Winnipeg, Manitoba

Tomorrow I give my talk about Solace House at TEDxManitoba 2012… I’m feeling a combination of the thrill to be able to share my story about how we can conserve energy and embrace the sun, and the wrenching stage-fright that has haunted me since I was a small child.  :-/

Any questions? (original source unknown)

(an experiment by Moritz Resl in Vienna, Austria)

“This experiment shows what a font would look like if it consisted of all typefaces installed on my system. Every character from a to z is drawn using every single font with a low opacity. In total there are over 900 typefaces in my library. I didn’t exclude the ugly ones.”

Thanks to Jeff Werner for the link.

Melbourne, Australia

I received an invitation from my friend Mimmo Cozzolino today… so I thought I’d pass this along.

For forty years, Mimmo has been hiding bits of his life in shoe boxes, folders, drawers, and filing cabinets. For the last four years (as part of an MFA at Monash University) he’s been looking at what he put away and choosing the fragments that say something about his life as a migrant and ‘New Australian,’ designer, photographer, and artist. This research has concluded with the creation of nine limited edition books, which Mimmo “wants to share with you.”

The books will be on show at the Monash Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture Masters Gallery D2.09 on Tue. 7, Wed. 8, and Thu. 9 February 2012, between 10am and 5pm. Mimmo will be in or not far from the gallery for the three days. At 5:15pm each day of the show he’ll be meeting friends at the Racecourse Hotel for a drink, and “you’re most welcome to join” him. The hotel is just across the road from the University at 895 Dandenong Rd., Malvern East, Melbourne… wish I could bend an elbow with you there, mate!

You can learn more about Mimmo Cozzolino here, and view photos of his on Flickr account here. I first crossed paths with Mimmo on a trip to Australia in 1999, but we later reconnected during the month I spent as designer in residence at the Monash University Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture in 2006. I drew heavily on his research and writing about early Australian trademarks in the feature article I wrote for Communication Arts magazine about graphic design in Australia back in 2007.

Melbourne, Australia

My good friend Russell Kennedy (Icograda President from 2009-2011 and an Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology) has launched a website to help promote a proposal for a new Australian flag. This comprehensive study features an integrated system of ensigns which represent unity through design and diversity through colour. The proposal is that the Advance Australia National Flag replace the current Australian flag by the year 2020.

“Many people now acknowledge that he current Australian flag is not a unique design and agree that it is not suitable as a national flag—it is actually a colonial flag/ensign. To feature the flag of another country on our flag is perceived as subservient and illogical. And to claim that the Union Jack on the Australian Flag symbolises the historical origin of our people is highly disrespectful to Indigenous Australians. The Advance Australia National Flag both acknowledges and proudly celebrates indigenous Australia as the world’s oldest, continuous living culture.”

Learn lots more about this interesting proposal here. Watch a brief video clip here that shows how the kangaroo on this proposed flag design literally leaps in the wind… beautiful!

from Singapore…

This lovely poster caught my eye… “The lives of animals revolve around their living space, the rainforest. And since animals are not able to speak for themselves, the destruction of their habitat leaves them suffering in silence.”

(source)

Düsseldorf, Germany

“Beginning in 1928, Gerd Arntz, commissioned by Otto Neurath, developed the Isotype visual dictionary, consisting of over 4000 symbols. The idea was that images can bridge differences of language, are easy to grasp and, when done well, are also nice to look at. The legibility of Isotype is determined by the simplicity of its symbols. These should be instantly recognizable, without any distracting detail…”

Read more about this amazing undertaking and see hundreds more of Gerd’s wonderful illustrated symbols here.

(from the slopes of the vintage Alps)

“High-end UK dealer Vintage Seekers is offering an expertly curated selection of mid-century posters featuring ski resorts throughout the Alps and other destinations. These are all uncommon original prints and the price tags reflect that fact… those of us without the budget for these classic works of advertising art will have to admire them via our computer screens.”

Thanks to my colleague Carisa Romans for the source/link, here (where you can find more links and larger views).

Berlin, Germany

An impressive joint venture of the Buchstabenmuseum (Museum of Letters) and a dozen dedicated students from the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg has transformed a former beauty salon into an impressive museum experience in the heart of Berlin. An elevated walkway in the museum serves as a central element and leads the visitors throughout the exhibition spaces where “the letterforms are featured as heroes.”

What began as a school assignment developed into a thesis exhibition and leaves a lasting legacy for the benefit of anyone interested in typography and signage. Beyond ideation and design, students also gained valuable hands-on experience by spending a week at the Lichtenfels Innovationszentrum (a makerspace) building and assembling fittings and display components.

Read a full account of this great student-led project here.

The Buchstabenmuseum was founded as a nonprofit organization in 2005. Its founding was inspired by an enthusiasm for typography and a passion for preserving typographical signs and characters. The museum aims to collect, restore and exhibit letters and characters from Berlin and around the world. Hundreds of letters have been saved from neglect or destruction and placed on display in the museum. Through the systematic preservation and documentation of these historical objects, the Buchstabenmuseum has become both a reminder of past eras and a laboratory for ongoing discussions. It is currently the only museum that focuses exclusively on individual letters as symbols.

Buchstabenmuseum — Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13, 10178 Berlin-Mitte

Super-saturated yellow means “big independent film.”

Back to back: tough-love relationship ahead.

The only dress colour for romantic comedies? Red.

Running down a blue street? Thriller.

An enormous, looming eye can only mean horror.

View between the legs? Likely includes sex scenes and/or a hot female actress.

Hollywood, California

Christophe Courtois has compiled quite a collection of movie posters and put them together according to genre—here you can see what he tried to show at-a-glance. His point is that Hollywood movie posters have basically fallen into a number of design clichés of late, a change from the originality that posters exhibited, say, 50 years back. You can see more of his comparisons here.

Thanks to colleague Gary Ludwig for the link.