Advertising

Where’s the Jeep?

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 17, 2009September 4, 2014

At a time when ads are becoming ever more elaborate and reliant on tech-driven special effects, this Jeep print ad campaign for Chrysler/Korea is inspiring for its spareness and simplicity. Asked to demonstrate how Jeep is designed for all weather conditions, BBDO/Proximity Malaysia, based in Kuala Lumpur, came up with a concept that showed how Jeep could bridge weather extremes, by picturing a Bushman and an Eskimo, a Husky and a Camel, and a Mountain Goat and a Crocodile. The silhouettes printed in Arctic Blue and Arid Tan overlap to form a silhouette of an olive green Jeep.

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Visual Merchandising

Urban Landscape – Hardware Window Dressing

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 15, 2009September 4, 2014

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In San Francisco, the best retail window displays can be found in one of the most unlikely places – a hardware store. With four locations in San Francisco, Cole Hardware has been serving local do-it-yourselfers since 1926. It lives by its slogan: “Hardware for the soul.” That soulful spirit is visible in its amusingly artistic window displays created by the two-women visual merchandising team – Noelle Nick and Dominique Tutwiler.

Nick, an engineer who once worked at Bechtel, and Tutwiler, who majored in illustration at San Francisco’s Academy of Art, have literally turned circular saws, toilet balls, rubber gloves and other utilitarian objects into works of art. One display, which they titled “Louvre,” presented ornately framed “recreations” of Van Gogh’s sunflowers made from yellow-rimmed circular saws in a yellow vase and Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” from the Sistine Chapel made from two rubber gloves striking an imitative pose. Benjamin Moore paint dribbled onto a canvas paid homage to Jackson Pollack’s abstract expressionist art. These window displays are not a departure from Cole’s hardware products. Nick says that they are made entirely out of products carried by Cole.

Industrial Design

Dyson Airblade™ Hand Dryer: More than Hot Air

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 13, 2009September 4, 2014

Supposedly electric hand dryers found in public restrooms are better than paper towels because they are more hygienic, require less manufacturing energy, lower janitorial costs, and reduce landfill. Supposedly. However, most people who use hand dryers in public restrooms either punch the start button several times to evaporate residual moisture, walk out with damp hands, or complete the drying process by wiping their hands on their clothes. The conventional hand dryer is a candidate for the “bad design” award.

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Design Quizzes

Quiz: Test Your Money Symbol Skills

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 7, 2009September 4, 2014

We have all heard of the American dollar, the European Union euro, the South African rand, the Japanese yen, etc., but can you recognize currency symbols on sight? Are you aware that at least 24 countries use the “$” sign to denote that the number that follows has a monetary value? In this global economy, it has becoming increasingly important for designers, editors and proofreaders to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of money marks. Here are a few currency symbols. Using the number beside each symbol, see if you can match the symbol with the country that uses it. Note: Due to space, not all countries that share the same symbol are listed.

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Pop Culture

Music Icon of an Era

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 6, 2009September 4, 2014

Of all the millions of photographs of superstar Michael Jackson, the photo of a single jewel-encrusted meshed glove encapsulated the voice, the moves, the artistry, the mystique of this incomparable performer. Jackson’s glove had become such a familiar trademark that one blogger lamented “the gloved one” is gone.

by Corporate Design Foundation

Month: July 2009