Recent additions to the library...

I think it's apparent to most readers just how much I adore the work of Elizabeth Diller and Ric Scofidio. I'm also a huge freak about the aesthetics of science and documentation, and study of the creative process [hence an obsession with artists like Candy Jernigan, Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Cornell.] For those who may not have picked it up yet, Diller+Scofidio's latest publication, Blur: The Making of Nothing just collapses my world. It is one of the most exhaustive documentations of design process ever put to print. Weighing in as a hefty little brick of a book [something Koolhaas surely approves of], Blur follows the story of their "non-building" created for the 2002 Swiss National Expo from the initial invitation through the physical realization. It collects faxes, e-mail correspondences, thumbnail sketches, meeting notes, newspaper clippings, hundreds of never before published drawings, photos and test results. This compendium of raw data is organized and presented chronologically with little editorial filtering. Every idea, ego clash, stumbling block and solution is presented as it happened - often with letterheads, e-mail addresses and the like intact. As extraordinary as Blur [the building] is, Blur [the book] is a remarkable work of art and science in its own right.

Another great book about documentation I recently picked up is Mapping: An Illustrated Guide to Graphic Navigational Systems, edited by Roger Fawcett-Tang for RotoVision Publishing. Mapping provides up-to-the-minute examples of information design and cartography for print, web and physical environments. Some featured designers include Imagination, Sagmeister, Attik and Lust. The editorial content is straight forward and insightful, and the selected projects are strictly content driven, yet show a broad range of highly creative communication techniques.

I'm honored to announce that Engram Design has recently been appointed Graphics Chair for the 2003 IDSA National Conference in New York City. This is a pro-bono project of a scale I have yet to fully comprehend, but am excited to be working with heavy hitters Smart Design, Ecco Design, and our good friends at Core77. To prepare for this project I'm currently re-reading Invisible Cities and Delirious New York. I'm also preparing a survey which will possibly determine some of the content of the print collateral, web site and on-site multimedia. More info soon.


COMPUTER.LOVE poster contest update

The deadline has ended and all 350+ submissions are available for viewing at COMPUTER.LOVE.net The editors now begin the process of selecting the top 20 finalists, which will be narrowed down to three designs. These will be produced and distributed to the media and leaders in the design world to celebrate COMPUTER.LOVE's anniversary and kick off version two this winter.