Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe embraced the axiom "Less is more" to describe his creation of arranging the numerous forms into objects of extreme simplicity, by attributing every element and detail to serve multiple visual and functional purposes (such as designing a floor to also serve as the radiator, or a massive fireplace to also house the bathroom). Designer Buckminster Fuller adopted the engineer's goal of "Doing more with less", but he focused on engineering rather than aesthetics. A similar sentiment was adopted by industrial designer Dieter Rams' motto, "Less but better". The maxim "More is More" was brought forth into mass consciousness in 2009 by the American pop recording artist Heidi Montag. "More is More" makes heavy use of synthesizers, specially the auto-tune software to alter Montag's voice. This is the key. "More is More" plays with the fabric of perception. Since the 1970s photographer Alex Webb has been exploring the visual over-load ability of his pictures: "It's not just that that and that exist. It's that that, that, that and that all exist in the same frame. I'm always looking for something more. You take in too much; perhaps it becomes total chaos. I'm always playing along that line: adding something more, yet keeping it short of chaos." Hence the Anomaly. Design can be an expression of extreme ascetic simplicity or it can be an overwhelming experience of shapes, colors and textures. In a trade show booth design it is an expression of that intangible emotional property more commonly known as the brand proposition. Chic Chocolates and Visa are 2 designs expressing the opposite modalites. Both designs are the grand expressions of their brand pshycology. Articles you might like
0 Comments
The Story of the Aluminum Can.
The aluminum can was fairly content containing the magic potion inside and exhibiting the power of Amazon Açaí berry outside as its prized label. Thanks to the wonder of technology: the can chuckled; "now I can, no pun intended, provide some value to the stressed out robotic race that is always on the look for the next elixir with the promise to cure all that ails them" what a bunch of naive species. Nonetheless, the can was was happy to be of use. Afterall, once upon a time it lived lived in the earth crust in the form of Bauxite. It had to wait for billions of years to be mined in either Australia, India, Jamaica or in areas in or around the equator. Once mined, Alumina had to be extracted from Bauxite, electrolyzed in dissolved crystal to generate aluminum metal and then transformed into what we commonly know as the aluminum can. Boy, that was certainly a long journey! One day the can thought about traveling to the Amazon. It just made sense. It had heard so many stories about the mystical Amazon rainforest. So it mustered up all its strength and proposed it to its master Zola. The master, with a nose for business decided to take it even a step further. Zola thought, wouldn't it be great if we created the Amazon environment in a 10' x 20' linear space, in a trade show market place to introduce our new product to the rest of the world! The can, the master and the Açaí berry all settled on it. Not the best, but at least a berry berry big home run for now! [edited by T. Anderson] This piece is my dedication to the passion and brilliance of those magnificent minds that brought us the design flexibility in variable angles. Dixon Gimpel, Jim Sommerville, Karen Gauthier, Chris Nelson, Greg Mathieson, John Elliott, Ron Bertel, Mark Fritsche, Cathan Murray, John Gettler, Nate Nelson, Scott Roschi, Evan Detskas, Greg Krull and Kevin Franz. {Some of you, I know very well. I share with you my set backs and my triumphs. Others, you are like the atmosphere: strong and subtle. Today, I get to acknowledge you. Thank you.} When two lines diverge from a vertex an angle is formed. It is a very common design element in the build of trade show back walls. It has been "in" for quite sometime now. Any trade show marketing manager who has been in the circuits have been introduced to it at some point of time or the other. At Exhibitor 2011, we saw the re-emergence of the angles in a massive way. No longer restricted to linear back walls, it now features in islands and hanging signs. As with any trend, the angle in its original form will go through its normal cycle of peaks and valleys before it becomes a distant memory in our minds. We saw this as an opportunity and we striked it. We became creative with angles, gave more dynamics to it. We came up with angular extrusions that is not restrictive of any one angle or the other. Between 0° to 180° anything goes. This leap in angular design reminds me of the four puruṣārtha of experiential design. Dharma is duty: Does it provide necessary utility and significance? It is our duty as designers to add value to a product. Artha is achievement: What does this flexibility in angles do for you? Does it infuse you with distinction? Does it make intuitive sense for a richer experience of your brand? Kama is the fullfillment of sensual desire: Is it exciting to the senses? Is it striking? It it memorable? And finally, the proper balance of Dharma, Artha and Kama leads to Moksha, the freedom and flow of a gratifying experience that transcends the product itself. The space, the event, the time comes to a memorable freezing point. Articles you might llike
In an age when board rooms are no longer the birthing cavity for brands, when facebook and twitter seems to be establishing and expanding or diminishing the brand perception, trade shows and specialized venues seems to hold the secret to your brand experience. Today, a brand is defined as your reputation built off, of your promise to your customers and the sum of all of their experiences with you. Trade shows happen to be an unique arena where your prospects gets to touch, feel, breathe and explore your brand. For this, you need to be Bold and Dauntless. This is one place that your brand must stand out from the noise of the crowd. The strategy that you embark upon is the key. It is the only "SureStep" way to your brand victory. All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. Chinese Military General: Sun Tzu SureStep has done exactly that. Designer, Greg Matheison has incorporated the strategy of Adventurous Creativity and established the brand on high grounds. A company with patents for children with low muscle tone having trouble with stability due to pronation provide bracing for normal movement and function. In an effort to paint a picture of a child's normal life using SureStep, the booth stand design was anchored in the center field by a conceptual tree house. It is Bold. It is Defining. It is Purposeful. The purpose of this messaging is not about the product. It is about bringing fun and adventure in a child's life. The brand has now secured victory. Articles you might like
The great Italian polymath, Leonardo da Vinci comes to my mind as the master of subtle suggestion. He aggressively exploited the technique of sfumato (the fine shading that produces soft, imperceptible transitions between colors and tones to form a smoky effect) to bring forth this power of subtle seduction. His fabled work, Mona Lisa is a masterful manifestation of this technique. Da Vinci was well versed in the seductive power of limiting knowledge. He recognized that when things are open to interpretation, we are driven by our imaginations and our creative interpolations. The result: the bliss of an eternal enigma; Mona Lisa.
Mathew May, author of Shibumi Strategy says "Leave something to the imagination by limiting information". He says, because human spirit is indefinable the power of suggestion is exalted as the mark of truly authentic creation. Finiteness—dotting every "i" and crossing every "t"— is thought to be at odds with nature, implying stagnation and loss of life. In Zen terms this is the principle of Yugen. As Mathew puts it Leonardo Da Vinci and Steve Jobs both recognized the power of Yugen in art and business. The mysterious smile of Mona Lisa seduces us to arrive at different interpretation every time we look at her because, of the missing definition of her mouth. Leonardo was a master in blending light and shade. He used light to define forms, model them and create the illusion of depth. His softened sfumato contours dissolve into the shadows and into light. May goes on to mention, when Apple launched iphone, Steve Jobs only demonstrated it once at Macworld 07. It did not go on sale until June. In between there was this long silence. The bloggers and Apple loyalists took over and interpreted with creative modulations. The iPhone "tipped" over even before it went on sale. Rest is history. The seduction of suggestion is very evident in the design of Pivot Point Regatta Pop Up trade show booth. It seduces the viewer into fancy contemplation. It creates a sense of informal restlessness. It entices the viewer and acts as a silent prompt to engage in a conversation with the booth staffer. The Art of design now becomes the Art of Business! We live in a hyper-modern age of information over-load. We are expected to be hyper-creators, hyper-producers, hyper-consumers, hyper-doers, hyper-achievers, hyper-communicators, hyper-competitors, hyper-social networkers and so on. Ironically, we are no longer human beings. We have devolved into hyper human doings, plagued with mass Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is sad, yet funny that even our Disorder has Hyper attached to it. Given this backdrop, it appears that "Minimalism" is our ticket to mental sanity and physical prosperity. Minimalism is a certain style, a certain attitude and even a way of life. It transcends different fields such architecture, philosophy, law, design, technology and music. Minimalism is Perfection as its best. "...It is attained, not when no more can be added, but when no more can be removed." Antoine de Saint Exupéry The Greek philosopher had it right. Some 2500 hundred years ago, Socrates, envisioned the march of our civilization and said “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” Today, more than two millennium later, the same sentiment is echoed in John Pawson's [father of modern architectural minimalism] incredible streamlined minimalism. The story goes, that some Cistercian monks whose monastery he was to design, were worried his style might be too austere for them after they visited his minimalistic house. "The natural light and the empty space seem to communicate more than the space that is filled up with something." John says, minimalism is not about being "arty or pretentious". It is about expanding the human imagination without the ceaseless noise of of our hper inter-active media. If we were to take John's concept of pure space minimalism and translate into a trade show bazaar like environment it would look something like Asteria. It is in control of it's space, yet is has ample space for no-thing and that is how Asteria sets itself apart. It portrays to house only that what is incredible. That is what minimalism does. It sheds light on the incredible. And one surety of being incredible is guaranteed expanded premium. It is a proven path of evolution in the flat land of sameness. Let pure space minimalism be the regulating inspiration in your designs, in your presentations, in your brand messaging and in your attitude! Good Luck! Articles you might like
The alphabet "I" is tall and confident. It is an elegant stroke of human expression. "I" traces back to Phoenician letter Yodh, the hand, as a representation of an entire arm. The Greeks used a highly simplified version of it for iota (Ι), the nineth letter of the Greek alphabet. The Romans used it as "I", as we know it today. In geometry "I" is the shortest distance between two points of reference. In high mathematics "i" is the imaginary number. It solves unsolvable complex equations that is rudiment to our present technological civilization. "I" has been the work-horse of human culture since the dawn of time. Pre-historic man used the "I" [ fallen tree trunks] to bridge streams. In 484 B.C., Herodotus documented the first bridge in history built with timber and supported by stone columns accross the Euphrates river some 300 years ago. The tall "I" (column) has been the core of architecture since classical antiquity. Interestingly, the complex nervous system of human anatomy is efficiently catered by "I". We are defiant in the face of gravity. "I" being deep rooted in our human psyche, we have made it modular, elegant and intelligent. We arrange bunch of "I"s in a linear fashion to create back walls. We use the strength of the "I" in our towers and we use clusters of "I"s in trade show island designs. The concept of abstract elegance becomes an object of 5 senses in the creative hands of the architect, Sou Fujimoto. He uses Red for the "I" intrigue. He seduces the viewer with the softnes of the white gauze fabric, while exploring the work of Japanese fashion designers in relation to the art, culture and costume history of their country. Articles you might like
The goddeses of the spirit who inspire the creation of the arts, the sciences and the very intelligence of creation itself is what we call muse. It is the underlying force that compels us to be greater than who we think we are. It is the source of our inspiration.
In Greek mythology, muse has been attributed to the characteristics of the 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; keeper of the arts and the sciences. One of the daughters, Calliope, is best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for Odyssey and Illiad. Likewise, Urania is the “heavenly muse” invoked in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. Through out the ages, mankind has always saluted this inner knowledge as the driving force for all their creative pursuits. As we are closing in on one year and embarking on another, I dared to embark on this journey, to find out if there is a methodology to musing. It would be foolish of me to think that I can wrap it up in a neat little package, when so much has been researched about it. Yet, I believe, if we start with a very simple belief system, we are well on our way to be the creators monolithic greatness.
Our belief system dictates us in setting our aims and achieving our goals. Michelangelo reminds us: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” Today we celebrate our very own! Today we express our gratitude to our clients, our friends and our adversaries. We attribute our success to all of them. Thank you! New products are key to Skyline’s growth. Cross-functional teams of marketers, designers and engineers have developed a method for success and the results have been imposing. In both 2009 and 2010, Skyline was honored with Buyers Choice Awards, which recognize best new exhibiting products. Earlier this year, Skyline also won 2 of 6 Product Design Awards at EXHIBITOR2010, the industry’s largest event. Now, we receive the coveted 2010 Event Design Award in one of the industry’s red-hot categories – Best Modular + Custom Environment – for a Eurocopter exhibit at the 2010 Heli-Expo in Houston, Texas. A perfect Thanksgiving! “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” Henry Van Dyke (American short-story Writer, Poet and Essayist, 1852-1933) Articles you might like
The Tree of Life is venerated symbol in nearly every culture. With its branches reaching into the sky, and roots deep in the earth, it dwells in three worlds- the heaven, the earth, and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is a symbol of abundance, reflecting the immortality of the cyclic ebb and flow of cosmic life. It is a union of the feminine and the masculine. Artists and Philospers have talked about it since ancient past. "It is a universal symbol, which transcends time and space and seek out deeper reality, expressive of the universal consciousness." Psychologist Carl Jung calls our "collective consciousness". I believe, when the India Pavilion was designed for the Shanghai Expo 2010, the Tree of Life played an important motif in the engineering and the architecture of the space. The highlight of the pavilion was dome structure, modeled after Sanchi Stupa, an ancient Buddhist temple built about 24 centuries ago. In a nod to sustainable architecture, the dome's roof is covered by grids and wires that allow herb trays and solar cells to be mounted on it. The solar cells and wind turbine generates enough energy for the self-sustaining show exhibit and the herbs acts as a carbon sink purifying the surrounding environment. The 115 foot-diameter structure is now considered the world's largest bamboo dome. Articles you might like
|
Archives
September 2020
Categories
All
Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. Franz Kafka |