slightly agonized for having only 15 min before the airport ride to look through (and cannot take photos of!) what i thought was the most well-designed show of everyday things made by people of Tohoku – from rice crackers to rubber boots - at 21 21 Design Sight. “Tema Hima: The Art of Living in Tohoku” is a perfect example of looking at the world – lives intertwined with the material world – and powerfully revealing its stories through design – everything from graphic visualisation and product packaging to spatial organization and lighting.

Tagged: 21 21 Design Sight Tokyo Naoto Fukasawa Tohoku Exhibition Design

…design culture is impoverished without the public participation — regularly — of those in the fortunate position of being paid to think for a living about the history, theory and practice of design.

- Rick Poynor’s well-articulated, necessary and urgent call for design academia to actively enter public discourse.

Tagged: design academia design culture public discourse rick poynor

Posted on April 18, 2012

Yung Ho Chang on Atelier FCJZ’s FRP House, at HKU Homecoming symposium, as example of how hi- and low-tech, tradition and modernity need not be poles apart in light of appropriate materiality. And a great response to an audience who challenged him for not using “materials” with respect to its “inherent” characteristics:

‘Materials are associated with certain experiences and culture. but if one thinks that he/she has to retain that meaning when using it, then you might end up using it like wallpaper. What’s more exciting is when architects manipulate materials to bring out new meanings about them in light of specific socio-cultural-technological dimensions.’

- a good reminder of the designer’s role in a “material” world.

Tagged: Yung Ho Chang Atelier FCJZ FRP House Materiality

Posted on April 14, 2012

…the great thing about graphic design is that it is almost always about something else. Corporate law. Professional football. Art. Politics. Robert Wilson. And if I can’t get excited about whatever that something else is, I really have trouble doing good work as a designer. To me, the conclusion is inescapable: the more things you’re interested in, the better your work will be… Not everything is design. But design is about everything. So do yourself a favor: be ready for everything.

one of architecture’s most cynical and provocative critics in (rare and rather overdue) praise of a graphic designer’s writings – here’s Aaron Betsky’s well-chosen quote from Michael Bierut’s 2007 book on being a good designer which i think applies across the disciplines.

Tagged: aaron betsky michael bierut design writing architecture graphic design

Posted on April 5, 2012