A New Generation Pushes the Big Brands Hip

LAB Partners design and Illustration's work for a new HP Retail Publishing group, who will appeal to a younger, hip consumer who expects more ( or less) from advertising. Thanks to the suaveness of Goodby, Silvertein and Partners, this idea grows into something completely new and fresh and very far away from the 1990's model of Neville Brody design that we still see so much of today in big business.

Happy Bottledays - Evian's Paul Smith Bottle

Evian launches a bottle designed by British fashion designer, Paul Smith. An icon gets madeover for the Holidays.

ADC Young Guns - Julien Vallée and pecha kuchaism

ADC Young Gun winner, Julien Valée may have presented a body of work at an Apple Store, but this could be a Window dislay equally, effective. It's high and low, tech, and could still sell the most sophisticated of electronics. Yeah, paper sculpture can sell technology today as well as a slick, perfectly shiny photo with a reflection, can. Maybe,even better. Take note, Apple.

Connecting with culture today takes much more than simply believing that modernity is the the answer. For, after all, what is modernity today, anyway? Recently, a number of factors are moving me, personally, to challenge conventional thinking when it comes to crafting creative design solutions. Mostly, I am exploring the curious trend of technology becoming more organic, and natural rather than the cliche expressions we see over and over again from the tech companies. Take Apple, for instance.

It's funny, and quite clear, to see brands beyond Apple, design packaging which is sold within the Apple stores. "Make it look like Apple" and suddenly, it's quaintly not new, not modern, not original, and definitely, not Apple. Sometimes, the answer can be found in the solution rather than the challenge. Creative people, who are brilliantly good at it, are discovering some amazingly elegant and yet, provocative ways to capture our attention. After all, marketing today should be more about engaging us ( even if it means, entertaining us) than boring us with the expected. The message, if presented effectively, can be said more in the experience, than in words.


Take Montreal ADC Young Gun Julien Vallée's work. Brilliantly new, a voice of today, if not tomorrow, and certainly worth noting.



Congrat's also, to ALSO, chicago design firm, and friends, who've I've been using for years for their creative collective minds. You go, Guys!

The Eighty's Still? -Meet the new black

Matt Moore



The work of Chris Saunder's is stunningly vectorific. If he can make this feel new, what else can he do?

The 1980's may dead, but only in the same what that Camo never really goes away, I'm afraid to admit.
In an effort to create this new presentation for the future of the 80's, and it's effects on contemporary design, I am actually finding myself rather enthralled with new recipes of delicious eightysness.

Lucia Lotti shoes from Spain. Luscious.


More, more, more, of Maine's Matt Moore! I love his work, and apparently, so does Nike, Wired, and moore.

Brands on Broadway

As a fan of great entertainment, where ever it comes from, ( and believe me, today, if often can only come from the mega-corporations such as Disney and other studios), I was not surprised to see that SHREK will be opening on Broadway next week. As other shows close, such as the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTIEN, which I love, others open in good, old fashioned Broadway tradition. The only difference is that today, it costs a whole lot more ( 30 Million dollars and up) to assemble the talent and to secure the space to put on a 'show'. As an entertainment/Intellectual Property creator myself, I know that this is a trend not going away soon. Admit it, you really are not surprised, either. Come on.....look at the movies lately? Everything is a remake. I can only hope that this is not some global sign that creativity is waning, hopefully it is only a slightly exploitive use of licensed properties, only because humans enjoy seeing thier favorite characters in other venues ( much in the same way I loved my Casper the Ghost pajamas in 1967).

BTW.....look out for Spidey on stage, the MARVEL character is being cast for...yes, a Broadway Musical opening next year. Don;t laugh, it might be awesome........the music is by Bono of U2 fame. It can't be THAT bad. Anything done right, can be extraordinary.

Idea Painter - Nikki Farquarson

Randomgotbeautiful.com by Nikki Farquarson



In our world of vintage-this and vintage that, I am always impressed with what elevates from the sameness. A recent post on the site THECOOLHUNTER.COM featured the illustrations of Nikki Farquarson, but she is much more than a mere illustrator with and undeniably fresh look - she is what I call a idea painter - visualizing new expressions out of most any material, regardless of any rules or limitations. I especially like her work on the site RANDOMGOTBEAUTIFUL.COM and her type which is hand executed.



Reminiscent of textbook cover doodles, Nikki's illustration demonstrates a rare gift today - a distinctive and authentic style that although influenced from the past, delivers newness. Call it collage, retro doodles or craft, I believe her work is nothing but pure genius because it takes me to an entirely new place, visually.

Cross Influencing - Creatives share to achieve new expressions.

As one who is frequently called upon to craft exciting experiences at corporate events, I was so pleasantly surprised to run across one of the kings of event design's new blog, New York's David Stark. As someone who continually is hungry for creative experiences that deliver high impact, David's work also is documented on his blog in a most unique and refreshing way - with the influence that inspired his project.

How rare it is, to see both the result and the original idea, in fact, David also shows the process, the presentation boards he has created to sell the idea to the non-visual, the client. Believe me, often brilliant ideas slink away once presented to the 'committee' for whatever even one is planning. Hooray for David, and look at the results!
The Party in the Garden at MOMA was inspired by David Starks passion for Marimekko and Liro A Ahoka's pattern, below. Digital meets green, with a retro splash.

Iiro A. Ahokas designed pattern for Marimekko. Iiro himself is an interesting talent in his own right, with a degree in glass and ceramics and as a designer for Marimekko, he also is an artist and a designer, certainly one with a bright future.
A pattern by designer Iiro A. Ahokas for Marimekko
Iiro A. Ahokas, designer

David's design for the America's Society Gala last month in New York City, is an excellent example of how he shares his influence. How many times are we challenged by trying to communicate a cliche? Image such themes as globalism, or being global, or "reaching for the stars". How innovative can we be? But look at what Davids team created with postcards from all over the world.

It is always about light, color and atmosphere first, I say. THen, the big thing....whatever it is ( the big weenie in my Disney days- a castle, a spinning globe, a giant tree- whatever, as long as it is huge, dynamic and makes people go WOW)/ Here, it manifests itself as giant of giant chandeliers, made out of postcards from all over the world. Talk about being global without showing a spinning globe, and it is beautiful, stunning and goosebump material. I want to go to the event.


David was inspired by the recent windows at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City where the window displays were constructed with thousands of Post-it notes, to create a pixelated picture. (I'm sure a bit of artist Chuck Close was added too!).

I get to use ø - Tank Design

There are other reasons for me to want to visit Tromsø, Norway ( their famous botanic garden and alpine plants), but after seeing the work of TANK, I now have another. Tank Design was founded in 1999 and now has staff in both Oslo and Tromsø. I am so impressed with their design, that I am sharing it in a new series where I will share my "dream list" of firms I find impressive for one reason or another, mostly for their visual work.

Just look at what the talented creatives at Tank Design have done with packaging graphics for both a water company, and a Beer Brewery. Outstandingly elegant, and fresh.

BEYOND TREND - the Book: Now at your local bookstore, worldwide

OK, it's not about plants, but it is about design!

I think what is most different about this book, is that this is the book I wanted to buy. This is a book about trends, about the future of design, written not by a marketer, or a business person, but by a designer - a creative's vision on why the future is so hard to design.

It's not negative, it's optimistic ( for creative people). Basically, it's easy today for ANYONE to call themselves a designer, heck, they can buy a computer, buy the software to design a logo, and buy the fonts, and the best thing is, the computer comes with all of the colors you would every need!


At Home Depot, on a Saturday morning, young house mates choose color palettes themselves, to design their own space. On TV, reality shows pit everyday people in designing against each other, DIY has become a trend, and design is suffering for it. Design today is trivialized, diluted, and yet, it has never been in such demand by big-business.

Mass retail now knows that 'Design sells', Target and competitor, Wal Mart know the secret, heck, we are even fooled and challenge ourselves to identify the differences between a TV commercial from JC PEnny, Sears and Target - they all start to look the same.....so what's next? And Is there a next? Or, can there always be a new 'next
?

Those are the sort thoughts that keep designers up at night, and this is what my book BEYOND TREND is all about.

Please consider picking it up, you might enjoy the 200 pictures, or the quick and hopefully, easy read!


Thanks


BEYOND TREND - How To Innovate In An Over-Designed World by Matt Mattus hit's the shelves in bookstores and your fav. online book stores from Borders to Amazon to Barnes and Noble in the States, to Kinokuniya in Japan, and Asia, David and Charles in the UK, and, well, it seems most major retailers from Wal Mart to Target. ( eeek ).

A little more about BEYOND TREND.

I was asked by the publishers of ID magazine, HOW magazine and PRINT magazine, F & W Publications ( also the publishers of HORTICULTURE now, strangely enough!) to write a book about design trends and the future of design, something that I speak about at design conferences, and what I do, at Hasbro, as a Visual Brand Strategist.

The result, this little hardcover book with over 200 color images of everything from Sir Norman Foster's architecture to Zaha Hadid's renderings for the 2012 Olympics to Hand bag designer Kate Spade and everything in between. Visual design today is becoming boring, as is gardening, I must say. We live in a world where we are obsessed with the idea of 'New', and trends seem to come and go faster than ever before. As a trend hunter, I was being asked, "what is next?", and after traveling the world, I had to say " not much". But that was not the entire story.

BEYOND TREND examines my journey through this realization of discovery. As I edited the visual sameness searching for the next, hot color. What I discovered surprised me. Maybe you will find the read and the visual ride exciting too.