Here’s some recent graphic design news you may have missed:
VSA Partners Think Green
VSA Partners was tasked with creating Sappi Fine Paper North America‘s latest eQ Journal, “Rethinking Recycling.” The fifth volume of the publication focuses on sustainability issues and practices. Some of the topics covered in “Rethinking Recycling” include, recycling municipal solid waste and post-consumer waste. Readers also find out about recycled fiber and can check out newly designed “please recycle” logos in English, Spanish and French. The resource is currently being offered as an educational tool to partners in the paper industry and beyond. To find out more or order your own copy, check out the website.
QNY Creative Redesigns Dietary Supplements Packaging
Packaging Design Magazine is hosting its annual Makeover Challenge in which several design firms are invited to redesign the packaging of a product line. The challenge also lies in designing new packaging for a product line that is more difficult that something like a wine bottle or shower gel. In this year’s challenge, QNY Creative and the other design firms took on NOW Foods Dietary Supplements. QNY is asking readers to check out its designs and vote for the designs as the top contender. Check out one of QNY’s designs below, and see all the impressive redesigns in the Packaging Design Magazine online gallery.
Cooper-Hewitt Expands National Design Museum Collection
In its latest acquisition, The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum announced a few new works that would be added to its collection. Two important pieces of furniture that will now be featured in the museum include 1936 Breuer Long Chair for Isokon, an early example of the bentwood style of furniture, and the Girard chair. These two items will be added to the more than 217,000 objects that already call the National Design Museum home. Other acquisitions, such as graphic designer Piet Zwart’s “ITF: Internationale Tentoonstelling Op Filmgebeid” (ITF International Exhibition of Film) poster and a intricately dyed kimono by Masao Aida, were also added. Learn more about the new collections at the National Design Museum website.
Canon and LexJet Offer Hands-On Printing Workshops
In Irvine, CA (August 13–14) and Irving, TX (August 20–21), Canon U.S.A. and LexJet will host two free hands-on printing workshops. Each workshop will last two days. The first day’s agenda focuses on printing applications for digital photography and fine art, and day two will cover applications for signs and displays. The workshops are geared toward anyone interested in learning new print applications or how to use the latest printing technology to his or her advantage. Each workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. Attendees also score some serious perks, including a $50 gift certificate from LexJet, printed samples and a continental breakfast and lunch. Learn more about the workshops at the LetJet website.
SapientNitro Designs Sexy Fiat Campaign
SapientNitro put a spin on introducing the all-electric 2013 Fiat 500e to resounding success. The multi-channel marketing firm created and launched EnvironmentallySexy.com to create some buzz for the new vehicle. The site is designed with the look of matchmaking sites and is used to help California-based consumers find the right vehicle for them. The website also helps identify potential rebates and charging stations across the country. Sneakily disguised Testimonial Videos and a sexy theme song also promote the car on the brand’s website. See all three (Teaser Video, Kimberly’s Story, Ryan’s Story) on YouTube. How much did consumers like the campaign? The 2013 Fiat 500e already arrived and sold out of California Fiat studios this summer.
iStockphoto’s Exclusive Deal and New Discounts
Getty Images, the company behind iStockphoto, announced some strategic changes to better support the creative community. One of the most exciting investments Getty Images is making in its wholly-owned subsidiary is to partner with famous stock photographer Yuri Arcurs. This exclusive deal will allow iStockphoto to feature Arcurs’ collection, something other stock sites will not be privy to. Another big announcement is a new pricing structure that will allow creatives to gain access to certain photos at a reduced price. The long-term pricing means half of the iStock library will be discounted.
Mohawk Celebrates Makers
Fine paper manufacturer Mohawk is celebrating makers. The Mohawk Maker campaign, which supports all aspects of the up-and-coming maker movement (you know, that group of go-getters who make their own soaps to sell at farmers’ markets or begin start-up companies), will include three new publications, “Mohawk Declaration of Craft,” “Mohawk Craft Cooperative” and “Mohawk Maker Quarterly,” and Mohawk Live, the company’s augmented reality app. To find out more about each of these maker-oriented products and the campaign as a whole, visit the Mohawk website.
Aquent Helps Creatives Stay Tech-Savvy
As technological advances help designers accomplish things with increasing ease, it can be hard to continually keep up with new programs. That’s why massive open online classes, or MOOC, have become more popular as a means to stay up-to-date with the in-demand skills creative professionals need. Aquent, a staffing agency that connects creatives with Fortune 100 organizations, has entered the MOOC game. The training Aquent provides centers on the skills that are in highest demand among organizations.
The offering, Aquent Gymnasium, will host free online courses and ask creatives for feedback on what they would like to see as a course option. The first course is “Coding for Designers (Turn Your Comps Into Code: Be the Designer That Developers Love to Work With)” and will teach designers how to apply visual design concepts to the web. Participants will be even exams, and those will high marks will be considered for jobs within the Aquent network of clients. Learn more at the Aquent website.
MoMA Presents Sigmar Polke Retrospective
The Museum of Modern Art has announced it will present Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963-2010 from April 19, 2014—August 3, 2014. The retrospective is the first exhibition to include work from Polke’s many mediums (film, drawing, prints, etc.), and it will include approximately 300 works spread across four gallery spaces on the MoMA’s second floor. The featured work will showcase Polke’s skepticism of social, political and artistic traditions against Germany’s history and postwar-period transformation. To find out more, visit the MoMA website.
Wow the HOW staff with your logo in the Logo Design Awards. You can now enter until August 1.
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