Always Be Knolling - Tom Sachs

"To some, an art form. To others, common sense. To the messy outsider, pointless de-jumbling. As a savvy designer or design enthusiast, you're most certainly familiar with the principles and outcomes of knolling, even if you had no idea it deserved its own word. As the story goes, knolling got verbed by the fastidious janitor at Frank Gehry's furniture shop, who would make sure all tools and materials were 90-degreed at the end of the day, mirroring rigid angles and clean lines of Knoll furniture they produced. It was picked up by the artist Tom Sachs while he worked there. Sachs institutionalized the principle in his own work and defined in his virally adored "10 Bullets"  

http://youtu.be/s-CTkbHnpNQ

 

via Core 77

Hobonichi Techo Notebook Crush

"This one's for the Japanophiles and notebook nerds: Hobonichi Techo planners are finally coming to an English speaker near you. (Pronounce it "tetch-oh" or look a fool.) These addictive planners are one part sketchbook, two parts calendar, three parts diary, and 100% obsessed over in Japan. They've got the good bits you can't leave out of a decent planner: multiple attractive calendar views for your yearly/monthly/daily/hourly calibration, gridded paper with plenty of room for notes or drawings, and a binding tough enough to take a year of questionable treatment. They also offer niceties like moon phases, space to write weekly goals, printed month tabs for easy navigation, customizable daily timeline, and vital information like international sizing and global tea types." - Core77  

http://youtu.be/iWMQ0M_FSL8

Brand Experiences: Narrative Based Packaging

While doing research for past packaging projects, I came across excellent packaging examples that thoughtfully took branding to the next level. The designs were often simple, but included an array of meticulously chosen details that really captured the brand ethos. I started sharing these examples with clients and called it "Narrative Based Packaging" because the unpacking of the product became a story and experience itself. To help illustrate what I had in mind, I defined the term and include some cool examples hoping I could convince them (the client). Here they are:

Packaging focused on brand story-telling or narrative-based practices engage users by unfolding elements, materials, and products in thoughtful ways. Instead of plastic encasings “protecting" products, narrative-based packaging supplements the product to encourage a lifestyle and brand relationship between product and user. Narrative-based packaging can heighten products attributes or work towards a "big reveal".

 

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Quote of the Day

Historically, the terms “modernity” and “modernism” have been casually conflated, a semantic abuse that Fynn is well aware of. He is, conversely, very deliberate with his terminology: where modernism “implies some degree of celebration of our times and the processes through which we build and define our environments, habitats and products,” modernity, he says, is the enactment and subsequent confluence of those developments. “Modernism and modernity reflect the cultures and technologies we live with and create a powerful visual landscape, for better or for worse.” - from "What Life Is Like In One Of The World's Fastest Growing Cities"

 

Species of Illumination

[vimeo 76950335]  

[The] two lights...act and react like autonomous creatures. Wallace responds to changes in light intensity in its environment and brings light to the darkest corners. Having done that, it's no longer the darkest space, so he moves on, constantly bringing light where it is darkest. Meanwhile solar-powered 'Darwin' searches for sunlight during daylight hours to charge his battery, and in the evening wanders around the house seeking movement - accompanying people with his light. The interaction and emotional relationship they bring contribute to our well being. They behave like pets. They are lively lights you can play with.

 

via Core77