Weekly Digest vol. 3

Retail design may indicate spring on the horizon, but we’re neck-deep in never-ending snow. To be honest though, I’m really okay with it. Don’t @ me.

Aside from snow, this week I have been doing a fair amount of thinking on design. As I continue to practice my illustration skills, I find myself thinking critically about designer vs. illustrator and the perceived assumption that we all know how to illustrate or letter. Reflected in those thoughts are my questions about design thinking and design as problem-solving—has the role of designer shifted to be more about their artistic skills and less about solid design foundations? In a field where designers become famous on Instagram and we all look at the same aesthetics rolling across our feeds, have we started to to prioritize certain skillsets over problem-solving and critical thinking? Or are we simply choosing those methods to execute our work and maintaining the same high-quality of design? I have a lot of questions along this vein and so have been doing a lot of reading. All that’s to say, you might see a few older articles around those ideas in this week’s list—design thinking was a hot topic a few years ago, but I think we could do with another round of criticism these days too.

Here’s some nuggets of articles, videos, and weirdo things to aid you in an incubation of your own:

What I’m reading:

Remembering the Perfect Partnership Between Karl Lagerfeld and His Cat, Choupette, by Kenzie Bryant, Vanity Fair, 2.19.2019
“All I could see was puppets”: Johnny Kelly on his series of sweet shorts for Cheerios, Ruby Boddington, It’s Nice That, 2.18.2019
The secret history of midcentury modern deign—as Cold War propaganda, Katharine Schwab, FastCompany, 2.12.2019
Trick your brain with these three brilliant techniques to make you more creative, Tom May, Creative Boom, 2.21.2019
Should More Graphic Designers Place Illustration Center Stage?, Madeleine Morley, Eye on Design, 2016
Why Design Thinking is bullshit, Natasha Jen, It’s Nice That, 2.23.2018
Why Design is Not Problem Solving + Design Thinking Isn’t Always the Answer, Rob Peart, Eye on Design, 2017
First Things First 2000: a design manifesto, published jointly by 33 signatories, fall 1999/spring 2000
An AI-powered Typeface that Looks Like Computer Handwriting, Liz Stinson, Eye on Design, 2.21.2019

What I’m Watching

One of four films gently encouraging kids to be kinder to each other. Cheerios and 72andSunny commissioned song-writer Walter Martin to write some lovely songs and I was given the task of directing them at Nexus Studios. More info (and sheet music!) here: www.rightontracks.com Links to the other films: https://vimeo.com/johnnykelly/stepup https://vimeo.com/johnnykelly/sitwithsomeonenew https://vimeo.com/johnnykelly/justbeyou Making of: https://vimeo.com/johnnykelly/rightontracks-makingof I roped in illustration collective Nous Vous to design the characters and handed them over to model maker Andy Gent and his team to bring them to life, creating a cast of 98 crazy little puppets. -- Credits: Client: Cheerios Title: Right on Tracks Agency: 72andSunny Executive Creative Director: Justine Armour Creative Director: Devon Hong Senior Writer: Eric Dennis Senior Writer: Hunter Fine Senior Designer: Gustavo Dao Senior Designer: Jon Randazzo Group Brand Director: Sveta Doucet Brand Director: Caitlin Patrick Brand Director: Alexia Schwartz Brand Manager: Dylan Levy Brand Manager: Blake Eisenberg Brand Coordinator: Anne MacKay Director of Production: Lora Schulson EP, Interactive: Vishal Dheiman EP, Film: Julia Lafferty Producer: Samira Mostofi Interactive Producer: Erica Kirsch Sr Partnerships & Legal: Marissa Burnett Production Company: Nexus Studios ECD / Co-Founder: Chris O’Reilly Director: Johnny Kelly Senior Producer: Isobel Conroy Production Manager: Rebecca Archer Lead / Supervisor: Mark Davies Character Design: Nous Vous Environment Design: Callum Strachan 1st Assistant Director: George Cassavetti Director Of Photography: Matthew Day Camera Assistant: Toby Goodyear DIT: Matthew Hutchings Gaffer: Max Halstead Puppet and Set Fabrication: Andy Gent Art Department: Marina Ralph, Mich Chippington, Robin Jackson, Sofia Serrano, Nadine Patterson, Colin Armitage, Peter le Pard, Tom Sinden, Maggie Hayden, Nathalie Ellner, Jade Gerrard, Ola Kucharska Lead Puppeteer: Matthew Cooper Assistant Puppeteer: Molly Freeman CRS Studio Managers: Elizabeth Day, Jen Newman BTS Cameraman: James Alexander Catering: Konrad & Cissi Hammarborg 2D Animation: Alasdair Brotherston Compositing / Tracking: Germán Díez, Ken Hau, Chris Glew, Ewelina Freuer, Gareth Tredrea, Gökçecan Gürsoy, Robin Yoojin Rhee, Peter Bailey Editor: David Slade Music: Walter Martin Music Supervisor: Jessica Dierauer Sound Design And Mix: Mark Hills @ Factory Special Thanks: Elizabeth Day

Created by Konstantin Gordienko Camera Yevgeniy Sakhno Edit Konstantin Gordienko Post Maxim Rozumnyi Color Olga Domashenko Gaffer Denis Shevchenko Style Tanya Gordienko

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