Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Graphic Designer Essay: Stefan Sagmeister
Stefan Sagmeister was born in Bregenz, Austria in 1962. As an adolescent Stefan had a deep passion for music and was always fascinated by the artwork displayed on his record jackets. “I got interested in designing because album covers roused the interest in me to study design in the first place.” With this early exposure to the art of graphic design, Stefan knew by the young age of thirteen that he wanted to study and create a profession out of design. Stefan began his studies at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria but moved to New York in 1987 to study at the famous Pratt Institute. When reminiscing on his time in design school, Stefan remarks: “I probably would still be in art school if I could have found a way to make it happen.”
After completing his education, Sagmeister acquired a job working for Leo Burnett in Hong Kong at the age of 29. His time in Hong Kong was short lived, and in 1993 he returned to New York to work for the Hungarian graphic designer Tibor Kalman at the M&Co design firm. When the M&Co studio closed within the same year Stefan was hired, he took the advice given to him by Tibor. Tibor warned Stefan that if he got too comfortable making the big money within an agency. He would eventually become “the whore of the ad agencies” for the rest of his life. Knowing it was time to say goodbye to the design agencies, Sagmeister started his own design company, Sagmeister Inc., in 1994.
Working with clients The Rolling Stones, and Lou Reed promptly allowed Sagmeister to get the reputation he deserved as a designer. With his painstaking attention to every detail, Sagmeister was able to create works that has something new to offer at every viewing. This attention to detail allows him to create highly complex images that still translate to the viewer as clean and simplistic. His series of images for the Talking Heads “Once In a Lifetime” box set perfectly exemplify his process. The complexity of the images “brush stroke like” detailing and the great attention to color palette and sense of depth is masked by a light and pleasing lightheartedness. Yet the more you view the images, the more the lightheartedness seems to be subdued by the dark yet playful baby wolves. Which in turn, further involves the viewer and helps to create the unspoiled balance between “virtue and vice” within the set of images. Even though now at the age of 43 Sagmeister admits music is “now a diminishing part of my life,” he still finds great inspiration and joy in working with music related projects. Commenting: “The simple act of visualizing music, this never gets old.”
It doesn’t take long to notice that Stefan Sagmeister tends to thinks outside the box. Based in New York City, Sagmeister Inc. has continually produced eye catching yet timeless designs that have launched Sagmeister into the top tier of designers. Stefan does not see design as a mere medium to transfer information or ideas, but as an opportunity to touch someone’s life, or change ones perspective on a subject or idea. “Our goal for the future will be to touch somebody’s heart with design.” One prominent example of his approach being put into action is a typography wrapped casino in Linz, Austria. The front of the casino reads: “Money,” while the sides read: “does not make me happy.” Stefan is a firm believer in keeping diaries, and claims that it helps to spur “personal development.” Often using his diaries to create lists, or personal thoughts on life and its lessons, Stefan has encompassed many of these lessons or ideals in his recent works as a designer.
In 1999 Stefan closed his studio to commercial work so that he could focus on his own experimental projects. In this time Stefan created many works out of life lessons he had listed in his diaries. Such as: “Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.” and “Having guts always works out for me.” Stefan created these works using all methods of design, and many different mediums. From short films and photography, to industrial design and typography, Stefan created many inspired and personal works, which created high rates of demand by individuals and companies alike.
Taking time off is something that Sagmeister recommends for all graphic artists. Sagmeister himself takes a year long sabbatical about every seven years to help refresh himself as a designer. Currently on sabbatical in Bali, Indonesia Stefan is adamant on not taking work during his time off. Recently turning down an offer to design a poster for Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign, Stagmiester demonstrates how important dedicated time off is for him to be a successful and inspired designer. Sagmeister says that everything they designed in the seven years following his first sabbatical had originated within that first year he took off, helping to illustrate the power of taking a sabbatical.
Even with all of his success Sagmeister has not relied on this to further his career. Sagmeister is continually pushing his work and pushing the way he looks at design, allowing his work to remain novel and inspired. When asked about his fears or concerns for the future Sagmeister purely articulates: “I can't say that I am scared of anything regarding the future... not at all. I think that it's going to be fine. Humanity adapts to all kinds of situations, and right now I think is a good time to be alive.”
Convenience Comes at a Price
Betacup from the betacup on Vimeo.
Every year North America consumes 58 billion paper coffee cups, most of which are recyclable. Although convenient these 58 billion cups require 20 million trees and 12 billion gallons of water just to be produced. Tony Daniels and the product development firm Mutopo have founded the "Betacup" challenge. Designed to help solve the issue of inconvenient and bulky travel mugs, "Betacup" is asking the public to help them create the design solution to the paper cup wastage that plagues the U.S. The video above gives some compelling facts on how wasteful we are as a nation and explains the issue on a more in depth scale. Check it out and think of what you can do to help.
ORIGINAL LINK
Internet Killed the Retail Stars
"Ghosts of Shopping Past," a gallery by the Chicago-based photographer Brian Ulrich shows the demise of the "brick and mortar" era. This powerful gallery shows the haunting remains of what used to be busy retail stores, now left to decay through the ages. The photographs hold an almost human existence, making you feel pity on the neglected structures. The gallery is also extremely relevant to how society is rapidly changing, and how the retail market is evolving into a web based market. Personally this gallery showing hits home. I cant stand the fact that we are becoming a nation that is constantly sheltering itself from social setting. We can shop for food, clothes, electronics, furniture, and everything else online. Cell phones and headphones have disconnected us from our surroundings and life experiences. All of these "advancements" are negatively impacting our future and current generations, and will have nothing but dire consequences in the future. These poetic, hallow, and haunting photos create beautiful reminders of the direction our nation is going, and of the past we are leaving behind.
ORIGINAL LINK
Oakley Helps to Protect and Serve
Little is known about Oakley's "Industrial Grade" division and line of products. Serving the health, safety, and defense industires with products that can protect the user and take some abuse, Oakley is entering a niche market that allows for large innovation and large products. Some of their product line includes eyeware that protects from extreme impact and laser light, fire-resistant gloves for race car drivers, combat footwear, and ballistic goggles. I found this article within weeks of meeting up with my cousin Dante, a cop from CT. He showed me a heavy duty Oakley bag he had purchased online from their "Industrial Grade" store. he also told me that they make you enter badge numbers and other key information verifying that you are truly in the service industries. Only selling these heavy duty products to certified professionals within these certain fields allows Oakley to maintain credibility within the market. This line of products by Oakley was a smart move into a highly profitable market and should yield great results for the company.
ORIGINAL LINK
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hot Garbage
Making the RD Legs chair from Cohda Design on Vimeo.
Cohda's "RD Legs Chair" is made by continuously wrapping a strand of molten plastic waste around a form. After the plastic cools and hardens they remove the form and are left with a chair that appears to made out of woven plastic. A seemingly easily process that creates a great outcome. The chair reminds me of a scribble that I would draw in preschool, and has an awesome translucent yet sturdy feel to it. Check out the video to see the process in action.Monday, December 7, 2009
Table Top Toast Printers
"Print Your Toast" by Othmar Muhlebach walked away withe second prize at the Berner Design Awards. This take off of the desktop printer requires toast instead of paper. SImply stack your bread into the feed tray and walk away. While you are busy brewing coffee, the toast printer will toast each slice and drop it into the plate below. Easily the coolest and most amusing toaster to ever be made.
Mile High Luxury
Friday, December 4, 2009
Smart Storage
Did you know that data centers such as Google use around 1% of the world's energy?! That alone is all you need to know that cloud computing requires massive data centers, and massive amounts of electricity. As the demand for more power and energy continues to grow fast, Helsinki, Finland has the solution to the growing problem. Next month the city will be launching its new massive data center buried in the WWII bomb shelter located underneath nothing other then the Uspenski Cathedral. This historical tourist attraction will be the new location for the future of data storage in more ways then one. Not only will it just supply the energy and storage needed, but the new data center will transition the large amounts of heat produced by the running center to Heisinki residences, which will reduce the heating bill and electricity costs by about $561,000 per year.
Consumer Art
Thursday, December 3, 2009
DIY USB
