Think of the last toddler you saw who so desperately wanted to know "Why?" Part of us is still that toddler wanting to know why the sky is blue. Why is this logo green? Why is the bag brown? Why is my bankcard gold? Sometimes the logic is self-evident; the brown logo is for the local coffeehouse; the package...
To laugh in the face of danger has always been advised against. But when it comes to public safety and warning illustrations, this doesn’t always seem to be kept in mind. These signs are not approved by OSHA, so have a laugh and please, take care of your head.
When I was a design student, we'd take tours of design studios. At the end of the tour we were offered a question and answer period. One question was asked again and again, "Do you do things by hand or on the computer?" Why was this asked over and over? Why was the question phrased as if the two...
Abigail Smith is an award-winning graphic designer who specializes in web applications and digital environments. Since 2002, she has worked with a host of arts and non-profit organizations from her home base in Brooklyn, NY. She's shared a collection of some attention grabbing humanitarian campaigns with us.
Subjectivity is the curse of design, and designers. Fortunately there’s a valuable, but often overlooked phase in the design process that can remedy this situation - testing. Testing provides designers a chance to see which design solutions will potentially work best. Testing also provides a counter balance to one of the biggest traps designers face – selecting designs based...
Yves Béhar is a visionary. Founder of fuseproject, a San Francisco based design agency, Béhar aims to break into new markets and disrupt old ones by bringing a humanistic approach to his work. You may remember him for the world’s first $100 laptop for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization.
Customers. Audiences. Users. People. However you describe them, they are the reason that businesses and organizations exist, and ultimately they determine whether an organization succeeds or fails in the marketplace. As more and more organizations look to design for strategic advantage, a greater emphasis is being put on understanding how design motivates audiences. When combined with business analysis,...
Banksy: I'm not going to argue about the validity, legality, or legitimacy of his work. What I'm going to comment on is the inclusion of the audience as an integral part of his work.
It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s SUPERMAN! While his sense of fearlessness and charisma have remained unchanged over the years, the striking features of this superhero have not. From post-war strength to a greasy 90’s mullet (not the proudest of moments), Superman has endured trends and cultural changes since conception in 1938.
Design trends ebb and flow just like fashion, literature, and the seasons. As designers, we have to stay aware of current trends to keep our work fresh and contemporary. We also have to stay aware of the trends to keep our work from being faddish, and strive to be timeless. So use your knowledge of trends wisely, because...
