Website Prototype (Textual Interface)

30/10/07 – Website prototype with color-coded textual interface. Typeface: Helvetica. Try the site here//

Dieter Rams: Design is…

11/10/07 – Source:  Wallpaper* magazine (103),  guest editor: Dieter Rams

01. Good design is innovative
It does not copy existing product forms, nor does it produce and kind of novelty for the sake of it. The essence of innovation must be clearly seen in all functions of a product. The possibilities, in this respect, are by no means exhausted. Technological development keeps offering new chances for innovative solutions.

02. Good design makes a product useful
The product is purchased in order to be used. It must serve a defined purpose –in both primary and additional functions. The most important task of design is to optimize the utility of a product.

03. Good design is aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product –and the fascination it inspires– is an integral part of the product’s utility. Without doubt, it is uncomfortable and tiring to have to put up with products that are confusing, that get on your nerves, that you are unable to relate to. However, it has always been a hard task to argue about aesthetic quality for two reasons. Firstly, it is difficult to talk about anything visual, since words have a different meaning for different people. Secondly, aesthetic quality deals with details, subtle shades, harmony and the equilibrium of a whole variety of visual elements. A good eye is required, schooled by years and years of experience, in order to be able to draw the right conclusion. (more…)

Ladislav Sutnar: Designer and Artist

10/10/07 – “While Richard Saul Wurman is credited with the term ‘information architect,’ Sutnar was one of the Modern pioneers. Sutnar contributed a no-nonsense structure to how graphical information could be presented…” -Steven Heller

Czech designer, Ladislav Sutnar (1897-1976), is considered a pioneer of communication design and information architecture. His vast and varied output ranges from graphic works including all manner of book covers, pamphlets, and corporate letterhead to orientation systems in large department stores; from tea sets to oil paintings; from children’s toys and books to visual flow diagrams based on research into optics and psychology.

He worked as an academic and graphic designer in Czechoslovakia until 1938 when he traveled to the United States to work on the Czecho-Slovak Pavilion for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. While working there, war broke out in Europe effectively leaving him stranded in the United States. (more…)