Fill/Stroke.com
The above image reminds me of the importance of context within design. I honestly believe the general population feels they are looking past the issue of race in this election. However, its another ballgame when you get the opportunity to see Obama in the context of a white man and McCain in the context of a black man.
Mr Miessler wonders “would Obama even be noteworthy if he were white? Would McCain be in the race at all if he were a black 72-year-old”? I know your response; it wouldn’t matter to you because you’re above that kind of thinking. But, I want you to really consider the above renderings before you answer. Think of the candidates and where they stand on issues that matter to you, as you take it in.
Context is incredibly powerful, and this is an extremely good example of that.
Here’s some information on the renderings; from thecoolhunter.net:
Created by creative director - Tor Myhren from Grey NYC, the posters slice through the race issue between candidates - acknowledging that much of this campaign has predictably but stupidly been re-cast as a battle between black and white. Myhren’s powerful imagery rightly implies that this is all just distraction, seeking to refocus our attention onto what really matters - the issues.
1 comment. Posted by tanner in opinion, politics, social change on 2 November 2008.
I’m starting to realize that there is a large population of graphic designers that only design in preparation. They are knowledgeable about emerging trends, know all the new styles, the new techniques, the new visual language of the design world. They read all the trades, they read all the blogs and they soak it all in, and wait. They wait til they can apply it to their own projects, til they can find a way to make it marketable, til they can use the abundance of the “emerging” style as evidence of being “cutting edge” and “ahead of the curve”. They don’t set trends, they don’t take any chances, they wait.
I am going to coin this anticipatory design. Its the idea of people who watch all the great, experimental, risky design and then wait until its been hashed out across the cusp of the design world. Then they adopt the style, hawking it to clients as if they’re being original. Peddling off others ideas, feeling as if they are being creative and risky.
It’s not imitation, its not copying. Its market research done by others. Its the reason flourished decoration, vector circles, and grunge backgrounds are so popular and rampant in designs today.
What I think is most interesting about this though, is my theory of the origins of the designs. Who are being the most experimental, the most willing to take risks, try things and put them out there for the world to see?
4 comments. Posted by md in advice, opinion on 7 October 2008.
Reason 3/30 to vote Obama by Milton Glaser
30 Reasons is a 30-day email and internet campaign to encourage people to vote for Barack Obama.
Our goal is simple: Use design to build a logical, multi-faceted argument for Obama and make it easy to share each reason with another person.
They have enlisted 30 graphic designers to create posters that represent a reason to vote for Obama. Today’s poster comes from Milton Glaser.
Full image after the jump Read more. →
1 comment. Posted by tanner in opinion, politics, poster, social change on 7 October 2008.
Palin’s response when asked what the worst thing Dick Cheney has done as Vice President.
@1:11 The worse thing, I guess that woulda been the duck hunting accident, um (laughs) where uh, ya know, that was, that was an accident and, um, that was, uh, i think made into a caricature of him, and that was kind of unfortunate.
Enough said.
3 comments. Posted by tanner in opinion, politics on 4 October 2008.
Just in case you were wondering:
Cuil still sucks.
No comments. Posted by md in opinion on 2 October 2008.
As the story goes, the MPAA complained about the theatrical poster for Kevin Smith’s new film on the left, so he responded with the poster on the right.
The poster on the right makes the movie seem much more curious. However, having never seen it, I may not be the best judge.
1 comment. Posted by tanner in movie, opinion, poster on 14 September 2008.
I just read an AP article about how the United States federal budget deficit is nearing “$407B”.
Just spend one minute really considering that amount of money. 407,000,000,000.00$
I think it should be a federal law that any time you request a large amount of money you have to write out (including all zeros) exactly how much we’re already in debt.
That is all.
No comments. Posted by tanner in opinion, rant, ridiculous, visualization on 9 September 2008.
I could list plenty of reasons as to why I love Milton Glaser. And I know Tanner could add to the list too. But this clip, even though it’s relatively old, will do for today. Just listen to the man talk.
1 comment. Posted by adria in opinion, rant on 3 September 2008.
This might seem a bit off topic from our general fare, but I am filing this under “industrial design” or “design for the greater good” or something.
I found this article being talked about when browsing around one of the photography blogs I read (nsfw) and I thought it was an interesting product: a female condom with inner barbs as a rape prevention/deterrent device
Read more. →
1 comment. Posted by md in industrial design, innovation, opinion, social change on 21 August 2008.
