May 7 2010
May 7 2010
Here at Plaid we had friends, clients, and family asking us how the new health care bill will affect them. So we decided to create an info-graphic showcasing some of the major points of the new bill. Please let us know what else you would like to see as an info-graphic!
April 26 2010
The U.S. $100 bill is one of the most counterfeited currencies throughout the world, creating a high demand for increased security features. Last week the newly designed bill was released to the public. There has been plenty of controversy in the design community over the new bill. Among questions asked, “Why must the new bill be so poorly designed despite its security requirements? “However, what I find even more intriguing is with all the talk about creating higher security measures, that the U.S. government has created an interactive $100 bill feature and multimedia video and made it available to the general public online.
The new bill contains a 3-D image strip, a quill penn watermark, a UV light sensitive strip, a hidden bell inside a foil inkwell, as well as the traditional watermark of Ben Franklin’s head. All this can be explored in-depth through the interactive feature. Now, I’m not an expert when it comes to counterfeiting money, however, it seems you shouldn’t display all of the security features of the new bill to the general public. Currently, if you go to the U.S. new money website you can explore the new bill and its security features using a number of tools ranging from UV light, back light, magnification and even a virtual tour. So in an effort to make this bill more secure it seems we have actually decreased the effort a counterfeiter must go through to find the idiosyncrasies contained within the bill, while also providing some helpful tools.
April 6 2010
The Haiti poster project invites designers to donate limited edition signed posters that can be purchased for various monetary amounts. The proceeds will then be donated to Doctors Without Borders. The Haiti poster project was launched three days after the January earthquake in Haiti. The project was started by Leif Steiner founder and creative director of Moxie Sozo, a design firm in Boulder Colorado. Steiner also led the charge on the Hurricane Katrina Poster Project which helped to raise $50,000 for victims in New Orleans. There are other efforts like The Poster Cause Project which were not created specifically for Haiti, but still contribute towards charitable donations. It’s great to see the design community coming together and contributing positively towards a greater cause.
March 23 2010
Companies have been tapping into the indie music scene to help promote their products for years. The most recent were during the Superbowl, where VW used Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” to close out its new punch buggy commercials and Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” for an NFL spot.
“Selling out” seems to be a popular trend these days. But is it possible to sell out anymore? With bands making a lot of their money from singles on the iTunes store rather than full albums, how are these start up bands supposed to keep making music. Touring provides lots of money for bands that have already created a name for themselves but what about bands that aren’t on the map yet? If you release a few songs to a corporation are you selling out, or does it depend on the company? For instance is it ok to sell out to a company like Apple (Feist), but not ok for a corporation like Cadillac (Phoenix) or Palm Pre (Passion Pit)? What determines selling out in the modern world? I believe the general public, is causing these bands to sell out. With 95% of all music downloaded being illegal and the refusal to buy full albums, we are causing these bands we love to “sell out”. With no end in sight for illegal downloading, I say go ahead “sell out”, if you can.
March 11 2010
Artist Jan Vormann has been quite busy lately working to repair the cracks and crevices of New York City. Yet, instead of pouring concrete or mortar he has decided to patch up our city using a favorite childhood toy, Legos.
Vormann’s work can be seen in places throughout the city, some of the structures he has built even include small doors which make the cracks look like small homes. He said that ” In cooperation with the Gallery Jarmuschek+Partner and the kind of support of Henk Holzheimer (LEGO Graffiti Styles Convention), I went to New York City, as part of the VOLTA art show, to support Mayor Bloomberg in his everyday-struggle to make this city even more amazing.” We think this is a great way to add a little fun and beauty to the everyday life of the average New Yorker.
February 23 2010
This past weekend is the first time in a longtime when I did not twitter, facebook, email, touch a computer, or even use my cell phone. I did things like go to dinner with friends, venture into a dueling piano bar, ice skating, in other words; being social without social media.
Don’t get me wrong I’m all for social media. Its helped me to stay connected in ways I didn’t think possible, as well as gather information quickly without the legwork. However, without it, I felt more inspired, observant, and attentive. Maybe it life was better before we had useful distractions like twitter and facebook. Luckily, there’s actually a device to cure you of social media. Within an hour the web 2.0 suicide machine disconnects you from all your social media avatars. So far 3,109 people have used the machine, totaling 229,651 friends unfriended and 391,125 tweets untweeted. Maybe this is a bit extreme but there is something to be said about becoming “anti-social”.
February 17 2010
Shaun White will be going for gold tonight in the Men’s snowboarding halfpipe as well as showcasing his new trick the Double McTwist 1260. White, who went pro at 13, was immediately sponsored by Burton. Now sponsored by Oakley, Birdhouse, Target, Redbull, Adio, and HP, White has created an incredibly successful brand for himself. A brand that epitomizes snowboarding. Everything from White’s red mop top hair, to his clothing, even the way he speaks is all part of the Shaun White brand. His sponsors are willing to do whatever it takes to keep him with their company.
There are very few athletes whose names are the epitome of their sport. Shaun, just 23 years old, now sits among names like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Michael Phelps, and Wayne Gretzky. These athletes have another thing in common: the ability to brand themselves. This, along with their athletic talent, is what makes them superstars.
White has won 23 gold medals across the Olympics, X-Games, and The Dew Tour since 2002 and will go for number 24 tonight.
February 8 2010
Typographers are extremely talented individuals who practice a complex craft to which the average person rarely takes notice. However, here at Plaid we’ve noticed smaller type foundries are creating really interesting and fresh looking typefaces. We have compiled a list of some of our favorites below:
Font Smith
Schwartzco Inc.
Miles Newlyn
PS Typelab
Typotheque
Hoefler Frere-Jones
Lineto
Suitcase Type Foundry
Klim
Fountain type
February 2 2010
(click to see enlarged photo)
Hearing from Scott Stowell the other day made us start to realize how many epic designers came from the legendary design firm M&Co. We did some investigation and surprised even ourselves.
If you are in the design industry chances are you’ve heard of Tibor Kalman, or at the very least his design studio M&Co. Kalman started his career in graphic design by working for a small bookstore (later to become Barnes and Noble) where he led their in house design department up until 1979 when he started M&Co. Kalman hired many talented young designers at M&Co and started a trend referred to as “anti-design,” being dubbed the “bad boy” of graphic design in the process.
What Kalman seemed to bestow most upon his designers was a process. A process to create innovative solutions by going against the norm. A “break the rules, it’s far more interesting if you do” mentality. To be able to run a design studio is a feat in itself, but to do it the way Kalman did is something extraordinary. Kalman’s process to this day transcends into the design of those who worked for him.
Flash forward 15-20 years later. Those young talented designers now own and operate their own design studios. Former M&Co designers include Scott Stowell, Stefan Sagmeister, Emily Oberman, Stephen Doyle, Alexander Isley, Douglas Riccadi, and Carol Bokuniewicz among others. To see a full size version of the chart above click here. If anyone has anything to add to this family tree or has another idea for a family tree, we would love to hear it!
January 25 2010
Most people don’t know what graphic design is let alone that people actually go to college and study it as a discipline. Chip Kidd’s novels The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners are wildly entertaining stories about trials and tribulations of training to be a graphic designer at Penn State University. Based loosely on the Knopf designer’s own educational experiences he outlines his inability to make decisions, constant trauma from harsh critiques and the fear of never making it in the design industry.
Chip Kidd will be speaking with Milton Glaser at the Cooper Hewitt. See you there!
