Something weird happened between now and the 1970s. Vanilla turned brown. Or beige. Or something like that.
I remember Shasta Creme Soda used to come in a metallic blue can. A lot like their cola can, but more of a turquoise blue. To find something vanilla, all one had to do was look for the blue packaging. It was a design standard.
Joyva Halvah (above) still gets it. They still use their old can design.
Vanilla was blue. Something happened and it isn’t anymore.
Sort of a 16th century fashion magazine spread.
Used as a promo piece for my Jeanne Moderno fonts. Available as a print or on a greeting card/notecard/postcard.
Albrecht Dürer’s Rhinoceros broadside, 1515
‘probably no animal picture has exerted such a profound influence on the arts’ -T.H. Clarke
The story behind Dürer’s Rhinoceros involves a Pope, some guesswork, a sketch and a shipwreck.
And the famous 16th century poster (above) influenced rhino art for years to come. This Wiki has some great historical detail (with derivatives) – including Salvador Dalí’s sculptural take on Dürer’s famous Rhino (below).
Salvador Dalí’s Rinoceronte vestido con puntillas, 1956
rhino prints
And one can snag a giclee print of Dürer’s rhino here. Or here. Or if a poster doesn’t suit and you’d rather have a tee, mug or stein, check out these wares at Cafe Press. This one hops. Or here’s basic black.
rhino book
The story behind the actual rhino became the basis for Lawrence Norfolk’s epic novel The Pope’s Rhinoceros. Snag a copy here.
rhino sale
Plus, a few years back – in lieu of a White Elephant – a handful of volunteers from ADAC had a White Rhino Sale. Because ‘white rhinos trump white elephants.’
Dürer said so. Flyer below.
Design by mehallo and Jeremy McCain (with a little help from Dürer), 2006
A few years back the incredible Marian Bantjes sent me this wonderful Hallowe’en poster. Earlier the same year, I had put her work in an exhibition.
Marian’s post on heraldry is one of my favs. And check out her 10th Anniversary cover for GQ Italia, ’10 designers, 10 covers . . . 10 years of men, stories, adventures and style.’
Happy Hallowe’en!
‘Just as Sun Tzu’s Art of War is read as a lesson in business strategy rather than fighting in a miliary sense, or Machiavelli’s The Prince is written about government but used as a guide to management, so this book uses the creative processes of good advertising as a metaphor for business practice.’ -inside cover
In It’s Not How Good You Are . . . UK-based advertising guru Paul Arden (1940-2008) does a great job reframing how one can approach creativity, their career and life – by not playing by the rules and reinventing convention. [Read more →]
GOOD is for people who give a damn – read more below.
but first . . .
OPEN studio’s Scott Stowell headed up the original design team for GOOD. And I have to write about Scott because he’s been a major influence on my work. Scott = GOOD influence.
I’ve been a fan of Scott’s work for years, ever since I saw a talk he gave at one of the 1990s ATypI conferences. His views/advice on design and teaching – for me – has been invaluable. [Read more →]
‘This is a self-initiated project based on the scenario – If the world were a village of 100 people . . . I designed a set of 20 posters, which contain most of the information.’ -Toby Ng
The images are telling. View them at Toby Ng’s website.
Statistics need visuals or they’re often perceived as just numbers. For those who don’t think visually, it’s hard to connect numbers to people.
I had a conversation about this recently regarding a group project for a research class I’m taking (hi Luci!). We were analyzing a research study and the right charting system would have really driven some very important points home.
Maybe enough to get the study accepted. Maybe get the right person to implement its findings. Maybe.
Found via Joe Rucker Design News
‘Adolescent girls are uniquely capable of raising the standard of living in the developing world.’
Go to the girl effect website to find out how.
The Nike and NoVo Foundations are involved. And it’s a part of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Design by Wieden + Kennedy.
Found via Dr. Shelley Gruendler
We’re still talking about ‘change’ right? It was a huge word last year.
Design thinking can change the world.
But design thinking is much more than ‘aesthetics, image and fashion.’ More than just a means to encourage passive consumption – which for a long time has been the basis for our (now shattered) economy.
Talk (above) by Tim Brown of IDEO. Where design should be headed.
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