Mini Blog: Redesigning Adulthood

Spoke about 'Redesigning Adulthood' today and was voted Best Speaker today at Toastmasters.

©2009 \\ COSMIC \\

Quinn Norton: Cusp Conference

Next week the Cosmic team will head off to the 2009 Cusp Design Conference in Chicago. This will be our first time in attendance.

Not knowing much about the conference, I thought I would poke around to see what I could find on it.

The conference promotes itself as the conference about the "design of everything." The series of videos below from last year's conference illustrate that concept precisely. Here, Quinn Norton delivers a fascinating talk about how people now are finding new ways to take a redesign approach to the human form.

She calls it "body hacking."







©2009 \\ COSMIC \\

One Sheet of Paper

Amazing sculptures produced by Danish artist Peter Callesen can be seen on display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. Each piece uses only one sheet of paper.

©2008 David Scott | Cosmic: Graphic Design & Branding



More images via: WHY INternet

Do you follow Geez?

A man walked up to me this morning, handed me a card and said "Praise Geez. Geez will change your life." He didn't have a speech impediment. For whatever reason he just wasn't pronouncing the word "Jesus" correctly.

After laughing to myself and noting the absurdity of the interaction, it occurred to me how many people out there try to market their business and either don't speak the customer's language or simply don't know what they are talking about.

Design can only do so much to speak to your customer. Most of the time, it is merely a tool to reinforce your company's mission for the world. If you want to create a powerful brand, back it up by learning how to communicate with your customer.

Here's some guidelines to live into for today:

• Speak in simple language that a five year old can understand.
• Have an understanding of your prospect's business.
• Listen to them and not your inner dialogue.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic

Fall Into the Gap

All too often, when sales go sour, spending in advertising and design is the first thing to get cut or even eliminated altogether from corporate budgets. In his post Fall into the Gap, Seth Godin comments on how The Gap is responding to its current slump in sales. I commend his stand in support of an investment in design as well as taking a different look at what makes a good marketing plan in the face of tough times.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic

HOW Design Conference

Well, it is off to the annual HOW Design Conference for us tomorrow. Approximately 7,000 graphic design professional ascend on a major city each year and collaborate, inspire, create and just plain have fun. This year's event will be in Atlanta and is bound to be filled with loads of ideas that cover topics from running a design business to techniques and creativity.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic

Effective PR

Whenever we finish a major design project for a company I always annouce it through a press release. I often encourage my clients to do the same for other news related to their business. It is great way to get your name out in the world without spending a lot of loot in the process.

So how do you craft a good release?

In his article, Eight Telltale Signs That Your Press Release Is Bullshit, Scott Baradell provides a set of useful guidelines to follow when writing your release. Tips like avoiding industry jargon and don't use bait and switch techniques seem like common sense. However, that common sense doesn't always translate to what reporters are looking for when reading your release. Baradell explains exactly what makes the news and gets a press release read.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic

Eric Gill

History has always been sort of a dull subject for me and unless it had something to do with Nazis getting abducted by UFOs and was on the History Channel, I was no where to be found. So, recently, when I found a desire to learn more about the history of graphic design, I was surprised to learn about some professionals who even a 100 years ago could take on today's talent with a vengence.

Take Eric Gill for example. This British born typographer started out as an architect and found his training cumbersome. He then moved on to stone carving which led him to carving letterforms. His most famous typeface, Gill Sans produced in 1924, is still a highly prized typeface today. His career gained him much noteriety as he continued to produce amazing artworks for the BBC, the League of Nations and several postage stamp designs. He was eventually awarded the Royal Designer for Industry, the highest award given to designers.

With all the prestige surrounding his career, it is fascinating to me that upon his death in 1940, his headstone simply labels him as a "stone carver." Must have been humble about his influence on this industry.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic