Design Assembly » Theory

Don’t forget the type

Carol Green — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:15:57 +0000

Until only a couple of years ago, web type was so restrictive it would regularly make print designers' heads explode. Remember pre-CSS when you had a choice of only 7 fixed font sizes, with no leading or kerning controls? While it's still not perfect, and is still a long way from affording the fine control that print designers enjoy, there have been some radical improvements of late.

Introducing: Creative Coalition

Elise Sterback — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:49:35 +0000

Bringing people together is rarely an easy thing - even if everyone involved stands to gain from the experience. Initial enthusiasm expressed within the community can quickly become eroded as demands on time and resources increase, or the context that originally galvanised people into coming together shifts and makes collective thinking less urgent or relevant.

Long live printed publications

Emma Parnell — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:20:51 +0000

Somehow, a room without a bookshelf seems a little incomplete to me. A bookshelf is a beautiful thing. Strips of colour lined up in a proud display of vibrant organization. You can probably glean from this I am [...]

Gamification for Graphic Designers

Shaun Lee — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:41:34 +0000

To make your documents more engaging and fun here is how you can think like a game designer.

5 good habits worth reviving from design school

Tamara Nyholt — Sun, 08 May 2011 02:25:48 +0000

From our first school day as enthusiastic design students our educators endeavour to instil within us good habits that will hopefully remain throughout our future careers. As years pass and the challenges of real work situations come to the fore, either by accident or design some of this helpful guidance falls by the wayside. Maybe it's time to get back to basics.

Festivals just don’t cut it.

Elise Sterback — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:16:49 +0000

Our city might put on some great shows, but what's left for creative people when the stage lights dim?

Creative genius or carbon copy?

Tamara Nyholt — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:03:30 +0000

As people working in a creative field, we are constantly bombarded by transient trends – should we try to ignore them or get on board?

The Year Of The Wrong

Renée Lam — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:24:57 +0000

New Years resolutions have never really interested me. Too often considered token and weightless they would disappear by February like that no carbs diet. However after recently coming across an article written by John Bielenberg (partner and co-founder of C2 in San Francisco) about ‘thinking wrong’ I was interested to see how this shift in mental processing could be used to re-work my creative process in 2011.

The melting pot of NZ graphic design part 1: Mexicana

Guest Contributor — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:51:33 +0000

Mexico is indeed a lively country. With more than a hundred million inhabitants, twenty of which are concentrated in the capital city, mexicans tend to come in all sorts of flavours and colours. So many different social and cultural entities identify themselves as mexican, that a single idea of a national identity is nigh impossible.

Internships

Guest Contributor — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:28:41 +0000

Its that time of year again. A new batch of design graduates are heading out into industry, and as I talked to some of them at graduation today, it seemed like a new theme was emerging. Quite a number were doing unpaid internships of two or three months duration...

A Lament for Ugly

Elise Sterback — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:13:55 +0000

...their deterioration had always held a kind of beauty that modern, designer pieces just didn’t quite capture. Much like a pair of jeans, no matter how cunning the effort of faux-vintage copies, they could never quite replicate the gradual and artful amassing of 20 years of grime and authentic knee-rips.

Goodbye Logo

Shaun Lee — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 23:32:51 +0000

Considering the implications of AR (Augmented Reality) for graphic designers.

The Medium is the Message

Elise Sterback — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:37:18 +0000

Do we celebrate the burgeoning of information and access that new mediums are offering us, or is there something to be mourned as old tools and sites of expression fade into history?

Negotiating information overload

Tamara Nyholt — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:58:30 +0000

How can we harness the vast knowledge of the internet without becoming overwhelmed by the deluge of data available?

Emerging Technology and Graphic Design in New Zealand

Guest Contributor — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:47:41 +0000

By Laurent Antonczak

Just a few facts to start with:
1. Textversation: 29% of mobile users use their mobile to communicate without talking (text, email, IM, social networking).
2. Over 50% of the world population is under 30 years old.
3. [...]

Do you design with change in mind?

Elise Sterback — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:37:04 +0000

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.

The value in quality design

Tamara Nyholt — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:10:59 +0000

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

Inspired by Nature: Colours that inform my thoughts

Louise Kellerman — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:29:01 +0000

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

Designing for the new experience

Hayden Raw — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:24:49 +0000

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?

Officially mediocre, unofficially awesome

James McGoram — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:07:31 +0000

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.

Redefining the new ‘MORE’

Raul Sarrot — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:15:47 +0000

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.

Conquering self-doubt

Tamara Nyholt — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:55:36 +0000

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?'

Auckland’s Creative Milieux

Elise Sterback — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:36:54 +0000

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

Is social media changing the way we design websites?

Hayden Raw — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:51:48 +0000

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.

Designers make great entrepreneurs

Shaun Lee — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:28:16 +0000

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 …

Instant Coffee

James McGoram — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:48:16 +0000

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.

Brand New – Can a brand be built on conversation?

Hayden Raw — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:07:22 +0000

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

Beauty and the Beast in the online space… will they ever be together?

Raul Sarrot — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:45:28 +0000

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

Watch that swatch.

Lisa Baudry — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:06:15 +0000

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.

Fill the muffin baskets – it’s time for another meeting!

Elise Sterback — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:40:05 +0000

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

The space between Mary and Jesus

Andrea Wilkinson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:22:31 +0000

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.

Communication is…

Hayden Raw — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:11:16 +0000

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?

The organic process of design

Raul Sarrot — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:00:07 +0000

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.

Designing the Change You Want To See

Meena Kadri — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:21:24 +0000

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.

Designing Community

Elise Sterback — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:51:40 +0000

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

Kerning the space between free and design

Andrea Wilkinson — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:14:13 +0000

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:

How do you like to PLAY

Shaun Lee — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:52:22 +0000

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?

Who’s the other guy?

Lindsay Yee — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:31:03 +0000

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?

Is any publicity, good publicity?

Louise Kellerman — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:18:02 +0000

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.

Change-Agents Surmount Style

Meena Kadri — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:48:53 +0000

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.