…: November 2007

For the Love of God

British artist Damien Hirst's latest work of art has sold for $100 million to an unnamed investment group and Hirst will reportedly get paid in cash. "For the Love of God" is a life-size cast of a human skull in platinum and covered by 8,601 pave-set diamonds weighing 1,106.18 carats. The single large diamond in the middle of the forehead is reportedly worth $4.2 million alone. Hirst financed the project himself, and estimates it cost between 10 and 15 million.

(Prudence Cuming Associates/Reuters)

Write more.

from Craig Oldham:

"About 6 or something months ago I got really frustrated with my Postman—he only seemed to be bringing me bills—so I decided to do something about this. I got out my pen, dusted off the paper and wrote some letters to people. I just wanted people to think about writing more, and who better to ask than people who communicate for a living. So, optimistically, I wrote to designers the world over, and this is what they had to say…"

Entopic Phenomena — William Hundley

Entoptic phenomena are visual effects whose source is within the eye itself. In Helmholtz's words: "Under suitable conditions light falling on the eye may render visible certain objects within the eye itself. These perceptions are called entoptical." (Occasionally, these are called entopic phenomena, which is probably a typographical mistake; see entopic.) Entoptic images have a physical basis in the image cast upon the retina. Hence, they are different from optical illusions, which are perceptual effects that arise from interpretations of the image by the brain. Because entoptic images are caused by phenomena within the each person's own eye, they share one feature with optical illusions and hallucinations: the observer cannot share a direct and specific view of the phenomenon with others. from Wikipedia.

William Hundley.

Beep your horn if you're in love.

again, from Wooster Collective.

design by Groovisions.

River Road

A 1km river blue road designed by Henk Hofstra. from Wooster Collective.

More Lists

Another list to ponder, this time written by Stefan Sagmeister.

Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid, I have to live now.
Being not truthful works against me.
Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking it for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Assuming is stifling.
Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Worrying solves nothing.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Having guts always works out for me.

from Dezeen and TED.

Dieter Rams' 10 Commandments of Design:

Good design is innovative
Good design makes a product useful
Good design is aesthetic
Good design helps a product to be understood
Good design is unobtrusive
Good design is honest
Good design is durable
Good design is consistent to the last detail
Good design is concerned with the environment
Good design is a s little design as possible

from Swissmiss.

http://flickr.com/photos/laskovitch/1544326489/

Royksopp — Remind Me

“May be the most fascinating music video ever -- you can watch it twenty times and still not catch everything. A day in the life of an average working Jill, broken down into its minutest component parts. The unstated joke: mankind has erected immense, resource-devouring systems of almost incomprehensible complexity just so you can sit in your cubicle. ”

Book Burning pt. II

The Book Design Review just posted their picks for best cover of the year. These are our favourites from that list:

Book Burning

Well Done, the annual report for food company you have to bake before use. Empty pages become filled with content after being baked at 100°C for 25 minutes. from Dezeen.

on Unprofessionalism

The predominant feature that seems to run through any gathering of designers is a deep-seated insecurity. Designer anxiety is rooted in a fear that what we do is not respected, worthwhile, important. This anxiety is fueled by a business world that, in general, neither respects nor considers design particularly worthwhile or important. (What's the first thing to go when the profits shrivel?) As designers seem hell-bent on impressing business, this is a big problem. Thus the design activity is fraught with a desperate quality. In that desperation, designers turn to professionalism as their savior.

from 2x4, Inc. (—Reading Room—>On Unprofessionalism)

RFPs are Bad for Design.

The problems with RFPs are many-fold. First of all, the batting-average on them is typically quite poor, as many organizations take the “spaghetti” method, and toss the RFP document out to everyone and anyone. Given how many responses organizations receive to such documents, they often make the process as capricious and time-consuming as a grade-school essay. If you miss filling-in a box you’ll find yourself “out of the running”; likewise, if you have an idea that doesn’t fit the format there’s generally no provision (or interest) for such insights. I once read that if you want to sell suits, find people who buy suits. Avoid trying to convert those who don’t want them, no matter how badly they might need one. Organizations who utilize RFPs to solicit the interest of design firms often don’t understand purchasing creative services. As such, you’ll find yourself “going bonkers” responding to inconsequential questions and requirements. Think I’m exaggerating? We recently received an RFP that requested a breakout cost for creating each individual link on a website project. I kid you not.

from Ideas on Ideas