Andy Warhol used non-representational color and representational form to convey different sensations. Apply the same idea to the portrait of Marilyn Monroe below, using the controls to adjust the colors. How does the color affect the mood? (source: http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/marilyns.html)

Contemporary art is often misconcieved as lackluster or lazy art. Many artists like Pablo Picasso started movements in the Contemporary era. They should not be noted as poor artists. They often excelled in fine art, however, they are highly experimental. They would sometimes study one particular mastery while neglecting to introduce the full spectrum of design. more…

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To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the CBS eye in 2001, Charles Osgood did this report on the creation of the famous logo.

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The MIT Media Lab’s John Maeda lives at the intersection of technology and art, a place that can get very complicated. Here he talks about paring down to basics.

John Maeda is the president of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity.

“When John Maeda became president of the legendary design college RISD in 2008, he told the Wall Street Journal, “Everyone asks me, ‘Are you bringing technology to RISD?’ I tell them, no, I’m bringing RISD to technology.” In his fascinating career as a programmer and an artist, he’s always been committed to blurring the lines between the two disciplines. As a student at MIT, studying computer programming, the legendary Muriel Cooper persuaded him to follow his parallel passion for fine art and design. And when computer-aided design began to explode in the mid-1990s, Maeda was in a perfect position to influence and shape the form, helping typographers and page designers explore the freedom of the web.”

I find John Maeda very inspiring. He has a way of dissecting society in such a way that he learns how to counteract anti-creativity as well as relating his material to an audience with humor.

You can read more of John Maeda’s profile here at Ted.com.

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“Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali.”

One of my fellow classmates forwarded this Stefan Sagmeister video via email at Ball State University. Stefan Sagmeister is a leading designer who is world renowned for his album covers, posters, and recent book of life lessons.  Stefan definitely has a fresh way of thinking and has much to provide the graphic design world. You can read a full profile on Stefan Sagmeister here.

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I was digging around on Twitter and found a link to this video about the Social Media Revolution. I’m not sure how accurate the statistics are but they seem reasonable to me.

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“A logo is done in a second. It’s done in a second…and 34 years.”

Listening to a leading design talk about what inspires them can often inspire you. Paula Scher is a very influental designer who created the Citi Group logo on a napkin. more…

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Paul Rand was a “business problem solver and an artist”.

In this video, Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) discusses the great, (logo) designer, Paul Rand. Problem solve first, design later.

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Typographic logos to be inspired by.

Time to time I find myself needing a boost of creativity when working with type. After sifting through several logo sites I found some typographic logos that are very creative in my opinion. Hopefully many other people will find these ideas mind opening. Keep in my many of these are personal exploration projects. (made up designs) Nevertheless, logo exercises like these are good practice. more…

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This mixtape has been out for quite a while now but I’m posting it anyway. It seems there are not many places to download this entire mixtape on the web. Last time I checked the link was even broken Kid Cudi’s official website – www.kidcudi.com. (hrmm…) I still bang tracks off this cd almost every single day. Right now my download is missing the 50 second intro but I’ll look into adding that when I find it.

a kid named cudi mixtape

You can download the album here from limelinx.com

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