London Design Guide

If you are interested in design and are going to London this book is a must have. Edited by Max Fraser. Visit www.londondesignguide.com

Posted December 18, 2009

NZ Book Council - Going West

This is an absolutely amazing paper animated film for the New Zeeland Book Council. Produced by Colenso BBDO and animated by Andersen M Studio. Wicked!

Posted November 27, 2009

I shot the serif

This image dropped in the email box one day. Clever and witty.
Design by Tom Gabor from Philadelphia, USA

Posted October 22, 2009

zZz is playing: Grip

Grip, is the first video of Roel Wouters aka Xelor. it's a one take, top shot music video with trampoline gymnasts simulating typical video effects.
Love it.

Posted June 21, 2009

Smaller and funnier

At Liljevalchs this cute little fellow can be seen. ”Smaller and funnier” it says on postcards and posters that can be purchased. This ”piece of art” is a funny paraphrase of Robert Rauschenberg’s goat at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. A big hand to advertising agency KING.

Posted March 6, 2009

Nicho Södling

Go see the great photo exhibition –”Vanity of Man” – at Abecita konsthall in Borås. Photographs from the exhibition and other work can also be seen at www.nicho.se

Posted February 2, 2009

Maya Lin

This is one of our favorite architects and artists. The image above shows her ”Eleven minute Line”, which can be seen in Wanås, Sweden. Check her out at: www.mayalin.com

Posted January 12, 2009

Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen, artist from the Netherlands, has created ”Strandbeests”. Take a look at this magic work on a commercial by BMW, or visit www.strandbeest.com

Posted November 30, 2008

Thoughts on Santa Claus

Brands can have a great impact on our society, culture and the way we live. One of the most spectacular stories is that Coca Cola invented the modern red-and-white image of Santa Claus through the yearly advertisements of the Coca Cola Company in the early 1930s. The story tells us that Coca Cola wanted to increase sales of Coke during the winter season. They hired a talented illustrator, Haddon Hubbard Sundblom, who created a series of drawings with Santa holding a Coke, wearing the corporate colours of the Coca Cola Company.



This is a fantastic story that has been a well spread ”truth”. But it is not more than a believable myth. The modern Santa as we refer to, is descended from a bishop called St. Nicholas who was born around 280 a.d in Patara near Myra in modern-day Turkey. He was famous for his kindness towards children in need, giving presents to schools and hospitals in the catholic countries of the middle east. Old portraits of him shows a man with a white beard, dressed in red – sometimes wearing a Mitra – a red bishops hat.

 

Santa Claus has been illustrated in different colours and shapes before the 1930s. But the modern red-and-white outfit with a broad black belt is not a creation first seen in the Coca Cola ads in the 1930s. You can also find him illustrated this way in the beginning of the 20th century, possibly inspired of the old paintings of St. Nicholas. But even if Coca Cola didn’t invent this image, they most likely are responsible for cementing the modern standard of Santa, as in the illustration below from 1906.



Merry Christmas!

/Markus Moström

Posted December 18, 2009

Thoughts on Maya Lin

Maya Lin is an American artist and architect, world-renowned for her work in landscape and sculpture. Her parents emigrated from China and settled down in the USA in 1949, ten years before Maya Lin was born. She received her Bachelor of Art at Yale University in 1981, and a Master of Architecture degree in 1986. Maya Lin made her name, still a under graduate at Yale University, submitting the winning design in the national competition for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be built in Washington D.C. in 1982. In Sweden Maya Lin´ s work is represented at Wanås, where she created the permanent site-specific installation ”11 minute line”.



Maya Lin´s earthwork reflects her strong commitment in the environment and her inspiration drawn from diverse sources including Japanese gardens and Indian earthen mounds as well as works by contemporary American earthworks artists. They merge with their terrain forming a part of the landscape. A recent example, Storm King Wavefield, reminds of a topographic landscape of sand dunes shaped by the wind and the sea. As a Swede it is easy to get emotionally touched by the environmental work of Maya Lin, that strongly refers to the ancient gravefields of our country dating from the 6th century.

/Markus Moström

Posted May 17, 2009

“Blink” a book by Malcolm Gladwell

This week I would like to recommend a book by Malcolm Gladwell called “Blink”. It is about rapid cognition, the kind of thinking that occurs within a blink of an eye. Imagine for example the moment when you meet a person for the first time. A split of a second is enough to form an idea of his or her personality. You base your judgement on the handshake, on the way the person moves, dresses and speaks. You jump to instant conclusions about – as for example – the persons ability at work, private state and if the person respects you or not.

The word intuition is normally used for this kind of perception – describing emotional reactions, gut feelings and impressions that are not necessarily based on facts and rational thoughts. But I am convinced that we are capable of making rational decisions in that split of a second – through slightly mysterious and subconscious brain work – that we usually don’t associate with the ordinary process of “thinking”. And the picture we create of a person or a situation by practicing rapid cognition quite often turns out to be right. Just in a blink of an eye. Don’t you agree?

Then how does it work? Among the various examples of rapid cognition provided by the book “Blink” experience seems to be the most significant factor. By force of a human habit we gather loads of information every time we meet people, among them sometimes people with diverse cultural and social backgrounds. Through experience and by observation we have learned a lot about the behaviour of people when meeting them for the first time.The time spent together at work or in private will prove if your impression was right.

This kind of rapid scanning of a person or a situation Malcolm Gladwell refers to as “thin slicing”, meaning a fast brain activity that results in valuable information you actually did not have before. The process is based on your former experience and knowledge. If you are open minded and trained ”thin slicing” will turn out to be a true asset in work or in your private life, according to Malcolm Gladwell.

Like many other design studios design management is part of our daily work. The methods we have developed to solve creative problems could be used to improve the communication of a certain company, for instance. Traditional methods and strategies used by the average design and advertising agencies could turn out to be in your way if you follow them too strictly. They might just make things more complicated in making the right decision for the client.

So how do you know if you are going in the right direction? There are no 100% guarantees! But by listening carefully to the client, by gathering all your working and private life experience, and above all by using design management as a tool and not as trustworthy science you might just succeed. At Markus Moström Design we believe this is our strength – to understand the needs of our clients by finding the right balance between methods, experience and intuition.

/Markus Moström

Posted April 8, 2009

Thoughts on books

Producing books seem to be more popular than ever before. Despite the fact that today one can find almost anything of interest on the internet, lots of books about cooking, health and fitness, interior design, and guides to personal development on a personal and professional level are produced.

A new and quickly growing trend is to publish traditional digital media, like blogs, in the form of books. The question is why. The news of the day become permanent. Perhaps that is the point – one wants to preserve high quality content from something otherwise instant and passing like in a daily blog. However, the question is if the main concept of an instant and live digital medium gets lost without the comments and direct feed back from the readers.

Another trend is companies that start to promote themselves in books. The old fashioned way of promoting the company in a brochure has given way to promotion in hard cover and with an editorial tone. One example is grapic designers and architects across the world who publish monographs already after 10 years in the business and not according to the old fashioned way, after a whole life in the business.

There could be a number of reasons. One important reason is naturally to make a statement and establish oneself as a player in an ever increasingly competitive market. Another reason is the trend of ”Story telling”. One wants to tell about the company origin, business concept, environmental work and company vision in a more detailed manner than a few simple lines in a folder or on a website. In the end, the reason may be as simple as pure vanity. Who does not want to publish a book about themselves and their work to be left for the world to read? And people seem happy to pay with their own money to get it printed and published by a well known publisher. Despite a beautiful cover, the drawback is of course that the editorial content decreases.

Today’s books have maintained the look since Gutenberg developed the art of printing in the mid 15th century. It has its specific architecture depending on its use. In addition to its content and graphic form, the material gives important clues about who you are and who you want to be. It is clear that a book still plays an important role by telling a story in both words and pictures in our increasingly digital world.

On January 28th, I traveled to Oslo to be part of a jury evaluating books submitted for the contest ”The most beautiful books of the year”. During three days we evaluated a record number of books submitted for the contest. More than 350 books in 14 different categories, everything from small productions with a limited content and small size to big and expensive volumes. The design of books is a true form of art. As in any other design task, the key when producing books is to have a clear concept and an overall picture of the format. During our work in the jury, we sometimes – with a heavy heart - had to ignore books we really liked because the typography was sloppy or otherwise beautiful drawings were carelessly handled. Too much departure from the overall picture has generated mediocre books out of books that otherwise would have been in contention for the top awards. After we finalized our job in the jury, we noticed that the small publishers were strongly represented among the winners. Perhaps because they – in the competition with the big publishers - have maintained the high quality throughout the whole process, from the development of the idea and the design through printing and bookbinding.

Jury duty is hard job filled with responsibilities, but also a lot of fun and not everybody gets the privilege to experience this many beautiful books during one occasion. The total time of production for all the participating publications is 175 years, if you count an average of six months production time for each publication. This time should be compared to the three days we had to evaluate all submitted volumes. In the light of this, one is humbled by the experience and grateful for the opportunity to participate.

/Markus Moström

Posted March 5, 2009