Fluidesign Blog

Aside from the HILARIOUS 404 copy we write internally, PATRICK is especially gifted in this area, this is one of the best I’ve seen. It’s a fantastic example of how to make your users feel warm and fuzzy when there’s some weird error on your site. I happened on this page and instead of feeling like their site was broken, it instead felt like a helpful hint to get me on my way. How special.

from (DON’T JUDGE, I swear I don’t read mommy blogs… yet. I innocently clicked a link on another blog. And then I couldn’t help snooping around. I SWEAR.) Simple Mom.

I can’t recall an election where so many young, creative people were so motivated by and interested in and excited about politics. Or at least a candidate. This isn’t an analysis without variables, mind you… our bff the internet has played a major roll in getting people fired up about a national cause. But still. Let’s look at some non-candidate sponsored items available for purchase today…

It started with the now famous Shepard Fairey illustration, which has since become sort of the unofficial logo of the campaign. (the poster is no longer available, but you can get stickers here).

And turned into this:

Look how many creative, talented people (and this is just a smattering of what’s available) are putting their skills to work to support their candidate for president. Outstanding! I mean, really, the first time that I can remember seeing people actually personally invested in an election.

A search for “obama” on Etsy yields 1486 items. That is some serious support. By contrast, a search for “mccain” only brings up around 300. And most of those are anti-Palin, not pro-McCain. Tell me this is a sign.

This also kind of negates my earlier, disgruntled post regarding the role of designers in affecting change. Eating hat. Now.

I was pleasantly reminded of the WPA National Park poster series while perusing Shorpy (thanks to patrick’s tip) this morning. I love the bright, pre-computer graphics and the adventurous, frontier-sy feeling of exploration and, dare I say, majesty they convey.

I can only imagine (enviously) what it must have felt like to tour the country in the late 30’s, stopping at national parks where you legitimately might have been the only car on the road. It’s a lovely thought… and quite a departure from the madness of summertime in Yosemite Valley now.

For those hungry for a little history lesson, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) was part of FDR’s New Deal, instated to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work. A key part of the WPA was the Federal Art Project, whose purpose was to make art accessible and relevant to everyone, not just the elite. As a result these, along with 35,000 other designs, were printed into 2 million posters during the course of the project.

This Travel and Tourism series became well know for it’s bright, bold colors and it’s dramatic portrayal of our famous national parks. As an avid hiker, camper, and visitor to our (mostly western) national parks, I find these particularly beautiful and inspiring.

If only our current government would have the cajones to revive the idea that art can be a positive and motivating influence on the masses. Maybe our next president will… after all he’s already shown an appreciation for art.

Obama-Biden 2008!

I love the computer (and especially the internet), don’t get me wrong. but I have a dear little spot in my heart for things made from (what appears to be) paper and glue and scissors. Esp when I haven’t had time away from the computer in a really long time.

Zoe Bradley apparently has the best job in the whole world that allows her to create amazing installations of flowers and paper dresses.

Sooooo cool. But her site could be more perfect… Maybe she wants us to redesign? Zoe, call us!

via design*sponge

Now I may be in the minority here, but I have always assumed they used the same torch for every Olympics. It kind of makes sense, right? Like the treasured heirloom that ties the games together? Kay, so, no. I was wrong. (For more on childhood delusions proved wrong mid-life, see this EXCELLENT episode of This American Life. Seriously, mine could have been worse.)

Anyway, as it turns out, a new torch IS in fact created for each games. And they are super neat and often match the logo. I do love a good line up of similar but varied items.

The NY Times has created a nifty little game where in you can see many torches with their corresponding logos. Check it.

I love this poster.

Seriously though. I personally have issues with the question this poster raises… Yes, design makes the world more beautiful (yay, prettiness!). But guess what? People who don’t get enough to eat don’t care what their soup cans look like.

Kay, there. My cynical moment has passed. Back to making things look mahvelous, dahling.

(via swissmiss / via a cup of jo)

Kay, i just got this link in my inbox via Urban Daddy and it’s feeling a little, I don’t know, creepers to me?

I initially thought it was like a funny, joke site which I could have gotten into, but after further exploration it appears to be real. As in send your ex’s personal information to a random internet “investigator” who will professionally “contact” this person, (meaning, I assume, send a barrage of emails), insisting that they tell said investigator why they broke up/stopped calling the dissed person. And then the poor dissed person will have closure? Um, oookay.

It seems like the only people who would use a site like this are 1) budding stalkers and 2) people who need more than an internet detective to ease their relationship trauma. Does anyone else think this has the makings of a scary movie? Wherein both internet detective and old flame become obsessed with the diss-er and, well you know how scary movies play out.

Sometimes it pays off big time to troll blogger for interesting ideas/projects/people/inspiration. Usually you wind up clicking through blogs written by a passionate brasilian soccer fan, a family who home schools their children, another family who just likes their children, something in russian you can’t understand, etc. BUT I recently struck blogger gold.

Camaras Fotograficas is a super neat gallery of cameras made from non-camera material. Obviously we are way pro-technology here at fluidesign, but it’s nice to take a break and appreciate things made by hand, (when that hand is not attached to a wacom tablet or mouse), from time to time.

I am a total sucker for products that take the time (and money) to use inventive and unexpected copy as an integral part of their brand. I would SO buy B_E_E cleaning products if they were available on this side of the Pacific because 1) they are environmentally friendly, yay! and 2) they literally talk to you.

Who doesn’t love the idea of your fabric wash giving you a compliment every time you take it out of the cupboard? Boyfriend/husband/lover/sexy stranger in a bottle is all I’m saying…

Pay attention to copy people, it does make a difference!
(via the dieline)

These are my new friends. I am a sucker for vintage ephemera disguised as “inspiration.” Really I just like old things. Aren’t they so cute, all together?

By Andrew Bush, via a lovely little designer’s blog, pretty.pretty.paper. There is a huge page full of these beauties on Andrew Bush’s site.