Coffee Banana

Modern Tribes

2006-09-24T06:57:00.000+08:00

In the course of last few weeks ago, I had learnt quite a bit about myself. My best friend and co-author of this blog decided to hold a movie screening party at her place. All we had to contribute to this party was booze and a choice of our two favorite movies. Two favorite movies. How the hell am I going to choose two favorite movies, show it to a group different individuals without being called crazy or anything equivalent to that. Movies, music, book choices implicitly or explicitly defines you. My favourtie malay movie of all time is Putri Gunung Ledang. The love song I am going to serenade my future wife is True Companion by Marc Cohan. My current song choice is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. And I quite like The Stars are Blind by Paris Hilton. I am currently reading The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult.

Apart from songs, movies and books, which undeniably we know, defines us, we now live in an age where the things and brands we own, does the same, whether we like it or not. We treasure our individuality yet at the same time we yearn to belong to a group. A tribe of like-minded people that have the same aspirations. These contradictions gave to rise of players like iPods and bags like Birkins. Now, instead of saying I like my iPod, we say my iPod is like me. And we belong to that group of inspired and design conscious people who too, owns iPods.

Belonging to a tribe is so imbued into our nature, that some of us even buy fake branded goods to pretend to belong to a certain tribe. Some might argue that buying imitation is a matter of cheaper prices and not to satisfy the need to belong to a tribe. If that is the case, then why buy an imitation at all. There are many, unbranded (or at least, lesser known brands) to purchase, yet imitation remains popular. The need to belong is human nature, and good brands know how to take advantage of that.

The popularity of certain brands are so pertinent, they influence other brands. iPods inspired Microsoft to create its Zune player - both has the jog wheel that the iPods made popular. Louis Vuitton has spurred Bonia to design almost similar looking bags. However, brands that are trying to imitate other brands seldom get to have the cult like fans the original has. That's because the imitation brand fail to fulfill the other need of humans. While we yearn to belong to a tribe, we also value individuality. And we see brands that are copycats to undermine that individuality.

While brands have the power to influence and define people, people too seems to have the uncanny ability to define brands. Brands are owned by people and hence the people that own those brands define it. And if brands are uncontrolled, they become defined beyond the original brand direction. Take KY Jelly, the famous (or infamous) lubricant. When it first came out, it was never advertised, or positioned to be a sexual lubricant. In fact it was created for the medical community. Even right now, the medical community uses KY as lubricant. I was a medic in the army, and when truck loads of KY Jelly order came in for the treatment room, we would still smile cheekily at each other.

About a week ago, I had to pay a friend of mine a visit. He needed help with his costumes and make-up for a certain performance at a certain club. As I entered his room, I accidentally had a glanced into his sister's room. There, in that peach scented room, is an iMac on a glass table, perched beautifully like a white canary. It was designed in a way that the 20" screen looked like it was floating. "You use a mac?" I asked almost excitedly. "Nah." my friend replied. "My silly sister does. Macs can't play games." I felt a little disappointed that my beloved computing platform is dismissed so easily and ignorantly. After helping him with the costumes and makeup, I made my way out of his room, passing the living room, and that was where I saw his enlightened sister. "Hello." I said casually. "I'm a mac user too." I added almost intuitively. "Really? WOW." she replied. Her eyes glimmered with enthusiasm, excitement and acknowledgment. We didn't say anything more but we both knew, we belonged to the same tribe.

Technorati Tags: Brands, Culture, Business

Ownership of Design

2006-09-13T13:05:00.000+08:00

I was recently involved in a logo identity project that I happily jumped into. It was all dandy but unfortunately the project was suddenly shelved. Apparently the clients had to reminiscent with design nostalgia – they loved their old logo a little too much. I was a little disappointed, but continued working on the project. I had invested quite a deal of my creative energy and I felt that it would be a waste to just shelve the efforts. Of course it would be delightful if my designs were used, but I digress. Without a client to answer to, it felt that I was creating art. I was responsible for all aspect of the project, from the ideas to the production. It felt like I owned the design.

The idea of designer owning design is rather absurd. While the designer creates the product, the idea and the message belongs to the client he is working for. Even the designed product eventually belongs to the client. The client being the owner of the design is ultimately responsible how she uses it. After the production phase, the designer usually has no longer influence or control over the design.

While leaving that sad little fact as it may, never had I met a graphic designer who truly believes that he never owns the design. The reason we become graphic designers is the appeal of creating a mark that we can call our own. It doesn’t matter if that mark is the identity for a major brand or if it’s a small little price tag for designer pots. Graphic designers created the look and feel of that mark, and hence own it.

Some would argue that to own design, is having control and responsibility over both the medium and the message. While designers have influence over the medium, rarely do the designers have any say in the message. As designers, it seems that our role are to be the conveyer of other people’s ideas and intentions. While that doesn’t sound too be bad, and make us at least the owner of the medium of how the message is communicated, it becomes increasingly difficult when the client too seem to own and have influence over the medium.

In an ideal world, graphic designers would work with bold and visionary clients who would challenge the designer creatively and give him the freedom to create. The client would not ask the graphic designer to make disastrous changes like making the headline bigger, more colorful and like shiny chrome.

But unfortunately it is not an ideal world. While designer seldom questions the message that he has to work with, the client usually never hesitates to give her opinion on design choices, no matter how absurd it sounds. The designer would often be deflated when the client questions his font sizes and color choices. The demand for petty changes is often harder to swallow than outright rejection. Such demand for changes hit us where it hurts the most – our frail sense of design ownership.

Ultimately design ownership is matter of perspective. Designers must understand that we are hired help. Clients have their concern, and such concern should be addressed. Clients on the other hand, should understand that she hired a Graphic Designer. An expert in his field, and seldom will he implement design solutions without reason. He is not an implementer of the client’s design whims. He is a Graphic Designer, not a Graphic Waiteress.*

*This is a quote by a rather famous designer whose name I seem to have forgotten. Ooops...

Technorati Tags: Graphic Design, Design, Culture, Business

Design Nostalgia

2006-09-07T23:38:00.000+08:00

When I am not busy writing blog entries, designing, looking for work and doing other, you know, important stuff, I would be busy cleaning up my room. Tidying things up and making everything looking prim and proper. And often, I would not only be rearranging books and the various knic knacks I have, but also be throwing out old clothes, bits of paper and stuff that I don't need. I was never one to appreciate nostalgia. I was never fond of old things. I love new things. New books smell better than old books. New white shirts look better than yellowed stained ones. So when there was an uproar about the demolition of the old National Library, I never quite understood why the roar was a loud one. The proposed design for the new National Library was outstanding. I loved it. The old must give way to the new, I say.

Buildings and even trees with heritage and historical value are protected because they are a critical part of Singapore history. Preserved to ensure the future generations could enjoy part of our history in its full glory. Not through books or pamphlets, where the information could be changed and rewritten. Preserved to ensure the future appreciates what was appreciated then.

In my quest to understand the meaning and value of the old, I stumbled upon information that was quite startling. Apparently not only was the Old National Library demolished, but its old logo was redesigned too. And it was changed way before the Old National Library was destroyed. I never seen the old logo, nor was I successful in finding one on the internet. It was as if, the old logo too, was demolished. Forever destroyed and never to be seen again by the public. Was there an outcry when the logo was changed, replaced with a stylized book with flipping pages that transits from bold solid pages to pixels. Was it changed for the better? Is the old logo as important as the building of the Old National Library?

The outcry and protest of the old national library demolition came not from architects or builders, but the general public. The old national library was not only appreciated for its design or architecture, but the memories associated with it too. The memories of the first books borrowed. The memories of perhaps the first crushes teenage boys had in library halls. So naturally, when it was proposed that the National Library be demolished, people with memories of the old library protested. But what about the old logo? Is the old logo part of any memory? Or is it forgotten because it is just a logo? An insignificant little graphic design of a librarian.

Graphic Design as prominent as it is in the world around us, leaves no footprint or memory when they are lost. Indeed they are probably printed somewhere in a bounded design annual. But what if they are not? What if they, for whatever reasons, are not preserved in those books? Stories from that logo would be lost forever. What was the librarian thinking when he/she designed it? Was he/she payed? Did he/she did it out of love? What inspired he/she? How did he/she designed it? Was the logo at that point of time loved?

There are museums in the US that hold collection of graphic design works of great designers which includes Paula Scher, Milton Glaser and Michael Bierut. Permanently kept in collections to be appreciated by the design and art enthusiasts, while the world moves on with progress and fresher graphic design. But what of the general public? Will they go to these museums to appreciate Paula Scher typographic genius or Milton Glasser timeless posters? Is graphic design only beautiful to graphic designers? To me, it appears so that way, and it is sad.

As countries and corporations progressed forward, it seems that the easiest thing to do to reflex such progress is to change the graphic design. Redesign the logo to project a sense of friendliness. Rebrand to show the world that you are fresh and not lagging behind. But many a times, such changes never did really changed anything. But amidst the cloud of rapid change, something gets lost. DBS is soon to undergo a ten million dollar branding exercise that would reflex its asian sophistication. Perhaps they would change their logo and they would become more asian. We would only know later. The world never blinks an eye when old logos are redesigned and identities that had served for years are revised. Graphic design changes so fast, that it is no longer valued. Its original intent lost.

Sometimes I wonder who is to blame for the general public lack of concern for graphic design. The CEOs who chair board meetings, government officials looking down from their ivory towers or the graphic designers who are enthusiastically redesigning logos so that they are fresher, shiner and more colorful, complete with drop shadows and gloss. I am all for progress, but sometimes, a little slowing down could do us some good.

Technorati Tags: Singapore, Nostalgia, Brand, Identity, Design, Graphic Design, Business

The Branding of the Lion

2006-09-02T12:55:00.000+08:00

It appears that the Singapore Government has been bitten by the branding bug. It is not enough that we are Uniquely Singapore, the Garden City and the Hub of Everything. It was reported in the Straits Times (2nd September 2006, Saturday, Article Titled: Wanted a Single Brand for Singapore) that the Government of Singapore has decided Singapore needs One Unified Universal Brand. A brand flexible enough to promote Singapore in the Tourism Arena and gets scientist to work in our Life Sciences labs.

Branding is a multi-billion dollar industry. No surprise. Brands inspire loyalty and association. It becomes a statement. It is a mark of credibility. One buys an iPod because an iPods says that you are hip and design conscious. One goes to Starbucks not just to drink coffee, but to be part of a culture of laid back chic cool. Brand does that. It becomes a powerful message that people believe.

But brands are successful only if what it represent is successful. No amount of branding can save an ailing company. Brands are to be viewed in context. Creative Technologies spends millions on advertising and yet its brand is a distant from the shining iPod maker Apple. People go to Starbucks not to just drink coffee because they have position themselves that way. They may not have the best coffee, but they have great music, ambience and friendly young staffs. One feels chic and relax in a Starbucks. And it takes persistence for brands to work. Mac Donalds rebranding of themselves as a young, hip and healthy establishment is working slowly, but surely. Soon, the youth in years time is going to be chanting I'm Lovin' it when they order their healthy, less calories grilled chicken fold-over.

Singapore is a nation that has the economic means to have many aspirations. Singapore wishes to be a gate for the West into ASEAN. Singapore wishes to be the economic hub of the world. Our MM LKY even aspires that Singapore becomes the Paris of Asia - a country whose night life and culture is alive and thriving. As such, branding becomes an important tool to ensure people view Singapore the way the governments wants it.

But, should who ever is going to get the Three Million Dollars (Yes, three million dollars with a capital 'D') contract to design the brand, design it in the way the government wants it to be. Yes the government is paying them, but is the government vision appropriate for a national brand - a national identity. Whose voices and ideas should be consulted? Multi-million corporations that fuel the nation's economy. Arts and cultural groups that had given Singapore the artistic soul she desperately needs. Government agencies that would most probably be using the brand as a marketing tool. The citizens of Singapore that are crying to be heard. Or other countries that are going to be exposed to the brand and be compelled to invest in our island? We must remember, that the branding of the nation is being funded by tax-payers money. In other words, tax-payers should have a say.

And what is this new national brand going to change? Is the government going to change their processes? Is the government going to change their attitude towards liberalization, should the new brand requires that to happen? Should nothing is going to change, than what the brand really is just a new tag line set in a fancy font. The brand is going to change nothing. Branding is more than just design. Fancy artwork and organic design didn't make Starbucks the chic and relax place that it is. The staff, the food, the ambience, the interior design - in other word, the whole package made that happen. Brand is the whole package.

Singapore with all of its global aspiration is really being held back by her conservative rulers. No amount of branding can save an ailing company, the same goes for a country. No amount of branding can erase the fact that Singapore doesn't have a free press. No amount of branding can erase the fact that the Singapore government has the capabilities to arrest anyone and put them behind bars without a trial. No amount of branding can erase the fact that the Singapore government has actively sued its critics.

A free democracy is a prerequisite for globalization, and to be taken seriously. Yes. The Singapore government has done Singapore good. We are the 22nd largest GNP in the world. They must have done something right. Yet, a nation whose aspiration is only to make loads of money is not a nation worth being proud of. Yes a successful brand must be profitable, but brands is never about just profits. You don't buy an iPod because Apple is profitable.

Branding seems to be a way to solve image problems. Analyst have suggested that the US government rebrand themselves for all the backlash and unpopular foreign policy the Bush administration had introduced. Rebrand themselves? Shouldn't they solve the problem that has brought about the problem with their image? Shouldn't the Bush administration relook and rethink their foreign policy, especially with the Muslim nations and the Middle-east. Brand is a powerful tool. But not powerful enough to erase mistakes. Not powerful enough to erase mistakes that has caused unnecessary wars and lives.

It is important that whomever is going to get the contract of branding Singapore, understand that a nation's brand isn't about marketing. It isn't about four million smiles. It isn't about being unique. It isn't even about being a hub to everything. A national brand is a direction and a collective aspiration of a country. Lets hope that they do not confuse a country's aspiration, with the government's aspiration.

Technorati Tags: Singapore, brand, identity, design, onebrandsingapore

Divine Proportions

2006-08-03T16:43:00.000+08:00

Vitruvius described the design of the human body in proportions and ratios. Four fingers make a palm, four palms make one arm, etc. He also happens to be an architect. This theory was illustrated in the famous sketch of da Vinci's, the Vitruvian man. Of course there is no such thing as a human who prescribes strictly to such a design. There are opinions however that those proportions are of that of the ideal man.

The idea of an ideal beauty is probably too absurd to discuss. Beauty belongs to the eye of a beholder. Beauty is subjective. There is no definition for beauty that truly defines it. Yet at the same time, we have accepted certain standards of aesthetics that are imposed upon us. We yearn to look like supermodels and to own sleek macbooks and iPods. Even in the realm of design, we accept certain aesthetics standards.

When I first discovered grids, I repeatedly read the term Golden Ratio and Divine Proportions. We use those ratios, just because. Golden Ratios are a set of numbers derived from the study of nature that supposedly makes beautifully balanced proportions. Or at least, not vulgar or shocking. The Divine Proportions somehow manage to objectify and create a standard of beauty that is acceptable.

One of the books that I was reading – a series of Baron's Art Handbooks, Perspective and Composition (thank you Kristen honey ;P) – spoke of a mathematician (actually the book said The Great Mathematician), Luca Pacioli who wrote a book about the Golden Ratio titled De Divina Propotione. Translated, that means The Divine Proportions. I suppose we can safely assume that Pacioli coined that term. In that book, Pacioli compared the occurrence of the Divine Proportions in both nature and man-made objects to God – mysterious, occult and divine.

The Vitruvian Man, which illustrates man with the ideal proportions remains just that, an ideal (unfortunate for many us). The Divine Proportions however, has become a practical and usable set of numbers that both Mother Nature and men can use to create beauty. When I design layouts and I have no where to start, I used those divine numbers. And it mostly works. Layouts that prescribe to the Divine Proportions look balance and dynamic, and there is no reasonable explanation.

Yet the quest of the ideal beauty in design is a dangerous one to pursue. In such a quest we may forgot the true goals of design. Design is more than just a balanced layout. Design is not a beautification process. Design is not the Divine Proportions – it is neither mysterious, occult or divine.

Technorati Tags: design, art, art history

Do not express yourself!

2006-07-27T00:25:00.000+08:00

One of my more memorable job interviews was held in a rather posh hotel restaurant. It was for a Graphic Designer position in a Magazine. The interviewer who was the principal founder and editor of the magazine, was dressed rather casually. Jeans, shirt and a business jacket. He looks the very the bit of what I imagined someone in the editorial industry would look like. I approached him, gave him a firm hand shake and suavely landed onto my sit. I did everything that needs to be done to give the great first impression.

As he was browsing through my portfolio, occasionally giving me the nod of approval, he suddenly shoots a question that even after days of reading interview tips, I were apparently still not ready for. "Your designs all looks varied and polish. You might just be a good designer, but where is the you in these designs? It looks as if, all the pieces were done by different designers."

My brains shuts down. My mouth opens, but no intelligible sounds came out. I was dumbfounded. Shocked. After what seems like forever, I finally answered, albeit with much silliness and naivety.

"I don't think graphic designers should leave marks of their personality in their design." I didn't explain further.

After that shocking reply to the equally shocking question, the interview went downhill, and to cut it short, there was no way that I would be working for this magazine. I went home, sadly and without a job.

Months past, and I was still thinking about that fateful interview. I was on the treadmill, trying to run off the fats of the weekends when I suddenly hit upon an epiphany. Should designers, graphic designers in particular, express themselves in works for clients? It's particularly pertinent for graphic designers to ask themselves this question because in other design fields, self expression is a commendable quality. You would know a Philip Stark work, even though his design works are varied, ranging from shoes to calculators.

In other fields of design, the consumers or audience of the design wants to experience or be associated with the designer. In fashion design, industrial design, interior design etc, the designer is the celebrity. However in graphic design, the consumer just wants to experience the design itself. In fact, sometimes a graphic designer has to make the design transparent, and in effect, makes himself transparent, so the consumer can get to the point clearly and correctly.

Then we have to ask ourselves the most fundamental of questions. Why do we need graphic design? To me, graphic design allows the idea to be delivered in the most elegant and clearest fashion. Self expression in graphic design can only be allowed if it helps in this delivery. Adding noise of self expression to graphic design fails the design. Graphic design then fails its purpose.

And that ladies and gentlemen, was what I should have said during that damn interview.

Technorati Tags: graphic design, ideas, art

The Practice of Naming

2006-07-23T22:01:00.000+08:00

Quite a few moons ago, Kristen and I, were dreaming during our many free times together, about a design firm we would start together. We would of course start out from our rooms, then we would grow into something so big, people would compare as to Pentagram and Landor. And like many designers and creative types, we gave the firm a 'creative' name. 12x40. Twelve by Forty. Twelve times Forty. 12[Forty] Why? No reason of course. That adds to the allure sexy creativeness we thought. And it doesn't hurt that Twelve by Forty has a nice modernist ring to it.

In a world of people trying to be different and radical, it's forgivable perhaps that we have design and creative firms with names like Ffurious and 10AM. And both said companies, happen to be successful Singaporean firms.

To most start-up entrepreneurs, choosing a name for their companies is probably one of the more enjoyable and personal pursuits. Unlike thinking of a marketing plan and setting sales goals, naming is an instantaneous and significant decision that seems easy. Naming is also a symbolic decision that reaffirms who's boss, since only principal partners and owners are usually allowed to participate in naming. And names – wisely – are usually permanent. Naming is important, yet usually not much thought is put into it when practicing naming.

And perhaps because of this, we have design/branding firms, offering naming services. Heck, even naming specialist consultancy have arisen. The science of naming, is no longer a personal choice of what you want to appear on your business card but now part of a bigger identity and branding solution.

A hundred monkeys, a naming consultancy state that naming is marketing and strategy, and a boring name means an almost certain early death. With a name like A Hundred Monkeys, it would be hard not to take them seriously.

Yet with all this naming business, there is a risk that other real business issues are cast aside. Naming, like branding and identity design are important to businesses but they are not magical pills of success. The success of a name is tied to the success of the business, and perhaps no surprise here, just like the success of a design. All a good name, just like a good brand or design could deliver – and I'm misquoting Paul Rand here – is recognition and a promise of meaning. A promise that can only be fulfilled over time. That is something everyone who engages in the practice of naming should understand, either they be designers or naming consultants.

Technorati Tags: branding, naming, design, business

Writing within the Design Process

2006-06-27T21:14:00.000+08:00

It is always the opinion of many that drawing is a critical skill a good graphic designer should master. Drawing is part of the design process where ideas begins to make sense and take form. It doesn't matter if you draw with a pencil on paper or a stylus in photoshop, the exploration of ideas by drawing is almost necessary.

Illustrators and Painters draw and sketch probably everyday not only to enclose themselves in a world of ideas and their work, but also to improve their skills. To them the art of drawing is of paramount importance. I doodle almost everyday, not to improve my drawing skill (though to improve the skill of drawing, requires that you draw often), but to explore varied ideas for the varied projects that I have planned for myself.

A sketch, a doodle, a completed painting - speaks a thousand words. Yet, designers seldom use words to explore ideas.

Words, often are clearer than messy doodles. To write, requires you to think and rethink. The exploration of ideas through writing, as what I am about to suggest is not to replace drawing, but to add clarity to the already mysterious design process. Writing demands the clarity of thinking, that sketching might not require. Writing is rigorous and meticulous. Drawing is organic and unconstrained. Both has its place in the design process.

The exploration of concepts and ideas through writing allows the designer to place serious consideration on its importance. While drawing, we may allow the focus on form to complicate or compete with the exploration of concept. With the absence of any visuals or pictures, the focus falls squarely on concept. It brings awareness to meanings of words and narratives. Writing gives concepts a voice, that a sketch or a doodle may not show.

When writing, especially when we want our clients to be involved in the process, it is vital that we be as clear as possible. Concept is king, yet its importance might be lost because of ambiguous writing. The concept of concept is already mysterious to the client, it does not need ambiguous writing to cloud its purpose. Let the words be yours and your client's guide.

The speed of writing may seem to affect the flow of the design process, especially when it seems that the benefit of speed and quantity of ideas may be advantageous to the conceptual development. However writing – I have said this too many times – requires that you think. Thinking deep before you commit anything to words will allow the discovery of many more varied solutions, that will ultimately contribute to the quality of your design.

Other than the conceptual development, other stages of the design process may also benefit from the use of writing. Your roughs and thumbnails sketches may reach another level of clarity if you tag it with a few words about the composition, discussion of fonts, choice of color, etc.

Designers may not need to be writers but designers must write. Writing makes designer critical thinkers and articulate ideas clearer, thus, making them better designers. We all say designers are communicators . Visual communication is not the only way of communication, the written words happens to be one of them and – sometimes we forget – most common.

Technorati Tags: design, designers, design process, writing

Further Reading:
Designers must Write
The Art of Thinking through Making
Writing for Design Professionals

Impossible is Nothing is Impossible

2006-06-25T09:46:00.000+08:00

Impossible is nothing. At first, I have to admit that phrase has almost no meaning to me. I am slow at 'getting it' and I thought that the Adidas tagline is just another tagline in this world of taglines. So one day, while jogging with a friend of mine, he asked me whether its possible for me to complete my 2.4km run in 7mins. Breathlessly I said, "That's impossible!" "Nothing is impossible my friend." he replied in an almost mocking manner. I continued with another reply, when I should just stop. "Yes. 2.4 in 7mins is impossible." "Well." he said in an authoritative tone. "Impossible is nothing then."

In that moment, I got it. I understood the magic and relevance of the Adidas tagline. And for some reason, since I got it after months of being exposed, the tagline and Adidas as a whole seems to me like a smarter company. No - I didn't rush down to the Adidas concept boutique to buy a whole load of shoes and sports jackets. But it did make me consider them.

Taglines are powerful words created as a basis of an advertising or a marketing campaign. Used correctly, taglines can be an indefinite everlasting soul to a company. It moves beyond being just an advertising tool, it becomes an integral part of the identity. Just do it. Three short words that have made Nike a prominent entity in the marketplace for what seems like an eternity. Other companies had tried, but not with similar success.

However the power of taglines are only as powerful as its audience's ability to understand it. First there are people like me. Slow at getting it. We are not dumb (some might argue), but we just don't get it easily. Ink Different (Canon failed tagline). What is that suppose to mean? I'm lovin' it. I'm loving what exactly? Don't even get me started about Uniquely Singapore. Taglines are summarized visions and missions statements and that it is summarized to a point of being generic. If the law is not a problem, even Microsoft could use the tagline Just Do It. Then there is the language barrier. Notice most of these taglines are in English. Most people in china can't understand a word of english. Heck, not all Singaporeans can understand English. What's is Just Do It in Malay? Buat Sahajalah? Doesn't sound too catchy.

Some companies use taglines as they would logos. They print them everywhere. Business cards. Packaging. Boxes. Taglines, once created just for promotional, has become a second logo. Often appearing beside or under a logo. A second logo that may have all the wit and smarts of a tagline, but it also has all its weaknesses. What is Impossible is Nothing in Malay?

Further Reading:
Tyranny of Taglines
Swoosh

Technorati Tags: graphic design, identity, logo, business, advertising

Designing within Context

2006-06-23T21:56:00.000+08:00

What makes a logo work? Is it good outstanding design? Or the success of the company that owns the logo? Is the success of a logo beyond the control of a designer? What does a designer do then?

Read Michael Bierut blog entry over at Design Observers

The lettering in the Chanel logo is neutral, blank, open-ended: what we see when we look at it is eight decades' worth of accumulated associations. In the world of identity design, very few designs mean anything when they're brand new. A good logo, according to Paul Rand, provides the "pleasure of recognition and the promise of meaning." The promise, of course, is only fulfilled over time. "It is only by association with a product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real meaning," Rand wrote in 1991. "It derives its meaning and usefulness from the quality of that which it symbolizes."

Technorati Tags: graphic design, identity, logo, business

The Eyes of the Artist

2006-06-21T13:16:00.000+08:00

An article in June's Imagine FX features the much-esteemed artist couple Boris Vallejo and Jullie Bell. I was quite surprised to see Julie Bell, especially, working on such incredible traditional medium fantasy art, since I think I can vaguely remember she had a website of her own with some very good anime tutorials (ah, the days when I was all hardcore in anime art). She's now married to prodigy artist Boris and together, their creativity has synergized into something almost alive. They push eachother forward and bring new perspectives to eachother's view of life, which inevitably manifests in their art.

The fantasy genre, aptly described as "freedom", allows this creative energy full reign as their subjects depict strong men and women as partners (a reflection of their own marriage). Their clouds, textures, enviroments and creatures are truly the stuff of dreams, yet the photorealistic human figures are so real it's almost as if this vision of freedom were attainable. And they paint so well with traditional medium that it makes this digital artist want to bite her stylus in half and get married to box of oil paints.

When asked about where they get their ideas, Boris had this to say:

"That's a question people always ask," says Boris. It's also one that can't be answered: "To tell you the truth, we don't fee that we come up with ideas. The ideas come to us." You have to be a conduit: "The ideas are already there, we are vehicles for them."

Julie seems surprised that anyone could ever lack for ideas: "it's like every time you turn your head you see something. Out of hte blue you'll just look at a stain on the table and it'll look like something and you just go 'oh my god'." And off you go.

What I think can be learnt from this is that creativity is not something that comes from within, it's something that comes from without. To see the wonder in the world and let it work through you and your art. Maybe fantasy art isn't so much the representation of dreams or 'fantasy' as something unreal, but reality shown to us in all it's beauty. It may seem hard to see the wonder in things so mudane, but artist Jason Chan, a personal favourite of mine, show us that it's not in Imagine FX's May issue:

"In a way," says Jason Chan, "my art is a way for me to show people my mind and how my mind interprets the world." That interpretation is rich with something we all too easily overlook in our daily lives: "The feeling of otherworldliness and mystery."

"Fashion, people I know and life experience, I can draw influenced from anything." Jason channels it through into that fantastic mental filter and out it comes: "If anything sparks my interest, you may see it in my painting." Art is the expression of a person's experience.

His piece Angel Flight was inspired from his observation of a fence on an overpass.

Therefore, it appears that to be 'creative', to be able to show everyone the world as you see it, you need to take see the mundane through your own mental filters, seeing the artistic wonder of the world around us. And to see the wonder of the world around us requires a certain something, and I think Terry Pratchett described what that something is very accurately in his description of the Discworld character Leonard of Quirm:

Any sensible ruler would have killed off Leonard, and Lord Vetinari was extremely sensible and often wondered why he had not done so. He'd decided it was because, imprisoned in the priceless, enquiring amber of Lenoard's massive mind, underneathe all that bright investigative genius was a kind of wilful innocence that might in lesser men be considered stupidity. It was the seat and soul of that force which, down the millenia, had caused mankind to stick it's fingers in the eletric socket of the Universe and play with the switch to see what happened - and then be very surprised when it did.

Form Vs Function (Again)

2006-06-20T21:35:00.000+08:00

Orange stripes on a pale beige background. Purple serif fonts. Decorative floral borders. The choices of some designers astound me and not in a good way. And yet the guilty poster that was clumsily placed on the notice board with push pins functions. There was a visibly proper information hierarchy. Mostly legible. We all get it. It's just – ugly. It was the tragic tragedy of the century.

I have to admit, I am one of those poor sods who believes that everything is design. And I really mean – everything. (Except probably the creation of the natural world. I am a staunch believer of natural selection) From the design of the mouse to the design of the motherboard inside the Mac. To me design is the factor that mitigate all the inevitable daily hassles of the real world. Here I have to say that the design of the door handle is flawed. If you have to push the door, why is there a door handle? (Instinctively, you pull a handle not push) Of course this belief gives me the impression that capital D - Designers are Gods. And in these era of complexities and information overload, Designers are truly Gods.

I am also one of those poor sods who blindly believes that the practice of design requires that problems be solved. Ask any designer what they do, and they will mostly say that they are problem solvers. Designers indeed solves problems, just that sometimes we lose track of what problems we are suppose to solve.

The pursuit of functional goals within a design project is inevitable. The business card needs to contain the contact information. The logo needs to be able to be printed in both grayscale and full color. The inclusion of functional goals in our work is what makes us designers, and not fine artists.

However, when a project becomes mainly the pursuit of the form, designers tend to complicate things to make it appears more than just what it is. Ask a designer what they do, and probably none would say they make things pretty. And yet that is what a designer does.

Form follows function. Function over form. These are mantra that are chanted by designers all over. The focus on function perhaps makes our jobs appear smarter. More important. Makes it a professional practice. To place an importance on form, makes designers, stylist. People who makes things pretty.

Perhaps it is the difficulty of justifying choices that pertain to form. It is easier to explain the necessity of a uniformed look and feel in an identity than the look and feel of the identity itself. Explaining why you choose a certain font for the headline with a - "I don't know, I just like it," isn't exactly respectable.

But that's what we do. We use our gut feeling and instinct to make choices that would make the design of that poster work. We just know and can't explain why certain fonts are better in certain situations than other fonts. A legible design is not enough. It has to be beautiful. At least to our and the client's eyes.

Form is Function. Let us make that our new mantra.

Technorati Tags: design, designers, design industry, form, function, style, styling, stylist, graphic design, graphic designers

Manga's Bad, Mmmkay?

2006-06-18T22:10:00.000+08:00

Walking into Kinokuniya is dangerous. The initial plan was to pick up Imagine FX June (a pretty good digital painting magazine by Future Publishing). Turns out, Imagine FX July is in. Pick up. Head to my favourite manga section to see if there are any interesting series out.

Oh no, there are.

The english translation of KamiKaze by Shiki Satoshi caught my eye. After ages of collecting the comic in chinese, I can finally understand the story, not just oogle the awesome pictures. The art of this manga is awesome. It's pretty gruesome, limbs flying everywhere sort of thing, yet it's all tastefully done. Being a Shounen manga, there are, of course, a fair number of panty shots, naked high school girls and explosions every which way. Still, the toning, line art, and character design is just delightful to behold. And what impresses me most is the dynamic presentation of the action in the panels and the way water is illustrated here. I used to go to this manga for water references. A good buy. I sigh and pick it up.

I look down. Yami No Matsuei. Oh my god! My favourite shoujo manga of all time! Muraki is such a sadistic sexy bitch, one of the best villians presented in a long time, not since Shisho of Rurouni Kenshin fame! The psyche of the characters are compellingly revealed, along with all their fears, vulnerabilities and anxieties. I hover over the book, wondering if I should buy it... The art isn't all that fantastic, typically Shoujo - thin uniform lines, tones used more for ambience and textures then shadows, pretty boys flying every which way. The characters though, are like old old friends. Oh what the hell, I'll be poor next week anyway. Pick it up.

Now I have to start collecting Vagabond again - a great rendition of Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi, with spectacular art. I sometimes curse this throw-away mentality Japanese manga seems to have. I have a whole series of the Flame of Recca in chinese (ah, the days before Kinokuniya graced us with Tokyo Pop, Viz and et cetera) and I've no idea what to do with them. Japanese manga isn't particularly collectible, however compelling or well-drawn it may be. The speed at which manga is produced has proliferated the artform to the point where most of the books have no real value except to the most hard-core of Otaku.

Unlike American comics, where each page takes one to two days to produce, mangakas and their assorted minions produce four pages a day. That's insane. Of course it's a group effort, but you have to admire the guys for conceptualizing, designing, directing and drawing page after page at such speed - only to have their books thrown away or sold for second hand at dirt cheap prices.

Be that as it may, my manga purchases set me back almost forty dollars. Cursed import price jack ups. Manga's bad, mmmkay? But it's perfectly mmmkay to indulge in it once in a while.

Looking for Style

2006-06-17T12:15:00.000+08:00

It's not uncommon for me to draw things based on my favourite Fantasy Of The Hour. I remember way back when I was seventeen, drawing on the train as I endured the 2 hour trip to school. I really wonder how I had the courage to sit there and draw infront of all those people. My shading wasn't very good, composition sloppy and my art had more yaoi overtones than I'm willing to admit even to this day. And they were Anime. A bit too anime.

Don't get me wrong, I love anime. I watch it near everyday, I talk about it, sometimes even wish there were men in real life with nine-tailed mystical foxes sealed in their navels and blonde hair who could replicate themselves with ninjutsu techniques. I have seen some incredible Anime art, but the popularity of the genre has spawned a massive amount of pictures of generic, big-eyed figures posing randomly. In a genre with such a following of artists across the whole spectrum of skills, distinguishing yourself is incredibly difficult.

Just finding a way to establish your own style is hard enough. From what I've observed, style comes in the shape of the eyes, representation of the figure, amount of detail and method of coloring. You can tweak these in any which way, but there will still be someone who draws in a similar way. I have come a long way from those random little sketches in the train, but I'm still looking for a style of my own.

Developing your own style is difficult. It's like developing your personality, only on paper. In an excellent article by Jason Beam, style is described as an extension of oneself, a visual of how your brain works. (If that's the case, I think had way too many homo-erotic inclinations when I was seventeen.) Style is what makes your paintings memorable, something that is you.

I believe myself a very pedestrian kind of artist. I just plod along, picking up techniques I like from here and there, trying to integrate them into my art. Thus, my style keeps changing, sometimes according to my mood, or a piece of art that inspires me, the medium that I use... I seek my own style, yet I never settle on any single style I end up developing. Looking back at my old gallery on Deviantart is kind of like going on a journey. I can see my style changing.

I really think it was dissatisfaction that spurred me on to keep changing my art. Dissatisfaction at the way my art looked compared to others and the subsequent influx of humility has forced me to keep changing, keep trying. Sometimes I really wonder when on earth I'll settle on a style that I'm satisfied with, but then I realize that that would mean the death of my art.

Style by Jason Beam

The Allure of Digital

2006-06-17T11:21:00.000+08:00

Last Christmas, I gave Kristen a print-out of a digital painting I did as a Christmas present. I was not being cheap (though designers are usually misers). I even framed the print-out and it looks pretty good. I must say I was pretty proud with the painting.

However, during the gift exchange part of the dinner, where we publicly rip apart wrappings and show our sincere (sometimes not too sincere) thanks towards the giver of our gifts, I discovered that I am not too proud of Tempest – the title of the digital painting that I gave Kristen. It was not the work itself, but the medium of the piece. It was entirely digital. No sketches. No messy oil paint or runny watercolours. It was conceived entirely in Photoshop and Painter.

Friends around the table generally respond kindly and favourably towards the print-out, but most asked me how I did the painting. “Was it done in Oil?” “How did you do this?” “This is amazing.” I could not bring myself to say that it was done in Painter, the computer software than simulates the natural medium. I could not bring myself to say that it was colour corrected in Photoshop, and that it was printed with a high DPI so it looks good and real.

If the situation was in a digital illustration forum or Deviantart even, I would be quite please with myself, proud even. However this was real life. And to me, the general consensus with digital artwork in real life is, it’s easy to do.

Even though I consider myself a graphic designer first, illustrating and drawing has always been something I do to express myself creatively and emotively. It is a hobby - a hobby that brings pleasure. When I first started drawing, I was an overgrown teen in a train, sitting beside the ever talented Kristen. I started with the pencil and like many overgrown teenager, I was amazed with Japanese Anime, and wanted to draw impossibly sharp featured boys with ridiculously huge eye balls. As this went on, and my drawing skills improved – or at least I manage to convince myself that I had improved – I was eager to add colour to my drawings. Naturally I turned to the computer. Ever since, my artworks are exclusively digital.

Digital artworks are not easy to do, but probably they are not the hardest. They are not as messy as oil and watercolour. There are multiple levels of undo. Magical layers to help you. And most importantly, art software is widely available to everyone. And perhaps because of this, the allure and exclusivity of the craft is lost, hence regarded as not true art. Something that is easy to do.

Though we have to admit that to create art digitally is less tedious than say, using chalk and oil, is digital art less art than real oil and chalk art. To answer this, we have to ask ourselves, how do we judge art? Do we judge a piece of artwork purely on its execution? Or do we judge just the concept and imagination?

Digital painting may never have the romance of oil painting. The combination of the mess, smell, texture and the ability to touch oil painting makes it undeniably real. But do not discount digital painting just because it’s binary. It requires just as much imagination and creativity (perhaps even more) as any oil painting, and maybe even just as real.

Design of Singapore

2006-06-16T18:17:00.000+08:00

It was probably the watching of Project Runway 1 & 2 reruns. Or it was a deep down desire to be a contestant in that show (even though I am hardly a Fashion Designer - garment construction, what's that?). Whatever it was, I had a disturbing dream. I dreamt I was contestant in Project Runway International, where designers across the globe compete for the title of Best Fashion Designer. In that particular dream, the challenge was to design a collection inspired by the City you are from.

The designers from Munich had their collection inspired by the Bauhaus and was edgy and modern. The New York designers played with muted colors of shades of grey, beige and olive. Splashes of bright neon colors and sharply tailored clothes was used as well to reflect the quirks and architecture of New York. The Parisans had a glamourous and elegant collection. Fine silks, satins and the finest cottons graced their collection, reflecting the stereotypical poise and glamor of Paris. The Londoners played around with street-punk preppy. When it was my turn, the models each held a bundle of white cotton and paraded down the runway naked. I was squealing in horror.

Nina Garcia quickly stopped my squealing and proceeded to question me about my collection. "Are you trying to make a point? Are you trying to say that the city of Singapore is an open and transparent nation?"

"No mdm. My country is hardly transparent." I answered softly.

Michael Kors interrupted. "So what is this? Why are your models naked? Where is the Singapore story? Where is the Design of Singapore?"

Then I suddenly woke up, sweating, Michael Kors's voice still in my head. "Where is the Design of Singapore?"

It's a question every Singaporean designer, artist and anyone in the creative industry should ask themselves. Are we as individual creatives, inspired by the City we are living in? Singapore, an aspiring design hub of Asia has hardly any element or story that a designer could work with. What is the Singapore story? What is the Singapore identity? Where is our brand?

The government of Singapore is now trying their best to create and foster the Singapore identity. It's understandable. Without a national identity, citizens are less loyal and have no reason to stay rooted in this nation. We would not have anything to be proud of. There are some who believes that trying to create an identity for a nation is a rather silly thing to do. Identities are not created, but developed over time as the nation progresses. Different cultures merge to create unique ones. Hence, it's perhaps a disappointment that the government has decided to eradicate any trace of Singlish, a language unique to Singapore created by combining various elements from the four major races of Singapore. The eradication of Singlish reached a ridiculous point when the government wanted both Puah Chu Kang and Under One Roof - both local comedies with Singlish as their main communicative language and played important parts for the jokes - to use proper British English. It didn't last. Thank god. But the damage was done.

Designing identities are a tricky thing. When designing identities for corporations and institutions, the identities is designed to be a guideline for the corporation to follow. Identities for nations, countries and cities however are not guidelines. But a reflection of the country itself. The story of the city. The history of the nation. From these elements, designers will pull and work with. Their works will be a part of the city, fostering a brand and image, extending the identity.

The identity of Singapore will not be created by any government initiative or any one designer. It will be a growing living organism that will feed off the people's ideas, cultures, and language. These will inspire designers who would then play important roles in fostering and strengthening that identity. Perhaps then finally, I could revisit my dream, redesign my collection and kick everyone's collective asses.

Coffee Banana Initiate

2006-06-16T16:58:00.000+08:00

cof·fee
Pronunciation: 'ko-fE, 'kä-
Etymology: Italian & Turkish; Italian caffè, from Turkish kahve, from Arabic qahwa
1 a : a beverage made by percolation, infusion, or decoction from the roasted and ground seeds of a coffee plant b : any of several Old World tropical plants (genus Coffea and especially C. arabica and C. canephora) of the madder family that are widely cultivated in warm regions for their seeds from which coffee is prepared c : coffee seeds especially roasted and often ground d : a dehydrated product made from brewed coffee coffee>; also : a beverage made from this

ba·nana
Pronunciation: b&-'na-n&, esp British -'nä-
Etymology: Spanish or Portuguese; Spanish, from Portuguese, of African origin; akin to Wolof banäna banana
1 : an elongated usually tapering tropical fruit with soft pulpy flesh enclosed in a soft usually yellow rind
2 : any of several widely cultivated perennial herbs (genus Musa of the family Musaceae, the banana family) bearing bananas in compact pendent bunches

Why is this blog pink? Well, we are pink kind of people. Why Coffee Banana? We don't know. It's a strange name for an art blog belonging to two would-be artists. Wanjuro, the designer, fashionista, metrosexual; believes himself to be the good looks in the equation. Ophiel, the illustrator, fashionidiote, ruralsexual; believes herself to also be the good looks in the equation. (Which goes to show that belief is a wonderfully blissful thing.) It's quite possible that one of us is the banana, and the other is coffee, although it would be mildly traumatizing to speculate which and why.

So I present to you our blog, where we voice all sorts of artistic joys and frustrations from "I got a comission!" to "How can that guy be so good?!" and "Life's not FAIR!"

Enjoy.

~Ophiel