Born Magazine – Adobe InDesign Gives Birth to Interactivity

July 13, 2011August 31, 2014Leave a comment

I was really blown away by what can be done with the new interactivity tools in InDesign. I thought this magazine project is a great example because it uses all the Belles And Wissells (misspelled deliberately because it is the name of the Seattle based creative agency that produces Born Magazine) in a way that facilitates communication, as opposed to having objects flying around the page just for the fad of it. If you want to read about the project you can download the PDF here. Below are a couple of screenshots but that really doesn't do the project justice because you miss out on all the interactivity so I suggest you click here on the link to go to the project and see for yourself.

How Shopify Helps College Students Learn About Opening A Business

July 9, 2011August 31, 2014Leave a comment

I recently opened a shop on shopify for my handcrafted jewelry.
While learning the interface I discovered a lot of useful information that I can apply to my classes. One of the projects that we have done in the past involves finding a client with a product to sell and then creating an online brand presence for that client. Last time we did it the student used Wix, but I think Shopify is a great resource because it is all about eCommerce.

It turns out I am not the only Professor that thought this is a good idea. I read this blog post on shopify:

“Matt Hill is a CEGEP business professor at John Abbott College in Montreal, Canada, and he’s using Shopify in a very unique way. He and many others would argue that you learn the most about running a business by actually doing it. Textbooks and case studies can teach you great lessons about startups, marketing, and accounting, but nothing can prepare you for the real world like taking a chance and turning your great idea into reality.” Read the entire article by clicking this link.

It is good to know that other professors think the way I do. I recommend that anyone opening a online eCommerce site visit Shopify and look at some of the case studies and resources that are available.

John Maeda Speaks In Detail About Simplicity

July 4, 2011Leave a comment

I recently posted an article about Tim Ferriss and his eye-opening book the Four Hour Work Week. I am in the middle of reading the book so I will reserve reviewing it until I finish but I do recommend that you click on this link and view his blog regarding the four hour work week.

In the same vein, I also came across this video by John Maeda on the subject of simplicity, he did a talk at the TED conference and he wrote a free book that he discusses in the video. The book ws fone a couple of years ago but it tiesin with his theories presented in the video. In my opinion, it actually proves that we humans are obsessed with complexity rather than simplicity, but it is both entertaining and informative and I recommend watching below.

Thinking of Opening an Online Store?

June 24, 2011August 31, 20141 Comment

I wanted to share a resource I can upon when setting up my shopify store: www.lindseybaker.com. It's my new baby and I felt pretty lost, luckily I stuck at it and was able to come up with something I consider a pretty cool work in progress.

I found some great online mentors such as Tim Ferriss (The 4-hour Workweek) and Seth Godin (Linchpin), whose books I bought and will comment on after I read them. I also found some tutorial sites that I tried out for myself and love.

Therefore, I wanted to start by recommending this one. The site is eshopwiz.com authored by a young man named Vinay. First I want to say that is is not a paid endorsement, there is nothing to buy (unless you d ecide to open you our Shopify store or other ecommerce enterprise) and the information can be applied to any online store. I am blogging this to build my audience and to thank him for his generosity.

The reason I like it is because it takes you through all the steps of setting up an online ecommerce presence starting with how to research how popular what you want to sell will be; finding and using the right keywords to be SEO friendly and building an audience to make those sales! So check it out and let me know what you think by posting a comment below.

The Sum is Greater…when we bridge the gap.

June 2, 2011August 31, 20141 Comment

The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier which was published in early 2000, talks about how when creative professionals and business strategists can have a "meeting of the minds" or bridge the gap, on a given project, brand magic can occur. This is the phenomenon called synergy and has been the mission of Synergy Creative since 1998. I think these visuals from The Brand Gap sum up why synergy is so important to a brands success.

Witness the magic when 1 + 1 = 11

Strategy by its very nature is linear. First we do this, then we do this and then we do that.

Creativity by its very nature is non-linear.
We could do this or we could try this or maybe we should do the other thing???

This is a problem beacuse…

and brands are all about trust.

Well said, Mr. Neumeier!

Pattick Chappatte – Political Cartoonist Proves Print is Not Dead

April 26, 20114 Comments

Patrick Chappatte makes a very funny and eloquent (and sometimes sobering) case for how technology has changed the world.

Paola Antonelli Treats Design as Art

April 17, 2011Leave a comment

Here is a talk by Paola Antonelli, design curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, who wants to spread her appreciation of design — in all shapes and forms — around the world.

Serious Play and Retro Futurism

March 12, 2011October 4, 20152 Comments

The video clip below is part of the TED conference series held at The Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.

This clip honors Bruce McCall who recently had a show called Serious Play. A retrospective of his irreverent illustrative work for the New Yorker Magazine and National Lampoon Magazine, where he says “he cut his teeth”. McCall paints with gouache on paper in a style that he calls “Retrofuturism”. He describes it as looking back to see how yesterday viewed tomorrow – they were so dismally wrong, he states”. You won’t want to miss (airplane) wing dining al fresco or “tank polo” or my personal fav where he depicts a 1940’s car driving up to a high rise NY apartment – on the outside of the building. The video ends with an intriguing animation which depicts the accent of man from stone age to cell phone age, done in his signature retro style.

Sorry Robyn Williams — the Mac IS a typewriter

March 10, 2011August 31, 20141 Comment

I thought my fellow typophiles might appreciate the curious ingenuity displayed by "this design obsessed" visual artist who discovered how to make the Mac OSX do his bidding. Watch the video below:

Design by Emilio Gomariz – you can visit his site

114.psd Type from Emilio Gomariz on Vimeo.

"114.psd Type is a simple typography which I designed once again thanks to Mac OS X (maybe it reminds to Folder Type, also created with Mac OS X). The idea for this type came in when seeing that this operative system memorizes the position of any file or window when you minimize and maximize it. So I created 114 photoshop files (I only used six colors, I played with all possibilities in RGB with the numbers 0 and 255, excepted 0,0,0 and 255,255,255). Then I placed and ordered the files in the right position before minimizing them on the dock. And finally I captured the screen maximizing every file."

Dove’s Brand Building Evoloution Commericial Nails It!

March 6, 2011Leave a comment

This commercial is a bit of brilliant branding for Dove. While all it competitors are lying to us by showing 16 years old models and promising that their product will make our 40 something plus skin look like that in thirty days – finally a brand tells the truth and does it by building our self-esteem. Watch the Dove campaign video called “Evolution” — maybe some of the other beauty brands will soon evolve.