Great new logo redesign for Technicolor from Gyro:HSR. Seeing the logo on their site makes me want to interact with it. Like mousing over the color bars might cause them to shift in shape or hue.

Just came across this post in Aisle One about Frederico Duarte’s column in Eye magazine about these incredible posters for Pan Am designed by Chermayeff & Geismar.



What I like most about the whole story is Duarte’s search for information and history behind the posters. He’s a student in Steven Hellers’ D-Crit program, and his mission for this project was to seek to unearth historical facts about a design, without using Google.What luxury - to have the time and space to pick up a phone, make some calls, talk to the source, and engage in the construction of a story.

It’s design journalism.

Now more important a figure than ever.

The graphic identity and environmental design for the show - by Bibliotheque Design - is inspired by the work, and an incredible design in its own right.

From one of my favorite weblogs, TPM, this Shep Fairey interview provides a deeper look into the mind behind one of the most successful campaign posters ever.

Just learned from Andrew Sullivan that The Atlantic magazine has just rebranded itself, significantly. The style is a nice throwback to the patterns of the 50’s, but with a contemporary touch.

This article has details on all the players involved, which include Pentagram (responsible for the magazine’s new look) and Bond Art & Science (responsible for the website).

This article from Creative Review explores Barclay’s new global brand, and it’s similarities to other spherical brands that express world view via the globe.

Eric Karjaluoto with a impressively insightful post on the back and forth advertising/branding war waged between Apple and Microsoft over the past few years.

His post is replete with videos of various ads, and analysis of tactics. But one aspect of the campaign he doesn’t touch on is the effectiveness of Apple’s iPhone ads. Never before - at least in my memory - has a company produced an advertisement that is so purely centered around the product, and it’s use.

Here’s a compilation of older iPhone ad, as an example:

And here’s one for the iPhone 3G:

These commercials, in my user-centered opinion, exhibit some of the most wonderful advertising tactics ever employed. In a sense, Apple is basically stating, “Our product experience is so useful, usable, and enjoyable that we don’t need an additional manipulative storyline or concept narrative to tap into your deep emotional core in order to create a purchasing desire within you.” Instead, the commercials are honest, truthful, and messages almost entirely about the object.

The iPhone campaign is incredibly innovative, really.

http://www.dearadobe.com

LOL

A few weeks ago Lance Christmann - Effective UI’s Chief Experience Designer - and I sat down for a chat about experience design, branding, Adobe and Thermo. The article from the interview is now up on the UIRC, and I’m pleased with the results. Give it a read for some deeper thoughts on many of the topics I blog about daily.

Also, if you missed it a few months ago, check out this article in the Adobe Developer Connection on the same topic, but focused more specifically on Adobe AIR and the Experience Brand.

For the longest time I’ve had a hang-up with Paula Scher, but I haven’t been able to put my finger on exactly what about her work irks me. Perhaps it’s her perpetual propensity towards post-modernist stylings? Or is it simply that she’s too loud.

Whatever, I say. It’s far too early in the morning, and I’m far less critically educated in these matters to give it more thought than the two listed above. And in any case, after reading this article from Pentagram about Scher’s continued work on NYC’s Public Theatre, she’s won a new convert. With eyes refreshed like my mind was a browser, now I see.

A few posters selected from the set shown in the article: