PUBLISHERS NOTES:
Here Comes The Sun
Is Seasonal Affected Disorder a real condition or an invented one (think Restless Leg Syndrome)? I tend to believe SAD is real because when the sun makes its occasional sojourn to Manhattan, I am less inclined to cynicism, better able to tolerate the bull(*#@*) so prevalent in this industry, and I get a hankerin' to report some good news. Lucky for me, there's good news to report. According to the new Industry Measure Business Conditions Index for the creative market, confidence is up, up, up, up for the fourth consecutive survey and at its highest point since the annus horribulis of 2001. More than one-fourth of all respondents said their business in the past 12 months has been "excellent, better than the last 12 months," and more than one-half said it was "OK, about the same." A scant 4% said things were very bad and worse than last time around. Everyone kicked up their heels in celebration including Graphic Design Firms, Advertising Agencies and Inhouse Design Departments. And just like that, my hankerin' is satisfied. For more about The Industry Measure, contact http://www.theindustrymeasure.com.
Google Rules
According to a recent Hitwise report, Google and Yahoo! captured 86 percent of all U.S. searches in the month of April. Add in MSN and Ask.com and you are at roughly 98 percent. At the bottom of performance scale, 47 other search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool racked up less than 2 percent of U.S. searches. Google, alone among the majors continues to grow search share, and alone represents 65 percent of the total number of searches. No one likes an entrepreneurial story more than me but, at the risk of sounding paranoid, didn't we used to have antitrust laws in this country? And at the risk of sounding even more paranoid, aren't these are the same guys who rolled over the minute the Chinese government asked them to distort and suppress recent political history? (On Google China, Tienamin Square is simply a tourist destination.) More on the implications of Google domination next month unless, of course, Google wants to buy GDUSA (magazine and enewsletters) for an ungodly sum just to keep us quiet. I'm just saying.
— Gordon Kaye
AWARDS NEWS: ADOBE IS EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR
June 8 is the final extension for entries in GDUSA's 31st American Graphic Design Awards program. Once again, we are honored to have Adobe (home to industry leading software such as the newly launched Adobe Creative Suite 3 and to industry standard services such as Adobe Stock Photos) as the exclusive corporate sponsor for the awards program and the upcoming 300-page design annual. For more information or to download an entry form, please visit... http://www.gdusa.com/contests/agda2.php
GRAPHIC DESIGN NEWS
New York NY: Chip Kidd has won the 2007 National Design Award in communications design. Announced by Cooper-Hewitt director Paul Warwick Thompson, the awards program recognizes excellence across various design disciplines. Known for his work in the design and literary worlds, Kidd has been creating book jackets for Alfred A. Knopf for more than 20 years. Working in close collaboration with such authors as Cormac McCarthy, Orhan Pamuk, David Sedaris, Jay McInerney and John Updike, he has helped "spark a revolution in the art of American book packaging." Category finalists were C&G Partners, a firm founded by Steff Geissbuhler, Keith Helmetag, Emanuela Frigerio and Jonathan Alger; and Paula Scher, principal in the New York office of Pentagram since 1991. Adobe was honored for Corporate Achievement for use of design as a strategic tool and for advancing the relationship between design and quality of life. An October 18 gala, with Laura Bush as honorary patron, is planned. www.nationaldesignawards.org
 New York: The hot Brazilian flip-flop brand Havaianas gets its first global advertising campaign by BBDO New York. Once the footwear of the Brazilian working class, it has become a high fashion item with an emphasis on color and design. To create a buzz in New York, BBDO commissioned building-sized murals at multiple locations with lots of color and giant-sized 3D rubber thongs hanging from the murals. Print advertising with a South American feel (created by Almap BBDO), animated user-generated online films and a traveling flip-flop history exhibit a the Time Warner Center round out the introduction. Mural credits to Chief Creative Officers David Lubars and Bill Bruce; Art Directors James Clunie and Chuck Tso; Art Producer Bronwen Gilbert; Photography Billy Siegrist; Retoucher Steve Lakeman and Artist/Illustrator Mcfaul.
Sante Fe NM: M&C Saatchi LA is responsible for an advertising campaign entitled "The Best Place In The Universe. New Mexico, Earth." All the elements of the campaign, which includes print and outdoor with the same theme, show reptilian aliens dressed as tourists and, for example, playing golf or visiting the desert. Huw Griffith is agency ceo and Jay Gundzik the senior art director. Alien costumes are credited to Stan Winston, who worked on Predator, Jurassic Park, Terminator and Aliens. http://www.newmexicoearth.org
 Seattle WA: remerinc is behind a new global interactive campaign created for Getty Images. The two-month promotional campaign builds awareness and trial for a family of products that address the needs of creatives and developers who create and execute materials for web and interactive projects. Print and online advertising along with targeted email executions encourage creatives to visit a microsite. The campaign is executed in six languages across more than a dozen markets. "We wanted to demonstrate that Getty Images speaks the same language as the clients they serve," said remerinc CEO and Creative Director, Dave Remer. "Since 'code' is something that is in their daily vernacular, we feel they'll really be drawn to it visually. And who better to speak in code and address internet imagery than a company that designs and markets a global site 365 days a year?"Adds Getty Images' Vice President of Product Marketing, Robert Gubas, "Creatives are under tremendous pressure to design and create sites in record time. Not to mention refresh creative campaign elements on a moment's notice in this read-and-react environment. We have a set of products that creatives can rely on to make their job easier." Andrea Jones, remerinc Vice President of Strategy & Client Services, observes: "With a web-centric product offering, we wanted a media mix that provides considerable weight to online executions. We mixed the traditional creative sites with those that may be considered less mainstream — where creatives visit when they need inspiration." gettyimages.com/webimages
Sewickley PA: As the summer heats up, so does the program schedule for Mission: Possible—A Mutual Strategy for Creatives and Printers. The one day seminar helps creatives and printers communicate more effectively to reduce delays, frustrations, and cost, with particular attention to how creatives can boost their image file preparation and technical know-how to produce effective pieces that will keep your customers smiling. Events are scheduled for Denver (June 7), Seattle (June 19), Vancouver BC (June 21), New York (June 26) and Atlanta (June 28). GDUSA is the design publication sponsor of the series. Details and registration materials can be found at www.missionpossible07.com
 TAKE FIVE! CAREER TIPS FROM THE CREATIVE GROUP
The company picnic may be a bit passé for design professionals, according to a new Creative Group survey. When advertising and marketing executives were asked to describe the most unusual team-building activities they have heard of or participated in, they gave a wide range of responses. Following are five of them:
1. "The staff went to a gardening store and built a creative project with $9 worth of materials."
2. "We had an office decorating contest, and the winner won a cruise."
3. "We designed a miniature golf course and played it."
4. "Our department built a race car."
5. "We held our own dog show."
The Creative Group is a specialized staffing service placing creative, advertising, marketing and web professionals on a project basis. For more team-building activities, visit our web site. www.creative group.com
TRENDSPOTTING
Assimilationists:
Mexican and Mexican American consumers have a higher expectation for package design as they become more assimilated into the U.S. culture. That is the basis behind a package redesign project hitting store shelves for Gamesa, the largest cookie manufacturer in Mexico and a subsidiary of Frito-Lay. UNO, a Hispanic design and promotion agency beat out incumbent Landor. Says Strategic Marketing Director Carlos Fuentes of UNO: "After several consumer studies, we found that the issue was not the quality of the cookies, the price point, or even the distribution of the cookies. The problem was the packaging. Mexican and Mexican-American consumers had a higher expectation in package design as they became more assimilated into the U.S. culture... Despite intense brand loyalty, these consumers gravitate away from their core Mexican brands as they become more assimilated. In these instances, the brand needs to adapt as their core consumers change the buying patterns and expectations." More on this project — which includes an entirely new brand architecture and a series of restyled and updated icons and characters — in an upcoming issue of our magazine.
Boomers Refuse To Leave:
The median age of baby boomers is now roughly 52, well past marketing's conventional threshold of 18-49 demographic relevance. But Unilever consumer research has revealed the group remains, as Eileen Kozin, director-consumer futures, told Ad Age, "a huge target, and they're not going away. They're still going to be influential as they get older, and they've got the money to spend." Unilever's researchers found that though only 45% of households today are boomers, because of their higher spending power they account for 60% of spending on package goods. Statistically speaking, they will continue to buy most the company's products for the next decade, well beyond the relevance horizon of the average brand manager. Moreover, boomers are likely to retire later, work more after formal retirement and have far more disposable income than any prior generation of retirees. The estimated 78 million boomers in the U.S. spend $46 billion annually on package-goods products, according to Information Resources Inc. Various published estimates have put their total spending power at $2 trillion annually.
Design Matters
Hewlett Packard is learning the hard-won business lesson that design matters. Its effort to transform its personal computers from low-margin commodities into more stylish devices has started to pay off with revenue increases and higher profit margins from the PC division. Experts give credit to Todd Bradley of HP, who noted a shift in consumer preferences to notebooks from desktops and realized that design could increase sales. "We didn't believe that the PC had to be a commoditized product," Mr. Bradley said. "It could be a desirable accessory to you as an individual." Samir Bhavnani, research director of Current Analysis West, a market research firm based in San Diego, is quoted as saying that the company"was very wise in understanding that as the market shifts from desktops to notebooks, that style mattered... HP is like the plain girl from high school that you see three years later and she is a bombshell..." Dell, largely responsible for making the PC a commodity, has also begun paying more attention to styling. Alex Gruzen, a former HP executive who heads Dell's PC operations, said: "It has always been about value, not about who has it cheapest. Now, in the marketplace what is valued is great design."
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Now-June 23: The annual Arena Stage campaign has become an instantly recognizable and widely admired anthology of contemporary illustration. Favorite Arena Stage illustrations can be seen in an exclusive exhibit at the Society of Illustrators. www.societyillustrators.org
June 6-8: The Design Management Institute's 19th Brand Design Conference, looking a cross-discipline collaboration, in Chicago at the Drake Hotel. www.dmi.org
June 7: The BoNE Show Award Ceremony, at MassArt, showcasing New Englands's best work of the past two years. www.boneshow.org
June 7: PIA/GATF takes its popular Mission: Possible—A Mutual Strategy for Creatives and Printers on the road. The tour continues on June 7 in Denver and continues throughout the country. GDUSA is the design publication sponsor; Adobe, Apple, Kodak, Sun Chemical, Quark and ICS are corporate sponsors. www.missionpossible07.com
June 11-17: San Francisco Design Week, held by AIGA SF will include studio tours, a lecture by Elliott Earls and a reception and awards presentation. www.sfdesignweek.org
June 12-14: The 2007 Promax/BDA Conference for broadcast designers and promotion types hosts keynoter Bill Clinton. Other speakers include Kenneth Cole, John Waters, Lauren Zalaznick, and Bob Greenberg. www.promax.tv
June 20: AIGA NY presents Design Remixed: John Gruber at the Apple Store in New York's Soho district. Gruber writes and publishes Daring Fireball, a strongly opinionated weblog for Mac, web, and interface pros. www.aigany.org
June 21: InSource, the association for corporate creatives, sponsors "Generating Ideas That Stick." It takes place at SAS World Headquarters in Cary NC, and features Dan Heath, who wrote the book on why some ideas survive and others die. Extremely relevant to inhouse design departments. http://www.in-source.org
June 21: The 2007 Annual Design Ain't Pretty Awards Show will take place in Portland CT under the tutelage of the Connecticut Art Directors Club. www.cadc.org
June 28: AIGA hosts an event in the Tropicana Field Party Deck, including a Devil Rays vs. White Sox game ticket, open bar and meet-and-greet with Rays executives on community outreach and branding initiatives. www.aiga.org
July 5-August 28: Gregg Gallery of Art + Design hosts the traveling exhibition of the BOOM Awards, the best design of North Carolina. Opening night reception will be July 12. www.aiga.org
July 9-11: Throughout the AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference participants will hear presenters speak to the ability of good marketing strategy to dramatically improve business outcomes and societal well-being. All at the Mandarin Oriental, Washington DC. www.themarketingfoundation.org
July 12: Come join your fellow AIGA Minnesota members and enjoy some Cocktails with Creatives at Joe's Garage. www.minnesota.aiga.org
July 12-August 22: The School of Visual Arts presents "The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama." The exhibition reflects artists' interpretations of the Dalai Lama and explores his multiple roles and inconic status, and how his work and idenity resonate. www.sva.edu
July 17: The Type Directors Club presents the New York opening of the exhibition of winning entries for the most recent competitions, TDC53 and TDC2 2007. www.tdc.org
August 1-5: SOTA's ninth annual TypeCon conference is set for Seattle, offering great presentations and panel discussions, hands-on workshops, tours and special events. www.typecon.com
August 9-12: At Image, Space, Object 2007: People Centered Brand Experiences, presented by Rocky Mountain College and AIGA, small teams of participants and studio mentors work to create multi-dimensional enviornments, human interactions and brand stategies. www.aiga.org
September 19: The fourth annual Design Legends Gala will honor... well, um... design legends Edward Fella, Ellen Lupton, Bruce Mau and Greg Olden. www.aiga.org
September 29-October 2: The University & College Designers Association presents its 37th Design Conference in Toronto. Conference includes speakers, hands-on workshops, studio tours and publication reviews. www.ucda.com
October 14-20: National Design Week promotes a better understanding of the role design plays in all aspects of daily life. Several national design winners, including Chip Kidd for Communications Design, have been selected for honors through the auspices of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. www.nationaldesignawards.org
PRODUCT NEWS
Digital Print Kits: SMART Papers has created a compact print demonstration kit to help printers and designers ensure they're picking the right paper for the digital presses they use-and for the print job at hand. The three kits show individual print samples on a variety of papers for their specific digital press. The papers demonstrated are the flagship Kromekote family as well as Knightkote Matte, Pegasus and Carnival paper brands. "For the first time, printers and designers can choose digital papers for OEM-branded digital presses with total confidence," says president and coo Dan Maheu. The papers are for HP Indigo, Xerox iGen3 and Kodak NexPress. Contact: www.smartpapers.com/digital or call 513.869.5149.
Take Me Home: The Microtek ScanMaker s450, with a suggested retail price of $99, has a slim design and a broad set of features to meet the diverse needs of a home office. "The Microtek ScanMaker s450 is a versatile scanner designed for the home office," said Parker Plaisted, manager of product marketing for Microtek. "With both photo imaging and document imaging features, this scanner fully supports the needs of a digital lifestyle." It is compatible with both Mac and Windows environments. Contact: www.microtekusa.com.
Designer Feedback: Neenah Paper has released the first revision of its two-year old EAMES™ Paper Collection. The revisions are in direct response to feedback provided by designers from across the nation, and are intended to expand use of the line from special occasions to everyday uses as well. Changes include the addition of Neenah's popular Solar White, double thick cover weights and the addition of a technologically sophisticated vellum sheet. "We wanted designers to use the paper, not hang it on the wall like artwork," says Wright. "So we knew changes were needed so that people would not get stuck in the notion that the EAMES Collection was for the exceptional need rather than the everyday use." www.neenahpaper.com.
Commitment to Education: Agfa Graphics announces that, as part of its commitment to education and research in the graphic communications industry, it has donated an :ApogeeX 3.5 workflow management system and :Azura chemistry-free thermal plates to the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) for the group to use in many of its popular and innovative programs. Agfa, an advocate of advanced research & development, continuous education, and creative growth, and a long-time supporter of PIA/GATF, has made many donations to the organization in the past. PIA/GATF is headquartered in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. www.agfa.com.
SFI For Stora: Stora Enso has announced that six of its North American mills have achieved third party chain-of-custody certifications for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. The company reports that it is the first coated paper manufacturer in North America to achieve SFI Chain-of-Custody certification. www.storaenso.com/na.
COMING NEXT WEEK
Coming next week in a special GDUSA Enewsletter, Part Two of our inaugural Internet Design Reader Survey. This is a first for GDUSA, as we released Part One of the reader survey online last month. It's all sponsored by Getty Images.
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