Design Star: George Nelson

I know it's hardly revolutionary to deem George Nelson one of the all-time design greats, but being kind of a clock freak myself makes Nelson a particular favorite of mine. Given all the awesome clocks he designed back in the day, along with his contributions in furniture, lamps, tables, etc. etc., it becomes obvious Nelson had a design career that would make just about anyone feel the need to genuflect.

Little did I know that Nelson got his degree in architecture and was a writer for many years before becoming the Director of Design at the Herman Miller Furniture Company. He then went on to set new standards for the involvement of design in all the activities of the company, and in doing so he pioneered the practice of corporate image management, graphic programs and signage.

In his forty-plus year career Nelson was one of the most articulate and eloquent voices on design and architecture in the U.S. during the 20th century and he helped legitimize and stimulate the field of industrial design by contributing to the creation of Industrial Design magazine in 1953.

A number of the nearly 300 classic wall clocks designed for Howard Miller Clock Company (including the Ball, Kite, Eye, Turbine, Spindle, Petal and Spike clocks, as well as a handful of desk clocks) are currently available from the Vitra online shop.

Howling Monkey

This time around we're reviewing a label and package design by London & San Francisco based Turner Duckworth for an already defunct (too bad!) brand of beer. As the story goes the client allegedly briefed the design firm with the following... "Howling Monkey is the name. Have some fun with it"...

And have some fun they did. I love the mock-traditional engraving style of the design and the series of illustrated "portraits" that follow the monkey as he progresses(?) from an initial state of stoicism to his true howling state. The color palette of black and tan works great with an accent of red-orange to pop out the "howler" and the stout little bottles with tiny embossed nubs around the top are just super-cool.

All-in-all a great design that makes me want to head right over to the neighborhood pub for a nice porter myself.

Mick Jagger's the Best Client Ever

At least if you're Andy Warhol that is... and I bet you're not.

Some of you may have already seen this, but I just ran across it @ stumbleupon and had to pass it along to all the creatives out there who know how difficult client relations/negotiations can get sometimes.

Anyway, this has got to be the best client brief I've ever seen. Short, sweet, to-the-point, funny – we can all dream about clients like this. But then again, you can't always get what you want...

Jeff Kleinsmith & Patent Pending

A few months back I posted about the awesome poster site GigPosters. I find myself going back to check out this site pretty regularly as the amount of cool stuff is kind of staggering. The other thing I've found is when I discover a poster design I really like, it turns out that chances are pretty good it was done by Jeff Kleinsmith, a Seattle designer and long-time art director at Sub Pop Records.

Along with fellow designer Jesse LeDoux, Kleinsmith is also a partner in Patent Pending Industries where you can get ahold of posters and shirts designed by the pair. Bands they've designed posters for include The Shins, the Melvins, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Jesus Lizard and many, many more.

No Spec 4 You!

Yes, it's true... spec work is the devil. Unfortunately with today's economic conditions being what they are, there are more than a few unsavory types lying in wait for desperate creatives to come along. The best advice I can give you is to look the other way and just keep walking... then run away! As fast as your feets can take you.

Illustrative designer Von Glitschka, a fellow Upper Deck alum, creative powerhouse and all-around good guy says it best with the 2 poster designs above for the website No!Spec. Visit this excellent resource to learn more about the important issue of speculative, or 'spec' work.

Nike "Juice Plus" Packaging

Like many golfers these days, the sorry state of the economy has put a major crimp in my ability to get out on the golf course. My involvement with the sport has been reduced to hanging out on the practice putting green every once in awhile and checking out the new clubs and products down at the local Sports Authority. That is where I came across this packaging for the Nike "Juice Plus" line of golf balls.

The design is super clean and simple, yet pretty striking in it's execution. Given that Nike, along with Apple and Method, has some of the best product and packaging design going on these days, it's still amazing to me when designers can actually get something through that doesn't have a proliferation of bursts, violaters, or exclamation points. This design actually has that rare something known as white space, along with some nice purple and gold foil stamping, silver and gun-metal metallic inks, and a blind-deboss clear foil stamping.

Add to that some clever spot-on copywriting calling out it's "pharmaceutical grade distance" and "prescription strength formula" and you've got the whole package, so to speak. Nicely done... can we get a golf clap here?

TEDTalks: David Carson (2003)

Graphic designer David Carson on design & discovery. A tad lengthy but definitely worth it if you can carve out the time.

High on Adler?

Now I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of Jonathan Adler stuff, but hey, that's just me. Lord knows he's got legions of fans and is making some pretty serious bank, so what do I know anyway? I do have to say I find this particular product kind of interesting though.

As the website explains...

"Scandalously scented with black currant, green apple, wormwood, patchouli and moss. Earthy but couture – it's a tempting taboo to inhale! And when the candle burns out...the porcelain vessel makes the perfect stash box."

Anybody else here getting a serious case of the munchies?

pilotdesign

Keith Moore of pilotdesign, is a Minneapolis-based graphic designer who also produces some very unique and inspired furniture and clock designs with a distinctly modern sensibility and regard for sustainability.

After graduating from Colorado State University with a BFA in Graphic Design, Keith headed for Minneapolis to start his career in that field. In his spare time, he started creating basic furniture pieces in his apartment with found objects, and eventually rented space at a pottery studio since his first design, a lamp, had a ceramic base. He was encouraged by the inclusion of this floor lamp in the international design publication, Graphis. He continued working in ceramics up until he took a course in furniture design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), and immediately took to woodworking and the problem solving it required.

After working for a number of interactive design firms and agencies (including Duffy, Fallon, and Popular Front), he went out on his own in 2002 to design websites and furniture. Since then he's joined the 4th Street Guild, a woodworking cooperative, where his shop is today, after outgrowing the basement of his house.

Keith continues to work in both interactive and furniture design, often using bamboo and other sustainable materials… you can see some of his products for sale at his etsy shop.

MoMA store

3 quick finds from the MoMA catalog I just received recently...

First is the Unfinished Clock, designed for displaying on the edge of a shelf or mantel so that it looks like only the top half of a clock, but the hands still rotate all the way around. Pretty nice and only $46 to boot... $41 for members. Powder-coated steel with aluminum hands.

Next up we have the Vegetal Chair, definitely the coolest stacking indoor/outdoor chair I think I've ever seen. If it's from Vitra you know it's gotta be good... but then it better be @ $500 plus!

And last but not least is Dozi Hedgehog Paperclip Holder. Love the bright-ass orange! Very clever design... one for the wishlist! Made by Alessi of PMMA plastic & magnetic steel.

Check 'em all out and much more at the MoMA online store.

Museum of Robots

For those of us out there who can officially be called robot-geeks, this site is pretty darn cool... the rest of you may or may not get it (too bad for you...). Besides having a bunch of fun & kitschy houseware products revolving around the sci-fi/robot theme, there's also a link to an online museum that can be experienced from within the virtual world of Second Life. The exhibits and art in this virtual museum are dedicated to robots not just from popular toys, TV, and the movies but also from science, literature, arts, technology, and the media.

Not your typical online shopping venue to say the least, Museum of Robots needs to be experienced first-hand and has received accolades from Dwell Magazine, Apartment Therapy, and Business Week among others.

Check out the houseware products here and the virtual museum in Second Life...

Zuny Animal Bookends

The stylized characters in this fun and whimsical collection of animal bookends are handcrafted of leather and filled with iron sand to hold up most heavy items. Use them as bookends, paperweights, or even as a doorstopper... in the kids' room, on the night stand, on your desk. Anywhere you'd like them to call home.

The Zuny collection is available in a limited edition of 9999 of each figure. There are four styles available: Boar (Babu), White Lion (Tumo), Dinosaur (Bobo), Sheep (Nell). (via generate design)

See all four styles here

Modern Birdhouses

This is probably as close to a cool mid-century modern house with a butterfly roof as I'll ever get! Pretty sweet... lucky-ass birds!

From the website:

RICHARD (top) was inspired by the Case Study Houses designed by Richard Neutra, and recalls the floating, sloped roofs of three of his unbuilt homes.

J.R. (middle) was inspired by Case Study House #1, designed by J. R. Davidson and built in 1946. The elemental simplicity of the flat roof recalls the minimal nature of Davidson's design.

RALPH (bottom) was inspired by Ralph Rapson's iconic Greenbelt House design (Case Study House #4), which features an enclosed garden and angled rooflines.

Modern Birdhouses' Case Study Masters Series honors the architectural pioneers who participated in the Case Study Houses Program. The Case Study Houses Program was established in 1945 by John Entenza, the progressive editor and publisher of Arts and Architecture magazine. Entenza commissioned architects to design simple and innovative modern homes for a growing post-war housing market. The resulting homes took full advantage of industrialized building processes and continue to broadly influence modern architecture. Participants included such icons as Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen.

Check 'em out here...

Gigposters.com

If you haven't visited this site for designers to post their work done for musical acts and concerts, you need to. Boasting over 100,000 poster designs by more than 8,500 designers, the site has a stunning variety of contemporary examples of poster art. Sometimes raw, sometimes polished, sometimes something in-between... you could spend the better part of a day browsing these collections. Believe me, I've done it. Go ahead and check it out... I promise, you'll be glad you did. gigposters.com

Simpatico Homes Prefab

Being a former architecture student, most of my friends know that I'm a big fan of some of the modern prefab home designs that have come about in the last few years or so. In fact, most of those same friends are probably sick of hearing me drone on and on about these architectural fantasies. The cool, slick modern design features such as eco-friendly bamboo flooring, recycled concrete/glass/paper countertops, gigantic view windows, ethanol burning fireplaces, modular vs SIPs construction blah, blah, blah... I could go on and on, trust me.

Well, even though the dream of Prefab becoming widespread and available to everyone has taken a big hit because of the sorry state of the world economy and the closing down of one of the industry's major players (Michelle Kaufmann Designs), I'm still keeping the faith.

Now, I've had many a favorite prefab design over the years, starting with some of Kaufmann's work, and I'll probably have many more in the years to come. My latest crush though, has to be an entry by S.F. Bay area firm Simpatico Homes that features many of the things mentioned above as well as a green roof, a floorplan the perfect size and layout for my lot, an awesome roof deck area to take advantage of my north/northeast mountain views, and just a great overall design and green/sustainable philosophy.

Now if only that elusive Lotto win would just come my way I'd be all set and could actually afford one of these prefabs. Ah well... one can still dream right? You can check out the latest object of my affection at the simpaticohomes website

Stat Icon Keys

Created by a former Honda car designer, Stat Keys help make cluttered keychains a little more manageable with twelve amusing designs.

The line of designs now available include chess pieces, animals and house icons, with more forms apparently in the cooker. Nickel-plated and currently fitted for standard Kwikset locks,the company plans to expand its key types to include SC1 blanks, as well as others.

Stat Keys are proof positive that everyday function doesn't mean having to sacrifice good design.

Buy the keys from the Stat website for $11 per key or custom create your own, starting at $130 for the design and $15 for each key.

MINI United 2009 @ Silverstone, England

Back on Memorial Day weekend we made a trip to jolly old England and the famed racetrack at Silverstone to attend the 50th Birthday celebration of the beloved MINI Cooper. Over 25,000 people from 40 countries descended on Silverstone to take part in the festivities and all kinds of MINI related fun. But this event was all about the passionate following of owners, of the original 50-year-old car as well as the modern MINI.

From restored classics to crazy modified moderns - they were all there, many having been driven thousands of miles to attend. From David Bowie's all-chrome version of the original MINI to a Missoni-style modern, there was a little something for everyone's taste.

The variety of ways people had gone about customizing and personalizing their MINIS was truly a testament to their inspiration, creativity, and love for these cars.