Posted in
Inspiration,
now blooming on
March 10, 2010 – 9:07 AM
It is springtime and a young man’s fancy turns, of course, to lawn care! Well, not so much, me not so much anyway. In springtime, I start to think about how to eliminate lawn care. I frankly hate our lawn and hate the 60 or so Briggs & Stratton engines that swarm over the yard every week.
We hate the noise and obviously would like to eliminate our little contribution to Climate Change.
We are also less than fond of the Olmstedian ideal of the suburban lawn. Yup, our lawns were envisioned as an open greenspace in the original Chicago suburbs as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, perhaps better known for a couple of parks he worked on in NYC. Also, NJ. And elsewhere. But those are other posts, perhaps.
Yesterday, I saw this post about a new bath mat or carpet made of living, growing moss. In turn, I thought of this (requires free membership) article from The New York Times about a moss lawn. This is our ideal, eliminate the grass and replace it with a self sustaining and multi-shade ground covering of moss. Accent the moss with stones, boulders and maybe some bits of sculpture or ruins.
It seems that moss is very nice to walk upon, it does not need to be mowed and croquet may be played. What more does one need?
We have started a bit here and there, but it is a slow process. Maybe it is time to brush up on my Vectorworks Landmark skills, very useful in entertainment design, extremely useful when you own a home. Design it up, bid it out.
I also think of other things in the spring, but…
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Posted in
Design Basics,
The Studio on
March 9, 2010 – 9:04 AM
Of course I selected this image. We’re fans.
I’ve been meaning to blog about this for some time. creativebits discussed using gradients in logos, well, almost a year ago. It never occurred to me that staying current with technology was an issue.
Sure, when I learned about Graphic Design full color printing was an expensive and complex process. Spot color or the use of two or three Pantone colors, sometimes with tints, was generally the way to go. However, full color or process printing has been very affordable for many years. Even newspapers are printed in full color.
One of the major expenses of full color printing was the cost of creating the color separations so that the inks could mix to photographic clarity. With contemporary computer processing power and software, that is no longer an issue.
creativebits lays out a similar history and old arguments for not using anything but solid colors in logos. I have always believed that if the client is educated and willing we as designers and clients as businesses should embrace the most current technology; colors, gradients, transparency, whatever works best for the images being created.
Enjoy the gallery at creativebits. Remember that when creating ‘period’ looks for film or theatre, one has to research printing methods available in the specific time. A Victorian gradient is likely a product of poor research.
There still needs to be a black and white version of any logo image. Probably not for long.
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Posted in
Art for Art's Sake,
Inspiration on
March 3, 2010 – 6:16 PM
We learned yesterday of the death of artist Robert McCall whose vision of the future continues to excite. He was 90.
Today, we skipped around the web and learned a bit more. Nothing like a little lunch time reading for inspiration. The image at left is the iconic poster for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey that anticipates a future (well, future then) where space flight is common.
This image still makes me sad that PanAm has been long out of business.
While McCall’s name was not immediately recognizable to us, his work certainly is etched in our memories. It seems that almost every NASA installation has a mural by McCall. While this is remarkable in and of itself, there are a few other credits that really round out an impactful career.McCall also designed a series of stamps commemorating space flight and individual missions. Consider the implications of creating work on these very different scales.
In our work, we designs sets for television and exhibits that are meant to be seen close up and we design sets for theatre that require aesthetic distance. We understand adjusting scale for the medium. McCalls divergence of scale is simply amazing.
McCall was also in the film industry. He served as an art director or conceptual artist on the films The Black Hole and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Lines and Colors brought this loss to our attention. Of course, they simultaneously reminded us of our hope for the future.
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Posted in
Teaching,
The Work,
VectorWorks on
February 28, 2010 – 12:33 PM
For a long time we have had a section on the main site for downloads. The intent has always been to post some of our standard Vectorworks files like Default Stationery and Default Textures. Never got around to that. Until today.
Nothing is ever perfect, especially files that need to continually evolve. So we hope these help and provide some guidance for using Vectorworks, or at least how we use Vectorworks.
We notice that we have been getting many hits from universities lately, so we assume there are some students who may see some new ways of thinking. Also posted is our book; Getting Started with Vectorworks Spotlight 2010 in PDF, ePub and Mobi file formats. The latter two are from an earlier draft, so they are not the final text, but useful on a handheld device.
One note: the mobile formats of Getting Started with Vectorworks Spotlight 2010 are first attempts at mobile publishing, so they need considerable refinement. I had a lengthy conversation with Jonathan Pickup of Archoncad yesterday, so hopefully revised files with be soon coming.
Questions, comments, wishes; post them in the comments.
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Posted in
Inspiration on
February 26, 2010 – 2:02 PM
Good shoes are important accessories. First they make a solid statement about the individual. Second, proper shoes provide proper support for the back. Never skimp on shoes.
Manolo has a terrific blog about shoes done with reverence and humor. He has been on our blog roll for a long time. I have had his blog in my RSS reader for a longer time. Anyone who has seen my artwork knows we like shoes.
Much to my delight this morning, Manolo’s daily column shows up in my reader and he is featuring MY Donald J. Pliner Rex shoes! I own a few pair of Pliner’s and the Rex was my first. Simple, clean elegant and perfectly made of fine leather in Italy. What more could a man want in shoes?
His Ladies shoes rock as well (of course, Kathleen includes some in her collection), and how could one not love Baby Doll.
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Posted in
The Work on
February 25, 2010 – 4:00 PM
It’s double sided, remember? You did read yesterday’s post? If not, scroll down.
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Posted in
The Work on
February 24, 2010 – 7:43 PM
We have been working with the Valley Animal Hospital on a new branding and identity initiative for some time. Recently we installed some real and very tangible results of our joint efforts–New Signage. If you click on the link, there should also be a new website which we have Art Directed. If the website does not look like the sign, come back in a day or so, it is a work in progress.
It is interesting how different audiences can see the same thing differently and equally positively. Initially, we saw the curvilinear and translucent blue forms of the logo as the mountains that define the Valley in Valley Animal Hospital. Dr. Joseph DeLucia, one of the partners in the practise saw those same forms as the waves of the water used in their pioneering and very successful rehabilitation practise. Read More »
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Posted in
Teaching on
February 23, 2010 – 7:28 PM
Cliff Kuang has an interesting post up at Fast Company on personality traits of designers. The Myers-Briggs personality test was taken by 65 designers, and skipping over the charts and graphs – you can see them if you click on the above link – here are the findings, as described by Kuang:
According to the test, those that “intuit” rather than “sense” tend to focus on context and future developments, rather than simply the data at hand. Meanwhile, those that “judge” rather than “perceive” tend to see the world in terms of discrete problems that can be structured and cracked, rather than as a series of casual, open-ended possibilities.
In other words, designers are less akin to the stereotypical touchy-feely artist, and more like engineers who always keep the big picture in mind.
I’ve been thinking about these findings, and Kuang’s explaination of them, in terms of how they relate to Kevin and I and the designers in our universe. Read More »
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Posted in
The Studio,
VectorWorks on
February 19, 2010 – 12:01 PM
I haven’t been using Photoshop for 20 years, but close. My first version was 2.0. My friend Chris Klug suggested that Photosop and (then) Fractal Design Painter (now Corel Painter) would change the way I make art. He was right, as usual.
Undo with an airbrush is an unbelievable technical advance. Of course, that does not begin to skim the surface of Photoshop’s powerful abilities.
Originally we used Photoshop for sketching and rendering. Some of that is still true, certainly when working on two dimensional projects. Now however, we use Photoshop extensively in conjunction with developing projects in Vectorworks. Photoshop is our primary tool for creating textures and ‘painting’ models created in Vectorworks. Photoshop makes the Renderworks module of Vectorworks amazingly powerful.
In fact while we used to use Photoshop to touch up or add effects to Renderworks renderings, we do less and less of that work with Photoshop. Now Photoshop provides the foundation.
Nonetheless, Photoshop has completely changed the process of making art. I would no longer make a necessary distinction between traditional media and digital media.
We are very much looking forward to the next 20 years of innovation.
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Posted in
Architecture,
From the Road,
Inspiration on
February 16, 2010 – 12:52 PM
Forget Texas, they do things bigger in Dubai! I saw what they call ‘The Creek’ in Dubai when I was there consulting with Al Arabiya, it reminded me of a sizable river feeding into an ocean, well the Gulf of Arabia.
I saw this post about the Kirkless Hotel in Dubai today. They have quite the multi-story metal scrim in the lobby/atrium. Metal scrim is a chain product and there are several manufacturers. In this case the product is by KriskaDecor.
We love the openness of the product AND the ability to create discrete areas within a large location. Perfect for many applications. Great for Lighting Designers, provides a wonderful playground of light and allows flexible visibility, just like scrim on stage.
Cascade Coil and Whiting & Davis make similar products. Our fireplace screens in the studio are metal fabric, simple, elegant and functional. In large loft spaces, these materials are excellent choices for dividers. In exhibit design, scrims can make a partially closed environment feel friendly, open and welcoming to guests. Some of the tighter weaves can be used as accent elements. Nice and reflective. Shiney is almost always good.
Perfect always for nightclubs and retail.
While this product is not new or unused by KLAD, it is always good to see a dramatic use.
Sorry, Kriska, no link to the annoying Flash based site.
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It is springtime and a young man’s fancy turns, of course, to lawn care! Well, not so much, me not so much anyway. In springtime, I start to think about how to eliminate lawn care. I frankly hate our lawn and hate the 60 or so Briggs & Stratton engines that swarm over the yard every week.
