Just in time for the holidays MONOICONO is pleased to announce the arrival of it's first publication Middleman! Middleman is aimed at the savvy brute in flyover country; the man from the Midwest that wants to know his stuff about politics, policy, fashion, design and sport; the man that wants to be the hit at dinner parties not only for knowledge but how he dresses. You can pick it up at fine local establishments around Louisville as well as read it online by clicking the Middleman link up there in the main navigation. Hope everyone has a spectacular new year!
Time Is All Relative
Designers tend to bill by the hour, which is why they describe a generally drawn out process by which they arrive at their conclusions. This stems from the fact that they feel they have to "show their work" in order to generate value. Yet as many designers can attest, the big idea is often generated within 30 minutes of hearing the problem. Their accumulated experience allows them to understand what they need to do in an instant. But you don't want to call the client 30 minutes after a meeting and say, that will be one million dollars please. I mean you didn't do anything! It didn't take any time! Except that it did. And in the end your time isn't what they're paying for, the time they're paying for is their own.
DESIGN JOBS
There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said about the importance of Steve Jobs. He (along with an army of talent at Apple) has quite simply changed the way we interact with the world, what personal computing actually means and how we entertain and educate ourselves. Not bad for only 56 years of life.
CULT OF PERSONALITY
Designers live in fear of the committee. When working through design problems committees are often where good ideas go to die. A huge problem with groups of people needing to sign off on ideas is the fact that once an idea gets run through a bunch of people's checklist all of the things that make something unique get stripped away. Any corners get rounded and anything that yells gets hushed. In the end the design is faceless and blends into the background.
DESIGN SNOBBERY: IF YOU'RE GOING TO BLOW, MIGHT AS WELL BLOW HARD
A little while back over at Design Observer, Adrian Shaughnessy posted a tidbit about the riots in London. It was soon clear he touched off a nerve as 95 comments came rolling through ranging from "great article" to one commenter calling Mr. Shaughnessy a dick.
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FROM HERE TO THERE
Our daily commutes see us Homo Sapiens in many different environments expressing many behaviors. We can be seen as the solitary sort, mindlessly careening along at 70 miles per hour. We can be the begrudging social animal stuck in traffic with our ever-more irritated fellow man. Or we can be the herd animal rattling to and fro in a crowded bus. Given the variety and frequency of the human commute it is curious how little people take into account how design (graphic, architectural, industrial and political) plays a role in the ways we get from A to B...