Author: David Airey
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Milton Glaser in conversation with Debbie Millman
“The Hippocratic oath is equally useful applied to designers as it is to doctors. Why should a designer have any more leeway than a doctor?” A great conversation between two of my favourite designers, Milton Glaser and Debbie Millman. The piece at the end rings particularly true at this stage of my life, getting to…
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Tadao Ando’s Hill of Buddha
Added to the architectural must-see list is the Makomanai Takino cemetery in Japan’s northern city of Sapporo. For 15 years, the Makomanai Takino cemetery was home to a stone Buddha that sat alone in a field, before the owners decided they wanted to do something to give visitors a more serene appreciation of the figure.…
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Good design makes you happy
If you’re happy, things work better because you’re more creative — you get a little problem, you say, ‘Ah, I’ll figure it out.’ No big deal. A relatively old TED talk by professor and author Don Norman (recorded in 2003 before TED became free-to-stream), so it’s a little dated, but still holds some gems. </…
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Why is so much of design school a waste of time?
In response to the student question, former AIGA NY President Juliette Cezzar said, “Sure, you can leave, but you’re going to take your inability to use criticism with you.” That’s the crux. I was a bad designer when I finished my formal education about 15 years ago. The difference in quality between my work and…
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Where do ideas come from?
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” — Chuck Close A good, short film by Toronto-based Andrew Norton. More details on transom.org.
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Natural fireworks
Cactus flowers open at night and last just one day, captured by photographer Greg Krehel in some stunning timelapse sequences. 9 hours of a Cassandra flower blooming. “Since I was a kid I’ve always loved succulents and cacti. One year I ended up at a local garden shop and picked up a cactus for my…
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The posters of Abram Games
Abram Games was one of the 20th century’s great graphic designers, and the only person in army history to be given the title of Official War Poster Artist. Anti-smoking poster, unpublished, 1970. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Abram produced some of Britain’s most memorable images and designs, for a client list that…
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The damage that online advertising has had on the credibility of our news media
“The fact that we have a populace that no longer knows what to believe from a media industry they once trusted, is not an accident.” Executive order hoax. Online advertising is corrupt at its core — an astute piece from The Ad Contrarian. It picks up on something I’ve previously been duped by — ads…
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Adding colour to historical photos
The video below gives a great insight into the colourisation process, taking away the impression that photos were captured in another time. “Photo colourisation isn’t just colouring within the lines — it requires meticulous research to make sure that every detail is historically accurate. The colour of military uniforms, signs, vehicles, and world fashion spanning…
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Villa Ypsilon, by LASSA
A stunning three-bedroom holiday home overlooking olive groves on Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula.