I once made the mistake of referring to a font and was reprimanded. Typeface is correct for a family of visual representations of a series of letter, numbers and the like. Fonts are elements within the typeface family. For example, the Helvetica family is a typeface while its italicized or bold representations are Helvetica fonts. Then again, really, who cares?

The answer should be anyone working in design, of course. It also seems to apply to many who shop at IKEA. Now I confess that I have regarded IKEA as a place for good looking, but inherently cheap and temporary furnishings. My memories of interminable Sunday afternoons guided around the one way floor plan maze are more abiding than anything I have purchased there. Still, many regard IKEA as a beacon of design integrity amid the aesthetic darkness of corporate perspectives. Indeed, the insipidness of many corporate attitudes made IKEA appear to be a bastion for those who saw well considered design an inherent part of elevating our lives through our interaction with our environments. (more…)

Several conversations over the last few months have left me pondering questions about genius and creativity. How do we get inspired? Where does that inspiration come from? What does genius look like? Can we manipulate our circumstances to encourage or, indeed, hinder our capacity for creativity? Can we anticipate the creativity of others from their circumstances?

Wordsworth inspired by Lake District Daffodils

To some extent, these questions are subjective existential reflections on my own sense of creative ability or lack thereof. Remedies I have considered include, for example, a dash back to either New York City or London for a shot of city vibrancy, where the gritty mass of quotidian lives is matched by the sheer power of millions of minds processing visible innovative concepts. I also have wondered about a road trip to some bucolic and cloistered retreat. Then again, pragmatism also produced the idea that perhaps I should just stay home, away from distractions, and let creative inspiration well up in the peace and quiet of familiar surroundings. The common thread through all of this, however, is the construct of environmental circumstance to facilitate creativity. (more…)

I almost exclusively watch T.V. shows online, either on hulu.com or a network’s Web site. I am never at home when shows are typically aired and I like the format of short 30 to 15 second ads rather than 2 minute blocks that interrupt the show you are watching. The commercial that was constantly on was a new advertising spot for Frito Lays’ healthy line of snack food.

This advertising is directed exclusively at women. The segments end with a little flag that says “only in a woman’s world.”

I have to admit when I first saw these commercials I was offended. I think that so often advertisers end up talking at women rather then developing a conversation with them. I also think that advertisers play to the typical stereotypes about men and women. See Stuart’s previous blog post “Men are stupid and women are scheming” here and then watch Webisode 7, where the husband is played as well meaning but stupid and the wife as harried yet indulgent. I don’t see myself in these ads. (more…)

Color. It seems simple enough. Add it to anything and it changes the vibe instantly. Color creates a mood, evokes emotion and puts a visual dialogue in motion. Wait. That sounds more complicated. Can color really do all of that? Now, that’s intimidating.

I must admit, as a designer, I struggle with color. The choice of combinations is overwhelming. You can begin to narrow your choices by using basic color theory – primary, secondary, analogous, complimentary, monochromatic, achromatic…Wow, where to begin, indeed. Isn’t there an easier way? I want something unique. Something that isn’t just the latest trend but a color palette that makes my art sing. Where can I find that inspiration?

Above left to right: Van Gogh's 'Starry Night', Monet's 'Water Garden and the Japanese Footbridge' and Seurat's 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'

As a long time admirer of the Impressionist art movement, I often look to those artists and their work for color inspiration. I feel that they interpreted nature and their surroundings with amazing compositions of light and emotion. It’s hard for me not to be drawn in to their work and immediately begin to feel the summer breeze on my face or the chill in the air after an early morning rain. It is because of this movement that I will never see a field of grass as just green or brown. I will always see the rich reds in the highlights of a wheat field or the cool blues and purples in a shadow under a tree. (more…)

The Film Forum in NY is doing a retrospective of Otto Preminger’s work and I have to say that it’s a dubious enterprise. Watching The Man with the Golden Arm once again confirmed to me that his reputation of the maverick and auteur, rests very heavily on a series of poses and presumptions that his films made as being outre, modernist pieces of film art. The reality, for me, is that Preminger, with very few exceptions (like Laura), was firmly of the second rank of directors aping everyone from his fellow Germans, like Von Stroheim to William Wyler to Orson Welles.  (more…)