Digital slingshot

July 29, 2010 at 11:18 am
Filed under Street Art, Technology, Wayfinding

VR/Urban, a Berlin-based collective of “public media interventionistas,” has created the SMS Slingshot, a device that combines the analog fun of an old-fashioned toy (weapon?) with the digital capabilities of media facades.

Photo: designboom

The device allows users to type an SMS message into the slingshot’s wooden keypad, then aim the laser at a media facade or digital screen and “shoot.” The text appears on the facade within a colored splash, and is also automatically Tweeted in real time.

VR/Urban, which provides a detailed description of the technology, says the concept gives users a means to “tag” or inhabit a world that is increasingly being filled with digital advertising screens.

This notion of digital push-back is fascinating. And think about the implications for wayfinding and other user-centered communications. Can you imagine visitors using similar devices to splash customized wayfinding directions through the corridors of a hospital, on the facades of university campus buildings, or on surfaces in other complex environments? –P.M.K.

segdDESIGN wins ASAE, Sappi awards

July 29, 2010 at 9:56 am

segdDESIGN, the international journal of environmental graphic design, recently won awards from the American Society of Association Executives and Sappi Fine Paper North America.

segdDESIGN received the ASAE’s Gold Circle Award for Excellence in Association Communications, Magazine category. segdDESIGN was the top magazine winner in the small association category. The Gold Circle Award competition is the premier association communications award. Entries are judged based on established criteria for excellence in association communications. More than 80 judges nationwide participated in the 2010 program.

segdDESIGN was also recognized in Sappi Fine Paper North America’s 2010 Printers of the Year competition. The magazine’s printer, The YGS Group (York, Pa.), received a Judges Award in the sheetfed category for the high quality of printing demonstrated by segdDESIGN.

Published quarterly by the SEGD staff, segdDESIGN is available in print and on the SEGD website. It is a free membership benefit for SEGD members. Subscriptions are available on the SEGD website or by calling 202.638.5555. The magazine is designed by Wayne-William Creative (Beacon, N.Y.). — P.M.K.

Those were the days…

July 27, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Filed under Misc.

SEGD Fellow Rich Burns was cleaning out some paperwork and ran across this gem from SEGD’s past. Titled “SEGD Connects Online with email and the Internet” and dated 1994, it offers helpful tips for the new information age.

Fave tip? ”Once you’re connected, check your email at least once a week. Think of email as a paperless communication that has a lower priority than a fax (you can print out information if you so desire). This should make it a low key communique that is fun to deal with because it’s so easy.” — A.M.

I’d like to buy a consonant…

July 27, 2010 at 9:35 am
Filed under Lighting, Signage

Funny things happen when sign lighting burns out. Thanks to SEGD member Sylvia Harris for the tip. — C.B.

For the next time you need to open a can of…

July 26, 2010 at 8:19 am

…inspiration. — A.M.

Green graphic art

July 26, 2010 at 7:50 am
Filed under Arts and Crafts, Green Related

Photos: designboom

Hungarian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Edina Tokodi is known for creating artwork using moss (thus her studio name, Mosstika). Her latest project incorporates a wooden frame and irrigation system layered over succulent plants, creating a dramatic, living work of art. –P.M.K.

Not to mention the egregious overuse of exclamation points

July 26, 2010 at 7:45 am
Filed under Typography

This came from passiveaggressivenotes.com. Nuff said. — A.M.

Hinge tape

July 23, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Filed under Misc.

“The clever and inventive minds of Jeong-Min Lee & Hyoung-Min Park of mmiinn, a design collective based in Seoul, South Korea, give tape an optical illusion of strength and security by printing a repetitive color image of hinges onto the 50mm by 45m tape.” — A.M.

Go ahead and play with your food

July 23, 2010 at 11:23 am

Thanks to a company called Luxirare, there’s a new way to play with your food. “Crayon” is a series of food bars (yes, I said food bars) shaped like your old Crayolas. They’re made from different foods of the same colors—dried, crushed to a powder, and fused together with marshmallow. You can even draw with them. I know. Check it out.  – P.M.K.

Wine barrel staves as flooring

July 22, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Filed under Green Related, Interior Design

“Fontenay Wood has created a line of flooring made from reclaimed wine barrels. The Cooperage collection uses the head of the barrel to display the markings unique to the wines stored inside. The Wine Infusion collection takes the unmarked pieces of wood and shows off the color variation that has developed during the wine making process. The Stave collection uses the outer sides of the barrel where the hoops have imprinted a distinct pattern.” — A.M.