Since it’s Friday, and because New York Fashion Week starts a week from today, we’re going to bring a little glamour into today’s post and take a look at the redesign of Interview magazine. Andy Warhol’s old pop culture bible has gotten a facelift recently by Fabien Baron, fashion’s absolutely most fabulous graphic designer, whose spare and elegant aesthetic has packaged beautiful blockbusters from CK perfume bottles to Madonna’s ‘Sex’ book. (more…)

John Bielenberg specializes in ‘thinking wrong”. This basically means thinking differently. And thinking in plural. Bielenberg believes that bringing a lot of like and unlike minds together to spout out irrepressible thoughts opens the possibilities for revolutionary ideas. “I find the traditional design studio approach - where you only discuss a project in-house with whoever happens to work there and then claim to have come up with the best possible solution- somewhat arrogant,” he says. (more…)

Google is currently building its new marketing unit, Google Creative Lab, which will promote the Google brand and products. The company is busy setting up offices in New York, San Francisco and London, with more to come in the future, probably. Since the Creative Lab is still in its developing stage it’s kind of hard to get a concrete explanation of what they’re all about. It’s only really possible to know what they want to become. Here’s a quick overview pulled from the company’s job listings: “The Google Creative Lab is a small team that strives to re-think marketing across every kind of media - currently existing or not, with Google as its sole client. Our job is to manage the Google brand, find new ways to communicate the company’s innovations, intentions and ideals, and do work of which we can all be immensely proud.” (more…)

Poster by Milton Glaser

Design and politics have been on my mind lately (see yesterday’s post) and apparently, I’m not alone. Eastern Michigan University Gallery has invited some of today’s most illustrious design stars to show posters that that speak out on current political and social issues.

The exhibition is (as you may have guessed) timed to coincide with the run-up to the presidential election and runs from August 27 through October 9, with the opening reception on September 10. It includes designers that hail from the United States, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Iran, Israel, and Turkey. The range of poster media include screen printing, stencil, digital, and offset lithography. Copies of posters will be available for purchase with proceeds going to a charity. (more…)

The Beijing Olympics have elicited several very creative protests in the Western design community. One of the most biting is the web site Behind Beijing Olympic , which mimics the design and logo of the official Olympic site. However, the symbols and contents have been altered to convey images of political oppression. For example, the famous Olympian circles have been turned into handcuffs and the little stick figures that symbolize each sport have been altered to resemble policemen beating up monks and kicking babies. (more…)

If video games and personality tests (i.e. “What Kind of Friend are You: An Underminer or A Nurturer?”) belong to your guilty pleasures you’re in luck. Our sister site Notes on Game Dev features a fun test for gamers (developed by researchers at Ghent University) that determines whether you belong to one of four personality categories based on player motivation. (That means that it has nothing to do with how often you play or how good you are). So if you want to get to now yourself better and to find out if you’re a Fanboy, Competer, Escapist and Time-killer go to Notes on Game Dev and get ready to reveal your inner player.

George Lois in his New York apartment

When MoMA opened its current exhibition of George Lois’ Esquire covers last spring, the legendary ad man (”I want my MTV”, anyone?) enjoyed a second wave of fame and acclaim. As a new generation discovered the powerful and provocative images he created for Esquire between 1962-1972, even the supremely confident Lois was a little taken back by the response: “In the first month of the show, my web site got 1 million 700 000 hits. Who would have imagined that a graphic design show would have that kind of impact?” he says. But maybe it’s not surprising at all. In today’s climate of impossibly bland magazine art, Lois’ fearless statements offer a refreshing reminder that success does not always equal pandering. “I do stuff that punch you in the mouth sometimes,” he says. However, the fact that his 40-year-old covers are still considered so radical is also a little discouraging. How come not much else has happened since then? To ponder that question, and to revisit the stories behind his most iconic pictures, we sat down with the irrepressibly charming and outspoken 77-year-old native New Yorker in the beautiful West Village apartment he’s lived in for the past four decades. (more…)

I sometimes wonder if my daughter, who is currently one years old, will read books when she grows up (and goes beyond her current favorites “Baby’s Animal Friends” and “Bear Goes To Town”). Maybe reading paper books will be a habit reserved for old people by then. Or perhaps they won’t exist at all. Whatever happens, one thing is for sure, there will be major changes in the way we perceive and consume literature. On AIGA’s web site there’s an interesting article that offers some insight to how book publishers are trying to appeal to a younger generation that is more likely to spend every waking hour on their computer than pick up Dostoyevsky. (more…)

Few so called best-dressed society women elicit such adoration among lesser dressed women as Iris Barrel Apfel. I know several otherwise very sensible ladies who start to swoon at the very mention of her name. One friend even harbors a secret fantasy of becoming the glamorous octogenarian’s adult adoptee. Barrel Apfel is an interior and textile designer who attracted a die-hard following of fans when The Met exhibited her wardrobe in the surprise hit exhibition Rara Avis in 2005. The show drew record numbers of designers, students and regular museum goers who came back again and again to get their fix of Iris’ mad cap mix of colors, shapes and Tibetan jewelry. You don’t have to be particularly interested in clothes to be impressed and inspired by her creativity. Barrel Apfel dresses like a living sculpture, creating a perfect balance between strong, graphic shapes and vivid colors. Even though she wears top couture labels like Balenciaga and Lanvin, her clothes are not fashion statements but more like canvases for her self-expression.

If you’re in the New York area within the next few weeks and would like to get to know Iris, you should take a trip to the Nassau Museum on Long Island where the Rara Avis exhibit is on show until September 7. And if you can’t do that there’s always her book.

An image from Jisuk Jung’s winning campaign

Back in March we wrote about Design 21’s Millennium Promise competition. Now the winners have been selected. First prize went to the animated campaign “Eight Goals” by Jisuk Jung of South Korea. The jury found that Jung’s compelling animated version of each of Millennium Promise’s eight goals serves as a message of hope and clearly illustrates all of the Millennium Promise’s objectives. The upbeat animation will be featured prominently on the Millennium Promise website. Jung will be awarded $5000. (more…)