Personal project ideas?

Im love this rug by HZL by Henzel. It is hand-done and lots of mulah.
I wonder how hard it is to handtuft a rug? It might be a fun project for thanksgiving/winter break?


Speaking of projects for during my breaks, I think I wanna make a Tord Boontje/Rob Ryan-esque
hanging for one of my walls or somethin. Stylistically look more like Boontje's designs, but handcut feel like Rob Ryan's?

this blog is so great!

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

Masters of Modernism

Today I went to an AIGA event featuring Wim Crouwell and Massimo Vignelli.
Both of those designers are so amazing I can't think of the right words to express it. It was great to hear them talk about their work, as well as other things. Massimo is so funny. There were so many great moments and comments made during the hour and a half long discussion.
To sum up Wim Crouwel I would say he is obsessed with Univers when he isn't using a typeface he designed like the New Alphabet, and he is a strict modernist, however is a little more lenient than Vignelli.

To sum up what Massimo Vignelli, he is a modernist to the extreme, and he said he would die without the grid, and the only typefaces he will use are Garamond, Bodoni, Century, Futura, Helvetia, Akzidenz Grotesk, and maybe occasionally Baskerville.

He also had some great quotes, "the opposite of modern is contemporary, and contemporary can be trashy" and "there is no reality, only interpretation of reality". He also made a really funny comment when he was talking about how much he hates Emigre and how horrible it was, and everyone was laughing, and he goes ya, you guys are laughing, but you should be crying. love it!

Also, I thought the type for Wim's name was just awesome here...


Another lil thing I learned was that Peter Saville spelled substance wrong with Wim's typeface. The second "a" is wrong and the "n" with a line under it means it is an "m".



p.s. I just found out the AIGA small talk with Kenya Hata of Muji is going to have an introduction by Michael Bierut. Could it get any better?!? (well only is Kashiwa Sato made a surprise appearance haha)

loveee ittt

Did I mention I love Japan?

This is not a halloween costume...

The NYT has this artice about Aya Tsukioka, a Japanese fashion designer, and her unusual designs to disguise a person on the street against crime. There is her convertible skirt to vending machine, as well as a little kid's backpack that turns into fire extinguiser thing. (side note: these are the cutest little backpacks ever invented, all the elementary aged kids in Japan wear them, normal ones that is, not convertable ones)

These inventions are part of the Japanese category of inventions called Chindogu, or “queer tools."
Here's some more really entertaining designs by other people...

little mops for kitty feet...chopstick fan to cool off your noodles...toilet paper headband for your allergies

Pehaps the best part of these inventions are the International Chindogu Society's "Ten Tenents of Chindogu"

for more Chindogus,
check out the International Chindogu Society website haha

WOW.

I cannot imagine figguring out all that stop animation in polaroids.

Recent Acquisitions

My library has had a recent major influx of books in the areas of art, design, and psychology.  Most were mainly for school, but also out of obvious interest for the subjects. Since I'm bored I'll post em here with links, and and the ones that I've gotten to really take in so far, I'll say something about if I'm still feeling up to it. Also then if anyone actually reads my blog, maybe something will spark their interest. And, anyone that knows me can borrow them whenever they want.I bought all of them from either amazon.com & independent dealers through them, or at the strand bookstore.



The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Visual Explanations, Envisioning Information, Beautiful Evidence, all by Edward R. Tufte
I bought these four books for my information design class. I've wanted them for such a long time, I was happy to finally have an excuse to buy them. All four are by Edward R. Tufte and include lots of diagrams, charts, graphs, etc. dealing with the design of different types of information.




Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design, Vol. 4 and 5 (I already own 1, 2, &3), and the 3rd book is Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut.
Because I apparently don't get tortured enough with critical essays about design in my global issues and other classes, I like to buy books filled with more of them. The looking closer books have awesome essays written by a bunch of top designers in the industry, and the 79 short essays are all written by Mr. Bierut (and all 79 essays are set in a different typeface!). Definitely worth your while if you like reading books with no pictures and lots of short well-written essays.




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Hamlet's Mill by Giorgio De Santillana, Trauma and Dreams by Deirdre Barrett, The Mind At Night by Andrea Rock, Our Dreaming Mind by Robert Van De Castle, (no image)Language and Symbolic Systems by Yuen Ren Chao, Creative Dreaming by Patricia Garfield, Man and His Symbols by Carl Gustav Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung, The Freud Reader by Sigmund Freud.
All of these books I had to buy for my Psychology of Dreams class. They all seem beyond fascinating to me, however since I just got them, the only one I've gotten into yet is the Freud Reader, which is great so far. Once I catch up on the readings in the next few weeks I'll have more to say on them.




Type Selector by Michael Worgotter.
This is obviously not a book. But I bought it at the same time and it so amazing. It has 226 fonts and 1,000 weights from all major type libraries. Soo useful to say the least!




Powers of Ten: A Book About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero by Philip Morrison and Ray and Charles Eames.
I bought this book for my info design class, such a great concept.




A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram
This is another book I bought for information design. and wow, it is 2 3/4 inches thick. huge. I havent read any of it yet, but it has some cool diagrams in flipping through it.




How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy
I finally bought this book after having it recommended to me a million times. Haven't read it yet, but is has a great design.




I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life Everywhere, with Everyone, One to One, Always, Forever, Now by Damien Hirst
This one is not as recent of a purchase, but I bought it a couple months ago and it is so amazing that everyone should have it. Even if you don't like Damien Hirst, the production of this book is amazing. Also I am in love with the title.




An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore.
This one is a toughie. Spreading awareness on a global crisis is definitely a plus, and all the photos and charts are nice to look at...However there are some misleading information designs and heavy one-sided arguments. Also there's some presidential bashing in the introduction which I felt detracted from the topic at hand. Overall though, great cause and enlightening book, just wish it was a little more balanced and less political.



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Chances Are... by Michael Kaplan, The Triumph of Numbers by I.B. Cohen.
I bought these books at the Strand for casual reading they look so interesting, but sadly I've had no time to read them yet.




The Book of Plants: The Complete Plates, Taschen anniversary edition
All I can say is I love love love this book!!! It is huge, and full of old botanical plate illustrations. Amazing.




A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
This book is also not a super recent acquisition, but it is the book I am reading right now. It's pretty long, but I would 100% recommend it if you are at all intrigued with the earth, space, science of any field, etc. So fascinating all the stuff you'll learn in it.