Microsoft Surface

First seen in iPhone, Jeff Han's research in multi-touch surface computing is now seen in Microsoft Surface. Here are a few excerpts (from a Microsoft press release) and screenshots (from the official Surface website):

"Surface computing is a completely intuitive and liberating way to interact with digital content. It blurs the lines between the physical and virtual worlds. By using your hands or placing other unique everyday objects on the surface – such as an item you’re going to purchase at a retail store or a paint brush – you can interact with, share and collaborate like you’ve never done before. Imagine you’re out at a restaurant with friends and you each place your beverage on the table – and all kinds of information appears by your glass, such as wine pairings with a restaurant’s menu. Then, with the flick of your finger, you order dessert and split the bill. We really see this as broadening content opportunities and delivery systems."


"[Microsoft Surface is] a powerful technology that is visually compelling. Surface is a horizontal display on a table-like form factor that morphs from an ordinary table-top into a new, vibrant way to bring connected entertainment and digital content to users. The cool factor is the way you interact with digital content by using your hands to get what you need. Surface provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Because Surface is essentially housed in a table, it’s easy for individuals or multiple people to gather around it in a way that feels familiar – making collaboration more powerful and fun."


I do think there are lots of great uses for surface computing. However, I have to wonder if the tabletop is the perfect medium because, for a task like browsing and editing photos, looking down continuously is very stressful for the neck. I would not want to spend even 15 minutes staring down trying to crop a picture. This idea works better in iPhone because each usage session is (generally) fairly short. That said, I certainly believe that implementing it in restaurants will increase customer turnover due to reduced lag time. No more having to flag a restaurant staff down. There are quite a few avenues for Microsoft to explore here.

Say yes to surface computing. I cannot wait to see more.

For more information on Microsoft Surface, click here.

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.

To find out more about Jeff Han, click here.

Blends for Friends

We have bespoke shoes, suits and fragrances. In fact, the very idea of hiring a designer itself is to create something new, innovative, catchy-buzzy and (hopefully) completely unique to you. This is the core of Blends for Friends. Here is a little more background information taken from the site:

"After years as a master tea taster, blending for one of the world’s leading tea brands, [Alex Probyn] started to get frustrated with the restricted styles and flavours of tea [he] could use for large-scale commercial packs of tea. In an attempt to exploit [his] knowledge and to test [his] creative skills, [he] began to blend individual teas and herbal infusions for [his] friends and family based on their personalities. [His concoctions were so appealing that] they asked [him] to blend for their friends so they could give a personalised gift that really meant something to the recipient."

It seemed to have started off small, but Probyn certainly knew that packaging could make or break his offering. It needed to look good and sell his concept. He did just that with the logo, which I think illustrates the idea of "custom-blend" wonderfully:


He also made sure the other parts of his products are up to par:

Do Designers Think Alike?

Graphic Design Blog is conducting an experiment on whether designers think alike. It also aims to investigate whether designers are influenced by design trends and subliminal advertising. The idea here is to have designers design a logo and then hold a compare and contrast. Since I only read about this today, I did not have much time to think about the subject and, in fact, only had enough time to create a logo for one of the two 'companies' (Cheap 'n' Cheerful - a budget fancy dress shop, and Caffeine Rush - an espresso machine & accessory supplies shop) suggested. I chose to create a logo for the latter.

Thinking about a dress-up shop undoubtedly brings to mind notions of frivolity, of carefree days from early years - when life was about sleeping, pooping, pointing, refusing to eat and watching cartoons. Cartoons molded my world, and I always dreamt of becoming a superhero, and dressing and acting likewise. From there, cartoons seemed like a viable and, indeed, solid foundation from which to develop an identity around (even though costumes are certainly more varied than ones where you are required to wear underwear over leggings).

To be able to depict a cartoon character, or at least portray some of the characteristics of a typical cartoon character, I would first need to learn about character design. I have not the time at the moment, but I do realise emotions are displayed mostly through eye expression and hand gestures. Therefore, I started off with the eyes, created from the two C's in Cheap 'n' Cheerful. Placing circles within them allowed me to make eyes, or, depending on how you view it, a mask. Shifting the eyeballs around was a simple way to portray different emotions (this is most evident if you focus on each logo separately as opposed to viewing the collage):


Since hand gestures will cause the logo to bloat to an unreasonable size, it was only logical to develop the entire face. This was done by grouping the apostrophes to create a nose and positioning it at different angles and location to add facial features and enhance facial expression. The same goes for the mouth. I have only created logos with 'smiling arcs' rather than the wide range of shapes possible with the collection of alphabets (due to time constraints at the moment). The last step was to paint the logo with bright colours:


I have to say, although I am generally satisfied with the outcome, I do think that it lacks the clear and concise idea of 'cheap costumes'. There are a few options to highlight these based on my design which I can immediately think of, but this is merely a first stab. A more complete version will be left for a future posting.

Please do not hesitate to let me know what you think.

View Tara's logo here
View Paul's logo here
View Tess' logo here

Mike Perry

I have been poking around at lots of designers' portfolios recently. There seems to be a trend emerging between the standout ones. I previously highlighted Anisa Suthayalai's highly user-friendly portfolio. I have since found one more that I thought was just as well thought out and full of personality. Like Anisa's, his Mike has colour-coded his projects according to the work that he contributed or was in charge of. Take a look at the following screenshot:


To visit Mike's portfolio and see his other amazing work, click here.

George Vancouver Stamp

Captain George Vancouver was an officer of the Royal Navy, credited for his exploration of the Pacific coast along British Columbia and the modern day American states of Washington and Oregon. From All Nations, "[George Vancouver] sailed with Captain Cook on Cook’s second voyage, and explored the South Seas, glimpsing Antarctica in the Resolution. Captaining the Discovery, Vancouver landed at Nootka, recovered British territory from the Spanish, and named 400 places, including Vancouver Island and the City of Vancouver." To commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth, Canada Post is releasing a stamp. Here it is:


Captain Vancouver’s signature, from the British Columbia Archives, is placed on the right side of the stamp. However, we do not see his face, which is, I must say, a rather odd way to honour a person. There is a reason for this however, as the designer - Niko Potton of Fleming Creative Group - explains:

"The importance of Vancouver’s achievements, which went largely unnoticed until after his death, have significant bearing in today’s world... I wanted to create a design that focused on the man himself and captured the solitary and isolated position in which he found himself, geographically and personally." (From Fleming Creative Group)

"I also positioned him from behind, gazing toward the horizon, ever vigilant. This was to communicate his selfless service for the greater good and to allow the viewer to interpret the story as they wished, without me forcing a character upon them by way of facial features and the like." (From Victoria Times Colonist)


To read more about Captain George Vancouver, go to Wikipedia.

To read more about Canada's stamp program, go to Canada Post or The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada.

HADW for Blisscotti

The concept is easy: icecream sandwiched between two pieces of thin biscotti, with the chocolate-coated side facing the icecream. This treat, appropriately named Blisscotti, is the conception of founders Linda and Lou Yaseen. With their knowledge in distribution, they managed to score a mass distribution deal with Dreyers. With that comes product packaging, and with product packaging comes identity development.

Here is where Hornall Anderson Design Works comes into play. Take a look at the following logo they developed for Blisscotti:


"Among the initial approaches the design team explored were pencil sketches of logotype ideas," says art director Larry Anderson. "Other approaches included letterforms with obvious embellishments." The design ultimately chosen combines the best aspects of all the examples submitted, "a logotype that would be clearly legible on packaging and would also appeal to the product’s audience of upscale consumers," he says. "To achieve an old-world sensibility, many of the ideas... incorporated romantic flourishes and other embellishments that gave the logotype a hand-tooled look. Although the type for these concepts was generated on the computer, letter spacing and individual letterforms were tweaked to give the logotype a custom look and feel." (From Step Inside Design)

Translink Website

Translink is Greater Vancouver's Transportation Authority. They manage all public transportation options available in Vancouver, including the buses, the skytrains, the seabuses and other more specialised services. They have pamphlets of bus schedules for each municipal and also an online version. The Translink site itself was redesigned some time ago by local Web Design firm Graphically Speaking.

Here is a screenshot of it:


I am unsure as to the objectives of the redesign, but I would like to know what you think of it in terms of usability (and especially the trip planner part). I will comment on this in the future.

To play around with the site, click here.

Thailand Architecture Fair

Architecture is the art and science of desiging structures. Thailand is known for its rich cultural background and beautiful exotic people. The result of a series of posters for Thailand Architecture Fair?


From Adpunch, "the advertisements, [created by Jabjai in Thailand]... show designs of Thai house, Thai temple and high-rise buildings to underscore artistic pattern of architectural design".

Great concept and great art direction makes for a highly effective advertisement.

The Guardian: Redesign

Have you ever wondered about the origins of newspaper? According to World Association of Newspapers, "[t]he Roman Acta Diurna, appearing around 59 B.C, is the earliest recorded 'newspaper'. Julius Caesar, wanting to inform the public about important social and political happenings, ordered upcoming events posted in major cities. Written on large white boards and displayed in popular places like the Baths, the Acta kept citizens informed about government scandals, military campaigns, trials and executions. In 8th century China, the first newspapers appeared as hand-written newsheets in Beijing."

We know that Johannes Gutenberg invented moving type printing around 1450. This affected the print design of newspapers greatly. Fast-forward a few millenia; now that we are already in the midst of the digital era, how is the design of news being translated into this medium? For the most part, it seems that the design of newspapers have simply been 'migrated' onto the structure of websites. However, the beauty of the Internet lies in its ability to afford interaction between all parties, in addition to content creation and subscription tools like weblogs and RSS feeders. In the face of all this change and new technology, how does a 'traditional' newspaper like the Guardian keep up?

Take a look at the following screenshot taken from the Guardian's website on May 23rd, 2007:


For more information on newspaper design, go to Society for News Design.

For more insight into editorial issues, go to the Editor's Weblog.

Passing Notes

Recently I have been delving into wedding-related stationary. An overwhelming majority of the designs I came across followed the overly ornate, romantic fashion usually associated with marriage. While this is certainly not illogical, I wondered why there were no (or very very few) straightforward designs with a focus on concept of bonding and unity rather than mere visual indulgences. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon Passing Notes.

According to Abbie, the designer behind this company that seems to cater more towards lovebirds, "design that has meaning - that is felt, as well as read, that is touched, as well as heard... is [more important to her] than just a pretty picture... Each person, each couple, each life has a unique story to be told. In turn, each piece becomes a personal reflection that gives meaning to that specific design".

How does she convey this on her business card? Take a look at the following images (sourced from AIGA):




From AIGA, " As our ways of communication become more distant and less personal, we crave things that reconnect us in some small way with each other. To receive something that has been made by hand gives the piece a sense of value and intimacy. While growing up, passing notes with friends is often the first form of communication in the printed medium. It is a collection of memories and stories quietly captured in a personal token made permanent on paper. Passing Notes is about rediscovering and embracing the thrill of that first folded note, to [instil] the joy of design that touches the heart".

National Design Awards 07

From the National Design Museum, "[t]he National Design Awards [was] conceived in 1997 by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum to honor the best in American design. First launched at the White House in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the annual Awards program celebrates design in various disciplines as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of design by educating the public and promoting excellence, innovation, and lasting achievement".

The award for the Communication Design category is "given to an individual or firm for an exceptional and exemplary work in graphic or multimedia design". This year's award was given to Chip Kidd. Well-known for his book cover designs, he created jackets concepts for authors ranging from David Sedaris to Michael Ondaatje. Kidd was chosen to be this year's winner in this category because "[his] distinctive design approach does not adhere to a particular style but is rather guided by the content of each book and the discovery of surprising images and relationships that compel the reader to look inside".

Take a look at the following jacket he designed for Augusten Burroughs' excellent memoir 'Dry'. This book chronicles Burroughs' downward spiral into the clutches of alcoholism.


For more information on Chip Kidd (and an anthology of his works), click here.

For more information on the National Design Awards (and to see who the other winners are), click here.

Bjork Video Competition

Bjork's is known for her creativity, not just in her music, but also in her music videos. Michel Gondry, arguably one of the best directors in the playing field, has collaborated with Bjork for 6 of her videos so far. Many of the other videos were created together with other similarly experimental directors, from Spike Jonze to Nick Knight. Bjork has recently released another excellent album. titled 'Volta', with the lead single 'Earth Intruders', directed by Michel Ocelot. Her next video is for the song 'Innocence':


Perhaps you have what it takes to collaborate with Bjork on this project? For more information on the competition, click here.

For a catalogue of her past music videos, click here.

Coca-Cola Commercial

From Wikipedia, "Coke's advertising has been rather pervasive, as one of [company president Robert Woodruff's] stated goals was to ensure that everyone on Earth drank Coca-Cola as their preferred beverage... Some of the memorable Coca-Cola television commercials between 1960 through 1986, were written and produced by former Atlanta radio veteran Don Naylor (WGST 1936-1950, WAGA 1951-1959) during his career as a producer for the McCann Erickson advertising agency. Many of these early television commercials for Coca-Cola featured movie stars, sports heroes, and popular singers of the day".

Unfortunately I could not find any of these commercials on the Internet (I have not been around long enough), and thus have nothing to compare a recent Coca-Cola commercial to. Nevertheless, take a look at the following one (the image is a collage of screenshots), called 'Fun Factory', produced by PSYOP:


You can watch the commercial here.

While I doubt if the various entities used promote the notion of 'fun' (as I think they are rather scary, with some macabre undertones throughout the spot), it is without a doubt one of the most memorable television commercials I have seen recently.

San Fran Int'l Film Festival

This year's San Francisco International Film Festival ran from April 26th to May 10th. It screened 120 unique projects and attracted more than 80000 film lovers, critics, journalists, and so on. It is also the first film festival in the Americas to turn 50 years old. Film-making, however, is much older than that: the art of story-telling via moving images is over a century old. A year ago, the SSFC board decided that they needed to bring the film festival into the 21st century. To begin, they hired Method to create a new visual identity for the festival.

To reflect this progressive outlook, Method developed a comprehensive identity system inspired by the idea that watching a film is a transformative experience and has the power to give the viewer a new perspective (dubbed 'transformation'). According to design director Robert Murdock, "[they] looked for ways to pull in film imagery as one of the layers used in the brand language, juxtaposing traditional black-and-white stills with more modern elements that evoke film data. This allowed [them] to continue the theme of transformation and display the inherent data that even a still image of a film contains". (Quote sourced from Step Inside Design.)


Needless to say, the board was happy, the audience was happy, Method was happy, and thus we have year 50!

Google Experimental

There seem to be only two companies in the playing field well known for user-centric interfaces - Apple and Google. Google has not changed its interface for years now. It never had to. But today, Marissa Mayer - Google's VP of search products and user experience - made an announcement that Google will integrate results from its different search engines in an attempt to produce more comprehensive results.

Consider the following two screenshots taken from Google Labs:


This method gives you a list of relevant options on the left side for the search. As such, you are able to refine your search query with just a click of your mouse. There is even a 'more' tab to give you additional categories. Directly below it, you will see related items to your search query. I find myself much more exploratory with this added feature. Toying around with this will certainly help you to understand why this is such a useful addition to Google searches.


This interface is a very interesting way to navigate and explore historical events. It is very much self explanatory, and like the above method, it is a very exciting way to navigate around search results. Try it for yourself!

VPD Advertisement

Every day on my way to work, I see countless billboards. While many are easily forgotten, there are definitely a few that have caught my eye and remained in the back of my head for quite some time. The following one has managed to implant itself firmly in my head for well over 2 years now:


I do think that smart ads tend to pique interest easily, but sometimes (certain) ads just need to be extremely straightforward. This is very much so in the case of public service ads, like the one created by Vancouver advertising agency Rethink for Vancouver Police Department. The message is clear, to the point, and shockingly powerful.

Anisa Suthayalai

If you have taken a look at my site recently, or any time in the past really, you will notice that it is in a very sad state. I have been mulling over a design overhaul, or just any design really, to make it more presentable for a bit of my work. I knew I wanted a simple design, with a simple layout and straightforward navigation, so I embarked on a journey to look for a few personal sites for inspiration. Of my research, I found one that truly stood out among the rest in its elegance and simplicity. Take a look at the following screenshot of Anisa Suthayalai's portfolio:


Pay close attention to her navigation on the left - all her work has been sorted alphabetically and colour coded by category. Clicking on an entry will open up the relevant page on the right frame, tiled. The contact information is placed on the top left above the navigation, making it easily located when needed. Utterly uncluttered.

This is simplicity at its best!

GDC Stamp

I just realized today that I have not actually purchased a stamp for years now with the advent of email. I used to be fascinated with stamps, but never did I ever think about the process of creating one, from subject selection to the sketching and illustration. So, a brief research led me to the following design (from August 2006), which I was immediately drawn to:


From the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, "[t]he challenge of creating a design that would communicate the intrinsic nature of graphic design to the general public, as well as meet the demanding eye of the thousands of designers across the country (and around the world) fell to Vancouver-based Ion Design. Their design proposal was chosen from the various concepts presented to the Stamp Advisory Committee by 3 design firms who employ certified graphic designers (professional members of GDC, SDGQ or RGDON). [The intent of] both Ion partners David Coates FGDC and Rod Roodenburg MGDC... was to create an icon that represents the Canadian graphic design community using type and image. 'The beaver seemed a natural,' says... David Coates FGDC. 'Sir Sanford Fleming recognized that when he designed Canada’s first stamp. And we drew upon his original design for this stamp.'"

To learn more about Canadian stamps, go to Canada Post.

Jubes: Nata De Coco

According to Wikipedia, "Nata de coco is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food product produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water. Nata de coco is most commonly sweetened as a candy or dessert, and can accompany many things including pickles, drinks, ice cream, and fruit mixes".

When Jubes started creating this line of product, they wanted to portray it as a fun-to-eat dessert. Together with Kinetic in Singapore, they created a mascot to reflect this on the packaging:


"Cube-shaped like the product, [the mascot has] got his mouth open wide, as if chomping on the cubes within". The simple packaging design, with its myriad of fruity colours for each flavour, was very striking amid ostentatious packaging generally favoured by food products in the shelves of a local supermarket. Looking at it closer, it was certainly amusing enough for me to look up their website. The website was clearly designed to extend the notion of fun-ness, and it works:

Encyclopedia of Life

The web is rife with news about a project called Encyclopedia of Life (EoL). It is essentially a digital Noah's Ark, made to catalogue every known flora and fauna (somewhere around 2 million species) on our planet Earth.

"Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity."

The site will be akin to wikipedia, albeit much more media-rich, detailing "each organism's genome, geographic distribution, phylogenetic position, habitat, and ecological relationships". This is, without a doubt, a gargantuan project, with an understandably deep vessel of information to organise and present to readers. How?

Enter interactive services firm Avenue A | Razorfish. In addition to a short introductory video highlighting the project, they have created the website in about three shrot weeks. Take a look at the sample pages:


There are a few more demonstration pages here.

Architectural Association Poster

Architectural Association School of Architecture is the oldest independent school of architecture in the United Kingdom whose students include Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw among others. The school also boasts some highly respectable architectures on it roster of teahers (former and present), ranging from Zaha Hadid to Daniel Libeskind. When the teachers are such avant-garde ideologists, how does one design an appropriate poster to account for it?

Zak Kyes, the designer for the following posters, seems to have the answer for it:


"The AA Term posters are designed as a typographic 'waterfall' – an overload cloud of information announcing lectures, events and exhibitions from today's avant-garde architectural designers and theorists. A-Side contains names, dates and times. B-Side lists keywords which are also overprinted onto the front of the poster."


I especially find the idea of overprinting to be very effective, especially in the two rows of circles at the bottom of the first poster. The repetition of the shapes masking the flow of text gives the impression of looking through circular windows of a building - a wonderful inspiration point considering the subject and context.

RISD Yearbook

Yearbooks suffer a reputation of being drab objects offering a collection of faces teeming with boredom. The subjects look uncomfortable and awkward, with the sole purpose of reminding you the awful fads of the day and whatnot. That is, however, not the case with Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Here is a collaborative book project between several RISD graduates - Adriana Deleo-Stubbe, Joe Marianek, Ryan Waller, Lily Williams and Wyeth Hansen:


The rather unassuming cover does open to reveal collection of graduates, but with an art school twist:


According to Wyeth Hansen, "[the designers] organized and photographed around 500 students and made a sticker book out of their heads in which you could insert your friends into different 'college' situations as a sort of faux memory." It even comes with die cut stickers!

VFS Digital Design

The following is a collage of screen captures taken from an excellent short film on typography created by Boca and Ryan Uhrich (students of the Digital Design program at Vancouver Film School) called Typographics:


Here is what they have to say about the project (from mograph):

"Our objective was to use type as the main [aesthetic] and design element to create awareness about the evolution and main characteristics of typography. Both the music and voice over used in the piece make reference to 1950’s TV and Radio advertising. We are targeting designers and non designers who have an interest in typography and want to learn more about it."

YVR Rebrand

With new terminal facilities, YVR - Vancouver Airport Authority - has decided to rebrand. Some time ago, YVR created a survey and requested the public for feedback with regards to the their perception of the YVR brand. The results were that, while YVR certainly possesses a great reputation among us West Coasters, the old logo looked awfully dated and did not convey the whole YVR experience, especially with the new facilities (new gates, retail spaces and taxiway enhancements) and services (baggage system enhancements and the new Canada Line). This, I cannot agree more. Take a look at the old logo:


Overall, it seems time for a realignment. Personally, although the maple leaf has come to be used traditionally and recognisably to represent Canada, it does not represent Vancouver. I also find the small airplane at the end of the red line extending out from the leaf rather awkward. Furthermore, the font chosen for "Vancouver International Airport Authority" feels fussy and is, again, awkwardly placed.

The solution? YVR worked with local graphic design firm Hangar 18 to come up with an entire new look and tagline to reflect the new YVR experience. Take a look at the new logo:


According to YVR press release in March, "[t]he logo features a West Coast colour palette reflecting the land, sea and sky themes of the airport's modern facilities. An arc element references flight and the unique architectural elements of the buildings. For instance, the 'Y' mimics the distinctive columns seen throughout the Domestic and International terminals. A simple, adaptable tagline has been added to illustrate YVR's commitment to "going beyond" in every aspect of the business, from airport operations to customer service and more."

What do you think?

Amazon Product Description

I use Amazon regularly to look for books, but have never gotten used to the user interface after all this time. Here is a (large) screenshot of the product description page for Ellen Lupton's "Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students":


From the point of view of a regular user, I have come to automatically scroll through the page to (hopefully) find the sections where I need information from. This problem is but a chip of the entire block. I am very interested to find out what other areas that you think is problematic. I will revisit this issue from time to time with regards to problems and ideas to improve this user interface.

Creativity Annual

Creativity 36 will be publishing its 2006 compendium of all winning entries to the Creativity Annual Awards come this September. The following is a winning entry under the 'Print' category, created by YOU.I.

What makes these self advertising materials effective? Here is a more detailed version of the ad:


The concept is very straightforward: you have a series of dots representing each entity in your business field (your product, your competitor's product and your audience). In the ad, there are two black 'nodes' linked by YOU.I - one for 'design' and the other for 'audience'. Along with the tagline 'Communicate. Interact. Experience.', this is a clear indication that YOU.I is in the business of helping you reach your audience. They go on to explain the nature of their offering by highlighting the services they offer on the right, beside their URL.

That said, I cannot help but wonder if 'design' is the right title for the former node. I would imagine that 'your product' would provide for an even more accurate and direct description. I also think that the laundry list of services may be too long and buzzword-y. Overall though, I do think that the simplicity in concept made this ad an effective one.

What do you think?

Starting Fresh

I will be starting fresh soon.