Dieter Rams

Posted on December 7, 2009September 10, 2010 Posted in Design, Design Legends, Events, Grid Systems, Industrial Design, MerchTagged Design, design legend, Events, grid system, Industrial Design, merchandise, minimalism, modernism, posters14 Comments

Image courtesy of September Industry.

Seems like there’s a ton of stuff going on around Dieter Rams and his legendary work.

There’s the “Less and More – The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams” exhibit at the Design Museum in London.

To coincide with the event, a book with the same name will be released by Gestalten this month which features all of Rams’ products as well as selected sketches and models. They also have a video interview with Rams on their website.

The excellent design agency Bibliotheque has created two stunning posters dedicated to Rams’ legacy. The first, which is pictured here, is titled “Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles” and features his ten principles for good design. They were commissioned by Vitsœ to create the poster, which is currently available on their site.

The second lovely poster they designed is titled “Dieter Rams T1000” and features an illustration of the Braun T1000 shortwave receiver. It will be screen printed and should be available this week.

And finally we have the retrospective book “BRAUN – Fifty Years of Design and Innovation” that celebrates 50 years of the Braun brand. The book is slated to be released in 2010 but you can pre-order it now through Amazon.

Wheew! That was a lot! Enjoy.

Vintage Audi Poster

Posted on December 2, 2009December 2, 2009 Posted in Design, International Typographic Style, TypographyTagged graphic design, International Typographic Style, poster, vintage42 Comments

Today I received an email with the following image attached from an AisleOne reader named Rob, who’s a designer and instructor. According to Rob, the image of the poster was found by one of his students who was doing research for a report. No info can be found about it, other than it being created by the great Armin Hofmann.

I did a little research myself and couldn’t find any info about this poster, but I did find info on the model shown. It’s an Audi 60 which was produced from 1968 to 1972, giving us a slight idea as to when the poster was created.

What strikes me the most about this poster is the simplicity, elegance and beauty of the visual. The white background, large type and straight-on angle of the car create a stunning image. Rob explained it well in the email:

I love the way the AUDI logo is reflected in the roof of the car and visible through the back window, which would have been a lot more difficult to achieve in the pre-Photoshop era.

I agree.

As for the typeface used, it’s hard to tell but it seems like it could be either Akzidenz Grotesk or Univers. Anyone?

I wish there was more info on this poster and I wonder if there was a series of them done by Hofmann. If anyone has any info, please email me. In the meantime, we can all admire its beauty.

Myths & Misconceptions About Grid Systems

Posted on November 30, 2009September 5, 2015 Posted in Design, Grid SystemsTagged graphic design, grid system, Principles93 Comments

A few myths and misconceptions about grids exist in the design community that can be detrimental, especially to designers who are new to the subject. I recently read an article, which is no longer online, claiming that grids have disadvantages and it listed the reasons why. As you can guess, I very much disagreed with the entire article and felt that it was providing a lot of bad information on grid systems. All of the listed “disadvantages” were distortions derived from the lack of understanding on how a grid works and functions.

In response to that article, here’s my attempt at clearing up this mess.
Continue reading “Myths & Misconceptions About Grid Systems” →

David Barath

Posted on November 30, 2009November 30, 2009 Posted in Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged graphic design, grid system, International Typographic Style, Swiss

Excellent collection of work by Budapest based creative director, David Barath.

15 Uses for Newsprint

Posted on November 24, 2009November 24, 2009 Posted in Art, Design, MerchTagged graphic design, illustration, newsprint, print

A bunch of illustrators and designers occupying The Pencil Factory in Brooklyn have put together 15 Uses for Newsprint, a promotional newsprint poster zine featuring their own work.

My good friend Alex Eben Meyer is one of the included illustrators and his piece (pictured here) is by far my favorite of them all. Not to say the others stink, there’s a bunch of great pieces included.

The zine includes pieces by Kim Bost, Josh Cochran, Jennifer Daniel, Gilbert Ford, Jessica Hische, Grady McFerrin, Ted McGrath, Alex Eben Meyer, Chris Silas Neal, Zacharia O’Hora, Leif Parsons, Rachel Salomon, Joel Speasmaker, Jillian Tamaki, or Sam Weber.

You can order 15 Uses for Newsprint for $10 and the first 100 orders get an original drawing by one of the artists.

You can peak at some more photos over at The Pencil Factory Flickr page.

Arthur Erickson & Japan Poster

Posted on November 22, 2009November 22, 2009 Posted in Architecture, Design, Events, Grid Systems, International Typographic Style, TypographyTagged Architecture, event, graphic design, helvetica, International Typographic Style, poster, Typography6 Comments

Love this poster for an event called Arthur Erickson & Japan that focuses on modernist architect Arthur Erickson’s journey to Japan in 1961. Not sure who designed it but the big bold type, white text on black, two-column grid and the uneven horizontal strips of color make for a beautiful design.