Don’t be trapped by Dogma

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” — Steve Jobs
How many people across the world earn their living, communicate, spend their free time… in ways entirely due or influenced by one person.
A true modern day genius.

All is not what it seems…

This is a neat new trick being used in webwork… I’m probably not the only designer who dreads producing gif banners with the inevitable requests for more and more movement, in smaller and smaller files. The results are often rather awkward… The overuse of flashing banners and ads on some websites can be so distracting, my first reaction is to reach to close the window. I quite like this technique though… subtle movement giving a bit of extra detail with no flashing lights and sliding text. See a full selection on: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/cinemagraph
The authors call them cinemagraphs – click on the images to enlarge.

Inspiration is all around

Summer is always a great time for learning new things, especially when most of France clocks off for the month of August and getting the smallest thing done is almost impossible. As part of the organisation of the Chamonix Adventure Film Festival, I was lucky enough to take part in a new venture run just before this year’s festival – an adventure photography course, run by Corey Rich and Scott Willson. Ten enthusiastic students with wildly different levels of knowledge and experience spent three days enjoying a mixture of classroom sessions and shooting in the field. A night in the Bonatti refuge on the Italian side of Mont Blanc gave us the setting for running and hiking shots, and such tricks of the trade as how to shoot at night and in poorly lit interiors. Together with mountain bike and climbing shoots, we were left with heads crammed full of new information and a selection of surprisingly (for me) good shots. Look out for info on next year’s course – you’ll find me wandering the hills, camera in hand, badgering people to be in my shots on my time off!
Keep up with film festival news on www.chamonixadventurefilm.com

The champions of copying strike again…

China and East Asia in general has long been the producer of tons of fake and copycat goods that find their way onto market stalls across Europe, enabling those of normal means to afford their very own Gucci or Fendi handbag. After reports of a fake Apple store in China earlier this year which showed the usual stringent attention and reproduction of detail, it seems that Scandinavian friendly furniture giants Ikea is the latest brand to be targeted and reproduced Chines stylee. Perhaps the use of blue and yellow conjurs up the same image for the Chinese public as it seems to for Europeans – stylish, simple, and a symbol of clean and healthy living. There is no denying the store is a copy – it would be interesting to see if the products themselves are as authentic in their duplication? and are scores of Chinese currently sat at home scratching their heads, as they try to assemble a piece of flat pack furniture that promises to be the answer to a wonderfully stylish & modern home, finding that the key piece that should hold it all together is nowhere to be seen! (first seen on www.jkr.co.uk/design-gazette/)

The start of a new trend ?

After a recent petition by the Clean Clothes Campaign for fashion houses to stop using sandblasting as a treatment for denim, it seems that fashion may start  being called to task on many of the prevalent practices used that caused untold harm to the environment and staff working in the industry. The technique that gives garments an artificially worn look produces larges amounts of silica dust which can lead to silicosis – a potentially lethal pulmonary disease (the Guardian, 10th August).
Thousands of people have signed a petition for stopping the use of the treatment, and both Gucci and Versace have responded favourably to it. Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana have apparently ‘remained totally indifferent’ to the petition and claims. With the increasing use and impact of online petitions across all issues, we could see fashion houses pushed to engage in environmentally friendly practices -  which is no small thing for an industry at the top of the charts for issues touching human rights, workers rights, animal protection and sustainable manufacturing.
The campaign has singled out Dolce & Gabbana for special attention. Deborah Lucchetti (Clean Clothes Italian spokeswoman) said the Campaign made a practice of notifying companies before they were targeted. “Dolce & Gabbana telephoned me to say thanks for the information and that it did not interest them. I was pretty surprised. This is a serious issue. People have died because of sandblasting,” she said.

And just when we thought it had all gone quiet…

…Banksy delivers with his unique take on the phone hacking scandal. Oh no…my tap’s been phoned ! After the superb docuspoof ‘exit through the gift shop’, the creative genius is spot on as usual.

End of an era

The news that Habitat is to close most of its’ stores across the UK signifies the end of an era that has lasted as long as many of us can remember. As the first popular and affordable source for designer style furniture and homewares for an entire generation, it seems the brainchild of Sir Terence Conran has likely been superceded by its parent powerhouse Ikea. Whilst Conran’s sparse and pricey Conran shops are reportedly flourishing through the recession due to consumers looking for lifetime investment purchases rather than a quick fix, it seems that Habitat – never expensive, thought not cheap either – has failed to broaden its appeal and is no match for the appeal of cheap as chips Scandinavian style… even if your home ends up looking the same as all your friends. More than a furniture store, Habitat has produced many classics throughout the years. A handful of stores will continue trading, and it remains to be seen what will become of the brand’s European outlets.

ipads are a bosses best friend

Don’t go anywhere without your ipad? Life isn’t the same since you got an iphone? No doubt this is true for many of us, and with apple’s upcoming operating system to be more like their ipad and iphone interface, the migration in this direction shows no sign of letting up.
Several reports and articles in the last few months have been extolling the virtues of the ipad and referencing many ways the use of tablets is increasing productivity across the globe. Better communication, more effective market research, enhanced academic learning in universities, more efficient reporting… the list goes on. Just a few notes and doff of the hat to the technical uber brand – how many product designers could claim that their products have influenced social practices and work productivity across the globe?… Mr Jobs, we salute you!

Design Museum Coke exhibit

Just a footnote to the last post – a tribute to 125 years of Coca Cola branding and advertising in the Design Museum’s outdoor display case.

Teach the world to sing!

To celebrate its’ 125th anniversary, Coke has launched a variety of events and special edition packs. Never a brand to miss an opportunity to reinforce its’ uber brand status, the anniversary was set off by a show at the Atlanta brand headquarters with the world’s largest single building illumination & huge light display. A series of concerts are scheduled in cities in Canada and the US, no doubt aimed at the new coke generation. From the opposite end of the company’s history, vintage illustrations have been reworked for special anniversary packaging, giving a modern version of a classic retro look. And obviously not wanting to rest on its’ historic laurels, powerful as the associations may be (the Coke version of the New Seekers ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’ is ingrained in my memory), the brand has launched a new collaboration with creative agency Clot and British artist James Jarvis. Jarvis’ smiley creation will appear on cans, as well as on assorted merchandise. Some items are already destined to become collectables with campaigns and competitions featuring iphone and ipad covers, watches, t-shirts, and footwear being run from Hong Kong to Hereford. The new character has all the making of another Coca Cola success that could run and run.