observations and deductions on design, life, and the internet
by graphic designer erica nadworny
How do I love thee let me count the ways. I love thee for the tooth of paper, I love thee for the dots of ink. I love thee for the… ok I’ll stop there. As a self-proclaimed paper dork, I’ve noticed a general trend towards junk mail becoming more exclusive. With the wax and wane of economies, increasing “green” awareness, and general immediacy associated with digital advertising; it is not surprising that marketers are leaning on email campaigns more now than ever before. What is the result? Print becomes luxury. It has the boast-appeal that you’re still successful enough (after an international economic breakdown) to pay for paper, ink and postage. In my market research of exactly two people, tactile marketing material gets more of attention than its digital counterpart and avoids the spam filter.
Moving forward can we expect only the most glamorous campaigns to be delivered by a postal worker? Doubtful. You can bet however that what will come in hand delivered will more often be printed on post-consumer recycled paper with soy-based inks to appear less wasteful. Is all of this a step in the right direction? Depends on who you ask and what do I know I’m just a consumer.
Hello again folks. Miss me? After a brief hiatus blogging for AIGA Raleigh, I’m back. Made it just in time to celebrate the first anniversary of Ponderings from the Peanut, happy blogerversary.
Anyone with a television knows what the advertising world has been a buzz about, the Super Bowl. Yes, yes, we all love the miniature Darth Vader using his “super powers” to start the VW (no, really, kudos. I loved it!) and all the Doritos spots with the slapstick comedy. A side note, I’m kind of amazed that my spell check knows how to spell Doritos but that’s a digression for another day. What seems to have gone unnoticed in all of this hoopla is the amazing logo unveiled for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, it’s beautiful.
The fluid combination of community and symbolic rings makes this one of my all time favorite Olympic designs. Everyone gets all worked up into a tizzy over poor redesigns of corporate logos but why is no one stopping to appreciate this. Good work deserves to be celebrated, stop and see the rings.
The sun is beginning to hang around a little longer, people seem to smile a bit easier, the grass is greener along with everything pollen-covered. That’s right, it’s spring. A time for flip-flops, wedding invitations, and America’s favorite past time. There is truly no feeling like watching your home team take their first at-bats of the season, and lets not forget all of those productive hours spent calculating your every fantasy baseball move. In anticipation of the latter, news stands fill with magazines dedicated to exactly that, baseball rankings.
Among the RBIs, OBPs, and other insider observations that found their way into my shared apartment, there was an unexpected list, best uniforms. Not something I thought I would find in a mag geared toward the burly men of America but interesting. This then led me to start looking at the identities of the teams, ugh. From illegible monograms to underlined organization names the rules for logo marks in baseball seem to stray from what is normally accepted. Even my beloved Sox (red, not white) seem to make your head tilt when you stop to think about the kitschy typeface. Can you imagine if Bank of America used dollar signs in their copy? No, of course not, because that would be ridiculous. That is the feeling I get about baseball logo, grotesquely ugly but heartwarmingly nostalgic. Not to say there aren’t some good ones, the Cubbies have a classic, Tampa Bay’s isn’t too bad, and, although some find it offensive, the Indians logo is just fun.
Some people may disagree with me and I’m sure there are designers that work long hard hours to develop these systems. The logos need to look great across more mediums than most identities do, especially televised on jerseys. From where I’m sitting, some of these designer could use a pep talk from Paul Rand. But what do I know, I’m just logophile watch the game, play ball!
Every 2 years the world gathers around their respective media outlets in support of their national athletes. Patriotism overcomes television routines and, for this Olympiad anyway, curling becomes the new water cooler buzz.
Vancover was certainly no exception to tradition. The 2010 games were marked by heartbreaking tragedy and triumphant achievements. Now that the closing ceremonies are finished, it is time to reflect and answer the question on everyone’s mind… what was with the medals!?!!
How is it, that the tokens of world-class athletic achievement look like melted reels Donna Martin left in her glove box? I realize everyone is entitled to their own opinion and beauty is subjective but come on. How did an entire creative team look at that and think, wow this is really a great representation of how Canada views Olympic victory. While I doubt any medal recipient is complaining about the appearance, I would personally prefer to be adorned with something more worthy of my life-long blood, sweat and tears.
This brings me to an important subject, reflection. There comes a time in the creative process where one must step back and ask the envitable question, how does this look? Concepts, tweaks, opinions, materials, countless hours shifting points on lines; we’ve all been there… and we’ve all bombed our concepts. Design is sort of like comedy; if you have to explain it, it’s not working. No matter how great your concept that crucial step of reflection (repeated many times per project) that keeps designs on track still exists.
The creative team honored with crafting all things Vancouver 2010 has been under scrutiny since the logo was first released. I do not envy the pressure of creating an identity seen, and criticized, around the world. The scrutiny, however, will no doubt continue until every medal has been put away and every last reflection made.
Welcome back to the peanut!
Like any true-blooded American yesterday, I felt obligated to have a few fresh ones, eat some nachos, and watch the “big game”… or, more realistically, I planned to watch the commercials. I enjoy them just as much, if not more, than the actual game; it wholly depends on if the Pats are playing. Since they weren’t, Payton was competing not only against the Saints for my attention but also against the companies that forking over mounds of cash to have spot in the action.
I have seen my fair share of commercials and honestly rather enjoy many of them. This years’ supercommercials however fell short of the goal line. With a few exceptions such as the Doritos armor, there was little difference between yesterdays adverts and those from mid-season games. Most noticeably missing from the action was Pepsi, forgoing this years’ Superbowl budget and relying more heavily on social media. Could Pepsi be starting a new wave for the current budget-conscience environment? This also begs the questions, what is the return on investment for a Superbowl commercial? Is it even less for a kitchen-table company? With each 30-second spot costing millions of dollars, is a well-known company whose product costs less than $2 really going to to see a large increase because they purchased a famous ad spot? My answer is probably not (unless they’re re-branding or launching a new product). But what do I know, I’m just an consumer with a sense of humor.
February, 2010. A new year a new blog… a beginning on new years day was too cliché for me… and also I forgot, so, welcome.
If you’ve read the about section feel free to skip to the next paragraph, it’s just a reiteration. Yours truly is twenty-something designer with a technology habit, who is also a photographer, avid kickball player and serial laugher. Being “snowed in” alone in my apartment led me to the next reasonable step in my already computer-dominated life, the blog. Here goes nothing…
Being that I am from the northeast (the strip mall known as Saugus, MA to be exact) being faced with a city-closing “blizzard” of 8 inches in North Carolina is amusing. I will give the tar-heels some validity, the roads are actually awful to drive on. While this can be easily prevented and cleaned up, it is just not the way here so I am snowed in.
Short of being on the slopes, the best way I have found to enjoy a snowy afternoon is by cooking large pot of spaghetti sauce, having some wine and watching movies. Today’s pick: Objectified, by Gary Hustwit. I am ashamed to admit this is the first time I’ve watched this movie and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in design, particularly product design. Thinking about the development of everything we use is sort of a mind-bending concept, I imagine it has driven more than one person to the cuckoo’s nest. To a designer however, it’s important; it’s what we do and it’s how we approach life. Just try not to think about everything you would change all at once, and if you do, hope that Tylenol bottle has a well designed cap.
So after 75 minutes and a sauce-tasting, I began to think how I would improve upon the everyday things around me. For instance, I noticed the USB port my mouse plugs into is on the left side of my laptop, limiting the cord usability of any right-handed user. I also noticed the nice ergonomics of my toaster tongs, the shear ugliness of our plunger, and the practical dash in our SUV. Later I was able to channel my nit-picking into something more constructive by improving some of my own designs but it all started with an observation and an impulse to make something better.
Observing the small things around you is great way to give your brain a jump-start particularly on a sluggish, and in this case, snowy day. My results you ask? Better usability on my current project and a delicious Italian dinner served on a practical yet beautifully set table.
