Featured / by

Today I’m kicking off my ‘official’ sabbatical – not to return till late September / even later if needed / to pursue / complete personal projects and a much needed creative reinvention process.

I’m going to have a blast. Hope you do too.

Featured / by on hiatus till I return.

While I am away working on a project for the next 2 weeks, follow my Pinterest for inspiring eye candy visuals across 7 boards. You can pick to follow any one or all:

Designy -> Outstanding concepts / eye candy designs.

Cool stuff -> Stuff found. Merch / toys / accessories.

Furniforma -> SOHO / Home / Office.

Pretty pictures -> Shot w/ iPhone – or not.

Typographika -> <3 typography – examples 2 study.

‘C’ -> Part of an on-going concept research.

Analog or not -> I read / see / hear.

Don’t work. Be hated. Love someone by Adrian Tan.

He was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony. This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.

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Oh that title is provocative! More than that in fact. Read it. It’s a MUST. Really I insist. It deeply affected me. It still resonates today. A few times in a lifetime you’re offered a jewel of rare intelligence, of insights of that kind. Rare. Very.

Consider your options. You find the title too (insert thought here).. or not enough (insert another thought here)..

Pass reading.. Missing. Big time.

This is a lifechanger.

Regular Graphic Design Today. Editors: R. Klanten, S. Ehmann, A. Mollard

My notes on key statements excerpted from the foreword:

Nowadays designers like to combine three different stylistic tools – for ex photography – typography – patterns (illo) – to create complex works.

Create a very personal impression on observers / visitors.

Underlying? The need to ‘humanize’ the result. Although you can’t see me – there is still a real person behind this piece.

Economic hardships lead to creating greater value = reducing superficiality.

‘Authorship’ means that designers are increasingly creating all components of their designs (images, fonts) themselves. This happens to such an extent that posters, small portfolios and magazines are being produced and published entirely by the designers themselves. Distributed via Internet / mail.

Develop your own design profile / target a signature collection / your own trademark approach. For years I have spoken about the ‘Online the Brand is You’ principle. Treating yourself as a product (not in a dehumanizing sense / but w/ literal objectivity) to achieve expressing uniqueness of talent = your signature.

Sometimes clients w/ approach bc of personal work.

How to Spot the Future by Thomas Goetz

Odds are that any idea deemed potentially transformative, any trend we think has legs, draws on one or more core principles. They have played a major part in creating the world we see today.

1. Look for cross-pollinators.

2. Surf the exponentials.

3. Favor the liberators.

4. Give points for audacity.

5. Bank on openness.

6. Demand deep design.

7. Spend time with time wasters.

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via: Chris Lüscher