The Dog of Pompeii
When Vesuvius erupted on Aug. 24, A.D. 79, a Roman fuller named Vesonius Primus fled toward the sea, leaving a watchdog chained to a post in the atrium of his house. It appears that the dog managed to survive the night by climbing continuously atop the mounting ash, but at dawn it reached the limit of its chain and was buried alive.
Like other victims of the eruption, its body left a vacancy in the ash layer, so a plaster cast could be made of its final position.
Do you know who Paul Rand is? No? Then get the hell out.
No matter how talented you are as a designer, not being able to articulate your ideas in contrast to those who’ve preceded you will cut you down to size almost instantly. Some of the greatest designers of all time are those who have laid the ground work for you. They have established graphic design as a legitimate industry in which you are now able to make a living, provided the job market continues stabilizing.
Saul Bass, Paul Rand, Neville Brody, Milton Glaser, Adrian Shaughnessy, Stefan Sagmeister, Paula Scher, Michael Beirut, Debbie Millman, Chip Kidd, John Maeda, Jessica Helfand, and Massimo Vignelli are among history’s most important designers.
I’m sure I accidentally left out a few. David Carson was left out on purpose.
Hopefully you know your design history, but that’s not enough. Being able to pinpoint a specific design piece and identify its era will certainly help bolster your credibility as a designer, but not knowing who designed it will almost certainly destroy your credibility beyond repair. Not knowing who designed the CBS logo will provide you the opportunity to experience what a swift kick to your ass feels like. And not knowing who designed the graphics for the film “Vertigo” will provide you the opportunity to experience what a door slammed in your face feels like.
However, it’s simply not enough to know who designed a specific logo, poster, or visual campaign. Knowing why is just as important. You need to get into the heads of the designers behind the pieces you’re studying, and there’s really no better way to do this other than reading a book.
Okay, fine. The Internet is also a decent resource. But I find that books provide a much more intimate look into the minds of today’s most prolific designers. Self-published books are highly recommended as the designer will usually be more willing to let his or her guard down. Stefan Sagmeister is particularly known for being brutally honest about his work. Any of his publications should be read with great care.
Also, keep an eye on emerging designers from around the area. Minneapolis specifically has such a tightly woven design community, and you’ll benefit greatly from learning more about local designers. Who knows, maybe they’ll return the favor and take an interest in you.
Bing Maps: New Spatial Streetside Photos w/ Flickr
Really impressive to see this Photosynth, bing and flickr mash up really. Takes maps to a whole new level
Logo Design Process of Top Graphic Designers
Want to know the secrets of how top graphic designers create their logos?
This article will reveal exactly how top logo designers of today’s modern age create their logos. It will show the design process that these designers go through to get to their final logo design……….more
The indie rock band Modest Mouse is getting the royal treatment from Bent Image Lab’s new director/partner Nando Costa. Just completed, the band’s new music video is a dark and expressive piece of film-making. Heavily rooted in live-action, the impressive six-minute video includes intense moments of stop motion, visual effects, and motion graphics techniques, all brought to life within the studio’s walls.
View Production Stills on Flickr:
Final Stills
Production Stills
Concept:
After entering his personal sanctuary, an artist is presented with a hand-crafted drawing tool that assists him in materializing his mental impressions. The machine discharges his thoughts as an endless web of yarn that guides him through his physical thoughts. The story progresses to reveal that he is divided between two worlds, one of dull reality and the second of warped memories. In the process of finding a way out of his consciousness, he is trapped between the two competing spaces, which eventually inflict lethal damage, acting as metaphors to self-destruction.
Produced by Bent Image Lab
Directed by Nando Costa
Music by Modest Mouse
Alienate Your Female Customers? Pepsi Has An App For That
Pepsi’s latest foray into social media is certainly bold and controversial, but does it go too far?….more
HOW TO: Integrate Facebook With Your Blog
Love it, hate it, or mildly tolerate it, you can’t dismiss Facebook’s massive success. Even in markets where it doesn’t dominate the social web, Facebook is catching up and will likely succeed….more
20,000+ Gmail, Yahoo, AOL Accounts Compromised [ALERT]
Yesterday, it was revealed that 10,000+ Hotmail accounts were compromised and all of the usernames and passwords of these accounts were posted online. It was a major security and scam issue, but it was thought to only affect Hotmail users……more
Google Voice to Be Supported on Verizon’s Android Phones
Lowell McAdam, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless said in today’s webcast about his company’s deal with Google thatGoogle Voice will be supported on the upcoming Verizon Android phones……more
More Proof Dual-Screen Laptops Are Coming
The rational person inside you says: you don’t need this. The nerd inside you says: you need to spend your 3-month salary on one of these. Regardless of which one you’ll listen to (I’ve already made my choice; food is for the weak), we feel it’s our duty to inform you that there’s more and more proofdual-screen laptops are coming to the market soon………more
Before you say anything - it’s actually well done and an interesting read.
The OK Cupid staff processed some raw data to find out exactly how users matched across race and subsequently, how users respond to others across races. The results weren’t particularly shocking as I am living it everyday, but still, to see this chart I get a very real physical reaction. A general malaise. In short, Black women are the least desirable women on the site. And overwhelmingly so. I mean look at that sad pink/orange bar.
In the comment’s section of the post, hundreds of faux scholars (idiots) drolled on about how this data doesn’t mean anything, and maybe it’s just CULTURAL differences, maybe more black women are fat. Maybe more black women use bad grammar/text speak. It’s totally not racist to not want to date one race. It’s just a preference!
I wish there were a sound associated with plainface, blank stare blinking - the sound of eyelashes going up and down. Because that’s what you’d hear from me right now. Toothsuck.
I agree that a preference and inclination to your own race is not racist. But the buck stops there. EXCLUDING races is, in fact, fucked up. It’s not racist in the sense that Blacks riding in the back of the bus was institutionally racist, but I mean, come on.
In the article, they also display users’ answers to the question “Would you prefer to date someone of your own race?” Non-whites answered around the 25% yes, 75% no range while white men and women were around 45% yes. To this one man replies:
“The second question was worded as “Would you strongly prefer to date someone of your own skin color/racial background”. I answered that question “No”, because I’d be fine dating white, middle-eastern, latin-american, native-american, and asian women, but I’d simply not be attracted to african-american women. That is NOT racism, however – I work and socially interact with black women, and don’t have any problem with it. Developing an intimate relationship, however, is a very different thing.”
I would date every race except black bitches. BUT I KNOW BLACK LADIES SO I’M TOTALLY NOT A BIGOT. A lot of people think this way. A fucking lot. On the one hand it’s hard to fault people for being products of their environment - that is, finding attractive the people we are TOLD to find attractive. But on the other, I’m not about to give everyone a pass because “that’s just how things are”. My ass, you can kiss it.
It’s hard for me to really explain how it feels to be a part of the group that is overwhelmingly undesired. To be seen as universally unattractive. Of course there are so many factors that led to how this data came to be, geography, age, culture and so on, but let’s not kid ourselves. The data would tell a similar story no matter how you slice it.
The one group that has it worse that us - Indian men. Where my Indian fellas at? Let’s commiserate.
Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize: 69% of Twitter Users Don’t Get It
Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prizehas taken many people by surprise, including the President himself, who held a brief press conference this morning to discuss the award….more
