About five years ago when I was working as a Graphic Designer and Marketing Assistant for the U of MN College of Pharmacy's Continuing Education office, I was engaged in a variety of marketing and design efforts that capitalized and focused specifically on generational trends. As I researched, I found out a lot of fascinating information about Baby Boomers, Gen X-ers, and the Millennial (or Gen Y) generations. The generalized characteristics of each group contribute to their learning preferences and styles, as well as influence what commodities they will buy or what extracurriculars they will engage in.

Recently, I stumbled upon an article that took a much more positive spin on the college-aged Millennial Generation (roughly born 1983-1995) who are often depicted as technically savvy but impersonal, interconnected but lacking attention spans, and generally over-scheduled. This article, entitled "What would a millennial do" instead positions some of their personality traits as desirable qualities that all of us can learn from. 

I often thought that Gen Y is actually the future of America – not just technically (they will, after all, be the next group in power) but also principally. For once, a generation seems less focused on the accumulation of wealth and more focused on community, inspiration, and communication. And that's something we can all learn from.

Read complete article >

People have been speculating about and heralding the end of the printed word as we know it for at least the past ten years. As of yet, we haven't seen print die, but rather have seen it repositioned within the digital marketplace. Instead of causing a speculative stir about the future of print, design-superfirm IDEO has chosen to speculate on the impact that digital media will have on our reading experience and the 'book' as we currently know it.

Not only are their three concepts (nicknamed "Nelson," "Coupland," and "Alice") invigorating, but the manner in which they are presented – using human-feeling names and persona-inspired surroundings to create a mood – is reflective of IDEO's comprehensive approach to design thinking. I uphold this example not only as a great projection into the future of the book, but as a supreme model in the design of concepting.

Read more at IDEO's Design Thinking blog >

One week after I graduated from college in Ohio, I moved to New York with my new wife Dorothy and began working as a design assistant at Vignelli Associates. It was 1980, and I was the lowest employee on the totem pole. Working in a design office in those days was different. I never touched a computer. As I recall, the office didn't even have a computer. In fact, we didn't have a fax machine.

I spent most of my days putting thinner in rubber cement and taping tissue paper over mechanical boards. Every once in a while I would get to do a mechanical myself, usually following the direction of one of the more experienced designers. I was working in New York City for a designer I idolized and I was the happiest person on earth. It so happened that we got an apartment that was three blocks-literally, a 135 second walk-from the Vignelli office. Work started at 9:30 a.m. I usually got up at around five minutes to 9 and still had time to pick up a doughnut on my way in.

Dorothy, on the other hand, had a corporate job downtown, in the World Trade Center to be precise. She had to wake up before 6 to be at work at 8. I literally slept three hours later than her every morning. Every night Dorothy would go to bed at around 10 p.m. I was still wide awake, and our apartment was so small it drove me crazy. I had a key to the office. So I got in the habit of tucking my wife in every night and going back to work to start another shift, which often would last from 10 to 3 in the morning.

This went on for four years. Anything I've achieved in my career I credit today to those four years. I loved working late at night. I worked on office stuff, and I worked on personal projects. I played music really loud and drank Mountain Dew. I would design anything: invitations for my friends' parties, packaging for mix tapes, one-of-a-kind birthday cards, and freebies for non-profits.

When Massimo Vignelli noticed I had extra time during the day, he started giving me extra work. Things that would have taken two days only took one, thanks to the night shift. The more work I did, the faster I got, and the better I got. It never occurred to me to ask for overtime. 25 years later, nearing 50 with three kids (and the same wife), I can't tell you the last time I was awake at 3 in the morning, intentionally, at least. So my advice to anyone starting a career as a designer? Stay up late while you can. It pays off.

Michael Bierut
Partner, Pentagram Design New York
October 07, 2005 

There is something about that late night energy that is totally inspiring. During those early-morning hours while my email is dormant, my phone is silent, and the ideas are flowing, I find the answers to design problems that have plagued me for days or even weeks. The ability to work late into the night is one of the best medicines I've found for creative block and a to-do list that's a mile long. I'll take it while I can.

250,900 street signs in New York City will be changed from all-caps to initial caps, where only the first letter is capitalized. The legibility will save lives, say the federal guidelines mandating the change, which will cost the city $27.6 million to implement.

Score one for legibility! Let's hear it for applied design research! Typography saves the day! Whatever you call it, this is definitely a win for everyone involved.

Read the complete article at The Consumerist.com >

If only this really took 1:52 min to design and execute. Wouldn't life be grand?

Having recently completed my MFA in interactive design (note: emphasis area, not track, although this has since changed in the program), I'm rather intrigued by the heralding of a new "emerging" field in design. It could be that my thesis centered on emergence, or it may be because I see this as an even more holistic approach to interactive design. Assuming the latter, I feel that I could analogize service design is to interactive design as integrative campaign is to identity design. Where interaction design can exist in a bubble, service design must consider the needs of its participants through a number of different touchpoints. Perhaps the most convincing point arguing service design as a separate field is proven in slide 39; terms such as "front stage" and "blueprint" are as foreign to me as "css" is to my mother ("See abscess what?).

Here's to hearing more about service design in the near future. Heck, maybe there's even a job out there for this budding design educator. Service that!

For the past few years, Nicholas Felton has published "The Felton Annual Report" (in digital and print format). Dry as it may sound, it's actually chock-full of data visualizations, all based on information he collected while going about his daily routine. The 2009 report relied on the response rate of people he encountered throughout the year; he gave them a business card with a unique URL, they submitted information on their interaction. The result? Another year of beautiful data. Enjoy!

Read more in an interview with Nicholas Felton

Just saw this used on http://www.fm1071.com/loj/photos/celebrities/ and realized that it's available for free. Haven't given it a shot yet, but looks like it has some potential. Simple, easy to navigate, and works how you think it should work. Anyone else have experience with this?

The idea: "Design education typically begins at the college level, but if we wait until then to teach design thinking we are missing critical points in the growth of young minds, whose ability to think creatively is boundless. Teaching high school students to think like designers would help shape the way they look at the world around them and positively affect their future endeavors."

The proposal: "Inspired by these notions, a team of designers from the Austin studio of frog design got together and started an initiative called “TeachDesign.” The objective of this initiative is to expose high school students to design methodologies through immersive, real-world projects that have a lasting positive impact on the participating students, school, and community."

Rewarding results: "What is most rewarding is progress the students made in their critical thinking and ability to solve real world design problems. The students have shared their enjoyment not only of the learning process, but the ability to express all of their ideas in an open forum. The TeachDesign team of frog designers and SHW Group architects collaborated with the students, helping them to refine their ideas and develop a point of view to present to their audience in a powerful and persuasive way.

"I became a designer so people would come to me with their problems. Then I can be creative." Tru'dat, Michael.

Playback is committed to creating clothes from recycled materials, guaranteeing that their entire process–not just the concept– is environmentally-friendly.

"Partner shuts the lid of laptop on your fingers."

'Nough said.

As I gain more experience in design–both in education and hands-on work– I've realized the importance of designers to have hobbies and interests that expand beyond design. Dancing, cooking, gardening, gaming… there are countless ways to diversify your design thinking, and it starts with diversifying your free-time. For the same reason, I think it's important that designers think beyond 'making something pretty' when given any task (be it in school or at a job). Force yourself to think beyond what you know, bringing to the table your individualized skill set; eventually (if they don't already), colleagues will recognize your importance in the grand scheme of any problem, and your assistance will expand beyond the surface.