Noisy Decent Graphics

Has someone lost their glasses?

They deserve your support

There are lots of student shows on at the moment (Free Range & New Blood for instance). They deserve your support. Go along and be critical, but friendly.

We’re hopefully going to see some on Friday, or next week.

"Would you like to see the brains?"

Russell has posted about an interview with a doctor where she describes the texture of a brain as being soft like tofu.

Once upon a time a nice lady from a very famous brain college in London rang us up and asked if we'd like to design some literature for them. I visited the potential client at 8.30am on the morning after my birthday. A little hungover.

The meeting went OK, until the lady said, "Would you like to see the brains?". On autopilot I said, "Yeah, sure".

She took me into a medium sized room, filled with brains. Wall to wall, ceiling to floor. Including, in the middle of the room, someone in a lab coat slicing one up. I made my excuses, dashed outside and threw up in the nearest bin.

We didn't work with them.

Thanks

Thanks for all your comments. I've replied here.

I was a bit harsh with Chicago.

Painted Numbers

I love these numbers you see on buildings when they're not finished. They should leave them on display, somehow.

The Paul Smith beetle?

We need to talk

Thanks to all those who have commented, but I'd still like some more opinions, please.

Where are you?

I said I needed your help. Come on - comment.

The future of graphic design - I need your help

I need your help. The D&AD have asked me to talk to some tutors about the future of graphic design next week. Which is lucky because I'd been thinking about it at the weekend.

Obviously I don't have all the answers, so I want you to help me out. Here's what I've started to jot down. What do you think? Is it bollocks? Would you add anything else? I know you lot can be a bit shy - don't be. Leave comments, thanks.

Things you'll have to do if you want to be a graphic designer.

Create content.
Everyone is talking about content these days, from ad agencies to brands. In fact they've been talking about it for ages and it's starting to filter down to graphic designers. Communication is beginning to look less like sales pitches and more like stories, so you're going to have to learn how to create great content. Or at least where to find it.

Present passion not perfection.
20 years of Mac means we've lost a lot of energy from graphic design, so let's try and get it back. Turn the computer off, get up from the desk, draw, sketch, make roughs, present your roughs. Always remember a sketch sells an idea better than a finished visual, because the client uses their imagination to buy into the idea. We recently did a whole presentation on post it notes. Present passion not perfection.

Understand usability.
Great usability is the ultimate in good design. This is so obvious, but we're only just starting to talk about it. There are so many examples around us everyday, the Underground map, the BBC News website, almost all Apple products. As David Ogilvy said, "You can't save souls in an empty church".

Collaborate.
Graphic designers can't operate in a vacuum any more. Gone are the days when you could sit in your room creating beautiful layouts in wonderful isolation. Everyone has a say, and design is better for that. So collaborate; meet illustrators, ad agencies and film makers. Make friends with a copy writer. Visit an architect. Listen to product designers. All these people will add another dimension to your work.

Realise that design is the new management consultancy.
An odd one this, but it's an idea that's starting to get a lot of airtime. Who better have an impact on a business than the problem solvers? The ones who can generate ideas from a blank sheet of paper? The ones who create new ideas all day, every day. The designers. You'll hear a lot more about this, trust me.

Start up on your own.
Look around at all the designers you admire. I bet all of them have their own studio. The fact is, in this industry if you want to be successful you're going to have to start up on your own. Gulp. I'm not saying you have to have to do a business studies course but bear in mind that one day you might have to read a balance sheet.

Exploit the gap.
There is a hell of a lot of bad design around. Which is good news for you. A gulf has opened up between people who can design and people who can use design software, Exploit that gap.

How many colours here?

Complimentary Poetry Colours

What would you do differently?

Fantastic post from ideasonideas.com entitled What Would You Do Differently? Which is the question they've asked of several high profile designers including Bierut, Spiekermann and that idiot Sagmeister.

Good stuff.

Dodging Exhibition Security

Spent a really enjoyable day visiting two exhibitions, Future City at the Barbican and the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Actually I spent the day trying to dodge exhibition security who were trying to stop me taking pictures, hence some of the photos look very surreptitious.

First off, Future City. I love these kind of architecture exhibitions, but I'm aware they are largely pretentious nonsense. Some of the buildings on display are simply ridiculous. Like the architects are rebelling against the identikit rubbish they design for the rest of the year and displaying some crazy shit to make up for it.

Only architects can get away with this sort of stuff

The actual exhibition looked brilliant. Exhibition design by Foreign Office Architects and all the graphics by Studio Myerscough.

Some of the 'explanations' were printed on to these great poster style things.

Decent exhibition, although I'm not really sure what it hoped to achieve. Too expensive at £8. It reminded me of Archigram, so I'll post more about that in the next week.

I love the Barbican, it's so wonderfully odd. Whenever I'm there, I always feel like I'm the only person there. Do you ever feel like that?

They've got these great new signs by Studio Myerscough.

On to the Royal Academy, another place I'm very fond of, and to the Summer Exhibition. I love the Summer Exhibition and I've been every year for years and years. They're double strict on the photo side of things, so it was a little harder.

Their exhibition graphics were crap. But that's not really the point with this one.

I love the way they cram all the pictures in. They should do this with more exhibitions.

Some great stuff from Patrick Caulfield. Really nice graphic feel to them.

All in all, a good, inspiring day.

It's been a very strange, long week.

The kind of week you need every now and then, but still long and strange.

I've designed a website, some cakes, a teaser campaign, an invitation, a pack and an email newsletter. I've met all sorts of people, most of whom I'd spoken to but never met before. I've been in the office at 5.55am once and been home before 5pm almost everyday.

We had a big argument, and my phone stopped working (not related).

Seth Godin wrote on this blog. I've shown some students round the office and given (hopefully) helpful advice. We've said no to one client and maybe to another. We've had projects signed off, we've had projects that didn't need signing off. We're still waiting, tantalisingly, for one project to be signed off.

A good week.

Where are all the good graphic design blogs?

There must be some decent graphic design blogs out there. There must be.

Where are they?

Anyone know of any decent graphic design blogs? Leave 'em in the comments

Hill & Knowlton Clock 4pm today

Bimbo on flickr

Seth (who I don't like any more) recently asked what would happen if you searched for your brand on youtube, technorati or flickr?

Good question.

Type bimbo into flickr and see what you get. It's not what you (might) expect.

Dear Design Week, I've been designing biscuit tins for nearly 30 years...

Russell pointed me in the direction of this article. You really should read it, but briefly Michael Beirut complains about Bruce Nussbaum's free pitch for the design of INside Innovation, his new magazine produced by Business Week.

Essentially an old debate, heightened by the nature and profile of the client.

Here's what I think about free pitching, generally. In a handy list form.

1. It's a necessary evil (the approach of almost everyone).
Realistically you've gotta do it. Come on, you know it and I know it. Everyone does it. Your dream client rings up, the big one. The one you've dreamt about. The one you started in this industry for. They want you to pitch for free, you gonna say no? Didn't think so.

No one likes free pitching, but you got a better idea?

I can see the clients point of view. Sure they should be able to appoint you just by your previous work and a chemistry meeting, but they can't think like that. Most clients just don't have the imagination. They need boxes ticked, bosses flattered, careers saved. Very few clients are gonna take that risk, especially when you guys keep offering stuff for free!

Yes, you read that right. You guys keep offering it for free. If everyone hates free pitching so much then just stop doing it. Go on. If everyone stopped doing it, clients would soon get the message wouldn't they?

2. It's not the big companies who can afford to free pitch - it's the small ones (the approach of the new kid on the block).
Contrary to what Beirut says it's the small companies who can afford to pitch not the big ones. Big companies, have big overheads, big salaries and big egos. Small companies don't care less. A company I worked at with around 25 staff once spent £500,000 in man hours, pitching, in one year. That's a lot of money.

A small studio, three guys in a bedroom, don't have the same kind of worries. They don't have as much paid work to worry about. They have more time, they can work late, work weekends. They want it more. They need it more. The small start up will always agree to free pitch.

3. If you don't like it, don't do it (the approach of the grumpy grey creative).
You genuinely say no to free pitches. You miserable bastard.

Sounds harsh but that's what most them will be. I've met people who refuse to free pitch. but they tend to be the grumpy old fuckers who write to Design Week regularly and spend their days designing biscuit tins and moaning about the cost of Macs.

4. It's up to you to convince the client using as little resource as possible (the BBH approach).
Generally speaking this is what we do. And BBH too.

BBH famously don't free pitch. Except that's a lie. They do free pitch they just don't show creative work, only strategy (so what's the difference John, they both cost money?). Hasn't done them any harm has it?

Our approach is to try and inspire the client, set their imagination alight, convince them as quickly and using as little resource as possible. Things like the Post It Presentation. Quick, effective (and cheap) ways to get your passion across. Not full mock ups with every detail fleshed out. Not reams and reams of glossy print outs.

Paul Arden sums it up well in his brilliant little book. A rough layout sells the idea better than a finished one. Why? Because the client uses their imagination to flesh out your ideas. And that's much more powerful than anything you can mock up.

I call it the Hagrid effect. In the books Hagrid is a huge giant, as tall as two men, three times as wide, with hands like fencing panels. He has a beard like a barbwire hedgerow. On screen? He's the fat bloke from Cracker.

5. Pitches are exciting.
Ever worked on a pitch? Fun wasn't it? Exhilarating even.

All agencies have a rhythm about them when pitching. A sense of urgency that's essential for that creative spark. Late nights, early mornings, arguments - that's when all the good work happens.

If you're a junior creative a pitch is probably the only time you get to do any decent work. There are fewer constraints. You can take risks. You can use that image you've been wanting to use for years. And years.

Pitches are very healthy for a creative department. Like a mental training session.

I'd miss them if they went away.

Now, onto Beirut's specific example. Actually I think it's pretty lame. The project, the client, the brief, they should know better. The guys from INside Innovation magazine must have had the confidence to just appoint one firm.

Either that or they could have paid everyone $1,000. Free pitch over.

Spiderman on You Tube

I'm not a huge You Tube freak, but check this out. It's a home video* of the making of Spiderman 3.

How can you fail to be impressed by that?

*home video - is that a relevant term any more?

Two great engaging blogs

Two brilliant sites courtesy of Designers Who Blog.

1. Book Covers

Valerie asked me a long time ago to review some current book covers. (Sorry Valerie I never got round to it, but here's something far far better.) This site contains loads of great book covers and they're all reviewed by comments, which seems like a clever way of doing it.

I've designed book covers in my time and it's hard to make them look good. Very hard. There are some fantastic covers on this site. Including one by Chip Kidd D&AD fans.

2. Third Way Advertising Blog

Ever get a bit fed up of creatives ranting about on the next big thing? This site reviews ads (mainly American from what I can see) from a Brand Manager point of view. A brilliant idea. About bloody time some brand managers stuck their heads over the parapet in the blogsphere.