Around this office, we have some projects which are bi-lingual, some trilingual and even one which has over seven languages involved. Multi-lingual signage for hospitals, airports, and casinos often challenges the designer to layout text before knowing the meaning and translation of the words involved. With Chinese characters, the designer… Read more »
Isabelle Hayeur was tired of seeing the wonderfully beautiful, if not slowly decaying, Vancouver architecture constantly be demolished by uninspired real estate developers. In the darker streets of Canada’s home of the 2010 Olympics, she sparks the imagination of visitors with her piece, Fire with Fire. The fire-lit windows intend… Read more »
They’re everywhere. On walls, in the sidewalk, on bridges, in parks and on statues. Bronze plaques commemorating somebody or something are familiar and friendly elements of the streetscape. Easy to overlook, and sometimes boring to read, these cast metal panels tell the stories of a place’s past. Who did what… Read more »
Oracle Bones By Peter Hessler (Harper Perennial) If you want to understand what’s happening in China – the single greatest urban migration and most massive urban development in history – this book is for you. In this rich first-person account about a handful of young educated Chinese who leave their… Read more »
Demonstrating that graphic design can be ‘built in’ to a building, this huge, architecturally integrated address on the new Caltrans District 7 headquarters building in Los Angeles is one of our favorite signs. Not only does it dramatically state the address, the sign forms the artistic focal point of the… Read more »
Who else but Smokey the Bear do we trust with fire safety information? For over fifty years this friendly but serious bear has looked us in the eye and implored us to prevent forest fires. Smokey’s origin is clouded in myth, but he remains among the most accepted and beloved… Read more »
There’s a kiosk in there somewhere, but it is obscured by hundreds of student postings (here, the original meaning of posting). Seeking roommates, yoga classes, tutoring, bicycles for sale, sex counseling, ride-sharing, foreign study, choir auditions – you name it. A nexus of campus information and interaction, these layered displays… Read more »
With a little help from Macy’s, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. You gotta’ believe.
The technological contributions of the French may not be fully appreciated. Certainly, the inventions of Louis Pasteur, Gustave Eiffel and Louis Braille are known worldwide, but it is the effort of one lesser-known French inventor, Georges Claude, which has made a lasting impact to the world of environmental graphic design…. Read more »