What the Helvetica!

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Passing by a friend’s screen the other day I caught a glimpse of big bold black type set in helvetica, on a white background, and a picture of a mobile phone, that phone was Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness.

Now as far as product design thinking and strategy behind this phone, this soon to be a trend move towards simplicity is a smart move indeed. But what concerns me is that Sony Ericsson didn’t bother really work on the form rather than add the gimmicky transparent screen… It’s a pretty phone, and when I say form I mean all aspects of actually shaping the phone affected by the mere fact that it’s only a phone and nothing else…

When you have only three main features, like the say; Talk, Text, and tell Time! those are pretty simple paramaters for a product to be really innovative and unique… Because it’s going have one hell of a fight in front of it! At this day and age of technological over load, only a small number of people want something so downright focused, so “purely” functional in a single minded way!

In order to convince more than those few something need to be done, and that something isn’t exactly what this campaign is doing! That’s not a bad thing at all because I think this campaign might just be the best I’ve seen in a while, This is_like the product_ a very focused campaign with a clear understanding of the target audience… All ads have one information based on date, location and size of ad, Bold helvetica, on white background… How awesome is that!!

It’s freaky how many things I like are stuffed in there… I mean I would not change one thing with the campaign, the service offerings, the online presence… Sadly what I would change is the product itself…

But again, just look how awesome these ads look!

Check it out… [Click here for full gallery]

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Design can be good again

I tried embedding this video but it’s not working… go and WATCH THIS VIDEO!

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Maybe you know this already, but the work of Dieter Rams is getting more exposure and being noticed by non-product designers more and more every day. His work and teachings are things I spent my college years and even after with, learning more with every thing I read…

His words are not to be taken lightly , neither can he be confused with other famous names in the design world… He does not say or do the irrelevant, the unnecessary, or the fantastic. He’s a designer with a collective experience that surpasses groups of young designers put together.

Just now his work is being published in a way it deserves. Later this month the amazing publisher Gestalten books is releasing Less and More The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. It looks awesome, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

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What bothered me after these principle spread over all online communities is the fact that I’ve had an idea of a poster in my head, even though it’s a personal project, I never got around to finalizing it. But I did post how I have those ten principles on the walls of my room and the office.

Bibliothèque An amazing design studio was commisioned by Vitsoe to do that poster for the ten principles, and it looks good, based on a very well-thought of grid, and photographs and color palette that really feel like dieter rams’ work. I liked it even though it made me hate my self for not doing my idea.

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Bananaoto!

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A few “design” books are considered a must read, or a must-flip through, if anything!

A few of those few are…. unquestionably; life changing experiences!

One of those is Kenya Hara’s Designing Design… I’m still going through it and I’ll post a review or something soon enough…

But for the time being, flipping through it I was reminded of this amazing showcase of pure design genius… The packaging concept by Japanese Design master Naoto Fukasawa…

Packaging Concept By Naoto Fukasawa

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Click here for more images

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So my friends at the Interruptions Team shouldn’t be wondering when will the flood of banana related material will end… It won’t stop until we start making enough noise…

So until NOISE, please mind the banana!

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Images of the Whenever!

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Most respected blogs feature what might be called “image of the day/week”

So inspired by those respected blogs, whenever I feel like it i’ll open up the blog and post soemthing so silly, so stupid, so unbelievably unnecessary… something that no respected blog would ever post… only mine!

You know why, because I can!

I know it might seem irrelevant to anything now, but just wait… or don’t because really, nothing will ever come out of this…

So here goes, the first two images of the whenever

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T-shirts

Hello…

A competition was recently held by JoBedu [facebook Event Page]… In the description they stated that: “The competition seeks to answer a question as old as time: What do Arab women really want?! Here are 9 of the designs Mothanna and I manage to get done in time…

Please head over the event page on facebook and let me what you think…

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4326168&id=685985660&ref=mf#/event.php?eid=279514345626&index=1

Bear in mind that none of these are intended to offend anyone or be taken too seriously… Enjoy, and please let us know what you think…

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Comments and like buttons are  very much appreciated!

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Have an Opinion Why Don’t You!

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A While back i started a group on facebook, named it “as little design as possible“

In the description field i wrote;

The last of dieter rams’ ten principles on good design was:
“good design is as little design as possible”
If you feel you understand this,
you’re one of the few…

So, Hello…

You need to know that I’m a simple guy who likes simple and simple-looking things, what most people don’t know is that simple is not always as simple as they might presume…
In a lot of cases simple doesn’t even look simple enough, let alone the fact that simple, or good simple, is never understood by simple-minded people…
This group will contain some works by my friends and myself, anyone is free to post almost anything related to design stripped naked of all it’s unnecessary accessories…

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After that i begged asked everyone to join and be active for a change, because commenting is easy on last night’s dinner party, or what degree of bronze a friend’s tan is, or even how good a girl looks on that pixellated, under lit, excuse of a photo she took of herself in the bathroom mirror!
But when it comes to serious comments, or inquiries at least, you’ll find that most annoyingly opinionated people in the real world, don’t have the same skills on blogs and groups…

What happened was that a very few people joined, fewer commented (one or to), and no one contributed…

Then comes a very good friend of mine, and says this:

I agree somehow on what you’ve written, but dont you think you might have patronized non-design oriented people by branding them as ” simple-minded people”? plus werent everything created in couples? extremes might be appreciated! maybe it’s not the era! 80s for example. further, didnt you over complicate the description trying to over simplify it? am not attacking, dont get me wrong, just merely contributing, hence the request!

In my opinion; his reaction is justified, the point he raised about over complicating simplicity is one of the major points discussed in minimalism, minimal design specifically. And now there another thing that i can talk about:

How simple is simple really!? and do you have to a pretentious maniac (same pronunciation different language) to sound credible enough for other idiots to get you!?

I mean, when do you draw the line?

Where is the grey area between retarded speech, and convoluted and misused language?

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Now it turned into the start of an actual debate between “designers” and “non-designers” if i can call them that! Instead of me now caring about the group i started wondering why the hell people aren’t that interested in almost anything interesting? and

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So now you are familiar with this particular scenario, let’s see if after all this rambling you can form an opinion and post it on the comments box down there? Do those annoyingly opinionated only voice out their concerns in public? is it an image thing? what?… I’m rambling I know, but it’s been such a mindfucking experience trying to come up with answers…

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Peace!

GINA Concept

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You want the future, well here you go…

It’s been sitting at the BMW headquarters after all, and in case you haven’t seen it yet…

Help yourslef to a tissue, and take a look…

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Read an interview with the mastermind behind this new direction of motorworks design language…

http://www.wallpaper.com/cars/qa-with-chris-bangle-of-bmw/2441

Mr. Bangle is now retired to pursue his life long passion of not doing cars! leaving Adrian Van Hooydonk at the lead of BMW Design team… Who is also doing some changing BMW, instead elegant beamsters, he presented a concept that brings  the bavarian motor works company back to the old days, 70’s to be exact, a hommage to the M1…

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You Wish!

I wish people would be more critical of design, and of designers, who are responsible for designing some pretty nasty stuff.

Marc Newson, Interviewed in director Gary Hustwit Documentary; “Objectified”

Here’s the awesome trailer, My wish actually is for his film to be mandatory watching for every CEO in the region… In fact I’d do my best to plan weekly screenings when the DVD Comes out, all for the dream of people getting to know what exactly is it that major i studied 4 years in college about!

And the awesome poster designed by Build… Black on silver background…

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What is it, industrial engineering? interior decor? painting? sculpture? sanay3i? no? new type of engineering then? ooh OK, stylist? no! technician? well then what is it? how is that different from graphic design? oooooh ok? so you’re a craftsman? blacksmith? carpenter? C’mon help me out here!!!

Excerpt from some of many conversations i had with people asking me what exactly is it i am!

To know more about Gary Hustwit, He filmed Helvetica which came out back in 2007!

One simply magnificent masterpiece…

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Poster By Build

Designer’s Emotional Baggage, Materializing!

Poste Still Being Developed

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and idea spun off the article downstairs; posters designed in two halves, you choose to hang whichever half you prefer, or the poster can be extended and hung as a landscape poster.

Anyway, the text isn’t finalized, and like every project, i have no idea when i’ll get to sit down and actually do it..

If you have any ideas post your comment, you can read tthe article at the end of the page to get a better sense of what this is.

Designer’s Emotional Baggage!

It is no secret a designer’s brain functions through an intricate web of faulty wires coming in and out all over the place in an environment of somewhat systematic chaos and an everlasting effort trying to control that chaos.

Ideas juggling back and forth between the right and left side of the brain.

One conjures up a feeling, an abstract undefined sense of what he/she wants to do, and the other constantly fighting battles with every part of your body wanting to realize those ideas no matter how ambiguous and unworldly they might seem at first.

But most people forget about passion, and I’m not talking about you loving your work;

it is a well-known fact that most designer’s egos are so big, naming every idea they have “their baby” until they are living in a secret society run by one, populated by the same one, and known also only to that one.

But that’s ok, we designers are proud of that, because with a certain amount of confidence, and love poured into every project you keep learning, growing, and you will do more good than you’ll ever do if you are over run by self-doubt every step of the way.

Back to my point, remember? The point I was trying to make.

My belief is that every good idea, after running through all parts necessary in your brain, before it is sent through your nervous system to the tips of your fingers and you start working, it simply has to pass by your heart first {YES of course this is a metaphor, I know feelings are from the brain too}

{Form Follows Function} said Louis Henri Sullivan, Then in 1969 came Hartmut Esslinger, coined the term to contain wider issues which is the famous {Form Follows Emotion}

These phrases never work out of context, they are easily misunderstood, what can be said is that the simplest guideline to good design is one that follow form, function, and emotion. What’s first and what’s last is never set, and will always be decided by who and what the design is for.

Below are graphics starting to emerge out of this kind of thinking; this holistic view on design starting with the designer simply thinking about it, and ending with the perception of people interacting with it.

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Thank you. Feel free to comment on what you’ve gathered from this article or any other post on my blog.

Good day.