Jared Pendergraft Designs » Design

Objectified

Jared — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:23:44 +0000

The second film from director Gary Hustwit does not disappoint. The wonderful pacing and general enthusiasm felt first in Helvetica, returns with even bigger names in design yet a down-to-earth approach that I think my Mom could even find enjoyable. Objectified is a documentary that focuses on the world of industrial design, or the design of everyday products from computers to chairs, and even spoons. Ostensibly this film tries to prove how important the design of objects are, and more importantly tries to stress that these objects are designed well. From interviewing Dieter Rams and Karim Rashid, to the wonderfully enthusiast Jonathen Ives of Apple, it’s clear that the design of everyday objects can and should be designed simply and beautifully.

Package Design Now!

Jared — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:28:42 +0000

This compendium is a great slice of good design in the packaging design field for the last few years. It showcases some of the best designs from around the world into an easy to read tome and serves as a great piece of history. My only complaint is that primarily the packaging is from Europe, which is certainly wonderful, but I’ve seen countless examples on The Dieline of wonderful packaging done locally that seems to have escaped the editor’s peripheries. I imagine that what in this book is a timely based reference guide—considering new packaging comes out everyday—but I’d certainly be interested in seeing volume 2 of this series.

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

Jared — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:04:53 +0000

There are many “How to Be…” books out there, that try far too hard to explain ‘rules’ and ‘guidelines’ of how to be successful at something without actually discussing why you’d do those things or when it’s appropriate not to. Adrian Shaughnessy does a brilliant job in his book at discussing how certain ideas and guidelines of how you can be successful in the world of graphic design actually apply to the real world with stories of his own success. Aside from this book, the only other design related book that actually felt like it could be of use in the real world was The Business of Graphic Design by Ed Gold, which actually outlines how to set up a graphic design business from a practical, business related point of view. I think what makes both of these books so successful is that neither lives in a bubble of ‘solid’ ideas and practices but both indicate that it’s more probable than not that the rules may not always work out, but that they have for the authors.

More so than anything else Shaughnessy describes things he looks for in new employees and how his firm works, and sure this is the perspective of one man (and also a few other noted designers he interviews), but it’s much more useful than flat information expected to be applicable to the ‘field’ of graphic design. If you want real-world advice that actually makes sense and seems like something you’d actually use, do yourself a favor and read this book. On a side note, there’s also a really great foreword by one of my favorites, Stefan Sagmeister.