Download - Michael Lee - Applied Arts
$8.95 | VOL 25, NO 4 | OCTOBER | 2010 [ CaNada’s VisuaL COmmuNiCaTiONs magaziNE ]
AppliedArs
2 0 1 0 S T U D E N T A W A R D S
is the father of thought. I would like tothink that designing and dreaming havetravelled in lockstep since our species
began to walk upright.... Graphic design ignites passion, identifies,informs, clarifies, inspires and enables communication.... Designshapes culture and it influences societal values.—Robert L. Peters
Need
YOUR
HB
FUTURE
Each year when
we run the winners of our Student
Awards, it’s natural to want to look ahead. Reviewing
the huge volume of advertising, graphic design, interactive, video,
animation, photography and illustration entries sent from across
Canada and the United States, and from as far away as Beirut, one
begins to detect the shape of the industry in years to come.
To help our distinguished judging panel get the best view of emerg-
ing talent this year, we decided to let them concentrate on specific
areas of expertise. In the past, all judges would judge all the entries,
which could make for a daunting task, given the rising volume of
submissions. So for the 2010 Applied Arts Student Awards, the adver-
tising judges took care of ads and photography, the design profession-
als looked after their field and illustration, and the interactive judges
reviewed the interactive work and loaned a helping hand to advertising.
For his part, judge Colin James, associate partner creative at Grip Lim-
ited, in Toronto, felt that “the work ranged from extremely polished and
intelligent to conceptually weak and poorly executed.
Some of the video-based work really impressed
me—students pushing the animation
quality to very high levels . Some great
exploration of style and techniques in
those categories .”
While finding much of the advertising
work “quite clever,” James was less
impressed by the Website submis-
sions. “Schools seem to have a gen-
eralist approach to teaching bits of
all the disciplines (design, writing,
programming, animation) and the
work shows it,” he said. “I think that
with interactive work, in particular,
the production is so complex and time-
consuming that it would benefit from
having small teams of students [from
different disciplines] work on single
Websites together.”
James concluded: “There were some real
standout projects from super-talented in-
dividuals. The very best students are already
better than at least half the creatives working
in the industry.”
In Victoria, B.C., judge Darren Warner, of dwar-
ner6.com, thought, “The photography series
were very strong, so I judged them as if they were
‘professional work’ versus ‘student work.’” As far
as advertising, he explains, “it’s not always good
enough to hope your work ‘sells itself.’ With a little
panache an idea can be elevated in competition. The
video presentations of several campaign ideas really
helped showcase the thought and creativity that went in.
Of course a mediocre idea is still mediocre no matter
how much flash you dress it up with.”
Joanne Beauregard, CD of Sudler & Hen-
nessey, in Montreal, was “left with the
impression that many of the ad as-
signments were for low-probabili-
ty, low-profitability/high-impact
advertisers, such as the
WWF. It would be a far
better measure of
their maturity
and creativ-
ity to give
them
assignments closer to what could
be called ‘real life’—the kind of projects agen-
cies require to pay the bills.”
She added: “On the whole, how well prepared the students are for the working
life will depend more on their own qualities, like tenacity, stamina and drive,
rather than talent alone.… And then again, how many of us were really prepared
for the working life?”
The idea of fresh talent and enthusiasm creating a new future is also raised in
a couple of ways in the issue’s regular content. In his extended essay, “Design-
ing the Future” (p. 24), Robert L. Peters, principle of Circle Design in Winnipeg,
argues that the designers with long-term vision, who embrace globalism and
deploy sustainable practices, will play a key role in creating a blueprint for a bet-
ter tomorrow.
“Design shapes culture and it influences societal values,” writes
Peters. “Designers act variously as surrogate dreamers,
initiators, inseminators, creators of desire, propagators
and propagandists. Never has there been a greater
need for our design professions to dig deep, to
exercise whole-brain (lateral) thinking skills, to
understand channels of influence and patterns of
interconnectivity, to join peer networks, to col-
laborate with other experts and to leverage the
multi-perspective advantages of teamwork.”
Writing a guest column, “The Next Vanguard”
(p. 14), Barry Quinn, executive creative direc-
tor, brand design at Juniper Park in Toronto,
feels that the new crop of graduating visual
communications students will ride the flux of
changing technology and culture to trans-
form the industry. The importance of design
will shift from creating artifacts to develop-
ing ideas that “must be able to morph to
accommodate different media, operating
systems, devices, environments, cultures,
etc.… Design thinking will become more
important than design doing. As technology
makes the act of creation easier and the
base level of aesthetics higher, the effective-
ness of items will be measured not by how
they look but how they work. The design
process and the designer’s mind will be the
part that can’t be replicated.”
To see the some fine examples of this new
creative thinking in action, turn to our
Student Awards, starting on p.105.
PETER GIFFEN, EDITOR
H ER E
STARTS
NEW TALENTTECHNOLOGY
TH I S Y EAR ’ S S E L EC T ION OF
PROV IDES A G L IMPSE IN TO THE FUTURE OF OUR INDUSTRY, RESHAPED BY
STUDENT
AWARDS
WINNERS
AND
ClIent SIDeS M A L L S T A M P S A R E B U I L T O N B I G D E S I G N I D E A S A l a i n L e d u c .
Hot Type N e w o n l i n e f o n t s s h a p e d b y t h e i r b i t m a p s R o d M c D o n a l d .
DESIGN DECONSTRUCTION C u t t i n g t h r o u g h c l u t t e r i s a s e a s y a s 1 2 3 H a n s K l e e f e l d c .
DESIGN RANTN e w r e b e l s p r e p a r e t o c h a n g e t h e w o r l d B a r r y Q u i n n .GDC SCHOLARSHIP
AWARDS
MISSING WORDS W h y R F P s s h o u l d R I P D o u g D o l a n
GLOBAL PERSUASIONI n d e p e n d e n t C a n a d i a n a g e n c y C u n d a r i s t r i v e s t o b e c o m e a w o r l d c r e a t i v e f o r c e C h r i s D a n i e l s
CAREER IN MOTION G a l l e r y C a r e e r i n M o t i o n I n s t o p m o t i o n p r o j e c t s a n d a d s h o o t s . S i m o n D u h a m e l r e v e a l s a u n i q u e s t y l e
WEB WATCH A d v i c e f o r t h e g r a d u a t i n g c l a s s o f 2 0 1 0 R y a n W o l m a n & K e i t h P r e s t w i c h
DESIGN UNLIMITEDR e a d a b o o k S a v e a t r e e P a m e l a Y o u n g
RGD Student Awards
DESIGNING THE FUTURED e s i g n e r s c a n p l a y a k e y r o l e i n c r e a t i n g a b l u e p r i n t f o r a b e t t e r t o m o r r o w R o b e r t L . P e t e r s , F G D C
ILLUSION OF MOVEMENTA n i m a t i o n e n t e r s a n e w G o l d e n A g e —b u t w i t h o u t t h e g o l d C a n a d i a n s t u d i o s b e c o m e l e a n e r . f a s t e r a n d m o r e c r e a t i v eK e v i n B r o o k e r
OUTER LIMITSL o o k i n W o n d e r T h e r o l e o f w o n d e r i n d e s i g n a n d i m a g e r y r e v e a l e d i n a n e w M a r i a n B a n t j e s b o o k
RARING TO GOH a v i n g s u r v i v e d t h e r e c e s s i o n . R a r e M e t h o d I n t e r a c t i v e i s p r e p a r e d t o s o a r K e v i n B r o o k e r
SHOOTING THE TWILIGHT ZONE P h i l i p J a r m a i n t e l l s t h e s t o r y o f a n e p i s o d e o f a c l a s s i c T V s e r i e s i n a s i n g l e i m a g e
WIN
NERS FROM
OUR 2
010
STUDENT AW
ARDS, COVERIN
G
DESIGN, A
DVERTISIN
G,
INTERACTIV
E, ANIM
ATION,
PHOTOGRAPHY AND
ILLUSTRATIO
N.
Editorial
PORTFOLIO
PROJECTPROJECT
PROJECT
GALLERY
SPECIAL
THINK
MATT
ERS
STRONG
IDEA
S
ING
SHOU
LD BE
A
THOUGHTFULENGAGING
A L A I NL E D U C
DESIG
N
HAND
As stamp design manager at Canada
Post, I work with graphic designers,
artists, illustrators, photographers
and creative professionals from all
parts of the country. The designs I
commission, nurture and criticize
all have a very specific set of goals
to meet. A postage stamp reflects
the culture and accomplishments
of a country and its people. It plays
an important ambassadorial role
as part and parcel of our national
heritage. As importantly, it reflects
the creativity of our designers. A
stamp merits the same painstak-
ing attention paid to any design
project, not to mention important
consideration for its unique format
and international exposure. The
“thinking” behind the birth of any
project is key. Creating a stamp is an
exciting process—or it can be—when
the visual content is properly chosen
and the creative approach embraces
those choices. A successful conclusion will depend on reduc-
ing the complexity of the topic into miniature works of eye-
catching simplicity.
Renowned Swiss design educator Armin Hoffmann taught me
years ago “the power of simple things to create real impact,
conveying the message in advance of reading a single word.”
I admit to looking at design from a unique perspective. Prior
to my current job, I was a practising graphic designer for
30 years. Like the designers I now hire, my time was split
between seeking out clients who would provide the creative
challenges I craved and doing what I hoped was good, intel-
ligent design. I know the kinds of constraints and pressure
that irritate designers, particularly the scarcity of time,
which affects quality.
I’m finding, too often, the creative process has become the
production of endless piles of sketches. With too much rush
to design, and without sufficient value given to thinking,
the resulting work is unsatisfactory and the discussions that
follow are superficial. I want to know how and why you think
you’ve met the objective. Some designers have lost the un-
derstanding that design is not the result itself. What matters
is the thinking that takes you to the result. My frustration
mounts when I see little or no prior analysis of the subject
matter, absence of intellectual focus and designers not keep-
ing in close touch with me.
We, in the client world, know there is a problem when design-
ers are too quick to cast their raw ideas into stone. Too many
design attempts end up as showcases for hollow stylistic ap-
proaches. Another aspect of the problem is some designers’
thinking about the work is not clearly articulated, resulting
in confusion. The client can be at fault here, too. So client and
designer must constantly check with each other to validate
their common understanding before going ahead, at each step
of the design project. I fully expect the creative process to be
a two-way relationship between the designer and myself.
I encourage designers to embark on a more introspective, thoughtful and engaging process with their clients. We rely on design-
ers’ abilities to surprise us, be intellectually challenging and artistically to the point. These are the criteria by which I choose the
ones with whom I work.
I think Picasso had it right when he said, “Art is knowing what to eliminate.” That’s the creative quality I expect from designers. Not
simplistic design, but the ability to take complexity, confusion and, yes, occasionally chaos, and bring back a simple message articu-
lated precisely, creatively, with enough depth to produce a resonance that moves beyond the actual design. Good design is not a stack
of sketches, not a dozen variations on a concept. It is curiosity and intelligence. It is a thought-provoking process, generating ideas
and content-based visuals. It is how we get to relevant solutions.
Let’s infuse the design process with adequate thinking. Face it, if we can’t articulate such thinking prior to the creation of a project,
chances are the design will not communicate much.
Admittedly, I have high expectations for designers’ creative thinking and their communication
abilities. Trust me, it matters!
Alain Leduc is manager of stamp design and production at Canada Post.
THE D
ESIG
NER
AND
CLIE
NT M
UST W
ORK
IN
TO C O M E U P W I T H S O L U T I O N S T H A T A R E B U I LT O N
P R O C E S ST WO -WAY
A P P L I E D A R T SM A G A Z I N E
a l a i n l e d u c
THINKING MATTERS
20
21
SEE
G ET
Th
e ye
ar 2
010
will u
nd
ou
bte
dly b
e re
me
mb
ere
d
as th
e ye
ar d
esig
ne
rs fina
lly go
t to u
se th
eir fa
-vo
urite
type
face
s on
the
We
b. M
ore
imp
orta
ntly
the
y will k
no
w th
at a
nyo
ne
wh
o visits th
eir
site w
ill also
see
the
sam
e typ
efa
ces. G
oo
d
typo
gra
ph
y on
scree
n h
as a
t time
s see
me
d a
n
elu
sive g
oa
l an
d th
e u
se o
f ‘rea
l’ type
face
s is a
big
step
in th
e rig
ht d
irectio
n. U
p to
no
w
de
sign
ers re
ally o
nly h
ad
two
cho
ices w
he
n it
cam
e to
type
on
line
. Th
ey co
uld
use
on
e o
f the
‘We
b sa
fe’ fo
nts, su
ch a
s Ge
org
ia o
r Verd
an
a,
tha
t com
e w
ith m
ost o
pe
ratin
g syste
ms, o
r the
y co
uld
con
vert th
e typ
e to
ou
tline
an
d tre
at it
as a
gra
ph
ic ima
ge
. No
w a
t last d
esig
ne
rs can
re
nd
er H
TM
L text in
alm
ost a
ny typ
efa
ce w
ith
We
b fo
nts th
at d
on
’t ne
ed
to b
e in
stalle
d o
n th
e vie
we
r’s com
pu
ter. O
f cou
rse th
e u
nd
erlyin
g
assu
mp
tion
is tha
t thin
gs a
re g
oin
g to
be
be
t-te
r no
w th
at w
e a
re n
o lo
ng
er lim
ited
to a
few
d
efa
ult w
eb
-safe
fon
ts.
No
w I’m
as e
xcited
as a
nyo
ne
, an
d, a
s som
eo
ne
wh
o a
ctua
lly ha
s fon
ts tha
t ma
y be
ne
fit from
th
is em
erg
ing
ne
w m
ark
et, I’m
ha
rdly a
disin
-te
reste
d p
arty. B
ut I ca
n’t h
elp
bu
t wo
nd
er ju
st w
ha
t pe
op
le th
ink
is go
ing
to h
ap
pe
n w
he
n a
ll th
ese
type
face
s hit th
eir scre
en
s.
We
’ve b
ee
n a
da
ptin
g o
ld d
esig
ns to
ne
w te
ch-
no
log
ies fro
m d
ay o
ne
. Gu
ten
be
rg a
da
pte
d th
e G
erm
an
bla
ck le
tter o
f the
scribe
s to m
ak
e h
is fa
mo
us 4
2-lin
e B
ible
type
. A little
late
r pu
nch
-
cutte
rs such
as N
icola
s Jen
son
ad
ap
ted
the
Ca
rolin
gia
n m
iniscu
le (lo
we
rcase
) to h
arm
on
ize w
ith th
e R
om
an
cap
ital le
tters to
crea
te th
e se
rif type
face
s we
’re still re
ad
ing
tod
ay. B
ut it
did
n’t ta
ke
very lo
ng
be
fore
tho
se e
arly p
un
ch-
cutte
rs rea
lized
tha
t lette
rs carve
d in
me
tal
ha
d q
uite
diffe
ren
t qu
alitie
s tha
n le
tters w
rit-te
n w
ith a
bro
ad
-ed
ge
d p
en
. Th
e typ
e cu
tters
soo
n sto
pp
ed
trying
to d
up
licate
the
writte
n
lette
rform
s of th
e scrib
es a
nd
be
ga
n to
de
velo
p
the
ir ow
n fo
rms th
at w
ere
true
r to th
e m
ate
rial
the
y use
d—
me
tal. W
he
n in
the
mid
-20
th ce
ntu
ry th
ose
sam
e m
eta
l type
face
s ha
d to
be
ad
ap
ted
to
ph
oto
type
settin
g, th
e fi
rst ma
nu
factu
rers
use
d th
eir o
ld m
eta
l pa
ttern
s to cre
ate
the
ne
w
ph
oto
fon
ts. Bu
t, just lik
e th
e e
arly p
un
ch-cu
t-te
rs, the
y cou
ld se
e th
at le
tters m
ad
e b
y flash
-in
g lig
ht th
rou
gh
film o
nto
ph
oto
gra
ph
ic pa
pe
r b
eh
ave
d d
iffere
ntly th
an
lette
rs prin
ted
from
a p
iece
of m
eta
l pre
ssed
into
pa
pe
r.
On
ce a
ga
in w
e’re
de
alin
g w
ith a
ne
w te
chn
ol-
og
y, on
ly this o
ne
is rad
ically d
iffere
nt fro
m th
e p
revio
us o
ne
s. Like
ou
r pre
de
cesso
rs we
also
b
eg
an
by sim
ply re
crea
ting
ou
r existin
g fo
nt
libra
ries. T
he
n th
e d
eve
lop
me
nt o
f the
Po
st-S
cript la
ng
ua
ge
in th
e e
arly 19
80
s ma
de
it a little
ea
sier to
crea
te co
mp
ute
r fon
ts be
cau
se n
ow
we
cou
ld e
mu
late
trad
ition
al d
raw
ing
te
chn
iqu
es. B
ut th
at still le
ft on
e m
ajo
r diffe
r-e
nce
be
twe
en
the
pre
viou
s tech
no
log
ies a
nd
the
ne
w d
igita
l on
e. D
esig
ne
rs cou
ld d
raw
let-
ters a
s the
y alw
ays h
ad
bu
t the
y ha
d to
be
ren
-d
ere
d a
s jag
ge
d, p
ixellize
d b
itma
ps o
n-scre
en
.
With
the
pre
viou
s tech
no
log
ies, w
ha
t you
dre
w
wa
s wh
at yo
u g
ot. In
the
dig
ital w
orld
, if the
bitm
ap
s do
n’t w
ork
it rea
lly do
esn
’t ma
tter h
ow
g
oo
d yo
ur d
raw
ing
s are
. Th
at’s w
hy w
he
n M
at-
the
w C
arte
r de
sign
ed
Verd
an
a a
nd
Ge
org
ia h
e re
verse
d th
e u
sua
l de
sign
ord
er. H
e re
aso
ne
d
tha
t if the
bitm
ap
s are
tha
t imp
orta
nt th
en
th
ey sh
ou
ld g
ove
rn th
e d
esig
n, so
he
dre
w th
em
first a
nd
the
n ‘w
rap
pe
d’ th
e o
utlin
e a
rou
nd
th
em
. He
mu
st ha
ve b
ee
n o
n to
som
eth
ing
be
-ca
use
Verd
an
a a
nd
Ge
org
ia a
re still a
mo
ng
the
few
type
face
s tha
t rea
lly wo
rk o
n-scre
en
.
Th
e w
orld
of typ
e d
esig
n h
asn
’t cha
ng
ed
as
mu
ch a
s pe
op
le th
ink
it ha
s, in fa
ct mo
st of u
s a
re still d
esig
nin
g typ
efa
ces fo
r prin
t. Bu
t on
ce w
e ca
n se
e th
ose
type
face
s on
scree
n I d
on
’t th
ink
it will b
e ve
ry lon
g b
efo
re w
e re
alize
tha
t m
ost o
f the
m d
on
’t rea
lly wo
rk th
at w
ell. T
ha
t’s w
he
n w
e’ll sta
rt to se
e typ
efa
ces th
at w
ill be
de
sign
ed
for th
e n
ew
tech
no
log
y—typ
efa
ces
with
the
bitm
ap
s de
sign
ed
first.
So
by a
ll me
an
s en
joy th
e n
ew
We
b fo
nts, b
ut I
sug
ge
st you
resist th
e te
mp
tatio
n to
fall in
love
with
an
y of th
ese
type
face
s—b
eca
use
the
re’s
a g
oo
d ch
an
ce yo
ur fa
vou
rite typ
efa
ce h
asn
’t b
ee
n d
esig
ne
d ye
t.
while designers are excited about having their favourite fonts online they have to realize that bitmaps can ruin the look of the letters they love
Ro
d
Mc
Do
na
ld
w h a t y o u
w h a t y o u
I S N O T
A P P L I E D A R T SM A G A Z I N E
r o d m c d o n a l d
WHAT YOU SEE ISN’T WHAT YOU GET
16
17
D E S I G N E R S W I T H
LONG-TERM V I S ION , W H O
E M B R A C E GLOBAL I SM A N D
D E P L O Y SUS TA INABLE PRAC T I C E S ,
W I L L P L AY A K E Y R O L E I N C R E A T I N G A
BLUEPR INT F O R A BET T ER TOMORROW.We live in uncertain times of tumultuous political, social, ecological and economic instability. We’re told that nearly
50 per cent of global wealth has been destroyed by the “global financial crisis” within the past two years alone.
Media reports of potential health pandemics trump the “normal” front-page news of the latest terrorist attacks,
counterattacks and “unnatural” disasters seemingly triggered by a rapidly warming planet. Information overload,
an overwhelming pace of change, threatened eco-systems, and staggering social imbalances threaten our individual
sense of purpose, place and well-being. Around the globe, wealth, health, knowledge and technological progress
have never been shared equally—yet the awareness of these gaps between “haves” and “have-nots,” along with a
growing discernment of the underlying causes of these global inequities, have never been more apparent.
Massive data storage capabilities now outstrip our human ability to access meaningful information and distill knowl-
edge: We are drowning in data. Social scientists inform us that the typical “white-collar worker” now encounters
more than one million words per week and the average urban citizen of the (so-called) “developed” world has more
A P P L I E D A R T SM A G A Z I N E
r o b e r t l . p e t e r s
DESIGNING THE FUTURE
48
49
SEEING IS
BEL
IEVI
NG
than 16,000 “brand encounters” every day (if you sleep eight
hours per day, that means you are subjected to about 1,000
brand impressions per hour). In addition, human “targets”
are subject to ever more invasive and coercive advertising—in
schools, hospitals, doctors’ offices, movie theatres, airport
lounges, scenic lookouts, washrooms, elevators, on the Inter-
net, mobile phones, fruit, public garbage cans, on bus wraps
and via e-mail. Of the 200 billion e-mails sent every day, an
estimated 90 per cent are spam.
Are we headed for a merciless state of total brand and ad-
vertising saturation? Will we even know if and when we’ve
become overwhelmed?
The communications revolution of the past decades has re-
defined traditional notions of time and space, just as global
trade and finance have dissolved international borders.
Comprehension of how these rapid social and technological
changes (particularly “virtualization”) influence our funda-
mental relationship to community, the physical environment
and a “sense of place” is not well understood. It seems we
may be “driving beyond the beam of our headlights” as we
rush headlong into an increasingly unknowable future.
An example of our increasing abstraction is vertical special-
ization—in ever-narrower terms of reference—a phenomenon
affecting all professions, including graphic design. Sadly
this tends to bring with it an erosion of the broader “whole-
brain” thinking our species has enjoyed from strategists,
visionaries and luminaries in the past, as well as the wisdom
and holistic perspectives that “general practitioners” have
traditionally brought to the table. Technology may have
(arguably) made us stronger and faster, but it has not made
us wiser.
YOU
C A L L F O R C O L L A B E R A T I ON
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G L O B A L I S M B E A T S G L O B A L I Z A T I O N
all disciplines) calls for extended vision, a broadened understanding of “the other” and an increased respect for our essential differences. Aware of the advancing threat of monoculture, can the world’s design-ers help conserve and revive those things that make human culture distinct and unique? Is there still time to avoid losing our sense of who we are, where we’ve come from, where we belong and why these distinctions are so important?
Designers, more than most others, are in a position to actually cel-ebrate societal differences, to embrace the vernacular and to help avoid the unhappy melding of unique cultures into a bland global stew. In the face of globalization’s monolithic pressures to conform, I believe that designers with long-term vision, who embrace globalism and deploy sustainable practices, can truly create blueprints for a better future by becoming champions of the unique things that dignify human beings, that make our civilizations meaningful and that make contem-porary life worth living.
We know that in an age of information and ideas, communication and experience design have incredible strength to mold societal values and to influence thinking—essentially, they are the new currency in today’s virtual world. As a result, designers play an increasingly vital role in empowering better decision-making, creating economic success, shap-ing communities and forming culture. Designers today have real power. As such, we also bear considerable responsibility for how things are consumed and how change is deployed.
It remains then for designers everywhere to envision worldwide solu-tions, to create integrative synergies and to give form and life to universally equitable ideas. (While this may seem utopian, I envision designers as the ones questioning the status quo, re-examining the practices of past decades to homogenize, monopolize and dominate markets, and initiating change toward lifestyles lived in a more holis-tic, inclusive, sensitive, eclectic, empowering and sustainable manner.)
D E S I G N G I V E S F O R M T O D R E A M SNeed is the father of thought. I would like to think that designing and dreaming have travelled in lockstep since our species began to walk upright. In response to need and with nascent, ascendant dreams in their heads, designers have since earliest times given shape to the tools, environments, messages and experiences that define human existence.
Graphic design is finally coming of age. Born in the last century of mother Art and father Commerce (and therefore named “commercial art” in its infancy), graphic design has finally developed a sense of its own identity, along with an understanding of its role and responsibili-ties relative to society. No longer content with being the whipping boy of marketing, graphic design has evolved into a true profession and has adopted all that comes with professionalism—best practice models, codes of ethics, certification standards and considered criticism. As the developed world has evolved from smokestacks to information-based societies and now an “age of ideas,” the role of design has moved rapidly into the forefront of market economies.
Graphic design ignites passion, identifies, informs, clarifies, inspires and enables communication in our interconnected, interdependent, real-time world. Design shapes culture and it influences societal val-ues. Designers act variously as surrogate dreamers, initiators, insemi-nators, creators of desire, propagators and propagandists. Never has there been a greater need for our design professions to dig deep, to exercise whole-brain (lateral) thinking skills, to understand channels of influence and patterns of interconnectivity, to join peer networks, to collaborate with other experts and to leverage the multi-perspective advantages of teamwork.
S E E I N G I S B E L I E V I N G Today is the tomorrow that our species dreamed of yesterday. Today is also the past we’ll remember in the future—perhaps with nostalgia, perhaps with remorse. Although “design” shapes most of our modern environments, inputs and experience, the design professions are really only beginning to understand the significant role we play in forming the world around us (consistent with the truism that the meaning of history is rarely apparent to those who shape it). A cautionary note
for those of us living in the “developed” world is that over the past few generations we have become disconnected and separated from nature—for the first time in human history we are living by clock and calendar rather than by sun and season.
We live in shared and increasingly interwoven stories. The Maori say, “We walk backwards into the future,” recognizing that footprints we leave behind can actually inform forward navigation and future progress. Listening to the narratives of others helps pave paths to better understanding. Knowing our own past (and comparing our paths with those of others) allows us to celebrate achievements, learn from human foibles, redress omissions (often visible only through the lens of history) and correct our course.
Today, seeing is believing. We’re told that 85 per cent of what we know nowadays is learned through our eyes. This means that as designers of visual language, we play a crucial role in society. The world needs us—and as information designers in an information age, we find ourselves in a position of considerable responsibility, whether we like it or not.
A C A L L F O R C O L L A B O R A T I O NI have long been a believer in the value of synergism, the strength of camaraderie to bridge adversity, the vitality of collective pro-cesses, and the solidarity of common goals regarding design and our planet’s mutual future. I remain convinced that our profession will continue to play a lead role in forming culture, influencing values and shaping the world. I know we can achieve more, be more effective and act more sustainably by sharing our ideas, giving voice to collective values and integrating synergies through our profes-sional associations and as a part of the global design community. I have no doubt that we are capable of doing much more together than separately.
In this vein, I would encourage all designers to use creativity, voice and communication skills to make a difference. We can choose to deploy our powerful talents and propaganda tools to further understanding and build empathy, to nurture tolerance, to resolve conflict, to build respect for diversity and “the other,” to expose injustice, defuse violence, promote peace, break down divisive barriers, counteract patriarchies, oppose hegemonic empires, al-leviate despair, and repudiate fanaticism and fundamentalism of every kind. We have the power to expose the root causes of inequity, fear, despair and rage (the breeding grounds for terrorism). We can visualize long-term solutions, and we can use our unique mix of ana-lytical and generative abilities to summon a sustainable response to looming challenges. We can promote harmony, raise the bar for civilization and civility, and above all, advance the characteristics that matter in making us truly “human” beings.
Isn’t that exciting?
Robert L. Peters, FGDC, is a graphic designer and the founding principal of Circle, a design consultancy based in Winnipeg. He is a former president of the Icograda, a foreign feature correspondent
for Communication Arts magazine, author of the book Worldwide Identity (Rockport), and a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers
of Canada (GDC). For the past 28 years, Peters has lived in a low-energy passive solar house that he designed and built in the woods
of eastern Manitoba. ([email protected])
C O R P O R A T I S M V S . T H E C O M M O N S
More than half of the world’s top 100 economies are now corpora-
tions, as opposed to nations. Ninety-nine of the top 100 companies
are headquartered in industrialized nations. Of the nearly 70,000
transnational corporations now operating worldwide, more than
three-quarters are based in North America, Europe and Japan.
Although the majority of these highly successful corporations enjoy
identities, brands, marketing tools, communications and information
systems developed by talented designers, there is a growing debate
within the worldwide design community about the dual (and often
conflicting) role that the profession plays in both creating wealth
and serving society through the sharing of such wealth and the nur-
turing of culture.
A decade ago, Naomi Klein described a growing backlash against
unbridled consumerism in her widely read book, No Logo. “The
corporate hunger to homogenize our communities and monopolize
public expression is creating a wave of public resistance,” she wrote,
documenting the reclaiming of public spaces and the revolt against
corporate power. Many empathized with Klein’s attack on “the brand
bullies,” and with Joel Balkan’s depiction (in his book and film The
Corporation) of corporations as “soulless leviathans—uncaring,
impersonal and immoral,” that are “using branding to create unique
and attractive personalities for themselves.” It’s hard to dismiss the
almost daily reports of small-town wars against “big-box retailers”
(Wal-Mart, et al.), culture jamming, brand busting, and the growth of
“hacktivism” and “digilantes,” as an ever-more informed populace
joins the fight of “citizenship vs. consumerism.” Not a new topic, re-
ally. Victor Papanek predicted the “Coca-colonization” and “Disneyfi-
cation” of our entire planet a full generation ago.
Globalization has been defined as the ever-more-rapid process by
which corporations move their money, factories, products and brands
around the planet in search of cheap labour, raw materials and gov-
ernments willing to ignore consumer, worker and environmental pro-
tection laws. Largely unfettered by ethical or moral considerations,
globalization tends to acquire and exploit the earth’s resources for
private gain, concentrate and centralize decision-making power
(beyond the reach of the majority of people and democratic process-
es), create dependency and impose demands of standardization or
homogenization of almost everything on everybody.
Globalism stands in dramatic contrast to globalization, taking the
viewpoint that all people share a single fragile planet (Marshall
McLuhan’s “global village,” or what Buckminster Fuller referred to
as “spaceship earth”) that requires careful treatment and mutual re-
spect by all concerned in order to survive and thrive. The concept of
“Global Commons” is now used to describe the ozone layer, all land
and oceans, and the earth’s rich genetic and cultural diversity. Like
all ethical beliefs, globalism requires active practice in the day-to-
day lives of the broadest possible constituency, with a view to foster-
ing understanding, sharing resources on the basis of sustainability
and equity, and coming together for mutual aid in times of need.
Everywhere in our shrinking world we can witness increased homoge-
nization, erosion of indigenous culture, the emergence of non-places
(uniform airports, generic shopping malls), and the advancement
of what some theorists are calling “serial monotony.” Globalization
threatens identity, the very cornerstone of culture, and the key to our
understanding of “self.” Culture encompasses language, traditions,
beliefs, morals, laws, social behaviour and the art of a community—
understanding and protecting its inherent integrity is imperative in
avoiding identity crisis and rootlessness.
Thi s shrinking world (with widened opportunities for designers in A P P L I E D A R T SM A G A Z I N E
r o b e r t l . p e t e r s
DESIGNING THE FUTURE
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ME
HODT
HAVING SURVIVED THE RECESSION, RARE METHOD INTERACTIVE
IS POISED TO TAKE OFF, WITH OFFICES IN CALGARY AND UTAH,
AND A STRONG FOCUS ON RESULTS-ORIENTED CREATIVE WORK.
HAVING S
URVIVE
D THE
RECES
SION, R
ARE M
ETHOD IN
TERACT
IVE
IS P
OISED
TO T
AKE OFF
, WIT
H OFF
ICES
IN C
ALGARY
AND UTA
H,
AND A S
TRONG F
OCUS
ON RES
ULTS-
ORIENTE
D CREA
TIVE
WORK.
BY K
EVIN B
ROOKER
HAVING S
URVIVE
D THE
RECES
SION, R
ARE M
ETHOD IN
TERACT
IVE
IS P
OISED
TO T
AKE OFF
, WIT
H OFF
ICES
IN C
ALGARY
AND UTA
H,
AND A S
TRONG F
OCUS
ON RES
ULTS-
ORIENTE
D CREA
TIVE
WORK.
BY K
EVIN B
ROOKER
RAREA P P L I E D A R T S
M A G A Z I N E
k e v i n b r o o k e r
RARE METHOD
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Shuttling w
orkers, alas, is
not quite so straightforward, s
omething Olsen says they’re learning to
work around.
Still, the two cities share m
uch in common. “
We’re both western to
wns, fairly young, fo
rmer Winter Olympic
hosts, both roll-
up-your-sleeves places, and it
’s the same time zone,” he explains. S
alt Lake City also comes with
a built-in
attraction for clie
nts in the Unite
d States, especially
easterners with m
ountain envy. With seven of
America’s best ski resorts le
ss than a half-hour fr
om the airport, “there’s no shortage of e
xecutives who w
ant to
fly out fo
r a meeting.”
On the creativ
e side, reports David McKean, “
Americans really do bring th
eir unique voice to th
e table. W
e recently
did some work on a Banff account a
nd they naile
d it with
a taglin
e we would never have come up with: ‘B
anff, the
world’s finest n
ational p
ark.’”
Another bright spot: T
he economies of both citi
es seemt to be rebounding. “
We’re definite
ly seeing a resurgence,”
says new CEO Park. “Companies are getti
ng their m
arketing budgets back. W
e’re even growing our teams in
both
offices again, a
nd that’s nice.” Add th
e fact t
hat clie
nts are more disposed th
an ever to th
ink interactiv
ely, and
Rare Method seems poised fo
r a return to growth.
But new te
chnologies alone won’t get t
he job done.
“As everybody rushes to get in
teractive and social a
nd all that
stuff,” Olsen reminds us,
That cross-border m
erger yielded a number of success stories before it
slammed into th
e 2008 reces-
sion. Total s
taff, once near 10
0, is currently
at 38, tw
o-thirds of w
hom work in th
e Calgary head office.
Consider it a m
easure of the company’s elastic
ity th
at despite
the tu
mult and having fe
w employees who
pre-date the 2007 m
erger (longtim
e president Tom Short le
ft earlie
r this year, r
eplaced by CEO Marty
Park), Rare M
ethod has managedto sustain contin
uity with
a marketin
g culture in
which interactiv
e tech-
nologies form th
e bedrock, but c
onventional m
edia are never ignored in
the overall p
ackage.
“We like to think that clie
nts come for the in
teractive, but stay fo
r the creative strategy,” says Geoff
Plewes, director of c
lient services. W
hereas the mix w
as once around 80/20, interactive to traditional,
it’s now around 60/40. But as tim
e goes by, that distinction only blurs. N
oting that
Rare Method’s taglin
e is Strategic In
teractive Marketing, P
lewes
points out that, as everywhere in
the changing industry, “
Our clients
are becoming less concerned about their m
edia mix and m
ore fo-
cused on results.”
And that’s something Rare M
ethod feels uniquely equipped to
de-liver.
According to Calgary co-creativ
e director David McKean, “
Our culture
definite
ly comes out of b
eing a Web shop. W
e’re used to showing out-
comes immediately, li
ke clicks and site
visits. R
esults come fir
st, and
that approach bleeds
over to th
e entire agency. H
aving the coolest c
reative was never our fir
st priority
.”
Though Calgary remains distant from staple advertis
ing fodder lik
e national b
rands and
product packaging, R
are Method services a diverse portfo
lio, in
cluding tourism, a
gricul-
ture, oil a
nd gas companies, and regional r
etail. Having been agency of r
ecord for fir
ms as
different a
s Bayer CropScience and Moxie’s Classic Grill,
it has enjoyed partic
ular success
with a sexy rebranding of t
he latte
r, helping it
morph from fa
mily diner to
swank hangout
for young sophisticates—and go head-to
-head with well-
established chains, s
uch as Earl’s
and The Keg.
In Salt Lake City
, chief c
reative offi
cer Jeff Olsen fe
els the m
arriage has made both
shops stronger. “Especially
in th
is economy, it was great f
or us to bolster our in
teractive
strengths. And m
erging was not as hard as you would th
ink.” Though both offices retain a
degree independence, h
e says, they are in
creasingly collaborativ
e, especially
in strategy
and business acquisition. “
We do tons of S
kype video-conferencing, and we shuttl
e a lot o
f
work through a VPN.”
Canadian agencies span every kind of ownership permutatio
n, from sole proprietors to
partnerships, to in
ternational c
onglomerates. But a
mong them, C
algary’s Rare Method
Interactive m
ight have th
e rarest pedigree of a
ll. Not o
nly is th
is mid-sized, C
algary-based
shop the country’s smalle
st public
ly traded agency (T
SX: RAM), i
t even has its
own satellite
office in
the Unite
d States.
Not even its
origins were commonplace. Rare M
ethod emerged in 19
97 under former presi-
dent Roger Jewett, fi
rst as a shell c
ompany, then a tin
y agency devoted to e-m
ail campaigns.
But early on Jewett
devised an unusual strategy: T
ake the company public
quickly and grow
by relentless acquisiti
on, startin
g with numerous boutiq
ue shops in Calgary.
Then, three years ago, w
ith Alberta business stil
l soaring and revenues approaching $10
mil-
lion, R
are Method went s
hopping for a ready-m
ade U.S. footprint. L
ocation-w
ise the agency
focused on mid-ti
er cities lik
e Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas. In
the end, it
pounced on Blain
Olsen White
Gurr, a respected, te
ch-focused shop in
Salt Lake City
, Utah, w
hose clients in
clude
Telcordia Technologies, a remnant o
f the fo
rmer U.S. Bell m
onopoly that n
ow ranks as the
world’s largest t
elecommunications softw
are company.
K E V I N B R O O K E R I S
A N A P P L I E D A R T S M A G A Z I N E S E N I O R W R I T E R , B A S E D I N C A L G A R Y
( K E V I N B R O O K E R @M A C . C O M ) .
R A R I N G T O GO !
A P P L I E D A R T SM A G A Z I N E
k e v i n b r o o k e r
RARE METHOD
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