Candice Olson has a new show, titled, “Candice Tells All.” I have to say, I miss her old show, “Divine Design.” Candice’s old show focused on design, showing Candice in her studio drawing room elevations and choosing finishes. The old show did not worry about the tactics of construction and install, but more on the design process and final product. The new show is about Candice finding inspiration from others—using the color black was inspired by a Mies van der Rohe skyscraper and Candice’s friend a fashion designer. This part of the show isn’t so bad. But the majority of the show is focused on construction and the “problems” that her team solves along the way. I put problems in quotation marks because the problems are actually common sense knowledge a contractor/designer should have. Like:

1. Not pre-measuring doorways and furniture to make sure it will be able to move in. On the first episode, the team shoved a piece of furniture up the stairs, scuffing and ripping up the walls. That’s just embarrassing.
2. Spending 10 minutes on the show trying to figure out how to install a fireplace without installing gas lines. Ding! (ten minutes later) the crew realizes they can install a clean burning, vent-less ethanol fireplace. Duh.
3. Doing a “primer test” to see which primer will be the best to use as a base over wood paneling—the cheap stuff or the stuff designed for this purpose. Painting it on the walls and then coming back after it has dried to see which primer passes the “scratch test.” Just buy the right product the first time. And if you’re trying to educate the audience, have one of the contractors talk to the camera, explaining they purchased the type of primer that is best suited for wood paneling.
4. Needing to tear down an entire ceiling to install recessed lights because there is plumbing up there. This should not be a surprise to a contractor. The show should showcase the knowledge of it’s contractors and designers, not dumb them down to show “problem solving” to the audience. Oh shoot, Candice needs to do another lighting plan. “And I hate doing lighting plans and extra work,” exclaims Candice.

When Candice says things like, “Hopefully we won’t have any more surprises,” it just further proves my point that the “problems” are built into the show. The fake problems (and don’t even get me started on the fake hair bun) are enough to keep me from tuning in.

This is what I think happened. Candice’s contract was up. And she decided she wanted to work less and get paid more. So she hired design assistants (who do all the work). And then Candice just shows up on TV for discussion. It’s likely that the producers changed the show’s format based on the success of other shows like “Holmes on Homes” and David Bromstad’s “Color Splash.” But it doesn’t work for Candice.

What happened to Candice’s brain, personality and humor? And what about Chico the electrician? Candice’s new project manager Steve is super boring. I miss the “swee daw” intro music. I miss the focus on design thinking and finishing options. But mostly, I miss the smart and funny Candice.

One more word on the fake hair bun—Candice, you’re not fooling anyone. We all know you don’t have long enough hair to wind up into a giant hair bun. Especially when we see you in a scene with the bun and the next scene is a nubby pony tail.

Basically, the producers have dumbed down the show to appeal to a different audience. And that new audience is not me.

The first time I saw the Trident Layers TV ad, I commented on how stupid/silly it was. The second time I saw it I decided it was genius.

For the first time, in a long time, a TV ad compelled me to purchase a product (most of the time, I think ads subconsciously affect me). So I made a conscious decision to by the Trident Layers next time I went to the store.

In the Target check out aisle, I remembered to buy some. My check-out aisle was out of the gum. I had to check five more registers before I found a pack of gum! The ad is definitely working!

I opened the gum right after the checker scanned it. My first impressions of the gum were good. After unwrapping the cellophane outer wrapper, the scent of strawberry wafted through the air. I was impressed by the packaging, which features embossing and roll out effect with pouches for the sticks of foil wrapped gum.

And now for the taste test. For the first thirty seconds of chewing, the flavor of strawberry is powerful and almost overwhelming! The flavor dulls down to a fresh, yet fruity flavor which lasts much longer than I’m even willing to chew the gum.

Trident gets an “A” for advertising, an “A” for packaging and an “A” for product. Well done.

Tweet. Tweet. This is my twitter post from 8:45 PM Mar 31st

The lecture was great. Ellen Lupton is a great speaker, plus she had the whole audience laughing out loud! Best speaker of the series.

Ellen spoke at the Walker Art Center in March for their Insights Lecture series. Seriously, I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard an audience at a design lecture laugh like that. It was awesome. At the lecture, she showed us a sneak peek of her book Design Your Life: The pleasures and perils of everyday things. She co-authored the book with her sister Julia. I knew I had to get the book. I went to Barnes & Noble last week to buy father’s day gifts and sought out the book. And I found it. And I devoured it. In about three days.

The book is wittily written with a conversational tone. And humor is sprinkled liberally on-top. The page layout of the book is wonderful. The short bursts of writing are punctuated with beautiful illustrations making this book a designer’s favorite. Easy to read and understand, this book does not stand upon a design soap box. It’s real. And unpretentious. The authors are obviously down-to-earth and live in our reality. The book entertained and informed me.

It inspired me to recycle all the software, electronic and camera boxes that litter my office closets. I kept the boxes, because…well…what if? Then, while I was reading this book, I came to the following revelation, “What if WHAT!!!” Why do I need the box from my computer that I purchased two years ago? To return it??!!! It was with great pleasure that I organized the instruction manuals into a small plastic box and watched my husband haul the empty boxes to the curb. Then, I used the newly gained shelf space to organize the pile of books lying beside my bed.

My favorite chapter starts on page 101, “The Myth of the Working Mother.” I’m not a mother. But I do think about one day becoming one. And I’m pretty sure I want to be a working mommy. I’m also pretty sure I do not want to be a little league mom. I knew Ellen and I are kindred spirits when I read the paragraph with the heading, “Sports Purgatory.” The illustration next to the paragraph is a baseball mitt flipping the bird. An excerpt from the paragraph reads, “Too much exposure to organized sports can cause bloating, hot flashes, and bad hair days in mothers, while fathers have reported sudden delusions of candor.”

I knew Ellen and I shared similar thinking after I attended her lecture. And now, after reading this book, I realized that we are actually BFFs separated by not having ever met and 1,113 miles.

Go out and get yourself a copy of the book. And visit the site www.design-your-life.org

For me as a designer, going on a field trip to visit a print vendor is like unleashing me in Wonka’s chocolate factory. The experience begins as I walk in the door. The smells of the inks and varnishes waft through my nostrils, much like the smells of melting chocolate circulate the air in Wonka’s world. I breathe it in. Weird? Yes. But I love it!

Next starts the tour: all the machines are humming, churning out printed goods. The printing warehouse is a perfect 72 degrees and humidity controlled to reduce static. As a fan of the TV show How it’s Made, you can bet that I love watching the printing presses pull paper and the folding machines fold. Every print tour I go on is as much fun as the last.

But today’s tour was different. I went to Carlson Print Group in Eden Prairie, MN. They have a new toy. It’s a 6-color Roland printing press. This may not sound super exciting until I tell you that it can print in-line with FOIL! Yes, they are printing with ink on foil. It’s definitely one of the coolest techniques I’ve seen in a long time.

Let me tell you how it works. First, the press pulls a sheet and it rolls through the first zone, where a gray colored glue is applied only in the places designed for foil. Next, it rolls through the second zone, where the foil is applied to the glue. Then the sheet rolls through the final zones where ink is printed over the foil. This press can even UV coat in-line and the finished sheet comes off the press bone dry.

The people at Carlson Print Group have put together some amazing pieces to show off what they can do with this printing technique. I’ve taken some photos of their pieces (see below) but the photographs just don’t do it justice. The subtle metallic foil shifts in the light, flashing and reflecting as I rotate the piece in my hands. If you are a business or a designer who is interested in using this technique, give Gloria a call and she’ll hook you up.

Carlson Print Group: 952.886.3400

I love going to design lectures at the Walker Art Center. I enjoy observing and understanding other people’s world views and opinions. I like to hear about design issues, challenges and solutions. I appreciate the connection I have with a speaker just because we are both designers and can laugh about the same scenarios that happen where ever you work.

Designers crave control. We see our ideas birthed, coddled and then released into the big, bad world. We create brand standards because we don’t want bad things to happen to good design.

To me, the most interesting concept in this lecture was that the Obama campaign didn’t police their logo. The campaign wanted to empower their supporters, so they made the logo available for download on the website. During the course of the election, the Obama logo appeared everywhere: in grafitti on a traffic sign, on homemade lawn signs and even cut into a hairstyle! There were people who altered the logo, both good and bad. My favorite alteration of the logo is the “Pirates for Obama” t-shirt (see photo below). There was even a website created called Logobama where you could personalize the Obama logo with a photo of your face!

The reason the Obama campaign didn’t police the usage of their logo is two fold. One: their grassroots effort and need to empower supporters was important. Two: They had more important priorities, like gaining support, registering voters and ultimately getting Obama elected to office.

Which brings me to my point. The lecture reminded me that we as designers need to choose our battles. Is a design going to always remain true to our brilliant concept? Maybe not. Sometimes we need to make decisions for the greater good that may undermine design rules but do right by our clients. For Scott Thomas, design director of the Obama campaign, it was far more important to get the message out than to nit pick the imperfections and dilly daddle on disseminating.

The lecture was good. Paul Schmelzer was moderator. He introduced the topic of campaign design by relating back to Minnesota elections such as Wellstone, Ventura, and Humphrey. Sol Sender is the creator of the Obama campaign logo. He showed us the other design ideas that his team conceived. Scott Thomas was the design director of the Obama campaign, focusing primarily on web communications. He discussed how keeping things simple is the best way to a great result. I give the lecture two thumbs up for presenting relevant information and making me think.

The documentary film opens with a scene on a manufacturing floor. I heard the hum of the machines. Saw hydraulic robots set in motion. Tiny white plastic pellets drained from a large container. I could almost smell the melting plastic. A molded plastic chair was born.

How often do people think about the life of objects surrounding them? The manufacture, use and demise of the object. I think about the design of objects more often than the average person. Function and form are always top of mind. This is largely due to being born into a family of engineers but also due to my career as a graphic designer. This documentary pushed me to think deeper. I was intellectually stimulated, entertained and informed. The designers interviewed are sharp, the photography is interesting and the music is modern. I give Objectified by Gary Hustwit two thumbs up. This is a must see!

The general theme of the movie is design for want versus design for need. The following paragraphs are a little food for thought on the things I gleaned from the movie. (I want to watch it again because I will probably get so much more out of it a second time!)

1. Most people don’t think about the objects surrounding them as having been designed. People tend to think about the stories that have been embedded in objects, through life experiences with the objects or through marketing—before the object has even been purchased, a story is linked to the object. Most of the designers featured in the film discussed the need to understand people and what they need before beginning the design process. In my line of work, I design for a target audience. Some product designers are designing for the extremes, not the target, with the thought that the middle will take care of itself. For example, if you design a potato peeler with arthritis in mind, the tool is also going to be easier for the average person to use.

2. Design is moving from the tangible (a spoon or a chair, which have a very specific form to follow their function) toward the intangible (microchip embedded objects like the iPhone which can accomplish many tasks all in one object.)

3. To become better designers, we need to observe the actions humans make unconsciously, with out thinking. Designs based on this behavior make a seamless experience for the user.

4. All designed objects eventually end up in landfills. Designers today are thinking more and more about how their designed object behaves after people have used it up and tossed it out. Thinking about an object from cradle to grave makes one wonder why objects that are obsolete the day after they are purchased are produced to be permanent. Karim Rashad, a designer interviewed in the film, went as far as to ask why his cell phone wasn’t made out of cardboard. People get bored and want new and improved objects almost constantly, so why produce “disposable” objects as permanent?

5. One of the designers in the film discussed his desire to create a marketing campaign to tell people to just enjoy the objects they already have. If a natural disaster were to strike, which objects would you want to save? Most would save the objects that have meaning and tell their story.

I’ve changed my shopping habits in the past year, due the state of the current situation, personally and globally. I used to shop all the time. Always browsing, I knew exactly what the stores had on their shelves. Now, I’ve removed myself from the stores, thus removing the temptation to purchase. Because of this, I’ve discovered I’m much more judgmental of an object I’m going to purchase. I think more, versus just shopping on a whim. And now, having seen this film, I think I will scrutinize objects further. Which is a good thing. Everyone should consume with the mind of a critic.

Gary Hustwit also made the documentary Helvetica. If you haven’t seen it, watch it! For more information, visit objectifiedfilm.com and helveticafilm.com.