Advertising

Clever Marketing or Simulated Sex?

By Delphine Hirasuna | June 1, 2010September 4, 2014

We know that sex sells, but at what point do you cross over the line from suggestive to simulated? For the past week, the @Issue editorial team and interested others at Studio Hinrichs have been engaged in an ongoing dispute. My opinion and that of several others (who just happened to all be women) was that this commercial bordered on soft porn (the next ad in this series even more so). The male designers in the office watched the commercial attentively before describing it as “stylish,” “well-designed,” and “clever marketing.”

Brand Logos

UK Space Agency Logo Controversy

By Delphine Hirasuna | April 5, 2010September 4, 2014

The UK Space Agency, which was just launched on April 1, hasn’t even gotten off the ground, but its logo is already mired in controversy. Designed by Folio Creative, the mark features a stylized Union Jack with a red arrow soaring toward the heavens. Some have charged that it bears a striking similarity to one claimed by the Space Rocket Group in the BBC-TV sci-fi show “Doctor Who.” The response from Folio Creative was to insist that “There is barely a passing resemblance…. It is inevitable if you combine the Union Flag with a space theme.”

Although we certainly see how that comparison can be made, we also know how designers brainstorm ways to turn a name into visual shorthand. We can just picture the initial concept development discussions starting with designers jotting down every British icon that comes to mind – the British beefeater, John Bull, the Queen, Tower of London, Big Ben…to, I got it!, the British flag! Moving onto “space agency,” the images that come to mind are the planets, stars, galaxy, astronauts…or how about a space rocket! Combine the two and what you get is a succinct link between UK and space travel. The UKSA logo, however, is much more elegant than the “Doctor Who” logo, so we think the linkage is just a coincidence, not a ripoff.

Design Education

Design School Awards MBA Degrees

By Delphine Hirasuna | March 19, 2010September 4, 2014

An ongoing complaint from both design and business professionals is the “other side’s” tunnel vision approach to addressing market problems. Yet it has become increasingly accepted that all roads to innovation lead through design, and that design strategy factors into every step along the path, from engineering and finance to product placement and the customer experience. Design-centered businesses are no longer an anomaly. It takes design thinking to solve business problems and vice versa – and to do it fast, because competition is no longer regional or national, it’s global.

So, it is reassuring to note that the California College of the Arts in San Francisco is awarding its first MBA in Design Strategy degrees this spring. The full-time, two-year MBA program is the only one of its kind in the United States.

Typography

Avoiding Typographic Fiascos: H&FJ Offer Tips.

By Delphine Hirasuna | March 18, 2010September 4, 2014

There’s an art to combining typefaces. When it is done well, the entire layout comes alive. Words become more legible, information feels organized and easier to understand, and the typography itself reflects a mood that is consistent with the message being conveyed. When it is done badly, it’s a jarring hodge-podge.

That’s why when we ran across this lesson on Hoefler & Frere Jones’s website, we had to bring it to you. (H&FJ, as most of you know, is one of the world’s foremost digital typehouses.) H&FJ’s overriding advice is: Keep one thing consistent, and let one thing vary.

1. Use typefaces with complementary moods to evoke an upbeat, energetic air.

The interplay between fonts gives them energy.

Publishing

Ten Years Told Through 92 Covers

By Delphine Hirasuna | January 18, 2010September 4, 2014

From the Magazine Publishers Association and American Society of Magazine Editors comes this two-minute video “Covering the Decade in Magazine Covers.” This edited America-centric view of the Aughts glaringly omits world-altering stories such as the disputed “hanging chad” Presidential election that started the decade and the rise of social media and focus on climate change that ended it. Overall, however, the video is a fascinating glimpse at the visual devices that publishers use to grab consumer attention at the newsstand. Faces, especially of celebrities, dominate most covers. Pop culture and sensational headlines trump the promise of substantive, thoughtful reporting. Obviously, the magazine reading public is more interested in being entertained than informed.

by Corporate Design Foundation

@issue