It's been a long time (a long long long time) since i've blogged -- without an excuse (or at least, a good one), I thought it appropriate to tackle the upcoming 2008 Presidential election -- minus the politics -- and focus on the candidate websites, ranked according to design (taking into account not only the overall look, but the functionality and usability).

It appears that splash pages are back. Nearly all the Democratic candidate websites start with a short introductory page graphic, typically highlighting their campaign message, and a quick and easy form for volunteering, donating or inquiring. And the vast majority of Democratic websites are better (though not specatular) in design and information architecture -- futher reiterating long standing generalities that Republicans are old white men who are out of touch. So here is a list of the major candidates from the...

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Yesterday I was shown a most unfortunate and horribly misguided logo "re-branding". Of course, this "new and improved" logo is nothing new to the re-branding urgency that is plaguing corporations throughout the globe. The "re-brand" is often a compliment to 3 factors; a merger or acquisition, a new product launch, or corporate restructuring (a new CEO, a new location, etc). But in the last 5 years there's been a new factor -- the need to be "relevant" in the "global marketplace" -- in other words, boredom and share holder pressure. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with wanting to refresh an old, out-dated brand, as long as the brand is still adhering to the basic rules and principles of a successful mark:

The logo must be concise and simple, a compelling symbol of the theme or object; its form must be easy to understand and imprint itself on...

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There comes a time in all work where you reach a point of exhaustion and apathy -- the "ho-hums" if you will. The once thriving motivation to achieve, develop, challenge and grow dwindles under restrictive timelines, small budgets, nit-picky design tweaks and overall spent creative "equity", and motivation beings to go no further than a paycheck while inspiration collects dust on a forgotten shelf.

Conceptual design is all but dead. Thoughtful concepts have been replaced by elaborate style -- mistaking graphic elements and trend for a design concept. And by "conceptual", I mean "conceptual" in terms of a heavy visualized, thorough image saturated project -- but a project that has a visual goal with consistent execution, regardless of trend, utilizing style to enhance the message. Not all work has the potential for sophisticated concepts, but all work should strive to display meaning and message through visual elements, not just...

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There are days when you have to reflect, look back, to get motivation and understanding of the designer you are and the designer you want to become. You can substitute any profession, but without knowing where you've come and who you are, the path you wish to take will never be clear. For me, I go back to my influences, those who influenced my design but who weren't in the graphic design field. It may seem counter-productive to find influence in a field from someone outside the field, but nothing adds more perspective and insight than looking outside the status quo. Below are my Top 3 Design Influences From Non-Designers:

1. Frank Lloyd Wright From the time I was in elementary school I can always remember being fascinated and intrigued by architecture. I used to draw floorplans during church -- of massive, winding homes in my imaginary lands. I'd ask to go...

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I'm not a fan of the term "freelance" -- to me -- implies a certain desperation, inexperience and youth. Having been in the graphic design realm for close to 10 years I don't identify with any of the perceptions above. The days of boutiques and large, multi-function studios (though still around) are shrinking; and the new paradigm is to find collaborative partners to outsource work. The opportunities for companies of one to find meaningful, worthwhile, professional work are growing daily. Below are various websites that pool those opportunities for you to easily browse and find new work (in no particular order).

• Guru Founded in 2000, Guru is the old man on the block with an enormous amount of job/contract categories.
• Coloflot Design Jobs Well defined categories, up-to-date job postings.
• Freelance Switch All around amazing resource for business of one firms...

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Any good designer will tell you that their designs have no personal attachment to them. This may be partially true. All designers infuse their personality in all their work (unless it happens to not be their work; but that's an entirely different matter). When working in a studio or multi-designer environment the work that you poured your thoughts, time and (sometimes) heart into can come under attack in The Critique.

The Critique is usually an informal conference or gathering where a group of people look at concepts and propose ways of improving upon that concept. There are many ways a critique goes down, but here are a few ways that I have seen, been subjected to and occasionally been guilty of:

• The "I Didn't Design It So I Hate It" Critique A studio can be a very hostile environment. Surrounded by designers competing for that one client that...

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I used to be a member of Sam's Club -- not because I valued their service or their products, or even their prices, but mostly because they were less than a mile away. They were inexpensive, and I could get a pool-sized vat of Miracle Whip, but much like their older brother Wal-Mart, I had the palpable sensation that they didn't care if I wanted to shop there, but that I spent money on their cheap stuff. Quantity not quality; profits and markup -- that's all that mattered.

Hating Wal-Mart is a full time job for many people, and some of it is merited, and I frankly don't know enough to make an informed commentary. For some time I've (we've) been shopping at Costco; and for all intents and purposes is Sam's Club #2 (or the Target...

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As I break more and more into Studio photography, I find myself intrigued and attracted to photography in advertising. Particularly the manipulation of the image to deliver a nuanced, polished and often clever concept. The merging of photographic skill and intense (and thorough) Photoshop manipulation in print advertising has never been stronger. Aside from going to your local Barnes and Noble or Borders (which I highly recommend to give yourself a boost of creativity, research and to get off your butt and outside), there are a hand full of sites which feature great print advertising from around the globe.

I believe in advertising [ ibelieveinadv.com ]
• A simple blog format site that pools together some great print ads from around the world. A bonus is that they the firms responsible for designing, directing and photographing each...

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Microsoft revealed its Surface, an immersing, touch-sensitive table-top computer this week. The Surface is supposed to come out in the Fall of 2007. The Surface has reminiscent technologies to those developed by Jeffery Yan(NYU Department of Computer Science) and MERL (Mitsubishi Electronic Research Lab) and imagined by Apple (with the Knowledge Navigator in 1987) in the film Minority Report. Besides the touch-sensitive interface the Surface espouses to enable "object" recognition. If you place your digital camera on the table, it'll "sync" itself and load the images, as well cellphones, mp3 players, etc. All in all the concept is solid and innovative.

There has been the obvious stances, from PC users who say "This is the greatest innovation in computers ever" and Mac users who say "Ugh, Microsoft stole the idea from Apple". Its nearly impossible to have a balanced or...

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I've been researching the world of self publication and self publication tools/applications (specifically easy means with-which to create a book). iPhoto has a built in function that allows you to easily create a photo book using the photos from your iPhoto albums; simply drag and drop images into one of several well-designed templates. One thing I don't like is the lack of template options. Another self-publishing tool is Lulu. Lulu not only has an online application that allows you upload photos and place them into templates, but also a PDF upload option, where you can create your own book and upload it. The problem with Lulu is that its fairly complex and robust; almost too much for a simple photo book with some text -- it does have endless options for design and templates, but the process is somewhat confusing and daunting.

Now there's...

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