Blog Reviews

Business Week: Nussbaum On Design

Bruce Nussbaum's blog is part of Business Week magazine's online site. In his blog he comments on a regular basis about innovation and design, mostly in business. In one post, he reviews the book The Post-American World and tells us that anyone interested in globalization, or even in the presidential election, should go and read it. The book is by Fareed Zakaria, and it is about the decline of the American powerand the rise of "everyone" else. Americans are going to have to start learning about other cultures if they hope to succeed in the future. The book seems to be very relavent to the times and to the design world, since new innovations will have to consider other countries and peoples.

Nussbaum doesn't just review books in his blog, he also makes sure to comment on different events about technology and design. The Serious Play conference in Pasadena was about how play, when taken seriously, can lead to great innovation. Google talked about how America is not the center of the world anymore and that they need to do research in other countries if they hope to expand their business and appeal to other peoples. The world is changing, and so must businesses. Innovation and design is needed for these changes to take place.



Seth Godin's Blog

Seth Godin is a leader in innovation. He is the author of a numerous books, and to market these books, Godin has come up with very unique tactics. Godin's blog is a fun read about marketing and innovation. In one post Godin discusses how he believes the media markets. The media, he says, sells drama. He focuses his discussion on internet news sites. He points out that all the headlines on the site are dramatic and are there solely to get you to click on the link and not to actually tell you the news. In essence, the media is selling you drama, and not news.

Another topic Godin talks about in his blog is green marketing. With concern for the environment being the new fad, marketers are scrambling to advertise how green they and their products are. Godin warns though that vague advertisements and lame promises are going to soon wan, and consumers will backlash. I think this is true, companies are taking advantage of people trying to be greener. They are trying to sell them green products, when what being green is all about is buying less and wasting less in the first place.



Core 77: Industrial Design Supersite

While the other blogs are written by only one person, Core 77 is posted on by different people, allowing for more content and different opinions. One post talks about a new machine that can take a CD and turn it into a 45RPM that can be played on a turntable. The creator of the machine hopes it will appeal to a small niche of people who still use turntables. Turntables may not be used by the mainstream public anymore, but even if there is a small market still out there, marketers and innovators will be there to sell them something.

Innovation is something that can be applied to furniture as well. Designer Takeshi Miyakawa has created a box full of different drawers, utilizing all the space. There is also a link in the blog post directing you to his other work. Blogs are a great source to learn about other artists and designers, as well a great way to inform others about artists you like.



Authentic Boredom: Cameron Moll

Moll is a graphic designer who writes a blog with tips and just general comments about design. In one post Moll discusses designing with typefaces. He gives some examples of works that he especially likes, and discusses their beauty. He then shares 5 tips from a designer who works with typography. Moll explains that while creating an image and design with type is hard work, he believes the end result will be gratifying for anyone who tries and succeeds.



Subtraction 7.0

NYTime.com's design director, Khoi Vinh, blogs about design and other related topics. In one post, Vinh expresses that he believes that large design agencies cannot produce innovative and just plain good design. The fewer people there are, the more efficient the design process can be. There is also much less of a gap between the people coming up with the initial ideas, and the designers actually executing the final product. Vinh makes sure to point out that this is his opinion, and he urges anyone that disagrees to come forth. I believe he is correct. Design must be very specific, and if there are too many ideas the design can suffer in the end. With a few select people, great design can be made when they work together efficiently.



I Love Typography

This blog is dedicated solely to fonts, typefaces, and typography. The blog is filled with many images of different types. Images that just show new interesting types, and images that show great design work using type. Each post they give examples of different types they have found and discuss them. In one post, they found a blatant error in a logo. The logo is three letters conjoined horizontally, and when the logo is turned vertical, it creates an unprofessional image. The lesson learned from this post is that when you are designing any logo, make sure you take the time to look at it from every angle. You may be designing more than you thought.