A Look at Art & Design

Feed readers make me a bit sad

I use Bloglines for my feedreader.  It does it's job very well, allows me to consolidate all my favorite feeds in one place and it's certainly convenient and keeps me updated.  But somehow I really hate using it and when I come upon a well designed blog that I love, I always feel a twinge of sadness at having to add it to my feed reader.  Feeds are ugly. 

I think one of the great appeals of reading a blog is also the design work that accompanies the content.  I suppose this is because I'm a designer and I really appreciate the personality associated with the design work of someones blog or website.  I get pleasure in viewing the "stuff" not just the words displayed on a reader.  Yes yes... I know I can access the actual blog from the reader but somehow I just don't manage to that as often as I'd like.

I thought I'd journey out of my feedreader to visit some favorite blogs... not just because of their written content but because some blogs should be experienced.

Another Shade of Gray
Cult Design
Color + Design by Colorlovers
Debbie Millman
Design Observer
Designer's Who Blog
GraphicPush
Josh Spear
Nordic Design Blog
Veerle's Blog

Blogging Art History

I was thinking that not a lot of people blog about art history. Art history is near and dear to my heart and not being able to believe that some passionate art historian wouldn't have taken up the practice of blogging about such a vast topic, I went in search of some great academic art blogs. Having a thirst for what art historians are talking about these days I found the following:

Art History Today - Who is the person behind this blog? It seems quite excellent, informed and pretty much updated... at least until October of this year. I enjoyed pursuing the category list, and the writings, and wished to find out more about the author. Ahhh... a secret, I guess. No where is the author mentioned nor is there an email address. I look forward to his or her next post.

Art History Newsletter - a good one. Edited by Jonathan Lackman, this blog contains posts on American, Ancient, Contemporary, Islamic, Modern and Renaissance art. Also theory and museum news. It is up to date and offers contributions from several PhD students studying a variety of art topics and working at some pretty fine art institutions.

And so seriously, that is about all I found. Modernkicks references a post done at Art History Newsletter asking "why have there been no great art history bloggers?" Do you know of any good art history blogs? Let me know and post a comment below.

Blogging synchronicity, indeed!

I'm feeling pretty relaxed these days. I attribute this to the fact that for about a week now nothing in my house has exploded, broken, burst, or caught on fire. Being relativity clear headed again, I've been reading quite a bit, surfing the net in search of "stuff" and I am quite excited about writing something worthy of the paper it's written on. I'm also looking forward to creating some graphic design just for me. Self-expression is good for the soul.

To better facilitate this whole creative thing, I've been lately listening to jazz. It's taken me quite a few years to really appreciate this music genre. I think it must be an acquired taste, but I'm so happy I didn't just give it up.

Oddly enough, as I sat here this evening listening to Miles Davis, I came upon a superb post over at CopyBlogger entitled "Jazz and the Art of Improvisational Blogging." It is as well written as it is inspirational and I share Brain Clark's thoughts with you here.

The W List

Wow...I just discovered I was added to The W List at Ann Michael's Manage To Change.  The W List is a listing of "Great Blogs Authored by Women."  What a lovely Sunday morning surprise to see ArtLOOK included.  Thanks Ann.

The list originally started with The Power 150 and progressed to Kami Huyse creating PR Power Women in response to the fact that only 13% of the Power 150 were women.  The W List provides a listing of great blogs and I can see that the next few hours will find me adding feeds to my feedreader. Thanks to all who have helped raise the voices of women bloggers. Have a look.

Copyright Law :: Protected or Not (Part 2)

As a follow up to yesterday's post on Copyright Law, I went back to the WIPO website and found the following disclaimer on the front page of the WIPO website copyright section:

The attention of the Secretariat of WIPO has been drawn to the fact that certain organizations issue certificates purporting to grant copyright protection. It should be noted that these certificates do not create any right.  The Secretariat recalls that, by virtue of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, works are protected without any formality in all the countries party to that Convention. This means that international copyright protection is automatic, it exists as soon as a work is created, and this principle applies in all the countries party to the Berne Convention.

Contracting parties of the Berne Convention include (in part):  USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Iceland, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Poland, Czech Rep., Russian Rep., Australia, Austria, India, China, Israel, Central African Rep., and many others..

Terrific New Blog for Freelancers

I've recently been reading...and reading...the posts made at Freelance Switch.  A new blog on the block, this is a gem of a resource for those of you who are freelancing as designers, artists, writers, and programmers.  In addition to such topics as A Writer's Guide to Freelance Blogging, Top Ten Signs You May be Charging Too Little and A Complete How To Guide To Email Marketing For Freelancers, I was particularly impressed with 101 Ideas to Get More Freelance Work and Generate New Client Leads.  Talk about inspiration... the folks at Freelance Switch have hit on many tried and true freelance tips but also provide many new ideas.  It makes me want to work 90 hours a week just so I can put some of these ideas to work for my business.  Sure wish this insightful and helpful blog was around when I started out. Freelance Switch also provides a job board.

Designing and writing, writing and designing...it's all communication

Having just spent a rainy Sunday writing an article for Ink Publications, I sure wish I had found this resource on Saturday.  But perhaps if that were the case I would have spent all day Sunday reading Daphne Gray-Grant's Article Archive on helpful tips and resources for those of us who write for publication.  Features include such topics as "Why speed counts when it comes to writing", "The art of the interview", "The three biggest mistakes that website writers make" and many more excellent articles. If you write you must check out Daphne's site and also sign up for her free newsletter.  (Daphne's site found via PagePlane an excellent design blog and resource found via Designers-Who-Blog)

The Best Thing about Blogging

We've all heard (I hope) that blogging is a great tool for business.  This week I have been reminded of another wonderful, and perhaps unexpected, aspect of blogging.  It can open you up to like-minded people and resources from around the world.  To check my feeds and relax reading the words of people whom I've grown to respect around the globe is amazingly cool. To actually correspond with them is even better. I don't think this type of intimacy is available by any other medium.  Conversations can be started in real time, added to, and expanded on by some of the best minds in the industry. I am often awed and inspired by the writing of these talented and eloquent people.  In the last months it has been my pleasure to meet via blogging such people as Debbie Millman whose podcasts I also often enjoy, Cat Morley over at Designers Who Blog, Eric Karjaluoto at ideasonideas and smashLAB and so many more. I can only hope that one day I will meet them all in person. Thank you all for gracing my world with your words.

Keeping My Pledge - What I'm Doing to Go Green

The pledge that I took last week over at Design Can Change was pretty simple.  It goes like this:

In my professional practice, I will endeavor to:
Learn:  Engage in the topic and seek to understand the issue
Think: Make a sustainable mindset second nature
Act: Put my knowledge to use in my daily work
Inform: Share information and build awareness for sustainability
Unite: Spark change through collective strength.

I encourage you to visit the Design Can Change website, read the resources and pdfs and take the pledge.

I've been thinking about what it is I can do as an individual toward being a more responsible designer. Because I work from my home, I'm also including items I can do as a homeowner. Here's my list:

1. Use both sides of the paper from my printer. Reusing paper as scrap for notes, sketching etc.
2. Ride my bike to the post office.
3. Instead of using plastic bags at the grocery store and the office supply store, I'm committed to bringing the lovely tote given to me by my friend Pirjo Loisa for bringing home purchases. As a fellow tree lover, I think Pirjo will like this idea.
4. Replacing those old fashion lightbulbs in my office with CFL energy saving bulbs.
5. I'm faced with having to replace some appliances in my home, I'll be replacing all with energy star models which will also save some bucks on my electric bill.  Energy saving insulation, exterior doors and windows will also help.  According to Time Magazine's issue "The Global Warming Survival Guide," April 9, 2007, you can also get a tax break for going green. "This is the first year you can take advantage of incentives built into the landmark 2005 Energy Policy Act, which will reduce your tax bill if you simply buy a fuel-saving car or install energy efficient appliances."
6. I'll be including those Design Can Change PDFs in my proposals and client materials.

Going Green - How Designers and Clients Can Help the Environment

Those of you who have been reading ArtLOOK know I've endeavored to practice, speak and write about Responsible Design and how it can effect our global community. It was with great pleasure that I received an email from Peter Pimentel at smashLAB announcing their newest initiative: Design Can Change.

Pimentel writes, "This initiative works on the premise that designers are a critical hub to business, industry and the public; therefore, we have the ability to lobby, inform, and subsequently enable positive change, by working together. Key to this effort is the pledge: a set of guidelines for becoming more sustainable. It gives designers an actionable framework for embracing sustainability and also helps quantify our collective strength as we lobby for change."

SmashLAB and Design Can Change invites you to visit the website. Read and learn about sustainability, and please take the pledge. After having made the commitment to embrace responsible design you are welcome to download the logos (see my sidebar) for use on your blog/website with a link to www.designcanchange.org.  Download this PDF and send it to the designers you know.  Recommend and include in your studio materials this PDF for the buyers of design.  You can also read more about Design Can Change at Eric Karjaluoto's blog ideasonideas.

I salute smashLAB for taking this initiative and I firmly believe that together we can change design and our business practices for the better and make a positive impact on our global community.  Please join us.

I also include here again the First Things First manifesto.