GDUSA NewsletterMay 2011

MAC VERSUS PC 2011

Like zombies or birthers, Mac v. PC debates pop up just when you think they're buried forever. A new one, instigated by the social media site Hunch, focuses less on technological differences than about what owning one or the other says about the users. The stereotype, of course, is that Mac people are hipper than their PC brethren and the new Hunch poll fleshes out the generalization. Among the findings: Mac users are younger, more liberal, more urban, more iconoclastic, are bigger partiers, prefer chic over casual, hummus over hamburgers, indies over Hollywood, Vespas over Harleys, and HuffPost over CNN.com. One area where Mac and PC types agree? Both groups say that fighting over the relative merits of the operating systems, long the bread and butter of tech blogs and trade pubs, has become pointless and/or tedious. Amen to that.
 
– Gordon Kaye

Graphic Design News

STRONGER VOICE
New York-based multidisciplinary design studio Hinterland recently redesigned Rotunda, a magazine for the members of the American Museum of Natural History. The publication delivers coverage of the museum's exhibitions, programs, collections, and scientific research while encouraging continued membership. The goal of the redesign was to update the bimonthly newsletter to a quarterly magazine with a stronger editorial voice and a dynamic visual style befitting the membership publication of a world-class museum.

WHAT DO THE RICH READ?
At least until the 250K+ crowd gets their magazine money taxed, they are still reading periodicals in large numbers. According to Adweek's Magazine Hot List (April 26), the most read rich person's magazine is People, the favorite is The New Yorker, and the one they spend the most time with is Forbes. Only National Geographic and Consumer Reports shows up in all three lists and, perhaps reflecting the times, Costco Connection is the number two most read publication.

READY FOR PRIMETIME
Jenn David Connolly of Jenn David Design cooked up a comprehensive identity for the Clean Street Food truck. The logo features an illustration of gourmet chef Jack Harding, the red and yellow colors signify quick-serve food, the cityscape says urban, and all the other graphic elements put an entirely gourmet spin on it. The truck was featured in CBS primetime during a recent episode of CSI: NY.

CAFFEINATED DESIGN
UK graphics and branding agency THERE recently created a giant edible installation for Nescafe. One spring day the design team made 7,320 cups of coffee (plus milk for coloring) to create this celebration of Nescafe Gold.

REWARDING BREW
A new visual identity for Carlsberg is the creative work of integrated ad agency Fold7. It is part of a global repositioning of the premium beer as a reward accomplishment. A modernized logo features a more vibrant green, while an alloy of gold and silver has replaced the antique gold. A "Brewer's Star," hop leaf and words "Copenhagen 1847" are part of the new identity.

GRAPHICS PEOPLE
Jim Elliott has been named Creative Creative Officer of Y&R New York from Goodby, Silverstein... Lucien Yang fits nicely as Art Director at Nice Shoes... Bill Dussinger, after a dozen years at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, now makes Penny Lane Graphics a full-time endeavor... Edwin Schlossberg of interactive environments and Caroline Kennedy fame, is appointed to the federal Commission of Fine Art by President Obama... Erik Herter is upped to Senior Designer at Poulin+Morris... ForgeWorldwide adds Mike Pilato as Creative Director in Boston...

More in the May 2011 GDUSA magazine.

CAPITAL FELLOWS
For their contributions to design excellence and development of the profession, AIGA DC recently named Rodney Williams and Tamera Lawrence as recipients of the AIGA DC Fellow Award.

Take Five! Career Tips

From The Creative Group

Tell Me About Yourself

Recent grads who want to land a job in the creative field should be prepared to ace the interview: 35 percent of advertising and marketing executives polled by our company said this meeting carries the most weight when evaluating applicants for entrylevel roles. Following are five interview questions you should be prepared to answer:

1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Develop a 30-second elevator pitch, summarizing your design skills, accomplishments and academic/internship experience.

2. What's your biggest weakness? Mention the weakness and describe the steps you've taken to improve.

3. Why do you want to work here? Research the company thoroughly, and then weave beyond-the-basics information into your answer.

4. What piece of information is not in your resume, cover letter or portfolio that you think I should know? This is a good opportunity to talk about a hobby or passion that relates to the job in some way.

5. Do you have any questions? Asking one or two targeted questions at this point of the interview demonstrates your interest in the position and may shed additional light on the intricacies of the job.

The Creative Group is a specialized staffing service placing creative, advertising, marketing and interactive professionals on a project basis. For more information, please visit creativegroup.com. Connect with The Creative Group at facebook.com/thecreativegroup or twitter.com/creativegroup.