Newsletter 106
Hola.
I think I have already commented in one of the previous newsletters that I did not study design at university, but rather graduated in Advertising and Public Relations. The higher degree in design did not exist in Spain at that time. And advertising has always attracted me.
It is a field in which I continue to have connections, such as the classes that I give at The Atomic Garden to each promotion and my collaboration selecting young talent for the club de creativos in their Día C event, which is already more than 10 years old, what my participation lasts.
The fact is that in the world of advertising there are many awards ceremonies throughout the year, both national and international (c de c, Eficacia, El Chupete, El Sol, Aspid, etc).
And yet in the field of design, we hardly have the Laus awards, where there is also a section for advertising.
Online we have the Awwwards and The FWA, which are global, but there are no awards where digital design is rewarded (by this I mean design for devices such as computers, mobile phones, tablets, watches, etc.).
As a member of the board of directors of the ADG, which is the one that organizes the Laus, I am trying to promote this section, but it is somewhat slow, although there is an intention to bet more on this sector.
I remember that years ago, on the occasion of the last edition of UXSpain, Javier Cañada sent an email to some professionals (including me) asking precisely whether it would be relevant for the profession to have some awards that are consolidated and that are interesting for both the designers themselves as well as for the companies that hire their services. Everything was left in the end in some reply emails, it never advanced.
I have always been very reluctant to this type of awards, but I also believe that if they are well organized they can bring something of value to the sector. Although precisely what I have always liked least about awards in the advertising world has been the excess of ego that it brings as a consequence.
— W.
The links
School of Visual Arts Archives
The School of Visual Arts Archives documents the history of the College and provides source material for those who seek to evaluate the impact of its activities within the context of the institution as well as on the art and design communities at large. Materials in the Archives collections include posters, announcements, departmental and student publications, and other printed ephemera and artifacts, dating back to its founding in 1947. The Archives also collects administrative and departmental records and photographs.Google Fonts Knowledge enables designers and developers of all skill sets to choose and use type with purpose.
A complete guide to iconography
Icons are a crucial part of any design system or product experience. Icons help us quickly navigate. They are language-independent. And best of all: they're real tiny, so they don't take up very much real estate. Icons are a fundamental part of a good design system and are very helpful for marketing materials. They’re the foundational building block of illustrated content, but they are also highly technical.Cutout collages are making an online comeback
The analog feel of hand-assembled and photocopied 'zines are being revived in the current ‘90s and Y2K aesthetic reboot. (Thanks, TikTok.)One keyboard shortcut to take notes & save information.
Across the Graphic Universe: An Interview with John Berg
John Berg truly had “the best possible job at the best possible time.” As art director (and later creative director and vice president) of Columbia/CBS Records from 1961 until 1985, Berg oversaw a golden age of record cover design. From his office in New York’s Midtown he created covers for Dylan, Springsteen and Monk, to name just a few. He commissioned photography from Avedon and illustrations from Glaser and Chwast. He won four Grammys and countless other music and design industry awards. If you’ve ever purchased any popular music from that era, there’s a good chance that it was released by Columbia, and that its visual presentation was in some way conceived by the creative mind of John Berg.Creating interface studies
An art study is any action done with the intention of learning about the subject you want to draw. You can study by drawing, sculpting, reading, or even just looking at something. It's important to distinguish that studies are a bit different than practicing. The act of practicing is a repeated task to build mastery in technique whereas.Why Everything Looks the Same
How economic globalization, generational transition, and technology converge to flatten the consumer experienceDo you ever get the feeling that everything around you looks the same?
Interior spaces, consumer brands, cars, restaurant menus, apps, websites…
Across every consumer category, variety and originality have given way to monotony and conformity.
Debbie Millman interviews Massimo Vignelli, directed by Hillman Curtis
Debbie Millman interviews Massimo Vignelli, directed by Hillman Curtis (rip), cinematography by Ben Wolf for DESIGN YATRA.Everything you need to know about... Letting someone go
One of the hardest parts of being in charge is occasionally having to make very difficult decisions about those around you. Here's how to properly approach the toughest conversation.SuperHi Basic Income
An experiment to see if giving creative people a financial buffer accelerates their career.RoboFont
The heavy-duty font editor for macOS. Written from scratch in Python with scalability in mind. A fully featured font editor with all the tools required for drawing typefaces. Provides full scripting access to objects and interface. A platform for building your own tools and extensions, and much more…!Artists inspiring us to listen deeper, selected by the Ghostly team. Current set: downtempo/ambient, inspired by Khotin.

