I have been working on these for awhile. Its an extension of the same work I have been doing for the past 2 years. I hope to have a few completed in the next couple weeks but wanted to share this with you now. Have a great weekend.
What I find interesting is that no one is asking the real questions here.
1 – How is it affecting the ability of the phone to work in a majority of real world instances. Half of the problem is AT&Ts network. People with strong signals can still make calls even with the antenna issue with no problem.
Which brings up #2
2 – Do the consumers even care? If they have seen zero change in service or even an uptick (for people like my father who couldn’t get a signal in his house but now can) what the hell does it matter? Even Engadget with its emotional readers and commenters can’t point to a substantial consumer backlash for the device. People are using their phones and not caring.
I believe there is alot of hype around this that shouldn’t be. Given that Consumer Reports can’t give a “Recommended Buy” to the iPhone4 but have it listed as the “Best Smartphone” followed by the 3Gs should be a dead give-away that this is just another sensational story meant to get eyes on webpages. Meanwhile, oil just stopped gushing in the gulf.
Here is my prediction for tomorrow and what Jobs will do.
1 – Introduce himself.
2 – talk about the iPhone 4 and how successful it has been. 3 million + units.
3 – say something about the antenna “has been *chuckle* an issue. I am sure you have heard.”
4 – bring out experts that explain antenna design and the issues.
5 – steve will say “okay if you want to bring back your iphone – please take it to the nearest Apple store we will exchange for a full refund. If you buy one and you don’t like the service bring it back. If you are happy keep it.” *What I don’t know is the whole AT&T side the story*
6 – Steve will throw in a bumper if people want it.
7 – Thank everyone and leave.
Now is the second part. WSJ and every other newspaper/magazine/blog will run a story asking “Did Apple Do Enough” and they will undoubtedly say “no” and quote un-named sources about how the whole ordeal.
People will move on. Apple stock might take a 2% – 3% hit for the day. And the next day no one will care and I will still buy mine regardless of tomorrow in a couple weeks.
The 12 Hills Nature Center in the Oak Cliff suburb of Dallas, TX is an example of what determination can accomplish. Over ten years has past since the first e-mail mentioning the possibility of a independent group of individuals that would use grants and personal donated funds to build an urban nature preserve. The nature center will act as a outdoor classroom and community hub.
My role was to design signage and graphics for the entry and donor recognition. Working closely with the landscape architect Carolyn Perna of TBG (located in Dallas), we fully integrated the graphics into the landscape. This type of integration is unheard of of on this scale. Sandblasted text, donor names, and a 36″ cast bronze recognition plaque that uses names to mimic tree rings were all placed into the space.
All work was Pro Bono.
Landscape Architecture: Carolyn Perna, TBG
Plenty of More Photos After the Jump
I had the opportunity to help design a new identity and rebrand SyVox Voice Recognition solutions for Genesta, a small software company located in Rockwall, TX. The program is used in warehouse settings to help streamline inventory and shipping procedures. It also helps increase productivity and accuracy awhile improving job safety. Genesta is an extremely talented group of individuals that you should keep your eyes on here in the future.
The SyVox identity was updated to showcase the programs many features and ability to work with a clients existing systems. I was charged with creating the graphic identity and visual language that would support the brand moving forward.
Above are the both the old logo and program icon. It is my belief that you should lean on existing brand equity with any rebranding project if its possible and appropriate. I dumped the “Futura Squish” typeface for Scala Sans, which when used correctly has a very “techie” look and comes across as efficient – an attribute that SyVox allows its users to have.
The program’s icon is well known in the industry so I cleaned up the execution. I then combined it with the logo type so that the icon would be connected to the name on a larger level than before.
Why Green? Genesta's logo type is blue and so was SyVox. SyVox was only 'step one' of a multi-phase program which will encompass all of Genesta's solutions and services. The identity you see here is part of a "Branded House" approach to the Genesta solutions and services. Each one is designated a color that will correspond to a larger identity program that will be released in the future.
Marketing, Packaging, Photos and More After the Jump!
I struggle every day with expressing my own “self” within the design I am making for others. I am sure like me, most of you have an inner desire to create. That this creation is not just something we do… but actually is somehow connected to our inner-self. To me the act of design is just as natural as breathing, and just as important to my overall health and well-being.
We, as a group, need to understand obvious expressions of who we are cannot be included in someone else’s message. (But inherently are included because no matter if you are the designer or the viewer you always bring your own emotional baggage to the table when ever interacting with any object or person.) Unless you pick your clients that match your political/social beliefs, you will most likely work on something that you deem somewhat irrelevant to society at large – its just par for the course at this moment.
If we can’t be worried about our own expression – then we should be worried about how people see the expression we are creating for our client on a level higher than – well will they recognize this brand? Or does this say expensive?
Let us challenge ourselves to design to a higher level based on human interaction, sustainability, and emotional response. Let us not “dumb down” imagery or information to the lowest common denominator.
Let us just not be people – but people who design for people… not consumers.
I challenge you to create design that is emotional.
A question I always grapple with is how to balance my professional and personal life on social networking sites and even this website. I am sure some of you have had the same thoughts. I somewhat viewed it as a design problem to be solved. There are ups and downs to combining your personal and professional lives for all to see.
-If you are too forthcoming with opinions and personal belief structure you could alienate potential clients, employers, and connections.
-If you hold back you have internal struggles that could include not writing about passionate topics and start thinking “what about who I am as a person – my beliefs are part of who I am. I just want to tell them about who I am.” (Specifically now to the younger of my generation who are constantly searching for individuality in the post “me-economy”.)
I am cautious. I moderate all of my posts. I do not include politically inflammatory speech on publicly available outlets. I do not speak of religion. I believe if I steer clear of these two topics in general I should be a-okay. For me its about putting my best foot forward and to give the online world the best me I can.
The one time I did delve into the political arena on Twitter both sides of the aisle attacked me. Not exactly what I wanted to get out of it and I lost some “followers” because of it. I decided at that point that Twitter was not about opinion but rather it was about information dissemination. Twitter does not allow you to have meaningful conversation and because of the limited format allows for gross misinterpretation in 140 characters or less.
I do freely express myself in other ways that I believe creates a balance. This balance shows my professional and personal sides to all those who wish to see while remaining in the “safe zone” away from Kenny Loggins.
I freely discuss my opinion about design for both my own work- and others. This allows me to not only engage other people in conversation but also have my own work be dissected. Plus design is what I do and feel I have enough express for my peers and they for me that we can adequately discuss the design without coming to fisticuffs.
I freely discuss what music I listen to. Music is an important part of my life and enjoy letting people know of new artists. (I am hipster like that.)
I freely link to interesting articles from all over the web – just not professionally geared – but I include articles about my other interests that could bridge the gap between my personal and professional posts.
I post imagery of myself and my life. Whether it is an interesting photo or a group shot. I do this because not everyone who visits my site is a random web visitor. I have owned this domain for 6 years.
As a designer I believe my professional and personal life do not need to be separate. Design is not a “job” or a “career” for me. This is what I enjoy doing. Even now on my vacation I find myself sketching, reading, and thinking about design no matter where I am. I am compelled to express myself… however that doesn’t mean I do not have to express everything about me. Only the best parts about me.
Social networking is about creating an experience that is uniquely you – without running away potential.
![photo[1]](http://www.everydream.com/design/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/photo1.jpg "photo[1]")
Words to live by for every type of designer who works with a client.
Rebecca Wissler 12:53 pm on 01/11/2010 Permalink
I’ve been meaning to comment about how much I like this re-branding as a whole. Overall, I think the SyVox Sound Burst is such a smart way to visualize the way the technology works…if that even makes any sense. Either way, it’s perfect. Really nice.