Other reads from the design ducky

• Promoting brand “YOU”
• qantas gets a new look!
• Pentagram-designed Grey Goose Baccarat gift box
• thanks for popping by…
• singapore design festival 07

I love the talks from TED (stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design). They’re so engaging and feature so many great and inspiration speakers from all over the world talking about subjects ranging from experimental technology that could be part of our world in the future to thoughts on the human psyche. Do check out their “Design Like You Give a Damn” theme. Truly amazing stuff.

Here’s one that I saw recently which I think is worth spending a six minutes of your time to look at. Polish designer Jacek Utko shares his experience of saving the daily print with great design. He also shows examples of the award-winning designs for various Eastern European newspapers in the video.

I think what he said is quite true – you can be designing in a really boring industry or for a really boring product, but if you have the dedication (and proper support) to do the best work in your area, design can be inspiring and create positive change.

I shall leave you with this last thought that he mentioned in the video:

“You can live in a small poor country, like me. You can work for a small company, in a boring branch. You can have no budgets, no people but still you can put your work to the highest possible level. And everybody can do it. You just need inspiration, vision and determination. And you need to remember that to be good is not enough.”

(via davidthedesigner)

Other reads from the design ducky

• thanks for popping by…
• *beep… beep… beep* the heart beats again…
• How to Motivate Creative People – a good (and free) read!
• the design ducky tweets…
• qantas gets a new look!

We all know that designers has some form of ‘self-doubt’ gene embedded in their DNA that makes us go ‘I don’t think I’m good enough’, ‘my work is so-so’ etc. I understand because I do have the same thoughts as well. So whilst surfing the Internet (and clicking through Twitter) I found this really funny yet motivating presentation by Whitney Hess on ‘Evangelizing Yourself’.

Whitney sets out a series of three major points on how you can promote yourself which I think can apply to anyone in the world and not necessary people in the creative line:

1. Share your message
2. Build a network
3. Exude confidence

I like how simple it is and how motivating it can be. In fact after I saw this slideshow, it inspired me to write this post so that I can share the same message with you. By the way, I love the chart showing the relationship between where you would want to be vs where you are at the moment and the resulting difference is the reason why you drink.

So to help you along, here’s a selection of inspirational and useful sites to start thinking of how you can promote brand “YOU”!

Five articles to get reading on self-promotion:

1. How to be a Design Superstar – Great article from Design Sojourn
2. Promote yourself without looking self-promotional – by Michael Martine
3. How to Land Your Dream Design Job -  A series of posts from Design Droplets
4. Five Steps to a Better Design Portfolio – by Jeffrey Veen
5. Five Ways to be Better at Self-Promotion – from Penelope Trunk’s

Five amazing self-promotion portfolios

• 19 Self-Promotion Portfolios in the Digital Age (PDF)
• 33 Viciously Cool Graphic Designer Portfolios – Yes they are viciously and immensely cool and inspirational (via @mayhemstudios)
• Steve Leggat
• Sebdesign.eu
• Koivo.com

Have fun!

Other reads from the design ducky

• qantas gets a new look!
• How to Motivate Creative People – a good (and free) read!
• bannerblog
• so you want to be a designer?
• the design ducky tweets…

Reading it, I like how he structured the chapters in a easy-to-digest manner so that you understand why the need to motivate, followed by the four motivators (with good analysis and suggestions on how to tackle each one) and ending with how to combine them together effectively to get the best results from your creative team.

Also, I found myself nodding to many points Mark mentioned and got a better insight into how to motivate not only myself, but my team members as well. No matter whether if you’re a manager, designer or even if you’re not doing anything related to being creative, I highly recommend that you read this.

via designers-who-blog

Other reads from the design ducky

• bannerblog
• creative caffeine
• *beep… beep… beep* the heart beats again…
• Promoting brand “YOU”
• the design ducky tweets…

Check out this gorgeous packaging done by Pentagram for Grey Goose and Baccarat‘s collaboration! This is actually one of the three gift box packaging ideas that they proposed – one for just a bottle of the normal Grey Goose, another contains the original vodka plus three mini-sized versions of the flavoured vodkas and the last one is this gorgeous case. From the front it looks like a nondescript suitcase but if you look at it from the side, it is actually shaped in a round-triangle.

Inside, the case contains a bottle of Grey Goose vodka plus a pair of limited edition Baccarat crystal tumblers (I’m not too sure why it is limited edition…) all nestled nicely in hi-density foam. No detail was spared – the zipper pull has the Grey Goose logo emblazoned on it and the entire case seems to be made of a really luxurious suede material. Yet amidst this, it looks really simple, understated and premium at the same time. Sweet.

Not too sure if this has gone into production, but I would love to be able to see one in the flesh. I think this makes a good gift for someone who appreciates good design and a good drink at the same time. You can check out more photos at Pentagram’s blog.

p.s.: Just realised that the colours of the case and label match colour scheme of designducky.com! Niceee…

Other reads from the design ducky

• so you want to be a designer?
• the design ducky surfed onto…
• bannerblog
• the design ducky surfed onto…
• the design ducky surfed onto…

I must admit I seldom use shortcuts in my daily design work (I know… blasphemy isn’t it?) because I’m not too familar with the shortcuts available in the Adobe Creative Suite. Plus there were a few times when I did write down the shortcut keys and promptly lost the paper they were written on.

So it is really a good thing that I stumbled upon this amazing set of posters by Design by Vent compiling all the shortcuts for each program in the Creative Suite into a colourful Periodic Table! The last time I saw a table like this was almost ten years ago, so it is a refreshing thing indeed. Now you can print them out and stick them on the wall for quick and easy reference to the shortcut keys. Nice and a nifty piece of communication design!

via creatica daily

Other reads from the design ducky

• singapore design festival 07
• TED talk – Jacek Utko designs to save newspapers
• creative caffeine
• Pentagram-designed Grey Goose Baccarat gift box
• faveup

I have been meaning to check out this exhibition at the Singapore National Museum since last week but only managed to get myself moving and off to the museum today. This is the second time in past year or so that I’ve stepped into the place (the first was to check out the ‘Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre‘ exhibition). Now I’m not exactly a very arty-farty person and I’ve always had this thought that people who visit museums must know something about the exhibits that they’re visiting so that they can look at the descriptions and nod knowingly. So I’ve always felt like a fraud the few times that I’ve been in museums and that one of these days someone in the museum will come up to me and escort me out just because I’ve no idea what I’m supposed to be thinking or appreciating.

But still, I found myself standing at the entrance to the exhibition, the orange and blue wall beckoning me with the words “Come-In“. Armed with my camera in hand, I stepped through the doorway into a world made by everyday objects. There was swivel chair that four people could sit on – which I thought was quite funny if it was used as a musical chair, whereby you do not walk around the chair but instead swivel it – another was this turnstile/security gate system that was made out of modules that you can switch around to create the ‘security door’ of your needs. This was quite nifty I must say.

Besides the (semi?) normal exhibits, the others ranged from whimsical – a really funky boat installation complete with a man made from fabric, boat mast covered in fabric and various German bric-brac – to those that encourage you to think much deeper into the meaning of the installation. Like the one in the photo below:

This was one of the main exhibits in the show, it was used as the promotion image (which made me curious to come to the exhibition). Titled “Hermann’s Doner Inn” by Claus Fottinger, the installation is actually set up to look like a mini-bar complete with stools, a counter, beer, TV, speakers etc. However there was a darker theme… the TV was showing clips taken from Hollywood movies that depicted violence, plus the all-too-familiar Golden Arches. Overlay that with photos of various food stores in Germany, you kinda wonder if the main message is that our current culture is filled with too much violence and commercial greed that old school, homely establishments are slowly being edged out?

Another one that made me stop and think is the one in the image that’s on the top of this post – “Do Not Disturb” by Erik Schmit. I especially like this particular piece because it’s so dramatic, the camoflage paint overlaid with the silver letters in stencil font on top of what seems to be a picture of a garden scene. Inviting colours yet screaming at you to stay away with the text, it was hard for me to step away and stop looking at it.

It wasn’t a very big exhibition and even though I only spent around half an hour in the gallery, I quite enjoyed the trip and it brought me back to my university days where art and discourse figured strongly in my thoughts. A good exhibition to take a look at if you have some time during the weekends (instead of going shopping at the mall) as it showcases different perspectives of people that live halfway around the world from us.

“Come-in: Interior Design as a Contemporary Art Medium in Germany” is on now till 12 April 2009 at the Exhibition Gallery 2 & The Canyon in the Singapore National Museum. Admission is free, 10am – 6pm daily.

Other reads from the design ducky

• singapore design festival 07
• the design ducky surfed onto…
• qantas gets a new look!
• the design ducky surfed onto…
• bannerblog

Other reads from the design ducky

• bannerblog
• faveup
• so you want to be a designer?
• How to Motivate Creative People – a good (and free) read!
• Periodic table of Adobe shortcuts!

follow the path with the heart and have the courage to follow it…

Other reads from the design ducky

• qantas gets a new look!
• so you want to be a designer?
• the design ducky surfed onto…
• the design ducky surfed onto…
• TED talk – Jacek Utko designs to save newspapers

Other reads from the design ducky

• singapore design festival 07
• creative caffeine
• Pentagram-designed Grey Goose Baccarat gift box
• How to Motivate Creative People – a good (and free) read!
• the design ducky tweets…