Sorting Award Shows

Sorting Award Shows

Just today I was trying to decide whether to bother entering a few of our recent web projects into the W3 Awards and was in a bit of a fence-sitting position about it.

Over the course of a year we are becoming bombarded by more and more award show calls-for-entries. This wasn’t a bad thing when we were researching what we wanted to do for our Graphex 2008 website, but it can be downright frustrating, time and cash consuming wading through the chaff and determining which shows to enter. Sometimes it’s easy; such as when it’s a very prestigious show with a stellar reputation, a good local/regional show and one with a good track record. Shows with brand name recognition such as Communication Arts, One Show, Lotus Awards, Webbys, Graphex (of course!) etc fall into this category for us. And yes, even these are debatable.

Then there are shows we’ve never heard of, or with questionable materials (I mean, if you can’t design a decent CFE, how are you going to judge our work and by what standards?

Then there’s the consideration of fit. Do I really want to enter a project done for a university into a consumer category? Or, if the show has so many categories that I can find one that’s an exact match for almost any work in any industry, what are they trying to accomplish and how competitive is the show? Are they awarding one winner in each category or the top percentage of entries? Do they charge you more for a recognition certificate or statue? Who are the judges? What sort of work has won in the past? You get my point.

I suppose there are some firms that set aside a decent budget to enter awards as a form of marketing strategy. There are certainly no shortage of clients looking to work for award winning agencies, but that’s not guarantee they are going to get award winning work. Then again, what else can we do with our often limited resources than hand it over to award shows that seem to exist merely as a business to make their producers money? I suggest there are quite a few things we can think of. As long as we can keep a steady roster of clients interested in good, solid, effective and business-objective-oriented work and not simply chase awards at all costs. We love it when these things can coexist of course.

We’ll always enter our best work into the best shows (not throw everything at every show in every category), but personally, we’d rather pay our staff more money, take them out more often or treat our great clients to a nice meal than toss a wad of cash at award shows that exist soley to make money.

What’s your experience, and what shows do you regard as the best? Be great to have a decent list and list some of your experiences here.

Posted by Ben Garfinkel on July 18, 2008

Y@H

Young at Heart is by far the best documentary I have seen in a long time.

It follows the Young @ Heart Chorus, learning new songs for their upcoming show. The difference with this group is that they are all aged 80 and up. This is not just a bunch of oldies singing songs from their youth, they cover songs by Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Buzzcocks and Bruce Springsteen.

Watching a 92 lady singing “Should I stay, or should I go” initially is a little humorous, but as that subsides you start to take the chorus seriously and get caught up in the charm, energy and pure will power of these elderly people to perform.

The chorus is led by Bob Cilman, who at times comes across as hard on the ‘elderly’ folk, but it is what a director must do to get the group ready in time for their performance. The members feel he is a little harsh on them at times, but respect him for that. You also get to see how much he cares and respects the members and his commitment to taking the chorus seriously and wanting them to succeed.

The documentary is charming and inspiring. If you are suffering from any small aches and pains the documentary puts your life suddenly into perspective.

Watch the trailer.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Blogs, Mad About Design—already out of date

There’s a new book that’s been published by maomao publications called Blogs, Mad about Design, featuring profiles and screenshots from more than 250 blogs about design-related topics—including this blog. Sort of a compendium of sorts. But is it really?

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Posted by Mark Busse

Icograda Announces Design Week 2010 Vancouver

Icograda has formally announced Design Week 2010 to be hosted by GDC in Vancouver with official event profile information on their website.

Posted by Mark Busse

Assume or Presume

A little while ago my wife and I were in a restaurant. For some random reason I suddenly wondered what the difference was between ‘assume’ and ‘presume’. I asked the waitress if she knew, she didn’t. To our surprise a few minutes later she returned with a printout of the definition she had just looked up online (great customer service).

Here is the difference.

Assume: To accept something to be true without question or proof:
‘I assumed (that) you knew each other because you went to the same school’.

Presume: To believe something to be true because it is very likely, although you are not certain:
‘I presume (that) they’re not coming, since they haven’t replied to the invitation’.

Well, there you have it.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Coast Modern Documentary

I love when “research” time comes around at the office. It gives me a valid excuse to do what I clandestinely do the rest of the week: Surf the Internet. We’re deep into work on an architectural firm and researching all things architectural and found a documentary on West Coast Modernism called “Coast Modern: Open space, modern mind.” . It seems to fall in the footsteps of Helvetica and Objectified. No real information on the website about official release, though the blog talks of a fall release. Can’t wait to see it!

Posted by Steve Mynett

Likemind Vancouver: June 19, 2009

Likemind is gaining momentum in Vancouver, with over 200 members on its Facebook Group. Events the each 3rd Friday of each month, with the next gathering on June 19th at Elysian Coffee’s new location at 590 West Broadway, between Cambie and Ash. Bring your travel mug and be prepared to taste some of the finest coffee being brewed in Vancouver while enjoying casual conversation with likeminded professionals from a myriad of backgrounds and industries. If you miss the event, you can check out photos on Flickr and follow the conversation on Twitter.

Please spread the word and come join us for a coffee!

Posted by Mark Busse

Social Acupuncturist

Daniel Packard is a professional dating coach.

He won the National College Speaker of the Year in 2007, and from the video samples on the website I understand why. His style is funny, upfront, a little crazy but also caring and informed. Watch this video titled “Horny guy and nice guy…It’s the same guy” and you will see him in action.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Mark Thomas Vs McDonalds

Mark Thomas is a UK comedian. He uses intelligence, research, wit and great editing resulting in a very funny and poignant message.

Watch him take on MacDonalds

Then there is just the downright silly and immature

Then there is the political, for example his stand against the Arms Trade

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

C’était un rendez-vous

Though a relatively famous short film, I saw C’était un rendez-vous by french director Claude LeLouch for the first time this morning. In short, it’s an 8 minute tour through Paris by way of a camera strapped onto the front of sports car, allegedly a Ferrari, going by all accounts somewhere between 140-200 miles/hour. The official story was that an unnamed Formula 1 driver was at the wheel, while it has also been suggested that LeLouch himself was at the wheel and later overdubbed the sound of the Ferrari to finish the film.

Regardless, it’s a fun watch of a high speed romp through Paris! (via Scout Magazine)

Posted by Steve Mynett

Sentenc.es

If you’re familiar with ‘Inbox Zero‘ from 43 Folders you’re already aware of how problematic emails can be. How many emails do you have in your inbox? How many have you been putting off because the response is too long? Check out five.sentenc.es. The concept is to get people to respond to emails like they would a SMS message. Short and right away. In this case in under 5 sentences.

There also sites from the same family called four.sentenc.es, three.sentenc.es and two.sentenc.es.

Posted by Steve Mynett

Dieter Rams – 10 Commandments

All designers should have learned this so long ago that it’s already been forgotten and therefore in need of a refresher so I offer you The 10 Commandments of Dieter Rams. His design, and design principals, have influenced a generation of designers including Jonathan Ives who’s designs at Apple sometimes show a striking resemblance to those of Rams.

Posted by Steve Mynett

Business Card Envy

A business card is an important marketing tool, but a great business card is one that you never forget. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Which card do you prefer? Subtle or maybe not so much? Mind you one of these business cards took 25 years to design.

Posted by Alex Leynes

e-log

I recently learnt about this company whilst watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

The e-log has a foam core skinned in real wood. Compared to regular log homes, e-log is cheaper, better for the environment and better insulates your home.

A great product, check out their site.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Introducting Typekit

Big news in the web world as Typekit was launched last week. For those of you who missed news of the launch, it serves to bridge the copyright issues associated with the CSS3 Property @font-face (hotly debated issue among foundries and developers recently). Solutions like sIRF and Cufon have greatly pushed the industry in this direction and, while we have used them on projects, they have limitations, particularly when it comes to body copy. The hole with @font-face is that it makes it possible for the end user to download the font in question, which in virtually every instance violates the license.
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Posted by Steve Mynett

Vancouver Jazz Fest ‘09

Those who know me know I’m a real sucker for live music. I play it, listen to it, live it…hell, I’d eat it is it were possible. The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is just around the corner this summer featuring some great concerts that we wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to hear. There are some big names coming through town playing the big venues (Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Cobb, Jose Gonzales and the Pink Martini Orchestra) but for me the best shows are always the ones at smaller venues. The sound and atmosphere is better, place I think music (especially jazz) isn’t really a concert music. You’re meant to be interacting with it (or someone on the dance floor) preferably with drink in hand.

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Posted by Steve Mynett

honEy

Design company Turner Duckworth (clients include Amazon, Coca-Cola, Virgin Atlantic and Palm) recently designed Honey Packaging for Waitrose supermarket in the UK. “Bee or honey twizzler - whatever you see, it makes you want toast and honey” says the London and San Fransico design firm.

Simple and clever.

The Duckworth site is a little clunky, but it was interesting to read that their London and San Francisco studios collaborate on every project. “Work flows freely between each to give clients a rich and nuanced perspective from both sides of the Atlantic”.

On the Waitrose site there is a value added page about their Scottish heather honey, an interesting read.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Up

The new movie by Disney Pixar ‘UP‘ is worth writing about. Not only because it was my first ever 3D movie but the storytelling is fantastic. It deals with the subject of death, love, integrity, friendship and loyalty with subtlety and respect whilst delivering many laughs. It is a great package of emotions. Finally, the quality of the animation is amazing.

Also, check out the trailer for Toy Story 3. Again, the quality of story telling is well done. Even if you have never seen any of the Toy Story movies you are introduced to the different characters and their personalities but more so to the rivalry between Woody and Buzz which is the crux of the movies.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Extreme Purple

I had the opportunity a few years ago to design juice labels for Happy Planet. Yesterday on a hot sunny day I enjoyed a chilled ‘Extreme Purple’ (it was so good). On review of their website I discovered they have grown as a company, now offering a variety of drinks and soups. Great quality produce makes for a great product. They are also heavily involved in supporting the community and over the years have donated in excess of one million bottle of juice.

Posted by Matt SamyciaWood

Spring Newsletter

Things have been buzzing around the office lately but we found some time to do our once a month, once every few months newsletter. Think one part news, a dash of foodists culture, and one big giant bee plus our usual array of inspiration and banter. Check it out!

Posted by Steve Mynett

15 Minutes of Fame for Mike Busse, Industrial Designer

There’s an old saying about 15 minutes of fame—that “all publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell your name right.” Well maybe my appearance this week on ESPN’s Jim Rome is Burning was the closest thing to my 15 minutes, but they mispronounced my first name (Mike?) and got my title wrong, listing me as an “industrial designer” as opposed to a designer from Industrial Brand. Oh well, at least I looked like a badass in my photo with flames in the background (fames to light my spliff with perhaps?). I hope fame doesn’t change me.

Posted by Mark Busse