Responsive web design

The popularity of smart phones and tablet devices have created new challenges for web designers. There are new sizes and resolutions to design for. A new technique called responsive design is changing the way websites are built.

The core principle is that a flexible layout is used to make the website responsive to the size of the screen or device. If you view the website in a tradtional way on a computer it fills the screen as any other website does. View it on an iPhone and the layout scales and reformats for the smaller screen. It really is that simple but this ground breaking concept is changing the way designers are approaching web design.

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Mr.Beam - Living Room

Really interesting project where you can literally redecorate your room instantaneously.

Big Box Crowdsourcing

Retail giant JC Penney has unveiled a new logo that it hopes will cast its brand in a more modern light. The logo was designed by third-year graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati Luke Langhus.

More than 200 design proposals were submitted to JC Penney, including those from design agencies, art schools and the company’s own associates.

Read on at Taxi

With the current state of technology making it so easy to reach out to so many people is this the future of design? Companies crowdsourcing to get the biggest bang for it's buck? In my head I'm thinking as a trend it could happen but somewhere along the way they have to realize it's not just about making something look pretty. It's about communicating and delivering a message or idea effectively. Maybe one of the big box companies will have a brand failure from crowdsourcing and others will learn from it or maybe this really is the future reality of the design landscape.

Pink Tentacle posted some interesting Japanese design samples from the 1920s and 30s. Japan embraced new forms of graphic design as waves of social change swept across the nation.

Foot fetish

Was scanning through my tweets this morning and noticed Hutch had posted a link to Fast Co Design. Their footer design is quite nice.

Nazi Graphics Standards Manual

Published in 1936, The Organizationsbuch der NSDAP detailed all aspects of party bureaucracy, typeset tightly in German Blackletter. There are over 70 full-page, full-color plates that provide examples of virtually every Nazi flag, insignia, patterns for official Nazi Party office signs, special armbands for the Reichsparteitag (Reichs Party Day), and Honor Badges.

Sochi mascots

It's strange how the Olympic mascots always seem to have some controversy swirling around them. Looks like Sochi is no different. The Sochi Olympic committee this week unveiled the finalists to become the official mascots of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The nation will hold a vote by SMS text messaging to select the winners during a live broadcast at the end of the month. Among the finalists are a dolphin on skis, what looks like a Twitter bird and Santa Clause. ...Seriously.

Have a look for yourself.

By the way, did you see the London 2012 mascots?

The Google Art Project

Ok, I'm late to the party on this but this is amazing. Being able to peruse the collections of world renown museums but not just peruse them. SUPER ZOOM in on them. It's the one thing I always enjoyed about going to see art work in person was being able to se the details. Brush strokes, little chips, imperfections, interesting details. Now, you to can see all those details without ever setting foot in any of these museums. I give you The Google Art Project.

BTW, for those of you that didn't pick up on it, that image at the top of this post is a detail from Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night."

Superbowl Ads

Living in Canada? You probably missed out on all the great Superbowl ads. Thankfully, Adblitz on YouTube has them all for you.

How do you like your graphic design?

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Do not underestimate the power of the Dark side...

Kids are the best aren't they?