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2010-03-20T16:05:00.001-07:00

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This is Canada! Kind of...

2010-03-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

With the news that Canada's immigration minister, Jason Kenney is taking "full responsibility" for a citizenship study guide that had all references to gay rights removed, it reminded me of a handy dandy guide book I picked up last summer at Monkey's Paw.

This immigrant's guide from 1948 certainly didn't remove references to same sex marriage. Homosexuality hadn't even been invented yet!

Get Your Stars On

2010-02-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Detail of the star-dot pattern

Recently, I've been reading more design blogs than writing anything. One inspiring piece I happened upon via Coudal, via Ministry of Type, were these star patterned posters created by Mark Brooks. I've played with hand-tooling half-toned patterns before and always planned a series of portraits using a labourious dot technique I developed working on a 3D project. Yet this technique seemed so straight-forward and provided a nice level of visual abstraction that's hard to resist. As a quickie I did these tests of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker (I plan to do the other three members of the famous "Quintet"). These turned out well enough I may even get them printed somewhere as more finished pieces than my Epson can do at home.

The posters printed at 13" x 19"

curaTOrial

2010-01-24T17:18:00.000-08:00

Two-headed Squirrel by Chevaux de Bois, won at Come Up To Room

It's a busy weekend for a designer in Toronto this weekend. There's the Interior Design Show, the Toronto International Design Festival, and smaller exhibitions like the Gladstone's Come Up to My Room and Made's Radiant Dark. There's simply too much to do. We managed to see a lecture by Tobias Wong and Cynthia Hathaway at Harbourfront and I managed to get to the Gladstone but that's it.

Otherwise, it's a typical Toronto weekend. Cold. Wet. Grey. Construction on Queen St. W. Confused (utterly confused) TTC bus drivers. Re-routed street cars. Such an ugly time of year to have company visiting.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana

2010-01-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

image via alicianoel's photostream

A revealing piece from NPR's This American Life about those who work the night shift at the Huntspoint Terminal Market in the South Bronx. If you've ever wondered how your food gets to your local green grocer then you should hear this. I've been on a tour of the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto and I'll always remember it as a window to another world.

Listen to This American Life, No. 395. Huntspoint Terminal Market

Too Good for T.O.

2009-12-31T12:52:00.000-08:00

image via BlogTO

Recently I dropped into Nadege Patisserie on Queen West to pick up a paintbox mix of their incredible biscuits (flourless by the way). A special something for a special someone. My first thought was that this was a nice place, particularly by Toronto standards. After tasting some of these Marie Antoinettes (really?) my next thought was, "this place is too good for Toronto".

Yes. This place is so good, you'd expect it to be somewhere like New York or London or maybe even Paris. But Toronto? Really? Then I had another thought, there area a few things that Toronto, a city bereft of any design sense, despite being a center of design activity economically, just doesn't appreciate or deserve. Like the Japanese Paper Place also on Queen. This exceptional shop has been bringing some of the finest handmade papers from Japan and Italy for years without barely a peep. Swipe Books on Richmond is another exceptional store for both it's inventory and knowledgeable staff that gets nary a mention around town. Coach House Press. Ed Burtynsky's Image Works. Hariri Pontarini's McKinsey & Company Toronto Office. All examples of things that this town doesn't deserve.

Of course, there are a lot more things that actually are not good enough for Toronto. Things like the TTC, cycling lanes, storm sewer infrastructure, the municipal government, are all sub-par for a city of Toronto's size and economic importance.

So please, Toronto. Don't screw up the good stuff and let's try to make the crappy stuff better.

Designer's Designer

2009-10-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Less but better. Yet, more Deiter Rams would be nice. See what I mean.

Dieter Rams, designer - Cold War Modern from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Mad Man

2009-10-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Like many people I've been taken in by the slick production and mad style of Mad Men, but it's hard to believe the resident Dapper Dan, Don Draper played by Jon Hamm could ever really have existed.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mr. George Lois. Okay, I'm not suggesting Mr. Lois was as promiscuous or predatory as the Draper character but in the sixties Lois ruled New York's design world with his iconic and prolific design work. I just never realized he cleaned up so good. Get to know George Lois.

Life in Hell

2009-09-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Image via andy

Design For Life - Philippe Starck's new reality show is an odd thing being more like "Hell's Kitchen" or "The Apprentice" than say. "Project Runway". Why can't industrial design be treated like fashion or the culinary arts? No reason I guess. Except maybe that the product design cycle is very slow compared to a night in a kitchen or making an item of clothing over a few days. In fact, my colleagues in software are usually stunned by the timelines necessary for even the simplest bauble.

The show has been criticized for a number of reasons, mostly about squeezing this concept into the reality show model. Part of the problem for me is the contestants who are an odd bunch with many of them having little or no actual design experience outside of school (here Project Runway seems to have better contestants). Are these designers unemployed due to Britain's loss of industry and current economy or did they simply lose out to sharper colleagues? It's surprising too how Starck chose the young designers based on a thin portfolio of sketches or that the show is framed as improving the state of British design (which hardly seems to need a "Starck Shake-up").

While the program holds the promise of both educating the average viewer about the design process and revealing Starck's own process to curious designers it also has the possibility of doing the exact opposite. Starck's broken English and self-mocking tone along with his, well, "Frenchness" could really obscure both his thinking and the process of how products are conceived and realized. Additionally, Starck is caught in the same dichotomy all designers face — knowing we should produce less, consume less and live our lives more simply but no one pays a designer to remove product from the shelf, only to add to the pile. Today's coveted goods will be tomorrow's trash heap (unless every piece you design is a collectible future antique).

Still, I'll keep watching when I can because I remain fascinated by the man and enjoy this glimpse into his "tribe". Too bad, Dieter Rams never had a reality show.

Big Mac Attack

2009-08-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

via The Economist

Now I'm curious about some kind of Fish 'n Chips index or Champagne Index or Bespoke Suit Index. Or even cross reference the Big Mac Index with a Doctor Visitation Cost Index?

One Small Step

2009-08-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

I know this post is about three weeks too late for the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing but I recently saw a news item showing how some animals use tools in unexpected ways and I thought to myself, "Amazing, they're so like us — hang on, we went to the Moon!" Sure some chimps use sticks to get ants out of anthills, and some birds will use stones to raise water level in a glass, but did any other species walk on the Moon? Huh? No? Didn't think so. In your face, stick-wielding chimpanzee!

My favorite moment of this video is seeing Walter Cronkite's relief when he says, "Whew", removes his glasses and gives a boyish chuckle as he announces that Neil Armstrong is standing on the surface of the Moon.

Sometimes I feel bad for the Rover team that send a robot to Mars, an incredible feat which nonetheless just doesn't stand up to the glamour of sending people to the Moon.

DIY Dumpster Pools

2009-07-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yeah... the New York kids are pretty cool what with their dumpster/swimming pool parties. Actually, making a pool from an old dumpster seems incredibly appropriate for Toronto this summer seeing as the civic workers' strike has closed public pools and canceled garbage pick up. The solution? Fill a dumpster with water of course. This idea comes courtesy of Macro-sea all in the name of reclaiming unused urban space. Geesh, couldn't you just plant a couple of trees or something?

image via Readymade

PS. I would've used the obvious "Dumpster Diving" title - but someone already did that.

Fly Me to the Moon

2009-07-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

To some, Michael Jackson invented the Moon Walk. To others, it means a little more. I'm a child of the Space Age (also the Age of Aquarius, the Information Age, and apparently Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs). Growing up in a time when "They can put a man on the moon," sort of spoils you for anything else. The Concorde cut transatlantic flight times in half. So? Could it leave the atmosphere? Electric cars? Big whoop. Mapping the human genome. Not bad, I guess. The Internet? Meh. I can't really think of a greater achievement than landing on the Moon since flight itself. Unfortunately, it makes everything else seem lame.

So here's a hearty "hail fellow well met" to all the good folks at NASA as they celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's Moon Walk.

In Milton's Words

2009-07-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I missed what was apparently an intriguing discussion on CBC radio with preeminent graphic designer, Milton Glaser. Parts of CBC are forward enough to make all of their content available online, other parts aren't and can never overcome certain restrictions of use. Instead of listening to the CBC interview, I found this video, recorded over ten years ago as part of TED and posted below. It's great to hear and see Glaser's process as he discusses several posters and how the final design came to be:

It's Tomorrow in Japan

2009-06-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Just found this calendar created for Uniqlo via spfdesign

See the full screen version at Uniqlo.com

Updates (eventually, finally)

2009-06-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Years ago, I created a Web site that I could easily update whenever I had a chance, then I discovered I never had a chance. In fact, making additions to the site wasn't difficult but choosing images and writing descriptions was. Now after at least two years of gathering dust, I've tidied up a bit. I've added several more recent projects under the "Folio" section that better reflect what I've been doing lately.

I also discovered I probably need to update more than a few images as the site itself is groaning under some rather untidy HTML & CSS but that's another project entirely (like cleaning out the gutters and eaves troughs it's a thankless job with little visual benefit at all but someone's got to do it).

Thank you for your patience.

The Future Was Then

2009-06-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yo, this is Ol' Skool y'all. This old Apple Knowledge Navigator video shows Apple's future looking design for a laptop/netbook concept. Thankfully our computers don't have nerdy avatar assistants.

It's a Good Life

2009-05-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

image from Seth's Clyde Fans Book One

Renowned illustrator, book designer and cartoonist Seth is on an honest to goodness, no holds barred, book tour. Seth is currently promoting both the recent book he designed about Canadian cartooning icon Douglas Wright and his own book, George Sprott. Is it unusual that a publisher send a cartoonist out on the road to promote a book? No, but in a world where most of the practitioners are reclusive loners who work in quiet isolation it's rare to find someone so good at it. Seth is an articulate, entertaining, engaging and knowledgeable speaker. As a guy who goes by a singular moniker and dresses like he's from the cast of the Philadelphia Story he's a reporter's wet dream. His profile almost writes itself. So it shouldn't be a surprise that here in Toronto we're seeing some kind of Seth-blitz. Friday evening I witnessed Seth's charm when, rather than discuss new work he re-imagined a John Cage piece by telling 12 unrelated anecdotes as a slide show of his sketches played on a screen behind him. After the talk, audience members received a copy of Walrus magazine featuring a profile of Seth. Saturday's Globe and Mail not only profiles the artist but includes a slideshow tour of his home (like many cartoonists, Seth is an avid collector of various ephemera). Ladies and Gentlemen, that's entertainment. I'm glad Seth is gaining confidence doing this kind of stuff because it not only raises his own profile but due to of his knowledge of comics he's also raising the profile of other artists and the medium of comic books. In general, I think other comic book artists should accept that doing promotion is sort of part of the job description and take Seth's example to just suck it up and get out there. Sometimes we like to hear your stories from your mouthes not just from your speech bubbles.

Batman-omatopoeia

2009-05-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Great Tweet via Jim Coudal about this collection of Batman screens of fight sounds. Do enjoy!

Da(y)tum

2009-05-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

Chip Kidd has said that if designers want to control their work, they should create their own content. But this isn't about Mr. Kidd it's about another designer busy creating his own content. For reasons known only to himself, Nicholas Felton began recording his daily routine and since 2005 has published the data in his popular Feltron Annual Report. From this emerged the site daytum.com. CBC's Nora Young recently spoke to Felton about the Daytum project. You can hear an excerpt: click here to hear or listen to the full interview at the Spark Web site.

Face to Face

2009-05-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight I watched Truffaut's 400 Blows at the local Revue theatre. It had been awhile since I last saw the film and I'd forgotten several scenes. For example, the puppet show scene shown below. It's one thing to watch it on DVD at home from your couch but seeing it on the big screen with an audience is an especially unusual moment. There you are, with a mostly adult audience staring at a screen full of children's faces staring back at you. Oddly, it really reminded me of a piece of video from the New York Times where a photographer filmed kids playing video games. It's worth opening the New York Times video in a new tab in your browser for a side by side comparison of kids separated by 50 years.

Yeah. The French kids are cuter.

Your Dad Can Beat Up My Dad

2009-04-29T10:40:00.001-07:00

P041809PS-0188
Originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream

As Canadians we choose substance over style, ideas over rhetoric, and frumpiness or glamour (and we put "U's" in words that don't need them). Still, I kinda wish PM Harper wasn't such a conniving lump of a man who wastes his intellect thinking up ways to screw with Liberals through his parliamentary machinations rather than actually try to govern. Yes, I too wish BHO was our leader. Given Obama's approval ratings and usually positive numbers on actions his administration has taken in his first (spuriously significant) 100 days, it's hard to think that he has done all of that just by being so damn cool. As long as this charming bon homme can back his star power with innovative policy, excellent negotiation, calm and prudent guidance our dear leader will continue to look like a bureaucrat in a bad suit.

Objectified. Denied.

2009-04-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

When is Objectified coming to T.O.?

Am I going to have to illegally download this movie too? Not that I would.
just saying is all...

Posted via email from peterrogers's posterous

Art + Culture = Stuff

2009-04-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been experimenting with a link repository/bookmarking services and dug up an older link that I'd forgotten about but I'm glad it remained oddly fossilized in my browser bookmarks. A site that seemed dormant for many moons has recently come back to life. ArtsandCulture.com is a great reference for information about authors, artists, performers and designers, made even more valuable by it's visual-thesaurus-like network map. The shiny new bit of the site however appears to be its aggregation of relevant blogs and members' profiles. Yeah, okay, I know, the whole social networking thing might be getting old but it can also be tremendously valuable (unless you of course you're like a total MyFaceBookSpaceTwickr hater – and why wouldn't you be?)

To really dig into the site you are required to request an invitation but mine only took a day and registration was simple enough. I plan on finding fascinating things about Art Stuff so I can sound smarter. I'm hoping this will offset the fact I get my news by glancing at RSS feeds and making assumptions based on the headlines. Probably won't. Can't hurt though. Perhaps, like Liz Lemon, you will "want to go to there."

See You on the Moon

2009-04-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

Oracle acquires Sun for $7.4 Billion. I think I like the headline "Oracle acquires Sun" more than the actual story. It just sounds like something from antiquity, like "Soothsayer acquires Moon to better read bird entrails". For all I know the deal will be signed with chicken blood.