While the prize is often made fun of by others who mimic the art with found materials in their own homes (as it tends to be easy to recreate), this year is a bit different and has generated a buzz in the art world.
     The reason for that is that the winning work is sound art. There is no visual aspect of the art at all; instead, "viewers" sit on benches or stand around and listen to the artist, Susan Philipsz, singing old Scottish laments through hidden speakers. People are applauding this choice, as they say that music is art too and should be awarded for touching the spirit of the listener in a new way.

     It begs the question of whether there is a need to separate the two fields: If music is art and art is music, will paintings be competing with Beethoven somewhere down the line?

Architect's Coffee Table

Australia-based designer John Leung has combined forces with CHC Architects to produce this stunning Carp-pet" rug and table set. The design is absolutely mind-blowing and awesome. It combines distorted images of fish and and a coffee table made of bars to give the illusion of movement. Check out the video!

Design Schools Need to Teach More

Core 77 posted an article by Don Norman on the need of design schools to teach more than just design. It is common knowledge that a good designer possesses T-Shaped skills. That means that they don't specialize in one particular thing; they have a grasp of many different things and many different fields so they have a bigger base of knowledge to draw from when creating designs for a client.
Norman argues that most designers these days actually don't possess those skills. He says that they tend to submit "crap" that demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge about things outside of the design field. The problem lies in an inability to interact positively with other people. He says that design schools need to focus less on drawing and other aspects of the art world and instead need to focus on human behavior, processes like the scientific method, and statistics.
This brings to light the fact that a designer needs, extremely, to understand the people he or she takes on as clients. One can be the best designer in the world, but if you don't understand what people want/need, you can end up never getting the jobs you want. It's a very important point that is too often overlooked. Norman also raises the point that before students can be educated in new ways, professors need to be taught. Part of the problem is that the professors teaching the students don't know the new ways either.

Smithsonian Show Controversy

The New York Times ran a story about a show at the Smithsonian. Apparently a part of it was taken down because some high-ranking Christian officials and Republican politicians found it offensive, as one of the videos depicted ant crawling on a cross. Because of this, the Warhol Foundation has threatened to stop funding the Smithsonian completely if they do not put the work back up.

It's obvious that there's a certain amount of censorship going on here, and my first instinct is to agree loudly with the Warhol Foundation and take artistic offense. The act of removing the work sets a bad precedent for future art that can be deemed offensive, and I'm glad that the Warhol Foundation is against such things.
However. I have to question the common sense of removing all future funding because one work of art was taken down for offending some people. What about all of the other artists who want to show their work at the Smithsonian, and would only be able to do so with funding from the foundation? The group calls this particular piece an important work of art, and I wonder if they assume that justifies throwing all other shows aside. It doesn't seem fair, and it ends up turning the entire thing into a question of how interconnected one artist is to another.

Design Constructed for Deconstruction

     Core 77 ran a story on designs of everyday items meant to be disassembled in case something goes wrong. This is extremely interesting because I think there is a certain amount of self-assurance in the design world that isn't often addressed. Designing something with the mindset that someone, someday, may have to take it apart involves admitting that it's likely that something is going to go wrong. It's called the "Design for Disassembly" strategy, DfD for short.

     Design for Disassembly came from a sustainability issue that the government brought attention to: the amount of waste we produce. People began to consider recycling something that would become more of a necessity as the years pass (and they were right). To answer this necessity designers began making things that could be taken apart and repaired or turned into something new (think: recycled without actually getting rid of it first), eliminating the need to throw a broken appliance out immediately. 

     There are some problems with creating DfD designs, such as the cost-effectiveness of creating something that's meant to be taken apart. It means a lot more seams and nails, for one thing. Additionally, Design for Disassembly is a strategy that needs to be taught to each person involved in the design process. That takes time, although it seems worth the effort if it saves something useful from being tossed away. 

Social Designers

     Browsing on Core77 brought to my attention the words "Social Designers" in the title of an article. The article is about an exhibition that happened in August at the Abrons Arts Center on the lower East Side (an arts center that showcases performances, artists, and training for young people). The exhibit uses research to ask the question of whether design could be used to change the basic ways in which we associate with each other. The show used "examples of people who have taken it upon themselves to innovate new ways of resourcing their everyday lives" to do this, almost as case studies. It then attempts to see if design knowledge could increase their productivity and ease of life.

     Basically, the idea is that design is more than a talent or a hobby but a mindset and a lifestyle. While at times the "designer mindset" can seem imposing (say, when something that doesn't need to be replaced by a minimalist wall of glass is replaced for the sake of "upgrading"), it might be useful if ordinary people thought like designers, at least some of the time. This brings back to the table the idea of T-Shaped skills, that designers have to know more things than most people. The exhibit also looks at creative communities in an effort to see if they're actually worthwhile for those who live there.
   It nothing else, the exhibit was certainly a very interesting merge of science and art.

Sustainable Design

   It's always interesting to consider what the designer of a given product was thinking when he or she created the design. Sometimes their minds are on sustainability. For green-minded designers like that, some educators are encouraging their students to consider using materials that are environmentally efficient. As reported by Core 77, teachers of design are beginning to notice the need for environmentally friendly teaching. Students should be taught ways to cater to the needs of the client without destroying the land we live on.
     It's a very timely concept, as a lot of focus lately has been on the sustainability of current practices, particularly in the United States. Apparently this concern has trickled down from the users of the products to the people who design them. It's an easy turn of the mind to think that the best environmentally friendly plans start with the people who design the products in the first place. It eliminates even the option of polluting the earth if the designer chooses to use only biodegradable materials, for example. Students are taught that they have a say in what happens to the world, and are encouraged to use that through the teaching of simple sustainability practices of design.

Mood Calendar

Remember those mood calendars from years ago? The ones that would allow you to pick an emoticon per day, one that was meant to tell others what your mood was like. Spanish design company Brigada Creativa designed a calendar that puts the emoticon in the hands of the user, allowing them to draw in a face that they think describes their mood.

 It can be a little confusing as it at first merely looks like a large page of yellow dots, but eventually it becomes a fun thing to do as one pencils in faces every day. There's no particular point to it besides the personal entertainment of charting your own moods, but it's rather interesting anyway. It puts a spin on the classic mood calendar and allows a person to get hands on with it.

The Nautilus Mobia

Core77 posted an article today about the Nautilus Mobia, a treadmill designed to fit better in the home. The standard treadmill is one of these :

Boring, militant, at home only in a room full of other boring, militant machines, but not in personal quarters. The Nautilus Mobia was created with the help of Core 77, and they recorded the entire process. That in itself is interesting because it is rare to see a design process from conception to physical creation. It takes the average person into the mind of a designer, starting with the key ingredient of identifying a problem that needs to be solved or a need that has to be fulfilled.
     They started with  a problem, in their case the fact that the average treadmill doesn't have a design that fits into the home, despite the fact that a lot of people use them in their houses. They first created a concept to respond to this need by turning the treadmill into a smoother, more sculptural object. The objective of creating the piece was to hide its no-nonsense function. This led to other changes, such as making the readout one that disappears when the treadmill isn't in use. They turned the treadmill into this:

Then went on to describe the process of making it affordable for consumers. The story is definitely worth a read, not just for those interested in design, but for those interested in how some things get user-conscious upgrades.

Blackberry Empathy Concept Phone

Sometimes looking at gadget websites is the way to see what artists are up to. Concept designers such as Kiki Tang and Daniel Yoon put their minds to work bringing to breathing new life into things such as cellphones and cars. Hence, the Blackberry Empathy concept.

     The phone, in my personal opinion, isn't very nice to look at, trying entirely too hard to be futuristic in its resemblance of a shard of very thick crystal. It turns from black to clear when not in use, which is interesting, but the buttons look like they'd be hard, at best, to push.
     The idea behind the phone is the real attention-grabber. It comes with a ring that one can choose to wear or not (the phone will work regardless of whether you have the ring on your finger) that senses the mood of the wearer. It also senses the mood of other people in the room who are also wearing the rings, and lets one know if they're in a mood for conversation or not. While this seems less like an advancement in technology and more like a step in the disturbing direction of doing away with a simple "how are you?", it's an idea that hasn't come before.