SOVA CAFE

Designer: John GravdahlMember of: AIGA, United States
About the designA series of posters promoting fresh morning beverages at the Art Cafe at Colorado State University.

Call for submissions: Icograda GaleriaProfessionals, faculty and students from Icograda Member organisations are invited to submit communication designs to the Icograda Galeria.Download the submission criteria for more information.Word Doc (168KB) / PDF (216KB).

More: www.icograda.org/feature/galleria/galleria409.htm

ON THE MARK

By Hans Kleefeld

With thousands of new visual identities flooding the market all the time, is it possible to create anything that hasn't been done before? Yes, you can cut through the clutter. But start by understanding the history and rules of effective design. In this article, originally published in Applied Arts Magazine, Hans Kleefeld looks at the trends and shifts in visual identities over the past 50 years, and beyond.

More: www.icograda.org/feature/current/articles1549.htm

Anima Mundi 2009

More: www.animamundi.com.br/

The Eureka Moment, Part I: Is Entrepreneurship for You?

My company Knoend just officially passed the three-year mark in June; it feels like an eternity and a short dream simultaneously. At this milestone, I've taken some time for reflection and I'd like to share some advice with all who have entertained the thought of becoming an entrepreneur in a three-part series.
By: Ivy Chuang Published: Jul 13, 2009

More: http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=137896

Designfest 2009

The third edition of the International Design Festival, Designfest '09, will be held in Expo Guadalajara from the 15th to the 17th of October 2009.This event will gather prominent personalities and design firms.Designfest is organized by the publication REDiseno, and includes 13 conferences held by distinguished national and international designers, among them the recognized Sol Sender, creator of Barack Obama's presidential campaign logo.Other recognized speakers include Spaniard Ximo Roca and Mexicans Hector Esrawe and Oscar Salinas.As part of the event, Designfest will offer nine thematic workshops focused on interior design, brand design, animated design, illustration, fashion, product and furniture design.Simultaneously, in a space of more than 63,00 square feet over 150 proponents of design such as design firms, companies of new technologies in graphic communication, digital printing, multimedia, as well as new talent, eco-design, automotive, furniture and fashion design, will present their work and services.

More: www.dexigner.com/jump/news/18163

Images 34: the Best of British Contemporary Illustration 2010

Images is the showcase for the best of contemporary British illustration.Now in its 34th year, Images is the only independent, jury-selected illustration annual distributed to 4000 commissioners and touring exhibition in the UK.The jury consists of nine eminent industry figures including Penny Garrett - Art Director at The Economist, Angus Hyland Partner at Pentagram, Ben Norland - Executive Art Director Walker Books and Nol Davis - Head of Creative Services Department.Categories include: Advertising, Books, Children's Books, Design, Editorial, New Media, Self-Promotion and New Talent.Deadline for call for entries is July 31, 2009.

More: www.dexigner.com/jump/news/18195

Colors of Money: an Exhibition About Money by Fabrica and Colors Magazine

Fabrica, the Benetton communication research center, has been invited by the cultural space CarreRotondes in Luxemburg to present Colors of Money, an exhibition exploring the approaches, uses and understandings of money.Based on the 73rd issue of Colors Magazine, Colors of Money posits that "money is an illusion", highlighting the myriad contradictions embodied in the all-embracing role money has come to play in modern society.Through photography, creative writing, works of art and interactive installations conceived by Fabrica artists, Colors of Money provides an unorthodox insight into a world seizing from a growing financial crises.The exhibition simultaneously underlines the innovative response of social groups to the cultural dominance of finance, thus making a subject often considered as incomprehensible more accessible to young people, finance professionals and the general public.

More: www.dexigner.com/jump/directory/6042

CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL POSTER RETROSPECTIVE

One of the key design events of the Icograda World Design Congress Beijing 2009, "Post__: Contemporary International Poster Retrospective" focuses on avant-garde concepts in international graphic design, illustrates the contemporary landscape of poster design and explores alternative possibilities of poster design as a medium for communication. As a retrospective study in the "post-poster media age," the exhibition aims to analyse, reflect and shed new light on contemporary graphic design. It will expose the contemporary scene of poster design to both Chinese and international design professionals, as well as the general public, and hopes to instigate design dialogue between Eastern and Western audiences.The Retrospective will exhibit 300 award-winning posters from the past 30 years. The collection will demonstrate an exploration of global cultures and styles: a selection of posters from previous international graphic design competitions (donated by partner organisations) will be shown, as well as iconic Chinese posters produced after 1978. Such curatorial blending lends a unique documentary-like characteristic to the exhibition, making it one of the most unique retrospectives to take place.
DatesThe exhibition will take place on 26 October - 26 November 2009. The exhibition will tour other cities around China following the event in Beijing.
VenueThe exhibition will take place in Underwater Corridor gallery of China's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). The NCPA, designed by renowned French architect Paul Andre, is a new cultural and artistic landmark at the heart of the old city of Beijing. Its modern structure and facades add vibrancy to the rapidly changing urban scenery traditionally occupied by the Great Hall of the People, Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City.NCPA's largest venue, the 2,398-seat Opera House, boasts the most advanced staging equipment. The Concert Hall, with 2019 seats, provides outstanding acoustics, whilst the drama theater, with 1035 seats, is equipped with hi-tech audio-visual equipment. Approximately 10,000 people visit the National Theatre daily; potentially, tens of thousands of visitors will come to see the works on display. NCPA is open from 8:30am to 10:30pm everyday.

More: www.beijing2009.org/

Retooling identity production in the 21st century

Despite design agencies' claim to be visual experts on identity and representational questions, contemporary realities such as cultural diversity and hybrid identities in multicultural social contexts seem to be neglected issues within the profession of identity construction and the production of representation (visual identity design, corporate design and branding).
Even though the overtly expressed search for orientation and identity by individuals, organisations and entire communities cannot be overlooked, designers and identity strategists hardly engage with the unanswered questions sheltered in contemporary hybrid society and markets. Most identity construction and visual identity production remain based on modernistic Eurocentric or neo-liberal Anglo-American methods of identity and representation although social realities have changed over time.Since the Internet started to be a vital part of consumer daily life we have experienced a worldwide hegemony of branding strategies in professional communication. This superimposed identity plays an enormous role in contemporary society mostly in the form of 'consumable identities' such as product brands, brands of services, political bodies and places, etc.Due to the vast expansion of (online) media possibilities, the production of visual identities to express, manifest and seal artificial identity constructs has increased over the past twenty five years. These constructs have become a new occidentally rooted Esperanto of global culture since they are a cross-cultural, cross-economic, cross-political, cross-religious and cross-geographical phenomenon.

More: www.icograda.org/feature/current/articles1542.htm