Part Three of Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design inspired by the show at SFMOMA, “Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams”, up through February 20, 2012. You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail

Sometimes we can get a little crazy about the details as designers. The exact color we want. The perfect amount of distance between each letter. The way a logo should always be used. We care about pixels and millimeters and CMYK and RGB and a bunch of other stuff clients don’t even realize. But that craziness is always keeping the client and their clients in mind. We create with precision and accuracy because we respect them and are looking out for future needs.

This is one of the main reasons I have loved Apple computers since I was a teenager. From the way they design a machine to the way the package it to the way they set up their stores, nothing is left to chance or arbitrary. Their thoroughness down to the last detail of where they put their power button is inspiring. I know, I know -- designers are so geeky.

9. Good design is environmentally friendly

Designers are integral to the preservation of the environment. The way that car designers, fashion designers, product designers create can either be extremely harmful or helpful to the environment. If things are designed with reusable materials, intended to be long lasting, and avoid trendiness that helps us to have a less wasteful and more healthy environment.

When I design for clients, I always try to think about what is necessary to print and what can be conveyed via websites, social media and emails. I think it is important to avoid using unnecessary paper and ink, and when I do need to print items I use recycled paper and soy based inks, even if it costs more. It really is true what people say, “Every little bit helps.” You can read a magazine story that I was featured in about green printing at grist.org.

10. Good design is as little design as possible

“Less but better.” Words I live by. Each design decision intentional and necessary. My favorite outfit is a black shirt with dark jeans. My desk is nice and tidy. I like solid colors, simple typefaces, and clean architectural lines. Keep things simple. Keep things pure. Give me the essentials and I am a happy designer.

When I look at design from Scandinavia, Germany or Switzerland I lose my breath for a second. The design can be made up of two colors, one typeface and a few lines and it speaks to me. My eyes are simultaneously stimulated and at ease. I can concentrate on what I need to see, and it becomes what I want to see.

Did I mention to you that I love the way Dieter Rams thinks?

Dieter Rams (born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design.

“Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams”, up through February 20, 2012. You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

Part Two of Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design inspired by the show at SFMOMA, “Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams”, up through February 20, 2012. You can read Part One here.

4. Good design makes a product understandable

When designing logos, websites or printed pieces it is important that everything just makes sense. I get so frustrated with design that tries so hard that it becomes confusing. A logo you can’t read or website where the navigation tries so hard to be cool that you aren’t quite sure how to use it.

Even all the way back to my senior year of college, in the autumn of 1999 when I designed my university yearbook annual, I wanted a design that would be enable people to find their friends easily, reflect the spirit of the university, while still sharing a unique point of view. But if I had solely focused on it being unique, I would have been missing the point of what the product is supposed to be. I desired for it to be understood.

5. Good design is honest

I think this is part of the reason that I love the Bialetti Moka Express or french press. They are what they are. They both tell me that water and freshly ground beans will come together to form a substance that will wake me up in the morning. Their only promise is that my caffeine fix will be met.

When simple machines are bogged down with design and have so many bells and whistles, I feel overwhelmed, annoyed and cheated. A toaster is still a toaster. A blender is still a blender. The design should only make good honest promises, and then follow through on them. That kind of design makes me smile.

6. Good design is unobtrusive

I feel this most strongly when I think of flash websites. While there are designers that have figured out how to use Flash in positive ways, most of the time Flash made websites less useful. People felt wowed in the first 20 seconds, and frustrated the rest of the time. There was so much energy put into making websites works of art that they were no longer useful tools.

In general, I aim to design in a restrained way. To allow the user to be able to come to the site and interact with it as they wish. Most of my design is thinking about what people need and want, and making it easy for them to find. Of course I want the work to be pleasing to the eye, but I never want to create something that is beautiful but useless.

7. Good design is long-lasting

When I was at the Dieter Rams show I kept on thinking to myself, “That design still works. I still love it. It could have been designed just yesterday.” When I can look back at my work from over ten years ago and be happy with how it looks, I know I was creating good design. Of course that is not true of every piece, but there are definitely some examples in my portfolio that still work.

However, it is truly a challenge to avoid appearing antiquated in the world of web design. So quickly people’s work can go from being fashionable to old. While it is true that the way we program and the technology are constantly changing, I think we should still attempt to avoid being overly fashionable and create sites that can last longer than is typical. We owe that to our clients.

Dieter Rams (born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design.

During our time off for the holidays, we had fun running around Oakland and San Francisco, hanging out with friends, drinking some good cocktails and watching films. (What break would be complete without some good movie watching?)

Certified Copy

Tree of Life

Hugo

Wizard of Oz

Urbanized

I love Dieter Rams, the brilliant industrial designer from Germany. In a perfect world he would be my Uncle Dieter and every Christmas dinner would be spent talking about good design and simplicity. We would sit in his well designed mid-century chairs, listen to Johann Sebastian Bach on his record player, drink der Kaffee from his Braun machine and discuss how less really is more.

Since this is only my dream and not my reality, the next best thing is enjoying the current SFMOMA show, “Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams”, up through February 20, 2012.

There I can stare at his designs and ruminate on his quotes, and enjoy the knowledge that he shares with us all through his ideas and creations. Over the next few entries I will be sharing “Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design” and my own thoughts about his words. I think he perfectly states why I love my job and am passionate about design.

1. Good design is innovative

This reminds me to always have hope. That we will continue to progress in both technology and design and in fact the two are essential to each other. In moments where design feels stagnant, I remember that there will always be more ideas and possibilities. That innovation will continue to move us forward. I think the development of tablets and apps in the past few years is a beautiful example of the tandem nature of design and technology. I get excited just thinking about what new ideas lay ahead in the future.

2. Good design makes a product useful

I love when things look cool. When I see it on a shelf and I want to buy it just to see it on my shelf. But I never buy those things. I buy what I use and I use what I buy, and when the beauty reflects the usefulness - I am a happy man. When I build websites I am always thinking about what is useful and necessary first, and as design starts to detract from the site’s functionality, the design must be stripped down. I think that is why my most favorite designs are also the most simple ones.

3. Good design is aesthetic

When I use my Bialetti stove-top espresso maker each morning, it makes me happy. The metal container and plastic handle come together to make me smile. I love the shape, the feel, the smell of the coffee as it percolates. The beauty of this simple design is how well it is executed. As I design logos, print work and websites, I long to create things for companies to make their lives easier and better. I want their clients' days to be brightened (in little ways) by the aesthetic quality of my work. If “only well-executed objects can be beautiful,” I strive to be a designer of beauty.

Dieter Rams (born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design.

The Italian cuisine is known and loved all over the world. It is comfort food that is delicious, fresh and seasonal. Even the pickiest of eaters won’t turn down fresh pasta or perfectly cooked pizza. It is our absolute favorite, and after this recent trip we fell more deeply in love with the cibo of Italy.

The exciting thing about Italian food is how regional it is. In Emilia Romagna you must try “this”. In Veneto “this”. In Lombardy you cannot forget to sample “that”. Each place we went there was food and wine that came from down the street and recipes that didn’t leave the province.

The following are some of our favorite food and drinks that we truly enjoyed for the first time on our trip. For the items that cannot be replicated at home or found in a great restaurant, we recommend finding a way to make it to Italy. It’s worth it.

Tigelle and Gnocco Frito

I don’t feel I can really do tigelle and gnoccho frito justice. The are bread. Tigelle is round and flat. Gnoccho frito is rectangular, fried and puffy. One takes these breads and fills them with creamy cheeses, hard cheese, lardo (yes I wrote lardo), prosciutto, salami there is no wrong combination we could find. Although everyone has personal favorites. You drink lambrusco with them (see below). They are simply delicious.

Piadine

Imagine very thin flat bread sandwiches filled with all of your favorite fresh and local ingredients. A bread that is so thin it lets the products between its two pieces shine bright, and yet you still find yourself loving the bread in all of its tortilla thinness. What do you want on it? Roast beef, arugula, grana padano, tomato...here you go. Prosciutto, arugula, cherry tomatoes, and squacquerone cheese...great. A sandwich, but so much more.

Spritz

Warm weather begs for a refreshing drink. In the past I would have said the margarita (or a ver cold beer) is the answer to this need. This is no longer the case. The spritz is lovely, thirst quenching and makes me want to eat a bunch of salty treats. It is made of wine, bitters (Campari or Aperol) and carbonated water. We have made it the official drink of summer in the Mazzarello home, and I am pretty sure we will find a way to enjoy it this winter as well.

Tortellini in Brodo

This is the dish that changed my life. I know that is a dramatic thing to say. Who says that about little pieces of pasta filled with meat and floating around in a thin broth? I do. I say it proudly. This was my Ratatoulle moment. The moment where childhood slammed into the present and I could imagine myself as a small Italian girl coming home to a steaming bowl of Tortellini in Brodo. This is Mario Batali’s recipe that I am hoping to try, please invite me over if you make it at home.

Lambrusco

The idea of drinking a sparkling red wine seemed silly to me at first. Sparkling wines should be light in color. I should be able to see the bubbles. Now I am trying to convince Bryan that we have to have a party and only serve Lambrusco so that everyone else can see how tasty it is. We had it at almost every meal while in Emilia Romagna, and it went with every single bite.

Balsamic Vinegar

The good stuff. I mean the really good stuff. The kind of vinegar that will change your view of all vinegar, and make you feel like someone has been keeping a secret from you for your entire life. I am sure that there are other great brands out there, but we have to recommend trying Leonardi balsamic if you can find it. After perfecting it for four generations, they have mastered their craft! Our cousin works there, we saw the process of how they make it, and now we can’t use anything else.

Stephanie and I have a great circle of thoughtful friends and colleagues that inspire us daily. It dawned on us that we should share their knowledge with you. So from time to time we would like to have them guest blog on our website.

This entry comes from our friend Christi Foist, writer, editor, knitter, and fellow film and music fanatic. She has a great knack for following trends, baking bread, keeping up with the news, and following Bay Area music venues. Christi has a great email she sends out called, artRecs, and I thought I would share it with you.

Well, as usual, I've wound up with more here than I expected. To mix things up a bit this time, I'm switching up the order and starting with poetry. You'll also find some highlights of upcoming concerts, since we're into quite the festival and tour season shortly. In brief, though:

• SF Jazz Festival, Sept. 15-Dec. 18
• Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Sept. 30-Oct. 2
• Litquake, Oct. 7 to 15 (my panel, Religious Renegades, Oct. 13)
• Treasure Island Music Festival, Oct. 15-16
• Newbigin House of Studies inaugural conference with N. T. Wright, Nov. 17-18

Poetry

• This via Mako Fujimura: the New York poet Samuel Menashe has died. I hadn't heard of him until now, but he was a WWII vet who saw "all but 29 members of his company of 190 men ... either killed, wounded or taken prisoner" during one day of the Battle of the Bulge, an experience that affected his approach to time. I share that because I was really struck that someone who witnessed such horror would respond by creating art. Would recognize how uncertain his future was, how precious each day ... and choose to write poetry. According to the Times, his literary career was one of belated acclaim, with the Brits appreciating his talent before Americans did. After the war, he had a largely non-academic career, which included "a motley assortment of pickup jobs: tour guide on Gray Line buses, French tutor, lecturer on cruise ships." Read the full obit. You can hear Menashe in NPR's 2006 interview with him. And, of course, read some of his poems.

Visual Art

• I've been seeing a lot of Sept. 11-themed stories and tributes coming across the Twitter wire lately, but one that stood out was a slideshow of Mako Fujimura's paintings over the last decade, tracing his work to discover the language of lament.

Film & Video

• This weekend I discovered the Retronaut blog, which led me to this entertaining short film (a kind of very early music video, really): "A Little Jive is Good for You."

Tunes

• In case you didn't get enough former-Beatle and Zooey Deschanel Buddy Holly covers with the release of Rave On earlier this summer, there's another tribute album out, Listen to Me. Deschanel contributes another cover, alongside Ringo Starr, Chris Isaak, Natalie Merchant and others. NPR has the story and a few sample tracks.
• Ryan Adams has recently released a few news tracks: the single "Lucky Now" (from his new album), as well as an acoustic take on the Iron Maiden song "Wasted Years" (featuring some very nice guitar work). I've liked some of his songs and been so-so on others, but I'm afraid I'll have temporarily worn out "Lucky Now" by the time the record drops on Oct. 11. Most tickets for his local shows appear to have sold out, alas, so you'll have to try your luck with Craigslist (as I plan to).
• Do you know of the band, Tinariwen? The New York Times has a neat write-up on Tinariwen, with a very cool discussion of " 'asuf,' a sentiment from their own culture and Tamashek language that describes both a sense of spiritual pain, yearning or nostalgia and the emptiness of the desert itself ... [and] ... creates a certain kinship with the bluesmen of Mississippi and Chicago." The band is also featured in the latest issue of Paste, which includes a free download of one of their songs. Most excitingly, though, San Francisco is on the U.S. leg of their international tour this fall.
• I'm not usually a fan of mash-ups but my friend Reid, a former editor for Paste recently shared one combining Radiohead and Dave Brubeck that I actually quite liked.
• Upcoming concert highlights:
  • Bon Iver @ the Greek, Sept. 22
  • The Jayhawks @ Hardly Strictly AND Slim's, Sept. 30
  • Crazy lineup of artists @ Hardly Strictly, Sept. 30-Oct. 2
  • Esperanza Spalding @ Paramount Theater, Oct. 1 (part of the SF Jazz Festival)
  • Michael Franti @ the Greek, Oct. 8
  • Zee Avi @ the Independent, Oct. 13
  • Ryan Adams @ Herbst Theater, Oct. 14
  • Ryan Adams @ Uptown Theater in Napa, Oct. 15
  • McCoy Tyner @ Herbst Theater, Oct. 16 (part of the SF Jazz Festival)
  • Paul Simon @ the Greek, Oct. 20
  • Tinariwen with Cake @ the Fox, Oct. 30
  • Feist @ the Warfield, Nov. 14
  • Over the Rhine @ Great American Music Hall, Nov. 15
  • The Civil Wars @ the Fillmore, Nov. 17
  • Lucinda Williams @ the Fillmore, Nov. 19-20
  • Rachel Yamagata @ Slim's, Nov. 25
  • Morrissey @ the Fox, Dec. 1
  • Jake Shimabukoro @ the Warfield, Dec. 3
  • Tori Amos @ the Paramount, Dec. 16

Choose-Oakland.pdf (2.71 mb)

Have we mentioned that we love Oakland? We live, work, worship and play in this amazing city. Oakland is the metropolitan hub of the East Bay and the third largest city in the Bay Area behind San Francisco and San Jose and we like it that way. We have room to breathe when we walk around Lake Merritt or the redwoods in the Oakland hills, but at the same time we have access to amazing public transportation which is important when you don't have a car. We get around on BART, AC Transit, the East Bay Ferries, and we even have Amtrak roll through town.

We can cheer for one of three pro sports teams (A's, Warriors, Raiders) or head to Jack London Square, where there's a saloon the author frequented and Yoshi's, a renowned jazz club. We can walk through historic victorian homes, watch container ships at one of the busiest industrial ports on the West Coast, rent a sailboat on Lake Merritt, stroll along 19 miles of bay and estuary shoreline, explore the fantastic Oakland Museum of California -- they're all great reasons to hop the bay and spend a fog-free day exploring one of California's largest and most ethnically diverse cities. Did you know Oakland boasts about a dozen wineries – many with tasting rooms – including award-winners Dashe, JC Cellars and Enat.

I love this quote from Frommer's Travel guide:

"as the City by the Bay has become crowded and expensive in the past few years, Oakland has experienced a rush of new residents and businesses. As a result, Oak-town is in the midst of a renaissance, and its future continues to look brighter and brighter.

And here is another great quote from a recent article in the Oakland Tribune about Pandora, whose headquarters is in Oakland.

"This is an entrepreneurial firm, a social media company, and that helps the downtown," Del Beccaro said. "With the new apartments and condos being built in the area, you can put the creative types in jobs in Oakland."

Other cutting-edge companies such as solar firms BrightSource Energy, Sungevity and SolarFirst have headquarters in Oakland. Tech firms such as iParadigms, Lucid Design Group, LiveScribe, Xantrion and Skytide also are based there.

City officials hope those ranks will swell steadily. And it may happen because Pandora is attempting to be an Oakland ambassador.

"Pandora has been active in trying to convince software and social media companies to move from San Francisco to Oakland," Quan said.

• The “cool” factor - eclectic, happening, fun; diverse
• Concentration of like- minded innovators
• Educated, creative, young workforce
• Talented innovators
• Affordable city living
• Easy public transit access
• More artists anywhere outside of Manhattan
• World-class arts institutions, venues, attractions
• Amazing restaurants and farmers markets
• Rich musical heritage

Stephanie and I have a great circle of thoughtful friends and colleagues that inspire us daily. It dawned on us that we should share their knowledge with you. So from time to time we would like to have them guest blog on our website.

Christi Foist

This week I would like to introduce you to Christi Foist, writer, editor, knitter and film and music fanatic. She has a great knack for following trends, baking bread, keeping up with the news, and following Bay Area music venues. Christi has a great email she sends out and I thought I would share it with you this week.

Visual Art

• Crocheted tributes to Banksy are just one of the many forms knitted graffiti takes; the New York Times has a look at the trend sometimes known as "yarn bombing". (See also this SF example I spotted a while back.) Keep your eye peeled for more in mid-June. Apparently the 11th has been dubbed International Yarn Bombing Day.
• This isn't strictly visual, perhaps, but I could spend hours at a show like this. So many great ideas for repurposing things to use around the home.
• A closer look at World War II's most famous kiss: this post is a few months old now, but re-examines one of the war's most iconic photos in light of a possible witness' recollection.

Tunes

• First Listen brings you Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket this week. Both stream until May 31, so carve out 45 minutes of your holiday weekend, if you're a fan.
• Top 10 composers: an 8-year-old's list(s) - This is actually a few months old, a but a delightful response to an article by the Times' critic. And, there's a follow-up video, in which he discusses Lady Gaga, his demotion of Brahms on the list and what he likes about Taiwanese soup. Eight minutes, but a fun eight -- he even concludes by playing a Bach fugue.
• J. Crew's getting on the music tie-in bandwagon, so if you don't mind looking at some women's shoes in the process, you can get two free songs (I only liked the Sallie Ford one enough to download; the other was more electronic).

Film

• If you're a fellow Tintin fan, you can check out a preview for the movie version (which has Spielberg and Peter Jackson involved, among others), due out at Christmas.
• Woodie Allen has a new film out, and so far both the New York Times and Wall St. Journal really like it. I'm rather tempted to go myself.

Sometimes we need a bit of a break from our computer screen during the day, a time to move our muscles and release the tension. (We also found out from a scientific study that we are supposed to move once an hour to keep our muscles from atrophying...think about that).

During these times we have our favorite “release-the-stress” music:

• Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Natural Born Lover
• Otis Redding - Knock on Wood
• Duffy - Mercy
• Adele - Rolling in the Deep
• Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
• Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry
• Janelle Monae - Tight Rope
• Jordin Sparks - Battlefield (thanks So You Think You Can Dance)

If you don’t take dance breaks, you should start, and if you already do, send us your favorite get up and dance music because we could always use more recommendations.

Each year around Bryan’s birthday we find ourselves anticipating one of our favorite yearly traditions. We aren’t big followers of traditions in general, we don’t fill stockings at Christmas, we are grossed out by green beer on St. Patricks Day, we are freaked out by the concept of a giant bunny hopping around on Easter, we don’t like loud fireworks shows on the 4th of July, we don’t wear costumes on Halloween, but we love, love, love the Battle of the Bands at UC Davis Picnic Day.

Marching bands from all over the state come together to rage by the river all day long. They play oldies, 90‘s grunge, Lady Gaga and school songs with such enthusiasm. Bryan’s favorite activity is standing in front of each band when it is their turn to play, and getting his ears blown out while dancing to the beat.

It is one of the highlights of our Spring, and Bryan’s favorite birthday event. Next year, mid April, keep your calendars open and be sure to make it out.

I was always a choir/musical kid. Inside and outside of school I liked performing music for others or even just singing to myself. I remembering watching the musical Annie whenever I got a chance, and dreaming of running up and down the stairs and jumping on top of beds. (On a sidenote what was up with the "orphan adopted by rich people" obsession in the early 80’s?).

When I mentioned my Annie obsession with a group of friends it turns out they all grew up watching it too. I had no idea I wasn’t the only one. It turns out kids all over America were watching this musical over and over again and dreaming of having really red and really curly hair.

So after my most recent Annie viewing, we followed it up by watching Life After Tomorrow, about all of the kids that starred in the musical on Broadway. This let us know what it was really like for all of the kids who were able to achieve my dream of being a part of the musical. It was a really interesting look at how adulthood was thrust upon them. The documentary was actually much more fascinating than the musical itself, but I must admit I still loved singing along with every single song.

We often find ourselves working thematically through our Netflix queue. We become obsessed with documentaries on education on America, infatuated with Italian neorealism, passionate about post Apocalyptic thrillers, enthralled with Japanese Anime, and entertained by miniseries about 18th-19th century British aristocracy.

A recent theme was photography documentaries that included:

• Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye
• Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

Both of these films provided interesting insight into how and why photographers work.

Along with those films we highly recommend the following documentaries that deal with similar topics:

• The Modernism of Julius Shulman
• American Photography: A Century of Images
• War Photographer

Sometimes Bryan and I fall in so deeply in love with a television show we begin to imagine we are a part of the show ourselves. As a child, Heathcliff Huxtable was my dad, Zack Morris was my boyfriend and Vicky was my robot sister. As an adult, I tried to avoid “The Others” on the island, drank coffee at Luke’s in Stars Hollow, walked the gangways of the Battlestar Galactica and smelled the green grass of the Dillon Panthers stadium.

When a favorite show comes to an end I feel like I am saying goodbye to a friend and faced with the realization that time really is passing by. The shows took place while important things were happening in our real world, and in some strange way, those memories are tied up in each other.

I believe saying goodbye to the worlds of Battlestar Galactica and small town Dillon, Texas have been the hardest. Two worlds that couldn’t be more different, but with such beautiful writing, acting and production value the viewer was pulled into both of these shows in such a real way. I have never had a desire to live in outerspace or small town Texas, but both of those shows made me want to check out housing prices in Dillon and university Aeronautics degree programs. Their last episodes brought tears to both of our eyes.

Our only consolation is that we now have the Braverman family, and since they live in the Bay Area we are hoping to run into them at our farmer’s market or a Cal Bears game.

Stephanie and I are always on the look out for a new inspiration. Creative inspiration comes in many forms but music is one of the strongest.

For some reason a little tiny island floating off the coast of Denmark seems to produce a phenomenal amount of great music per capita. Iceland has given us Bjork, Sigur Ros, Leaves and now Of Monsters and Men. This unsigned folk band hails from Reykjavík and creates some really fun full sounding acoustic music.

Enjoy this video from Seattle's public radio station, KEXP, as Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men perform "Little Talks" in their living room in Reykjavík during Iceland Airwaves 2010. Recorded on 10/16/10.

Together with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak created the first commercially available personal computers and helped establish home computing for the masses. The two Bay Area men went on to found Apple Computers, Inc. Where would we be without the personal computer? Where would our industry of graphic design be without the computer?

Stephanie and I love Apple computers. We have made our career on their innovative machines. We owe whole bunch of gratitude to "The Woz" and Jobs. Watch this awesome video we found on the new website OnInnovation.com. Wozniak talks about how he approaches computer engineering as an artist. I love his enthusiasm and charisma for inventing. What is great about him as well is that it is never for invention's sake, but to make computers work for the individual.

Watch more: Wozniak talks about "fun" as a driving force behind what he does, whether its playing pranks, playing Seqway polo, or designing machines. That idea and his constant tinkering led him to designing the Apple I and II, computers he said were built for fun.

Watch the Complete Interview
Download the Interview Transcript (PDF)
Download the Highlight Video Transcript (PDF)

http://museumca.org/exhibit/pixar-25-years-animation

Stephanie and I have been inspired of the decades by the Bay Area animation studio Pixar. Now we get to see their art up close! PIXAR: 25 Years of Animation is on display at Oakland Museum of California now through January 9, 2011. The show was so good that we became members of the museum because we knew viewing it one time was not enough.

Walt Disney’s arrival in Los Angeles in the 1920s firmly established California as a magnet for animation artists in the decades to come. Home to a number of leading studios, the San Francisco Bay Area has emerged as a global center for animation today. PIXAR: 25 Years of Animation provides an unprecedented look at the renowned Emeryville-based studio (located just a few miles from OMCA) and showcases the creative work behind its wildly successful computer-animated films. After its opening in New York and its five-year international tour, the exhibition comes home to Oakland. The OMCA presentation includes all of the artwork from the original presentation at MOMA, plus art from Ratatouille, WALL•E, Up, and Pixar’s latest film, Toy Story 3.

Pulled from Oakland Museum of California's website: http://museumca.org/exhibit/pixar-25-years-animation

As professional creatives, Stephanie and I are always on the look out for something to inspire us. It could be anything from a wall texture, a redwood tree, a great dinner or even as cliche as it sounds a sunset. Just today I was sent an inspiring link, by my creative friend Josh Pardy, of jaw dropping time-lapse photography of the Bay Area.

This work comes from Pixar animator and extremley talented Oakland resident, Simon Christen. You can view his stunning work on his website or on Vimeo. I am just in love with this work. I love the photos, the lighting, the location, and the music!

We recently saw a wonderful stop-motion film called Mary and Max. The Australian film takes place "down-under" and in New York City. Adam Elliot directs it and Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman provide the voices of Mary and Max.

Netflix Synposis

Mary Dinkle, a chubby 8-year-old Australian girl, and Max Horovitz, an obese, middle-aged New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome, are a pair of unlikely pen pals in this quirky clay animation feature from writer-director Adam Elliot. Corresponding for two decades, the friends delve into a variety of topics, including sex, kleptomania, psychiatry, taxidermy and more

View the site: http://www.maryandmax.com/

Here is a great quote I came across:

Simplicity does not mean want or poverty. It does not mean the absence of any decor, or absolute nudity. It only means that the decor should belong intimately to the design proper, and that anything foreign to it should be taken away.

-Paul Jacques Grillo

The Wild Beasts hail from Kendal, England. The band is a recent discovery for me, that comes along with a recently released second album titled Two Dancers.

The group provides interestingly beautiful vocals with well matched music. While listening, I was continuously surprised by the ever changing journey for my ears. I find this variety invigorating for the creative process, making Wild Beasts some delightful designing music.

Check them out, and be sure to do something creative while you are listening.

This is an amazing commercial that captures the impact of global football (soccer) on popular culture. Well done Nike! One more classic commercial to add to your archives. We are huge Fabio Cannavaro fans so this was exciting for us on several levels.

This video of Steven Heller, Author of "Iron Fists", is from the Gel Conference in October 2009 in New York. Heller addresses the impact of design, looking at totalitarian states and how they use their graphic design as a mode of influence and direction.

Steven Heller at Gel 2009 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

I love Paris. I love the people, the architecture, the parks, the food and the feel. It is a city that feels like nowhere else on earth. So when I saw the advertisement for the movie entitled Paris (and starring Juliette Binoche), I knew I had to see it.

The film was lovely and interesting, like taking a stroll through the city for 2 hours. And while it is a love letter of sorts to the city, it is a love letter that is full of true moments with real characters feeling a spectrum of emotions.

It showed me the Paris that I love, but often do not see in film. The Paris full of diverse landscapes and ethnnicities, temperamental weather, fragrant markets and shops, and beautifully quirky people that you feel like you must have known somewhere/sometime before. A city that is not perfectly pristine for tourists, but a city that is lived in and real.

If you love the city of Paris for its beauty and flaws and everything in between, this is a film to watch.

When the days start getting darker earlier, there are three things that I want: a warm drink, a crackling fire and to listen to Over the Rhine. Their music makes me relaxed and invigorated, melancholy and hopeful, chilled and warm...it is perfect for the time of inbetweens.

I also must mention that they are even better live than on their cds. Karin Bergquist has a voice that is absolutely spectacular in person, Linford Detweiler is a beautiful storyteller, and together they thrive when interacting with an audience. See if they have a show near you sometime soon.

If I am feeling down, if I need visual inspiration, and if I desire lots of delicious fruits/vegetables/cheese/bread...all I need is a trip to the farmers' market.

Very interesting facts about the rapid change of the social media realm, laid out in visually stimulating form.

The film captures a moment in Billy’s adolescence when his thoughts, dreams, and actions are still actively designing his future. Ultimately, I feel Billy’s journey is connected to all of ours and that what we strive for, no matter how different we seem, is the same: acceptance, understanding, and love.

I intend to continue making films that challenge the viewers’ expectations, and my hope is that audiences will leave the theater either inspired or unsettled enough to start their own discussion.

When we were up in Seattle we found ourselves very inspired by the farms in Autumn. There was a weekend where all of the farms encouraged people to come out and learn about how they work and enjoy their bounty of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, wine and more. This event provided us with new colors, textures and images to inspire our work.