Posted by jeremyscheller | 2 Comments

All up in arms about Seth Godin's post.

Today, Seth Godin took a pragmatic approach to design in a blog article that allowed him the opportunity to be accosted by designers all over the internet. Go ahead, have your opinions, I have mine.

He said,

“Why aren’t you (really) good at graphic design?

Ten years ago, you had a wide range of excuses for being a lousy visuals person. Starting with no talent, leading to no skill and going from there.

But now, in a world where it is expected that professionals will be able to make beautiful powerpoint slides, handsome business cards, clever bio photos and a decent website, it’s as important as driving. And easier to learn and do, and requiring less talent.”

And I agree. Design can be formulaic. Totally awesome design is not always formulaic. It requires sheer talent. But, the tools available these days make it easier than ever to make something that is not total crap. And really, isn’t the goal to always be a little better than you were before.

I’m not foolish enough to think as a designer that I’m a novelty act. Used to be, if you were a journalist, you worked at a newspaper. Now, there’s millions of people on the web with very useful things to say and stories to report that really can wow me with their precision at times.  There’s still a lot of total crap out there, but there’s a ton of people doing great work. It’s the same with design. The days of boutique design aren’t over, but the door is wide open for real innovation to happen that makes it easy for non-designers to make life more beautiful and communicate better. We should be thankful that we all get to partake in something that makes life a little less crappy.

Realistically, you can find design on the same continuums that other industries use as indicated in the awesome scale below. The language may be different, but 10 points is still more than 0.
75 points is still more than 30.
And a big step in the right direction is better than being total crap.

Posted by jeremyscheller | 0 Comments

This week in Prefab: Place Houses via Inhabitat.com

I love this house and I can’t believe it’s a prefab.
Maybe it’s just the chartreusie pea green set in the foggy Pacific Northwest, but I think the angles, color, and contrasting materials make this prefab model especially tasty to the eyes.

Read the article over at Inhabitat.com or
Check out the Place Houses website.

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Tidying Up Art

I may have linked this before, but I just watched it again. This is a hilarious concept.
TED TALK by: Ursus Wehrli

Posted by jeremyscheller | 1 Comment

5 Minneapolis Design Shops that Inspire…

1. Studio on Fire
Friends of Friends. These folks make unbelievable Letterpress designs.

www.Studioonfire.com

2. Duffy & Partners
Pure beauty and Brand Aware Design.

www.duffy.com

3. Aesthetic Apparatus
Incredible Screen Print Design. Posters Galore.

www.aestheticapparatus.com

4. Little & Company
Consistently push the envelope.

www.littleco.com

5. Peterson Milla Hooks
This firm knocks out sweet design for the home town hero: Target. Beautiful eye-popping work.

www.pmhadv.com

Posted by jeremyscheller | 4 Comments

Not sure where to file this, but I couldn't ignore it.

@bradabare just tweeted this. then I watched it, you should too.

Posted by jeremyscheller | 1 Comment

Noise

Sometimes, we scream and shout for customers. Sometimes, we go a little too far.
Sometimes, we sacrifice our customer satisfaction, to squeeze an extra buck out of them.

Often, in the pursuit of short-term gains, we do things to our base that makes them want to run the other way. I can’t stand when noise gets in the way of the content that I’m after.

What are you doing that is creating more noise and distraction for your people? How can you facilitate and help people find what they’re looking for, without getting in the way?

That H&R Block ad, doesn’t even let you close it. Epic FAIL.