The Drafting Table

For the second part of this series, it's time to focus on the word diagram. For some, it is a pretty design by some person who has the talent, such as Ritwik Dey in our first post on the topic, but the meaning of the word is really so much more. In the early 17th century, the term originated as the greek word diagramma which meant to "mark out with lines." As Oxford puts it, a diagram is a simplified drawing showing the appearance, structure, or workings of something; a schematic representation or a figure composed of lines that is used to illustrate a definition or statement or to aid in the proof of a proposition.

It can even be put more simply as a representation in graphic form.

So, if a diagram is more then just a way to graphically display information as Dey did, then what else would constitute as a diagram? Blueprints and plans? Maps? What about logos?

Meet Paul Rand, the master designer who truly redesigned the logo as well as the diagram. Paul Rand's work is all over, and it sparked a style that is ubiquitous to most of us. He was educated at Pratt and hung out in the eastern US until his death in 1996.

He is best known for his logos for ABC, IBM, and UPS (among many others below) but lets focus on one of these, NeXT.

NeXT was the result of Steve Jobs being fired from his own company (Apple) in the 80's. He started a new company that would focus on education, innovation, and the future (of computing). Steve Jobs chose Paul Rand and the result was more then just a graphic but a true diagram.

Paul Rand once wrote an article on the logo and simply pointed out that, "If, in the business of communications, 'image is king,' the essence of this image, the logo, is a jewel in its crown." He continues to talk about flags, how some are aesthetically pleasing while others are not, and what it really is. A flag is more then aesthetics though, "In battle, a flag can be a friend or foe. The ugliest flag is beautiful if it happens to be on your side. “Beauty,” they say, “is in the eye of the beholder,” in peace or in war, in flags or in logos. We all believe our flag the most beautiful; this tells us something about logos."

Rand defined the traits of a successful logo with 7 points: distinctiveness, visibility, usability, memorability, universality, durability, timelessness; and saw a logo as something more, a brand which can become a culture. After designing the logo for NeXT, Rand designed a book to accompany the new logo.

Rand also wrote in an article about what a logo is, "a flag, a signature." How it "doesn’t sell, but identifies." How it is "rarely a description of a business," "deriving its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around." Being "less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like."

To end, the diagram can have meaning, more then the basic layer of color, pictures, and information. What about the answers to the why? Paul Rand left more then some logos, but a style that defined the american corporate logo of the 19th century, and a theory that has proven true even to this day. Next time you look at a logo, whether or not it is aesthetic, or it represents the culture or company's products, or if it is just plain cool, think about what the logo really is. Is the yellow double arch, the red bottle contour or apple just a graphic or is it the cognitive icon / brand that reminds you of the worlds of McDonalds, Coca Cola and Apple?

As a member of the student government for CU-Boulder's College of Architecture and Planning, I have made a few small but neat designs that reached the student body. With the fall semester starting, the air was filled with the election fever of voting and the candidates posted their attempts at convincing a design school's student body why they were the right one. My favorite (designed by me for the elected Is Chaker):

Even in polychrome for that bit of cognitive incentive to get the message across...

As the student government, or APSG as we are known as, we get the chance to put on events, spend hard earned student fees, and even design stuff. The school is going through changes and the new logo was done in-house, along with the new APSG logo:

As the semester goes on, we will continue to provide some cool work, hopefully to look back to a good year of work, change (the new buzz word connected to gov't). Just be sure to keep an eye open for the new college of architecture and planning shirts (designed by student J. Walbridge) coming out for students (with a special edition for APSG members):

Bye for now, will be back with the part 2 of diagramming design soon.

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Yea, I know, pretty cool eh? Well I looked into the design a little more and this is a true work of are. The entire composition is from the famous "Think Different" ad campaing from the 1990's for Apple. The campaign, which you can learn more about (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Different) was designed by Chiat/Day and featured a piece of text, coined "the Crazy Ones" which is a tribute to those who think differently (http://web.archive.org/web/20010228171255/www.apple.com/thinkdifferent/).

This design's text is all from the "crazy ones" campaign using the fonts Apple has used over it's lifetime. Sweet eh? Check out a zoomed up and close pic:

We found this on Rosco's website (full image, a 66MB TIFF http://gorosco.com/files/Steven_Paul_Jobs_11x17.tif) and on his DeviantArt page (http://dylanroscover.deviantart.com/art/Steven-Paul-Jobs-113968783).

As big fans of typography, If you think this is cool, check out Erik Spiekermann's book on typography, Made with FontFont (http://www.fontshop.com/products/books/made_with_fontfont/), which is a collaboration between Spiekermann's firm and many excellent font designers who make up the FontFont Foundry (http://www.fontfont.com/).>

The images featured on this post are work done by designers independent to, while being an inspiration to Zilifone. Please check them out, their work is truly awesome.

Posted via email from Zilifone's Potpourri

Yours and my favorite package of software from the Redmond giant, Microsoft, has been launched and it's been a blast checking out what the world had to say as a response. A small sampling of these responses are listed below.

To start off, we have Microsoft's own marketing video, which is very helpful, Hosting your Windows 7 Party!

Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if Apple didn't play along...
http://movies.apple.com/media/us/mac/getamac/2009/apple-mvp-pc_news-us-20091023_848x480.mov

The you have product promotions utilizing the big event (this one is real too)

To cap the post, you are left with the cream of the crop when it comes to an "oops" - Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer showing Windows 7 with a MacBook Pro in the background:

P.S. - It's not the first time Steve Ballmer had been known to use a Mac

P.S.S. - Just to clear up any confusion, 

Posted via email from Zilifone's Potpourri

Posted via email from Zilifone's Potpourri

Posted via email from Zilifone's Potpourri