A Seat At The Table - 04/05

I recently heard Moira Cullen speak at a meeting of the corporate creative association, Insource. Cullen is creative development strategist at Hallmark and her talk — “A Seat At The Table” — addressed the ongoing challenge that corporate design managers face when participating in concept and strategy, not just in the execution. Among her points: design is increasingly critical to product and service success in a hyper-competitive economy; designers add enormous and measurable value to business; designers need to find a way to articulate design’s strategic value to management; and, thus far, the design community has failed to find the language, frame the arguments or adopt the metaphors that can consistently win a seat at the table. With this description, I am doing the barest justice one of the most charming and thought-provoking talks I have ever heard from anyone. Anywhere. On any subject. If you are a creative professional who deals with business people — that would be most everyone inhouse or independent — seize the moment to hear Moira Cullen speak. If you are a graphic design association that is serious about escaping the “me, me, me” cycle of talking only about yourselves to yourselves, heed Moira Cullen’s message. As for Insource, more in an upcoming June special report.

Pimp My Ride

Lately, I have been a bit bored with the traditional furnishings on my yacht and private plane. I know many of you share this sense of ennui over your yacht and your plane. Now, finally, I understand why. The Zandl Group, a leading trend research firm specializing in “what’s next” in the youth market for businesses like General Motors, Coke, Disney and Viacom, tells us that “more is more” these days. Following the lead of hip hop and R&B celebrities who unabashed enjoy their wealth, Irma Zandl observes that “people are taking bling to the next level.” This means more and bigger jewelry, lots of fur and fur trim, designer logos from Chanel to Baby Phat, lots of gold accents, iridescence and patterns, more chandeliers and marble in homes and restaurants, lavish parties and and over-the-top sweet 16’s, baroque elements in even the most minimalist furnishings, pimped out cars with spinners and major grills, pimp cups instead of martini glasses. And here is the crucial point — luxuriously decked out private planes and luxury yachts inspired by P Diddy and posse. Thanks for the direction, Ms. Zandl, I feel more hopeful about the future already. Contact: www.zandlgroup.com

Giants

The 1960s was an especially fertile decade for American graphic, magazine and typographic design. Two of the giants of that era passed away while we were preparing this month’s GDUSA. Henry Wolf was art director of Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and Show magazines. In an eloquent obituary in The New York Times, Steven Heller wrote, “Few magazine art directors at the time wielded more creative control than Mr. Wolf... Rather than accept the typical role of an acquiescent layout artist, he closely collaborated with editors to define their magazines’ personalities.” I commend the entire piece to you. (NYT, February 16, 2005.) Peter Palazzo was known for his breakthrough 1963 redesign of The New York Herald Tribune, which helped create a field he called “journalistic design.” Editor & Publisher wrote of Palazzo that “he broke with tradition when he combined newspaper layout principles with magazine display presentation, including larger images, increased white space and elegant headline composition.” He served as a consultant for The Chicago Daily News, The Providence Journal, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and many others, and his influence is still seen in periodicals throughout the world.