Design in the mind

For the love of it.

Spotted this video of a motion graphic presentation taken from the 99% Conference 2010 - and annual conference designed to help translate ideas from vision to reality. Check out their Vimeo page, 99%, for more inspiring videos from the conference.

Though this film exaggerates what can happen with the design process in a humorous yet disturbingly accurate way, it does demonstrate how a design process can run off course - with the dreaded “design by committee” approach and the over thinking and over cautious approach driven by the ‘need’ to satisfy every scenario and every audience.

Another quality video from Gestalten.tv on a new publication from Berlin author Sven Voelker called Go Faster, The Graphic Design of Racing Cars. This book explores the clashing of 2D with 3D - where in the 70s there was an explosion of graphics applied to racing cars to make them look fast, more aggressive and like winners - stripes, arrows, colour - 2D shapes hugging the curves of these very expressive, sculptural 3D forms - racing cars of the 70 - it was about the car, about performance and passion - just before the advertising took hold and that wonderful expression was lost.

Christoph Niemann’s work has caught my attention for a while now so I was please to see an interview with him by gestalten.tv. His attitude towards his work and his whimsical graphic work is very inspirational. Christoph speaks of his experiences and attitude towards his work.
 

Only 7?

From here

German industrial designer Dieter Rams is noted as being one of the most influential designers of the 20th century with his innovative designs for Braun and many other electronic components since the 60s. His attention to detail was extrodinary and drawn from his principles on design: Good design is honest; Good design is long-lasting; Good design is consequent to the last detail; Good design is concerned with the environment; Good design is as little design as possible.

He has had a lasting influence on design which has reached outstanding product designers of today, including Apple’s head designer Jonathan Ive. Here is an interview with Dieter.

Dieter Rams: Less and More Interview from Gestalten on Vimeo.

Dieter Rams in conversation with Deyan Sudjic from Vitsœ on Vimeo.

An interview with Dieter at Designboom

New book “Less and More” featuring the works of Dieter Rams

A documentary explaining the impact of post world war II on design and design for the masses.

As promised, I wanted to present several Polish designers that were adding their unique visual language to the graphic design world in the middle of last century. one outstanding designer, particularly in poster design with his expressive illustrative style was Roman Cieslewicz.

Roman Cieslewicz (1930-1996). 1949-54 studied at Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. Specialized in poster and display designing. Worked as book and magazine designer. Since 1962 lived in France where he worked as art director of “Vogue”, “Elle” and “Mafia” - advertising agency. He was artistic creator of “Opus International” and “Kitsch”. Member of AGI [International Graphic Association].

[View with PicLens]

An insight into the thinking process behind developing a brand for a product, here, one of my favorites - chocolate. A film about the brand and design development for a San Francisco chocolate company, TCHO, with commentary explaining the design process through to the applications of the brand.

How do you build a chocolate brand? from edenspiekermann_ on Vimeo.