These catsup tubes from Australian design firm Publicis Mojos, created for Calm.org, pack quite a visual and emotional punch. While I’m not sure how I’d feel if made to squeeze these out before tucking into a Five Guys burger & fries, I do know that most (hopefully all) of us reading this are so far removed from the horrors of land mines that it would have the desired effect. Revulsion. Quality work here, and I especially dig the ability to make a quick, $3 donation simply by texting. Believe it or not, this is actually not even close to my favorite campaign raising land mine awareness. After the jump, check out the unbelievably well executed guerrilla style work done for UNICEF late last year.
Ji Lee is currently the Creative Director of Google Creative Labs, but as he’ll reveal in this inspiring 99% lecture, it took nearly 4 years of mind-bending corporate dialogue and stifled creativity at his previous job to teach him the value of projects taken on simply to make you happy. The now famous, 2002 Bubble Project was the brilliant idea born of all that pent up frustration. It’s been over seven years since it’s inception, and although I had since forgotten who’s project it was, there’s no doubt that the Bubbles had a profound effect on me. It wasn’t long after reading about Lee’s work that I began to stick business card magnets to Hummers reading “H2 Dummer – Big Car. Small Mind.” I also took to replacing manager’s business cards at Starbucks with replicas featuring a reworked logo declaring ”Starbucks Sucks” and copy that encouraged the support of local coffee houses. Not exactly earth-shattering I know, and not even in the spirit of his work, but I fell in love with the idea of a piece of design taking on it’s own story once released into the wild. There are a lot of takeaways from this short talk, and for each of us they’re a little different, but the joy and purity of a creative endeavor rooted solely in self is something not to be debated or ignored.
How could I not share this… A fancy letterpress video from Massachusetts based Repeat Press, showing start to finish production of some simple, but beautifully done coasters and nice finishing wrappers for Highsnobiety and Selectism. If a job well done and some cocktail coasters make you thirsty for something on the rocks, be sure to check out the ice tray responsible for those perfect cubes in the video’s climactic libation. Cheers!
With gas prices beginning to creep back toward levels that even stubborn H3 pilots can’t ignore, the CMYK Elektric Bike is making a bit of a name for itself (and it’s name is already badass). Taking top honors at this year’s Spark Design Awards and runner-up at the People’s Design Awards, the CMYK seems more than capable of achieving it’s creator’s lofty goals. Intended to be a beautiful, sustainable complement to public transportation, this little guy impresses with a 110 volt battery that can run for 50 minutes on a two hour charge from a standard wall socket, a stable of accessories like grocery baskets and laptop saddle bags, and a sturdy construction that quickly folds down to fit in its own over-the-shoulder satchel. Argentina born, New York City based industrial designer Manuel Saez and his team hope that good design, great intentions, and a sub-$800 price tag will appeal to folks looking to reduce their dependance on the motor vehicle while adding a little awesome to their daily commute. More photos after the jump.
Sites that collect and categorize content from around the web are only as good as the humans who decide what makes the cut, and when it comes to recognizing brilliant, Daniel Howells‘ London-based siteInspire.net is among the very best. With a gallery showcasing nearly 1,500 inspiring examples of beautiful web and interface design, sI is the perfect destination for those moments when you need that creative nudge at the beginning of a new project or just want to stare slack-jawed at some killer website layout. Filter your search by style, type, or theme, skip straight to their featured sites, or take in some of the well done interviews on their blog. Be warned however, prolonged exposure to siteInspire will convince you that rebuilding your own site from the ground up is a project long overdue, and it’s likely the truth.
For those of you slowly recovering from a joy that can only be described as “the Holidays”, AIGADC and The Urban Tree Project have seen fit to offer you a last minute gift. The deadline for submissions has been extended to January 8th. Time is short, but I’m guessing that this newfound opportunity fits nicely into at least one of your New Year’s resolutions. If you missed our previous post on the contest and want to know more, you can check it out here. Or, just head over to the Urban Tree Project DC for all the registration and submission details. Good luck and godspeed!
This is a year-end list I can really get behind. For anyone that follows the highs and lows of corporate and brand identity work throughout the year, this post will be a welcome trip down memory lane. The twelve best and twelve worst rebrands of 2009 according to Under Consideration’s Bryony and Armin Vit. With fantastic work and some epic failures on display here, it’s always great to see some of the more volatile rebrands like SyFy overcome their tumultuous beginnings to not only survive, but thrive as the year goes on. Without spoiling the surprise, I couldn’t agree more with their choice for this year’s worst branding moment. Hurry over to Brand New to reminisce and take in the 100+ comments that this post has generated thus far.
2010 will be the year of the tablet. As companies race at breakneck speed to be the first to bring the touch-top to market, it’s somewhat unclear to consumers what exactly a gigantic iPhone might be good for. Well, thanks to publication giant Time Inc., that picture is beginning to come slowly into focus. Watching this amazing Sports Illustrated “issue” demoed on a tablet, it’s easy to let your mind jump to a scenario where all of your magazine and newspaper subscriptions (NatGeo please) are delivered via direct download, straight to your tablet, before you even get out of bed. This is exactly the brand of forward thinking that the innovation-starved print industry has hoped would bubble to the surface. There are production issues here however, as the polished experience on display in this demo is likely a little outside the wheelhouse of the current SI pagination department. But still… Check out the demo for yourself and dream about the shiny, portable, subscription-happy future.
To celebrate 30 years of inspired work, Minneapolis design firm Little&Company asked 30 of the world’s most inspired creative professionals two simple questions. “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?” The list of participants include architects, designers, authors and leaders of the worlds most iconic brands. If you’re reading this blog, I can only assume that watching Debbie Millman, Paula Scher, Erik Spiekermann and Massimo Vignelli answer these questions is reason enough to click this link immediately.
This video is hypnotic. A 24 hour snapshot of the NewYorkTimes.com domestic site traffic, both mobile (red) and web (yellow), is made even more interesting when you consider the date. June 25th, 2009 is the day that TMZ.com broke the news of the unexpected death of Michael Jackson (around 5:20 pm). It’s just fascinating to watch as traffic spikes around that time, as well as the swell of commuter driven mobile visits moving from east to west as the work day begins and ends. Find out more about the project that lead to this video here.
CMwhyK is a blog dedicated to celebrating the beauty of design and the talented people behind it. It is my hope that this site becomes a frequent stop for those who want to share what beautiful means to them and why design matters.
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