Critical Debates in Design: 10 Thinks I Have Learned

So for my final task for Critical Debates, I made a little typography experiment with thoughts on what I consider the most important things of being a designer, and what I have learned so far.
I made my presentation a bit humorous, because... hey, design should be fun.

Critical Debates in Design: Task 8 - Sustainable Design

The growing needs of a population exceeding 7 billion people is an issue, that in recent years has become global. The growing number of people living on the Earth requires more sources, produces more garbage and occupies more territory. The last 100 years have developed many fields in different spheres. The economical revolution in the western society have done many things to help mankind and to destroy the Nature. That is why now - the current generations have to work on balancing and fixing all the damage, that has been done.

Critical Debates in Design: Task 7 - Advertising

As seen in the "Czech Dream" movie advertising as a powerful tool.The main purpose of advertising is to inform the public for a certain product, event, service etc. It's role is to grab attention and agitate. Advertising companies use many platforms to reach out to the public - posters, newspapers, magazines, billboards, TV ads, Internet - all kind of media. There are many memorable ads, that do their purpose - either make you happy, sad, angry - the main idea is to move you and make you respond to their message. Nowadays we are literally flood with so many ads, that we cannot get out on the street, watch TV, browse the net without being hit in the face with at least 20 per day. That makes advertising competitive and more and more people are involved in making something really really creative to satisfy a capricious client. And there are some really great ones. Some ads even start to live their own life.

Critical Debates in Design: Task 6 - Product Packaging

A good packaging is very likely to sell better a certain product despite it's content. A good designed package is very important for every self respecting business.
The basic function of packaging is to preserve it's content intact during transportation and distribution, also from climatic effect such as humidity, dryness cold, heat, protect it from hazardous substances and contamination. It should preserve it's content in "factory fresh" condition during the period of storage.
Although the main purpose of it is to protect it's content, if a package is badly designed it is more likely for it to stay on the shelf.
Another function of packaging is identification. On it should be information regarding the manufacturer, the content of the product, it's origin and other essential information for the customer. 
A package must communicate what it sells. When international trade is involved and different languages are spoken, the use of easily understood symbols on the package is essential. It is the interest further that to get appropriate communication to the consumer about the product, how to use it and other utility informations.

Critical Debates in Design: Task 5 - Design + Social Responsibility

In my opinion every designers should stand for a good cause - no matter what. Everyone from the designer guild should understand, that designers are a major part of the idea of creating a better world.
During my research on designers with strong ethics and social responsibility I found artist Mark Langan, who is a US based designer creating logos for several companies using recycled cardboard to help businesses communicate their sustainable values. Langan’s day-to-day job consists of searching around his neighbour for the recyclable material and bringing tons of it to his Ohio studio for an afternoon

Critical Debates in Design: Task 4 - Corporate Social Responsibility

After seeing the Michael Moore "Fahrenheit 9/11", I made a research on good CSR policies of companies around the world. One of the companies, that caught my attention is one of the biggest manufacturers of sport equipment - Nike. 
According to a site, the company sells approximately to 19 000 US retailers, and approximately in 140 countries around the world. The company manufactures in China, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, and as well in the US and Italy. 
It seems that in the past the company had issues with critics such as Naomi Klein. In her widely read book "No Logo" she deals quite extensively with Nike, accusing them of abandoning countries as they developed better pay and employment rights in favour of countries like China, where these are less of a cost. She points to a photo published in 1996 showing children in Pakistan stitching Nike footballs as an example of the use of child labour. Other critics have suggested that Nike should publicise all of its factories, and allow independent inspection to verify conditions there. Any auditing carried out by Nike should be made public. A lot of focus is given to wage rates paid by the company’s suppliers. By and large, audits have found that wage rates are above the national legal minimum, but critics contend that this does not actually constitute a fair living wage.

Critical Debates in Design: Task 3 - Title Sequence

After seeing the Kyle Cooper talk about his story of making title sequences, I got inspired by his devotion and work and remembered some movies, that impressed me with their original openings. Interesting how I always pay attention to them, and remember some movie just because it's beginning has caught my eye.

One of them is "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events"  It is designed by  Jamie Caliri  in 2004.




The movie, which is based on a children's book series, tells the story of the three orphans who are sent to live with a distant relative Count Olaf. But the evil and greedy Olaf is after the children's fortune and is secretly concocting a scheme to kill them.  The end credits for this dark Hollywood fairytale - one of the most impressive credit sequences of 2004 - are built around a truly original piece of animation, featuring the animated characters of the children and Olaf.

Critical Debates in Design: Task 2 - Wayfinding System

As we are all familiar with the city, museum and metro sign systems over the world, with small differences in choice of font/colour scheme/positioning, they are all the same. Some are better, than others, probably because certain colours/fonts can interact with people's perception better than others. Nevertheless the environmental sign system, that I found interesting and worthy to present is the system for the Eureka Tower Car Park in Melbourne, Australia. It was created by a Hamburg based designer Axel Peemoeller while working for Emery Studio. 

Critical Debates in Design: Task 1 - Two Typefaces

   

 Usually I don’t stick with only one typeface. I think that a designer should not fall for only one font, but experiment and discover different typefaces all the time. There are fonts suitable for everything, and sticking to only one can become dangerously too much. As I tried to decide which one is my favorite type of font I realized, that I like Art Deco styled typefaces most.

1.Verlag

"Verlag” is the German word for “publisher” or “publishing house”. The font is inspired by the Guggenheim façade designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it’s iconic Art Deco lettering and is a part of the Sans-Serif family. In 1996, when designing the magazine for the museum, Abbott Miller (Pentagram) approched Jonathan Hoefler (Hoefler & Frere-Jones) to create a custom typeface for the publication. Hoefler referenced Wright's iconic lettering and designed the custom typeface in 30 various weights and italic and bold versions for exclusive use in the magazine.

“Because the fonts would ultimately represent a range of individual artistic voices — from Cézanne to Kandinsky to Matthew Barney — Verlag was carefully planned so that its distinct personality would be checked by a sense of objectivity.

From the rationalist geometric designs of the Bauhaus school, such as Futura (1927) and Erbar (1929), Verlag gets its crispness and its meticulous planning. Verlag’s “fairminded” quality is rooted in the newsier sans serifs designed for linecasting machines, such as Ludlow Tempo and Intertype Vogue (both 1930), both staples of the Midwestern newsroom for much of the century. But unlike any of its forbears, Verlag includes a comprehensive and complete range of styles: five weights, each in three different widths, each including the often-neglected companion italic. ”