Sad ironies
by Steven Heller
Today is the 9th anniversary of 9.11. We all remember it in different ways. Each year I vividly recall that crisp September morning with horror and sorrow. I can still smell the acrid air and see the dark downtown clouds. But I also think of the various ironies surrounding the event, like these two advertisements created years before, when the World Trade Center was touted as a monument to architectural innovation....
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The Paper War Against AIDS
by Steven Heller
Twenty-five years ago the HIV/AIDS virus began killing thousands and infecting hundreds of thousands more. Although the western world was hit unaware, the disease had been coursing through the third world’s bloodstream for years before. When Europe and the Americas were directly impacted, however, curative and preventative measures were gradually instituted and awareness began. Even in this hyper media, information saturated age, printed pieces of paper continue to influence and inspire, incite and inform. Anyone who says this is hyperbole should look closely at Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985-2010 at MassArt (Massachusetts College of Art and Design....
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You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
by Steven Heller
Some people prefer the Stones, others the Beatles. Some prefer the Yanks, others the Mets. Some prefer Letterman, others Leno. And some prefer The Twilight Zone, others The Outer Limits. For me, The Twilight Zone remains the sina qua non of the sci-fi/social commentary genre yet from time to time I watch The Outer Limits to clear my head of excess metaphor and allegory. Outer Limits was not as well written or acted or directed, although the title sequence is just as good. Its monsters were even better....
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The Digital Scribe
by Steven Heller
In the early 1980s a brotherhood of cloistered monks were hired to digitally scan a large photo library. The scribes of yore had evolved into the transcribers of now. Today, digitizing the world’s documents is common. But what’s uncommon is the skilled craftsman dedicated to pristine preservation. E. M. Ginger, President of the Oakland, California-based 42-line (www.42-line.com) (named after Gutenberg’s bible) is one such rarity. His mission is to give other rarities digital life. I caught up with him between scans for a brief inquiry into his process....
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How Apps Are Changing the Way Designers Create on the Web
by Khoi Vinh
Whether or not you have plans to buy a tablet computer or upgrade to a smart phone, make no mistake: We are now at an inflection point in the evolution of technology, a moment of profound transformation in the digital world. And, as has been the pattern throughout our industrial history, when technology changes, so, too, does design....
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The Push Pin Paradigm
by Steven Heller
If you happen to be in Tokyo walking around the Ginza stop by the GGG Gallery (above). You’ll want to see The Push Pin Paradigm, early works by Push Pin Studio artists Seymour Chwast, Paul Davis, Milton Glaser and James McMullan. The work spans 1950’s through the 1970’s and the exhibit Ginza Graphics Gallery, which opened September 2, 2010 features 200 posters, paintings, and prints, along with issues of the studio’s promotional publication, The Push Pin Graphic, which reflected the iconoclastic mood of those decades and reached out to a generation of peers....
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An Heroic Woman at 19 and 99
by Steven Heller
September 30 marks the 99th birthday of the photographer Ruth Gruber. I doubt you've ever heard of her. Surprisingly, I had not known of her heroic acts until now. Born in Brooklyn in 1911, Ruth Gruber defied tradition from the moment she became the world's youngest PhD at the age of 20. By the age of 24, she was the first journalist to explore the Soviet Arctic, and a few years later escorted Holocaust refugees to America in a secret war-time mission for President Roosevelt. She became the eyes and conscience of the world with her photographs of the refugees aboard the ship Exodus 1947 and helped change the world....
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So Many Lines, So Little Work
by Steven Heller
Information graphics are designed to clarify our view of difficult data. On this day before Labor Day, here’s a fever chart from Calculated Risk that clarifies to a fault. This graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms – this time aligned at the bottom of the recession (Both the 1991 and 2001 recessions were flat at the bottom, so the choice was a little arbitrary)....
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A Toast to the Long Hot Summer
by Steven Heller
The warmest Summer on record deserves a shot. And while we’re at it, a toast to some great Summer commercials.
I don’t drink Jack Daniels but I’m I’ve gotten drunk on the amazing spots, produced directed, art directed, coordinated and assisted by the very impressive group below. See the most recent (above and below) titled “Proud” here and “Label Story” here and “His Way” here. And don’t forget, over this long weekend if you drink and drive, you don’t know Jack....
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Getting To The Point
by Steven Heller
For Dalton Ghetti, pencils are as precious as marble was to Michelangelo, Bernini and Rodin. Pencil lead is, in fact, his sculptural material out of which he carves incredible miniatures, everything from teeny weeny busts of Elvis to itsy bitsy hammers and saws. Ghetti recently told the London Telegraph:
“At school I would carve a friend’s name into the wood of a pencil and then give it to them as a present. Later, when I got into sculpture, I would make these huge pieces from things like wood, but decided I wanted to challenge myself by trying to make things as small as possible. I experimented sculpting with different materials, such as chalk, but one day I had an eureka moment.”...
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Home on the Mongolian Range
by Steven Heller
Illustrator and wanderer Henrik Drescher takes his harmonica to Mongolia, where seldom his heard a discouraging word. After the jump, take a look at his Home on the Mongolian Range music video. You never know where Henrik will pop up next. Stay tuned for more “Where’s Henrik.”...
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The Buck Stops Here
by Steven Heller
Is U.S. paper currency inferior to all others? Is it worth the paper it is printed on? Many designers have questioned the aesthetics (if not the value) of our sacred bills. Now designer Richard Smith brings us “The Dollar ReDe$ign Project,” which he says “hopes to bring about change for everyone. We want to rebrand the US Dollar, rebuild financial confidence and revive our failing economy.” Will a redesign do the trick? Or shouldn’t we revalue our basic metrics of wealth?...
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