Coldplay's 10 Rules

1. ALBUMS MUST BE NO LONGER THAN 42 MINUTES, OR 9 TRACKS.

2. PRODUCTION MUST BE AMAZING, RICH, BUT WITH SPACE, NOT OVERLAYERED. LESS TRACKS, MORE QUALITY. GROOVE AND SWING Drum/rhythm are the most crucial thing to concentrate on; diff. between bittersweet and science of silence

3. COMPUTERS ARE INSTRUMENTS, NOT RECORDING AIDS.

4. IMAGERY MUST BE CLASSIC. COLOURFUL AND DIFFERENT. COME BACK IN GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOUR

5. MAKE SURE VIDEOS AND PICTURE ARE GREAT BEFORE SETTING RELEASE DATE. And highly original

6. ALWAYS KEEP MYSTERY. Not many interviews

7. GROOVE AND SWING. RHYTHMS AND SOUNDS MUST ALWAYS BE AS ORIGINAL AS POSSIBLE. Once jon has melody, twist it and weird it sonically

8. Promo/review copies to be on VINYL. Stops copying problem, sounds and looks better.

9. Jaqueline Sabrido, ns p c c, face forward

10. Think about what to do with charity account. Set up something small but really enabling and constructive. Ref; j oliver fifteen

from here.
via here.

Dieter Rams: Ten Commandments

Source, and larger, more legible version here.

John Maeda

Quoted from John Maeda: Simplicity

"While watching my daughter's viola lesson, and as she stood in front of the class, I realized that the moment when the bow touched the strings was not something to be taken for granted. It was the moment when she was to begin the process of expressing herself by creating music. To create is to potentially embarrass oneself in front of others. It is about the courage to be oneself and to be seen as oneself. Putting ink to a page, or pressing one's fingers against clay, or typing a line of computer code, or blowing glass and realizing mistake. Or success. With everyone watching. But most importantly, you.

So it dawned upon me how important it is to be a creative. Because it means you have within you infinite capacity to experiment. You are unafraid to go somewhere new because you are creating a new thought process about your own creativity. You know that if you stop and no longer challenge yourself, you cease to be creative. You become still, silent, and the bow no longer connect with the strings and music is not made. And you do not exist. You show you do not have the courage to exist.

Creativity is courage. The world needs more fearless people that can influence all disciplines to challenge their very existence. Creativity is reflection aimed not at yourself, but at the world around you."

Verb List

Richard Serra, Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself

"When I first started, what was very, very important to me was dealing with the nature of process. So what I had done is I'd written a verb list: to roll, to fold, to cut, to dangle, to twist...and I really just worked out pieces in relation to the verb list physically in a space. Now, what happens when you do that is you don't become involved with the psychology of what you're making, nor do you become involved with the after image of what it's going to look like." (Richard Serra) Read more: Man of Steel

A Little Wondering Out Loud

Well, it has been a long long time since I last posted. Strange... I didn't really miss blogging, I didn't feel lost without it, I didn't feel any less motivated or inspired.

In fact, I think that not blogging made me feel less cluttered, less overwhelmed by the myriad of info out there.

So, I think I will slightly change the structure here. So far, I have largely been posting stuff of other people, things I find and like and probably lust after. But, is this really useful? Is this really the best me? Am I actually learning anything from this process? I don't think so.

I want to fill my life with things in which I would feel lost without. I want this blog to be one of those things.

By the way, the above image was created at nskr.net. I was looking for images of flowers blooming or birds flying, to parallel my thoughts, but I kept returning to this little perfect mess of colour in my files. Fun!

OSX Shortcuts

I was recently reintroduced to Pocketmod, via the wonderfully resourceful Creative Tech Blog. Pocketmod is a program that allows you to print and make little booklets as a way to organize your stuff. They have templates for various types of calendars, lists, games... Also check out their pdf to Pocketmod converter.

The guys over at Creative Tech have used the template to create a handy little book of OSX Shortcuts. AND they have even provided us with the original InDesign file so we can easily plug in our own shortcuts... the ones we keep forgetting, or ones for different types of software. Imagine the possibilities. I think this type of fold could also be an amazing design solution.

By the way, while on the topic of books, Five and a Half now has their book-making tutorial listed at JPG Magazine. I can't wait to try it out.

Wabi-Sabi

Just finished a little book with a lot of presence: Wabi-Sabi - for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers.

It begins:

Wabi-Sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.
It is a beauty of things modest and humble.
It is a beauty of things unconventional.

It resonates. Buy. Read. Share. Let it soak.

Looking Closer 5

The fifth, latest, and last installment of Looking Closer is now available.

The last edition of this book I skimmed was Looking Closer Two, a recommendation from my school instructors. I am the first to admit that I should be more taken by design discourse. Looking at the contents, it seems interesting... the definition of design, social responsibility... and I like to read... but somehow, these books always get lost in my piles. Is it just me? Well, maybe I'll give this one a try.

Endpapers

I absolutely love the colours in this marbled paper (seen via the domino blog). What great inspiration. I am reminded of endpapers found in books lining old libraries and antique bookshops and flea markets. That smell of ink and paper. Everything faded, yellowed, pastel-coloured.

What are endpapers? They are the leaves found at the beginning and ending of a book. They are not only decorative... they actually serve a purpose. They lessen the strain on the book cover and hide all those raw edges. In some cases, the endpapers are the only thing holding the cover to the inside of the book.

Here is a great flickr set outlining slices of the process of bookbinding. I just love the art of bookbinding; the careful choice of materials leads to such a wonderful sense of touch and texture, outlasting any mass produced paperback by miles.

To Touch

I have recently been caught by the fascinating topic of Braille in Design. Braille is now mainly used by blind people but the original idea was for soldiers to be able to safely read at night.

Braille is a reading system of raised dots. Named after its inventor, Louis Braille, the system's basic "Braille cell" consists of six dots grouped in two vertical columns of three dots each.

There are two different types of braille:
Grade 1 Braille is the most basic representation of letters. Several fonts are available for transcription of Braille 1, because it follows the standard alphabet and keyboard.
Grade 2 Braille, on the other hand, combines approximately 300 contractions. Duxbury software is most commonly used to transcribe Braille 2, where words like "and" or combinations like "th" are represented with one character rather than two or three. This style is more common because letters are about three times larger in Braille, so shortcuts help a great deal.

Braille has most recently been recognized on pharmaceutical packaging and signage. There was a great article from Ping Mag about accessibility and braille on signage and architectural elements. This Braille label maker is also a cool tool.

Products that incorporate braille into their design:
L'Occitane
M. Chapoutier Wine
Postage Stamps
Ceramic Tiles, as in the the above image