Dear Studio,

How do you maintain a high standard of work throughout your portfolio? The reason why I ask is because a lot of my designs are driven by the client and committees, who have no experience in design. I am always told to ‘give what the client wants’, even though I know it will end with poor results. What can I do as a junior graphic designer to improve the situation?

Kindest regards,

Vincent

It is not often we are asked questions like the following.

While we ponder over the answer, we want to follow up this question with another question, and ask what our readers they think is the answer to finding balance the of making quality communication and addressing the commercial needs of the client:

How do you maintain a high standard of work throughout a portfolio while maintaining a list of clients confident that what you (the studio) produce work that does what it is meant to – generate awareness, sell tickets, grow market share…?

If any one out there has a comment we would be happy to post the differing points of view.

Be my valentine Roger, because you gave the world a typeface called Mistral. Better than any writing, any name under Mistral’s spell is the “designer” factor for any willing hairdresser or night club no less

Be my valentine Paul, with your mind and silk screen press running over time, we wish we could design book jackets like you with their familiar visual served with playful wit

Be my valentine Koons, why make art when there are creatures like Popples need to live

Be my valentine Kos, is the picture art or the process? That ice cracking and splitting, microphones standing there as witnesses to something stark, unremarkable and still

Be my valentine Jim, your music is heaven and the covers you commission are at times just strange and a little warped

Be my valentines Irma and Anette, we are insanely jealous of your design in print – with inspired books and posters that make us sing, please, please send us the secrets of your design thing

Be my valentine Vince, how come you like using fluro and why do your t-shirts rock? Offices everywhere, a name that is a thing, you hang with Carlo and Ray, can you send us some of your t-shirts – girls medium and guys xxl, is that cool?

Be my valentine Brian, yes we are devotees of the art rock parade too

Be my valentine Orpheus, the father of song, an ancient story yes, yet times don’t seem that different at all

Be my valentine Drew, you made Donnie Darko happen in 2001. A film shot in 28 days, with a rabbit named Frank and a plot that foresaw that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, the world will come to an unknown end, fueled by the tunes that made people reference the 1980s again.

Be my valentine Maurizio, keep messing up the art world and crunching out your amazing magazine – Permanent Food

Be my valentine Beck, may you come to Australia soon, we want your dance moves now as well as your tunes

Be my valentine QE II, as on the Beatles’ Abbey Road, that odd song by Paul McCartney that sounds the Fabs’ last gong

The Sticky Institute, Melbourne’s mecca for Melbourne’s wayward, diverse, inventive and compelling zine culture is over February hosting the Festival of the Photo Copier – a space for zine lectures, launches, chat offs and exhibitions.

The Undiscovered Press (unleashed on the masses) is a hands on exhibition that makes every effort to overwhelm visitors the zine making pursuit. Entry is free and well worth an hour or so of your attention.

The Undiscovered Press (unleashed on the masses)
Opens 12 February
Platform
Degraves Street Subway / The Campbell Arcade,
Enter via Flinders Degraves Street,
Melbourne Victoria Australia

Curated by zinemaker Melissa Reidy, twelve zinemakers from all around Australia have shared their unique vision for telling stories, creating narratives and dreaming up objects made of paper, photocopies and binding material. Ziners include Androniki Douramakos, Arlene TextaQueen, Marc Martin, Brendan Halyday, Fergus, Mary-Helen Daly, Sarah Foster, On Wednesday, Cameron Baker, Pat Grant and Michelle Vandermeer.

Drop into the Institute while you are there

Visit the Sticky Institute here, visit Platform here

A Palindrome Day – Never in my grandfather’s lifetime

Today the day, the month, year format for dates read the same forward as it does backward. In date terms, a Palindrome date are rare and centuries can pass from one to the next. The last Palindrome date was 02 October 2001, the previous was 31 August 1380 and the next be 11 February 2011.

One of the many things we love graphic designers for is their affection for visual gags and wit. Out there in fluffy wuffy designer land, while the rest of the world is dividing, Grammy gagging and conquering, their will be countless designers marking the numeric significance of the day with a minimal break up text, laying the founding stone for their new creative venture, getting married, writing their first real post for the new year, or eating one too many sushi rolls over lunch.

What did you do today? Did it have the high drama of a Scott Walker ballad, the folly of monkey tennis, or the precision of Roger Federer’s tennis career? Make a special note, self publish a themed graphic zine or hire a sky writer and let the world know of your special Palindrome day.

We suffered a stinking male toilet to illustrate this post – it is a shame that the internet is only a visual experience, maybe next Palindrome we will have the joy of the sminternet.

It’s Christmas day and one is trying to evolve the ‘Bumble Bee’ Transformer from robot to car form. The living room is a mess of wrapping paper, boxes, packaging materials and a Christmas song by Wham. In a moment of quizical frustration one looked too hard at a piece of stray cardboard and a grumpy dog face thingy winked back at me.

‘Oh crap’, I muttered. ‘Has my design career entered a new phase where one sees faces in anything and everything? Will this insight then be accompanied by a burning desire to publish a little book (that utilises an elegant design palette) to display the face collection?’ I poured myself another Champagne cocktail, adjusted the lilac paper crown on my head, and dug out a Michael Buble Christmas classic.

A few short hours pass…

The photography and retouching complete and the grumpy packing card has found itself published – as a pretty convincing grumpy doggy face, I thought. The process might get the face thing out of my system, before any permanent damage is done to one’s design.

Next Christmas Champagne cocktails are off the gift unwrapping agenda.

What a heart felt song! No one does fluffy nostalgic like Wham.