In the beginning, God created the Internet, and saw that it was good. And God made the fonts of the Internet according to their kinds and all of the characters that creep upon the web according to their kind. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the documents and designs, and let the fonts multiply.” But they didn’t. For twenty years the same 12 fonts knocked around together wondering where in the hell the party was.

Lindsay emailed me yesterday with this piece of New Zealand typography that he likes – the logo for this year’s New Zealand International Film Festival. It was created by Ocean Design. What do you like?

Email me louise@designassembly.org.nz with an image of NZ typography that you like (500 pixels wide) and your name.

Design is a good modus operandi for working towards social change because it is fundamental to design that concepts, emotions and messages are presented to an audience, and for that reason, designers are trained to be effective communicators.

This week I thought I would share a piece of New Zealand design and advertising that I have seen recently and liked.
What do you like?
Email me louise@designassembly.org.nz with an image of NZ design that you like (500 pixels wide) and your name.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Designer by day, designer by night – Zoe Ikin
How to design and not commit suicide– Daniel Gordon
Vinyl Flashbacks – Peter McLennan

Are financial pressures and other circumstances draining the skill level in New Zealand graphic design?

Share your colour palette of the moment – What informs your colour choices from the world around you?

Email me with your image, colour palette, your name and studio.

louise@designassembly.org.nz

Devices like the iPad, iPhone and Nexus are becoming commonplace. They bring with them new technologies that are allowing designers to break away from the traditional point-and-click method of interaction. As interface designers we need to embrace the device capabilities during the design process. So, what does this mean for the process of designing user experiences?

I am a Semi Veteran, since I saw 123 Klan and Shepard Fairey in 2003 I have been addicted to Semi Permanent. At first glance I did not not think this years line up was exciting as last years but lets take a closer look.

Like my previous post this, this one will also be looking at a large scale sporting competition in New Zealand, focusing on the design associated with the event. Many of the below design elements were released two years ago, but with the event approaching I thought it would be nice to look over all the elements.

Public transport is not glamorous. Buses and trains do not usually inspire design monologues, but neither are they entirely devoid of art and culture. James McGoram explores the concept of a civic brand from a new angle, the view from his morning train.

Less is more? More is more? We acknowledge that WHAT we are saying is possibly the most important thing. Something that is unique and relevant to individuals is almost a basic condition to compete on the ‘attention-grabbing’ race. However MORE is MORE or LESS is MORE are not quite relevant anymore.

The winner of the Auckland Council logo competition was revealed today. It takes the form of a stylised pohutukawa designed by retired commercial artist Jim Dean, of Manukau City.

We’ve all been there — slumped in front of a computer pushing the same six elements around for three hours and still nothing is working, it’s a pile of… blah. It’s minutes ’til deadline, your heart is pounding, you’re hunched over the keyboard like a panicked ghoul, ‘Am I broken?’ you ask yourself. ‘Why can’t I make this work?’

Increasingly, urban planners are becoming interested in the creation of “creative milieux”, or spaces where creative activities and people can thrive. …

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Design Assembly kicks off for 2010.

Come along from 6pm to mix and mingle with your fellow graphic designers.
Speakers will start at 6.30pm.

After Shaun Lee’s talk about the death of static websites during last week’s Design Assembly workshop I began to think about what part social media has played in this progression of web design.

The greatest problem with the logo competition is not that the community is involved, but that we were not involved with the decision on how to involve and interact with the community.

With the recent release of The Visual Miscellaneum, David McCandless’ graphic review of current events, we have another excuse to explore our ongoing romance with those wonderful enhancements to the printed (or digital) page, infographics.

People always ask me, “Shaun how can you afford all those fur coats and them gold teeth?” I tell ‘em “Brutha — all you gotta do is have a master plan”. Here are some ways I’ve been making a bit extra on top of my 9 to 5. I suggest you give them a go …

To accept the premise of the AUT advertisement is to accept that we are in conflict with information. Designers are the chief strategists in this conflict.
Prior to what we now call Web 2.0, it was a battle fought mainly by competing businesses, vying for our attention, loyalties and ultimately, our money. That made it easy to understand. Curiously enough, user-generated content, file-sharing and social media have shuffled the deck, and the war is now being fought largely between businesses and, well, everyday consumers.

This workshop is for designers who occasionally design for the web – but do not build websites.

There was a time, and god knows it’s receding quickly, when I thought I could master design. I thought this way about a lot of things. It’s a contagion of youth, the earnest desire to be better at something than anyone has ever being, to seek new frontiers and map them for the human soul. You realise as you mature that there are some things in life you’ll never master, such as, for instance, the espresso machine that you bought last year. It lurks on the kitchen counter-top of your ostentatious studio, silently mocking your ineptitude.

Modern brands are usually built around some form of story or mantra. Stories are great; they act as cultural anchors for potential customers to associate

Imagine Beauty. Sensuous, fresh, engaging, surprising and innovative. It’s easy to call the new web flash interfaces ‘Beauty’. They are beautiful pieces of design and interactivity indeed

We marvel at foreign design, look back in history to the Swiss modernist, Russian Constructivist’s, American Post Modernist’s and everything in between but rarely do we look back at New Zealand graphic design

This beautiful book contains a collection of essays about aspects of New Zealand Type Designer Joseph Churchward’s practice and is interspersed with examples of his hand-designed work from a total of 604 typefaces he has created over a period of 40 years

Join us to celebrate the end of the year and start of summer!

There will be a meeting held on the 10th November to discuss how the changes to the Auckland Council (aka the ‘Supercity’) will affect the arts community.

We know that brand differentiation and brand values play a crucial role in our colour choices as graphic designers, but equally important are the cultural traditions and colour trends that influence our choices.

It’s that time of year for the new batch of Graduates to showcase their work. Late nights in the classroom for an opening and gallery like exhibition of work.

In April of 2009, ANZ chose Indonesia as the first market within which to officially launch it’s new brand to the world.

The word meeting sometimes carries with it a negative sentiment, an anticipation of inefficiency. Meetings can be associated with a waste of time or a battle between attention-seekers to get their voices heard. On the other hand

Telecom New Zealand revealed its new logo on Friday night with a light show at Auckland’s ferry building. Designed by Designworks, this is the first time Telecom has refreshed it’s identity in eight years.

For many years now words have been my companion. Though not as avid a reader as I would like to suggest and though not as dedicated a writer as I would like to imagine, nonetheless playing with words is part of my repertoire.

Progressive enterprises is to phase out it’s Woolworths and Foodtown Supermarkets in New Zealand over the next five years and put in place a ‘new generation Countdown’. So an update of the Countdown brand was in order.

Communication is the essence of what we do as designers. It doesn’t matter whether we are graphic, interface, environmental, strategic, or social media designers we are all in the business of communicating. How do we know if we are good at communicating? Is it possible to measure proficiency when it comes to such a subjective action?

Design Assembly is celebrating it’s first birthday on September 30th!

The Curvy Series has been around since 2003 and each year features the latest in female artists, designers and illustrators. The 2009 edition saw 1600 entries from which 120 were chosen and six artists were featured.

This exhibition celebrates the work of New Zealand typeface designers in an exquisite collection of large scale typographic posters.

Design, oh Design… What an organic process. Some people think that design is a rational process and often wonder why there are some many variables and so little certainties in a process that is ‘supposed to be’ pretty straight forward.

The Church put on another great Semi Permanent event, featuring great speakers.

Drawing on the notion in my last post for the potential of designers to “catalyse conversations,” I spoke to Megan Hosking: web designer, social entrepreneur and co-founder of the Intersect network.

Communities may need to be constructed by members of society in order to ensure certain interests are represented alongside typically included regional community perspectives.

Every semester I teach a class called internet design I open by asking the students about their internet habits. Recently I asked a class of around twenty:

I had always wondered when the typeface, McCahon, designed by Luke Wood back in 2003 would get an airing.

I think the design process has to be about PLAY. Do you play by yourself or do you let your market/client play with you?

The Type Directors Club Annual is one of those weighty graphic design books that I’ve gotten into the habit of buying each year.

You’re obviously the wrong person to ask… you’re part of a community of designers who actually want to learn and discuss design. But do the majority of New Zealand designers take an interest in Graphic Design in terms of wanting discussions about design theory, changes in design – or is it just something they do?

A billboard campaign launched last week over 50 sites in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that was commissioned by The Breast Cancer Research Trust and created by Saatchi and Saatchi has caused somewhat of a public uproar.

Moxie Design Group have applied design thinking as a constructive approach to embrace a plethora of challenges from New Zealand’s own shores to the World Bank.

Semi Permanent 2009 is happening on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 August at THE EDGE’s Aotea Centre.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Well I have always been quite the Geek, and I kinda liked how the Geek stereotype was always a bit awkward and unpolished.

Louise and I had a good chat to Peter Gilderdale after Assembly and he had an interesting perespective. Extending Pauls metaphor for New Zealand as a teenager Peter worried if we were old enough to make the change?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Welcome to 2009! I hope you all had a relaxing break over the Christmas / New Year period and have arrived back somewhat refreshed and excited about what the year may hold.

Design Assembly last night was awesome, I had a great time meeting some new designers, managed to relax more this time and we had three great conversations.

I think there a a few going on. I always go to “Checkout”, the AUT Bachelor of Graphic Design exhibition. It is on at 5.30, at the Aotea Centre on the 19th of Nov.

Stagecoach is re-branding to MetroLink. Check out the details here.

I thought you may be interested in the national design conference dinz is holding this Friday 10th October in Auckland with the theme of Sustainability and Imminent Change.

Check out the new BNZ logo. Another friendly addition to our local Brandscape, but how does it fit in the current economic climate?

Hope you’re enjoying the sunny weather we’ve had lately and are still feeling charged from Design Assembly – I’d had lots of great feedback and encouragement from all of you to keep me really excited about the future possibilities for Design Assembly.

THANK YOU – To everyone that came along last night and to our awesome sponsors!