© Wired (via Youtube)
Industrial designer James Dyson took over Wired’s Twitter account to answer some questions and share some design knowledge along the way last year. Notes taken.
A friend gave me design advice once. He said to start with left-aligned black text on a white background, and to apply styling only to solve a specific problem. This is good advice. Embrace this, and you embrace Brutalist Web Design. Focus on your content and your visitors will enjoy you and your website. Focus on decoration or tricking your visitors into clicking ads, and your content will suffer, along with your visitors.
Some ideas David Bryant Copeland proposes in his Guidelines for Brutalist Web Design might sound a tad radical, but I do like the general concept, so I’m tempted to follow along.
© ARTE (via Youtube)
Great German short documentary by franco-german television station ARTE about Machiya, a traditional architectural style from Japan.
The entire series Stadt, Land, Kunst (City, Country, Art) is fascinating —not only but all the more when the segments are about my place of longing.
Self-publishing on the internet is a rewarding and powerful experience – you can very quickly produce work that is accessible to billions of people for very low cost.
Building websites is often seen as an uncreative, mathematics-based task undertaken by coders. This library encourages you to learn how to design and build interactive experiences and to consider this a tool in your design toolkit.
If you want to publish something online for the first time, this website is a great starting point. As a matter of fact, even if you’ve been building websites for a while already you might discover one or the other nugget –like the already linked idea of Web Design as Architecture– to pick up.
© Kirby Ferguson (via YouTube)
There is an element of explotation to all creatitvity, to appropriate is to take without permission —that’s creativity. You don’t ask others if you could do it, you just do it. Who would you ask anyway? It’s okay to take if you do it the right way.
As a foreigner very much into Asian –more particularly Japanese– culture, philosophy and design, cultural appropriation is a topic I’ve thought about quite a bit already —and even more so since I’m a father now, trying to be the best role model I can be.
Just like with his absolutely amazing series on remixing, Kirby Ferguson makes some valid points on this sensitive topic during his Farewell to Cultural Appropriation.
On a related note: Ferguson is bringing his 2020 series This Is Not a Conspiracy Theory to YouTube (for free). Episode one is available already, the other five parts will be released every two weeks. I haven’t seen it as of now, so I can’t tell you if it is any good, but given the recent track record of the filmmaker, I’m going to watch it for sure!
© 画面
The two characters combine to form the word 画面 “image” or “scene”, but taken separately 画 means “to draw” “to paint” and 面 can mean “noodles”.
Insanely beautiful packaging for Ramen noodles by a brand called 画面. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any even remotely comparatively aesthetical packaging for instant food in our local supermarket. Especially given the price of around 3€.
(via reddit.com)
If we want to build new systems, a healthier industry, and a better world – making good work is not enough. We need to be using the tools, talent and resources at our disposal to begin the kind of grassroots action that isn’t flashy, viral and PR-able. The type that isn’t about us at all – but about supporting our communities, environment, and mental health in meaningful ways that build a new world over time. We need to centre care as a creative principle.
Why making good work is no longer enough. I am feeling this.
itsnicethat.com/features/why-making-good-work-is-no-longer-enough-creative-industry-280322
The philosophy is rooted in the idea that computing systems should “simplify complexities, not introduce new ones.”
The idea outlined in this essay reminds me of the wonderful concept of Shikake –”the Japanese art of shaping behaviour through design”– as well as the beautiful approach to tech displayed in the fantastic movie her and I wholeheartedly agree with its central claim; We need more Calm Design.
the process® is the practice. the artifacts are just the side effects.
© Nippon Design Center
© Nippon Design Center
Experience Japan Pictograms are a novel set of visual symbols developed for people of all cultures and ages to enhance their tourism experience in Japan. These uniquely simple and easy-to-understand pictograms are designed under the key concept of “second encounter with Japan” to invite visitors to explore and enjoy Japan a little deeper than before.
The studio of renowned graphic designer Kenya Hara, the Nippon Design Center, has released a free set with more than 250 pictograms primarily intended for the tourism sector in Japan. Even though the collection naturally has multiple rather specific icons, there’re some nice basic and universally applicable ones among them, too. Definitely worth a glance.
© Tavo Studio (via Vimeo)
Where is your OASIS?
There is always a space between art and design, and that’s the spot where everyone
wants to be.
Oasis is a manifiesto in favor of the search for the balance between design and art.
Where is the border between client´s requests and your aspirations?In short, it is a difficult balance to achieve.
© Jonathan Djob Nkondo / It’s Nice That (via Vimeo)
The mentality behind all my work is to tell a story in a unique way. Simple stories, few elements, with a smart way to add narrative
You can definitely see this mindset of Jonathan Djob Nkondo shaping all of his beautiful short films, but I’m especially intrigued by this one from 2018 called Comfort Zone.
© nomena (via Vimeo)
© nomena (via YouTube)
nomena is investigating new types of space perception. research and practice, academic and commercial, technology and aesthetic.
As mentioned in the about section of this blog, I love projects which cross-scale in media and studios (and creatives) who work interdisciplinary. Japanese studio nomena by Shohei Takei is such a studio, working at the intersection of art, design and science to create amazing tactile projects.