The Four Stages of Freelance Success | Lateral Action

The Four Stages of Freelance Success | Lateral Action.

10+ Amazing Methods to Find & Share Great Books For Design Inspiration | Inspired Magazine

10+ Amazing Methods to Find & Share Great Books For Design Inspiration | Inspired Magazine.

Moleskine + Pac-Man 30th Anniversary collection: Inspiration by Karen Horton on design:related

Moleskine + Pac-Man 30th Anniversary collection: Inspiration by Karen Horton on design:related.

branding gangbang: Google in LEGO from Sean Kenney

branding gangbang: Google in LEGO from Sean Kenney: «

branding gangbang: Google in LEGO from Sean Kenney

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(Via inspire me now.)

Nuevo Taller de Creatividad en la UBA

Este taller de creatividad está diseñado para que los participantes adquieran una metodología para la generación de nuevas ideas de diseño a través de diferentes técnicas y herramientas que ayudarán a expresar el potencial creativo innato existente en cada uno, aprendiendo a crear un marco mental propicio y una variedad de estímulos para potenciar el poder mental creativo y resolver problemas tanto de diseño gráfico, industrial, arquitectónico como así también cuestiones cotidianas.

Temario:

Marco teórico
La creatividad y la resolución de problemas
¿Por qué utilizar técnicas de creatividad?
Generación de ideas creativas
Tipología de actividades para la generación de ideas
Principios clave para la estimulación creativa
Relacionar problemas, soluciones y actividades
Evaluación y selección de ideas
Marco práctico

En el transcurso del Taller de Creatividad se desarrollarán actividades individuales y grupales en un clima receptivo al pensamiento creativo y de nuevas ideas.
Actividades Individuales:
Generación básica de ideas
Estimulación vinculada
Estimulación no vinculada
Combinaciones
Asociación libre
Misceláneas
Actividades grupales:
Orales
Escritas
Estimulación vinculada
Estimulación no vinculada

Aranceles: $ 320.-
Duración: 4 clases (viernes de 14 a 17 hs.)
Destinatarios: Diseñadores y profesionales interesados en la temática del curso.
Documentación: Se deberá presentar una copia (de ambos lados) del título de grado.
Título a Obtener: Se otorgará certificado de asistencia a los graduados de carreras de grado con duración mínima de 4 años.
Informes e Inscripción: Secretaría de Posgrado FADU-UBA
Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón III, 4º Piso. Buenos Aires.
Teléfono 4789-6235/36  Fax: 4789-6240
E-mail: centrocap@fadu.uba.ar
http://www.posgadofadu.com.ar/

Coordinación Mandrini, Elisa

Taller dictado por Marcelo Sapoznik

McDonald’s LEGOlized by Sachiko

McDonald’s LEGOlized by Sachiko

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(Via inspire me now.)

Resultados del estudio de uso de Social Media en sector alimentación

Resultados del estudio de uso de Social Media en sector alimentación: «

El pasado mes de septiembre Sowre Consulting realizó un estudio sobre el uso que 97 de las principales marcas de alimentación de nuestro país están haciendo de las redes sociales.

Entre los resultados destaca que sólo el 5% de las empresas estudiadas tiene presencia en las 4 redes objeto del estudio (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs y Youtube).El uso principal que dan a estas herramientas en promocional o comercial, llegando al 60% de los casos.La red más utilizada es Facebook, con un 41% de los casos.

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(Via Home.)

3M, with IDEO, Creates Water Filter That Fights Both Brita and Evian

3M, with IDEO, Creates Water Filter That Fights Both Brita and Evian: «If you’re a dedicated reusable water bottle carrier, you know two challenges that eco-minded drinkers face. One, it’s tough to find an effective system to help you refill the bottle (airport drinking fountains, I’m looking at you). And two, you still need to find good-tasting, bottle-quality water to fill it. For many, an easy-to-use filtration system installed somewhere quick and convenient in the home could solve both of those issues. 3M, working with IDEO, has created the Filtrete Water Station, a countertop reservoir that not only filters your water, it administers it into four reusable bottles, at-the-ready for your next trip out the door.

Most filtration devices are found either as part of the kitchen sink, or in a pitcher in the fridge, that can take up to 15 minutes to drip filtered water into the base. But 3M had a secret weapon in that their Filtrete Water Station is able to process water in real-time. So within a few seconds, valves in the vessel will drop the filtered water into portable bottles that are just as convenient as throwaway bottles. That’s four bottles that will be filling at once, and extra bottles can even be purchased and stashed in the fridge.

Using the real-time filtration as a touchpoint, IDEO and 3M brought the filter to the countertop, where a sharp look has a greater presence in the household — as essential as any other kitchen appliance. In this way, the designers hope that having the bottles front and center — filled, filtered and ready — can help to change behavior, as users will be more likely to reach for the reusable bottle when it’s just as easy as reaching for the disposable kind.

Still, does this solve a real problem? If you’re one of the millions who use water filters, probably. But for many, filling bottles up from the sink works just fine, and some of us don’t mind the taste of tap water (or waiting 15 minutes for our Brita to filter it). Plus, it’s not like the system is completely automated: You still have to relocate the vessel to the kitchen sink in order to fill it, and the reusable bottles are small — 16 ounces isn’t quite enough to keep you hydrated throughout the day. But the one thing that Filtrete does have going for it is that it’s cheap: the Filtrete retails at Walmart for $37.44. That same amount would buy you three Sigg waterbottles, no filtration included.»

(Via Co..)

Was Apple behind impromptu iPhone concert on NY subway?

Was Apple behind impromptu iPhone concert on NY subway?

Indie-ish rock band Atomic Tom played a free, impromptu iPhone concert on an NYC subway last week after their equipment was stolen, so naturally some people assumed that it was a publicity stunt set up by Apple to guerrilla market a product that almost every American owns already. Whether it was real or staged is kind of a useless question, because either way its still advertising the iPhone by using it to problem-solve. Not everyone needs an ad agency to be creative, you know. But beyond that, the most amusing part of this story is how unremarkable it is—people play free music on real instruments in subway stations and other public thoroughfares all the time. What people should be asking after all this is whether a band that can recreate their music on iPhone instrument simulators is really worth listening to (hint: no theyre not).

Gap Bows to Outcry, Nixes New Logo and Crowdsourcing

Gap Bows to Outcry, Nixes New Logo and Crowdsourcing: «After an outpouring of hatred for Gap’s new logo, the company has announced that they’re squashing the design. This is perhaps the largest logo backtrack of recent memory — followed only by Tropicana’s disastrous rebranding. Which must leave many companies wondering how to go about any sort of rebranding in the Internet age.

The rather hasty-sounding press release brings up a few points: 1. We were listening to the online outcry. 2. The old brand will be back across all channels. 3. We won’t crowdsource.

Gap’s squashed new logo on the left. They will return to the old ‘blue box’ logo on the right, which they’ve used for 20 years

In their own words:

Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our website, we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo.

Last week, we moved to address the feedback and began exploring how we could tap into all of the passion. Ultimately, we’ve learned just how much energy there is around our brand. All roads were leading us back to the blue box, so we’ve made the decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further.

You’ll notice that the last paragraph above acknowledges that Gap’s embrace of crowdsourcing was a hasty attempt at damage control, following the disastrous initial rollout. This was precisely the point that a Gap VP refused comment on, in our previous interview. And here’s the backtrack away from crowdsourcing:

We’ve learned a lot in this process. And we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way. We recognize that we missed the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn’t the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing.

There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we’ll handle it in a different way.

The brand managers quickly realized they had stepped away from a bad logo, and into one of the most despised practices in the design community: Free work. (Many, including no less than the AIGA, are officially against ‘spec work’ that brings down the price of services for all; crowdsourcing is often decried as a back door spec work, with a fancy marketing gloss. The AIGA in fact sent a letter to Gap, right after the crowdsourcing attempt was announced.)

You gotta wonder: Are rebrandings — whether bold and visionary or downright terrible — impossible in the age of Twitter and Facebook? Will companies know when an outcry isn’t pointing to a terrible design, but rather just people refusing to embrace change?

For now, Gap is a loser in all this: Not only has their brand suffered (‘I hate Gap,’ went many of the Twitter responses), but they’re stuck with a logo that looks dated and now symbolizes a bygone knack for retailing — and right before the Christmastime marketing blitz.

And other big loser? Crowdsourcing in design, when done by a massive corporation. What big brand would ever try it, after such a high-profile defeat?

Check out our full coverage:

Gap on Disastrous New Logo: ‘We’re Open to Other Ideas’

An Exclusive Interview With the New Gap Logo

Gap’s Retro Redesign Incites Flaming Logo Rage«

(Via Co..)