Archive for the ‘Print & Direct’ Category

3D Printing

Monday, April 11th, 2011

A 3D Printer at work

Sharon Showalter is a creative technologist at SaatchiNY. Below are some of her thoughts on the trending art of 3D printing, who’s doing it, and what you should know.

3D printing is a process often used for prototyping that creates an object from a 3D file. Layers of a solid material are applied on top of one another to create the object. For the past few years 3D printing has been bubbling up internationally, with tech industry bloggers covering it more and more frequently. The quality and cost of printers has been improving, MakerBot’s Cupcake starts at only $900. In 2011, it appears that 3D printing will reach its tipping point.

FABRICATE YOURSELF
2011 kicked off with two wonderfully exciting demonstrations of 3D printing. In January, Karl D.D. Willis created Fabricate Yourself, a gigantic jigsaw puzzle at the Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction conference. Conference attendees’ 3D figures were captured using a hacked Xbox Kinect and open FrameWorks. Their 3D representations were displayed in on screen in real-time. Interlocking dovetail joints were added to the edges of a 3x3cm square along with their 3D image. Then their personal puzzle pieces were printed using an on-site 3D printer.

BLABLABLAB
In the same month, we saw blablabLAB bring a similar idea to the streets of Barcelona with Be Your Own Souvenir. For two weekends their installation produced 3D toy-soldier-like figurines of tourists and citizens of Barcelona. Again, they used the Kinect, but they stepped up the game and created in-the-round representations by utilizing 3 Kinects at the same time.

Also See: Be Your Own Souvenir! from blablabLAB on Vimeo.

SHAPEWAYS & SCULPTEO
For the past few years we’ve seen an explosion in print-on-demand services combined with user populated online stores like Lulu for books and CafePress for t-shirts, mugs and tote bags. With 3D printing, we have Shapeways and Sculpteo; you can upload your own 3D designs, choose from plastic, stainless steel or glass materials and have your custom object delivered in as little as 15 days. You can make your designs available for others to purchase as well. At Shapeways you can turn a hand-drawn sketch into jewelry or customize a ring to hold a personalized Braille message. At Sculpteo, you can order your own customized 3D figurine by simply uploading two images of your face.

It is exciting to think about the changes 3D printing will bring to the future. It opens opportunities in relation to experience-based advertising initiatives, and it is a potential game-changer in relation to the manufacturing and distribution of goods.

Category: Creative, Digital & Interactive, Print & Direct

Artist Watch – Wim Crouwel

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

Wim at an exhibit of his work

Artist watch is a new(ish) feature we’ve put together for Hudson/Houston.  Much like some of our Sisomo Roundups each of the artist roundups highlight an exciting, engaging artist that are attracting attention from the SaatchiNY team.  For this installment, SaatchiNY Head of Design Camilla Flesche Kristiansen offers her thoughts on Graphic Design Artist Wim Crouwel and an upcoming exhibition of his career’s work at the Design Museum in London.

THE ARTIST
Wim Crouwel’s work has been influencing designers for more than forty years. He designed his first poster in 1952, founded the design studio Total Design (now Total Identity) in 1962 and has been doing consistently incredible designs for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam since 1963. He’s often said that he’s drive by a fascination with serial and mass production,  but what I feel makes his work stand out is a strong grasp that good design requires “the precision of the human eye and human feeling”.

The majority of his work is in poster, print, typography, and he often likes to works on grids. Crouwel is especially admired for his systematic approach and his creative handling of the shape of letters. His impact on typeface has been particularly influential, and I love this quote from him on the topic – “a face shouldn’t have a meaning in itself, the meaning should be in the content of the text.”

THE EXHIBIT
This March, the Design Museum in London will host a massive showcase of Wim’s work. Spanning over 60 years, this exhibition will cover his rigorous design approach and key moments in his career. Original sketches, posters, catalogues and archive photography will be on display alongside films and audio commentary. In addition to celebrating Crouwel’s career this exhibition will also explore his legacy and influence on contemporary graphic design with commentary from leading industry figures including Peter Saville and Stefan Sagmeister. If anyone is in London during this time, don’t miss it!

Also, according to the Design Museum’s website, six modern designers will take inspiration from Crouwel’s career to produce a series of limited edition prints.

Category: Creative, Print & Direct

Artist Watch – James Victore

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

James Victore

Artist watch is a new(ish) feature we’ve put together for Hudson/Houston.  Much like some of our Sisomo Roundups each of the artist roundup posts will highlight exciting, engaging artists that are attracting attention from the SaatchiNY team.  For our second installment, SaatchiNY Head of Design Camilla Flesche Kristiansen offers her thoughts on Graphic Design Artist James Victore’s book “Victore or, Who Died & Made You Boss?”


THE ARTIST
James Victore is an artist and graphic designer whose work is instantly familiar, but completely its own thing. His designs are vivid, memorable and (often) controversial.

His work is often built on found or existing materials, posters, plates, books, etc., but he has an amazing ability to force the viewer to look at that material in a completely new way.  His organizing goal in everything he does is to “make it personal.”

One of the most admirable aspects of his work is that he is only interested in “comrades, not clients.”  By that, I mean that he’s only interested in working with organizations that will be brave in their approval process, which gives him the ground to push boundaries and incite conversation.  He’s worked with Moët & Chandon, Target, Amnesty International, the Shakespeare Project, The New York Times, & MTV, to name a few.

THE BOOK

In his first book, Victore or, Who Died and Made You Boss, we get the chance to look at the stories behind his inspirations, his process, and the lessons learned from each of his favorite projects.  It’s an insightful look at work being done by one of the most exciting graphic designers working today, and it’s well worth checking out.

If you’re interested, you can purchase his book here.

Category: Creative, Print & Direct

The Art of Books

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

The Printed Matter Stand @ The NY Art Book Fair

MacGregor Harp is a graphic designer for SaatchiNY (who did some awesome work on the most recent 7×7). Last weekend, he had the chance to attend Printed Matter’s Fifth Annual Art Book Fair at MOMA PS1. Below are some of his thoughts on the experience, as well as some pictures of his favorite work.

Printed Matter’s Art Book Fair at PS1 was well attended this weekend. With publishers and artists from around the world selling their wares, getting to all the stands was quite a feat and is something I was only able to do in two visits.

AMAZING PUBLISHERS. NO SHIPPING COST

All of my favorite publishers had tables in the fair and of course I discovered several new ones. I made sure to use the opportunity to pick up some foreign pubs (without paying the usual exorbitant international shipping fees) as well as check out some new American publishers. The booths that really stood out this year were Motto Distribution, True True True, The Book Trust,  Roma Publications, and Swill Children, to name a few.

It’s clear that more and more young artists and designers are reshaping the independent publishing world and this was reflected in the experimental nature of the books displayed at the fair. It’s also clear that, with the proper promotion, there’s a healthy section of the public that’s eager to consume these materials. This realization, being a micro publisher myself, tickles my tummy.  While no one is getting rich publishing these cultural documents, events like the New York Art Book Fair will continue to help keep such endeavors alive.

THE WORK
Following is a sample of some of the books I bought with links to their respective publishers’ websites.

Investment Futures Strategy

The Book Trust

“The Trust and the accompanying Book Trust Prospectus speak to matters of micro-economies and distribution, as well as prescribed and perceived value. ”

http://www.ifs-l.biz/

Wish You Were Here

&Press

Eric Elms

A collection of household logos and cultural symbols being “violated” by the artists trade mark.

http://andpress.com/

Two Short Plays

Liam Gillick

East Side Projects

A catalog for an exhibition for artist Liam Gillick in which he proposes scripts for two plays.

http://www.eastsideprojects.org/

The Thoughtful American

Julian C. Duron

Jesse Hlebo editor

A beautiful short run publication produced by Brooklyn based Swill Children. This issue features the art of Julian Duron and is printed in three colors on a risograph.

http://swillchildren.org/

Silk Handkerchiefs (Paul Haworth)

True True True

Silk Handkerchiefs is the first in a trilogy of short comedy novels by writer and painter Paul Haworth.

http://www.truetruetrue.org/

On the Self-Reflexive Page

Louis Lüthi

Roma Publications

The subject of this book is the page, and the pages reproduced in it are taken from works of literature (or, in some cases, art books that derive specifically from literature). Lüthi presents them thematically, resulting in a typology of self-reflexive pages: Black Pages, Blank Pages, Drawing Pages, Photography Pages, Text Pages, Number Pages, and Punctuation Pages. In literature, such devises are often used as a counterpoint to what has preceded or what will follow in the narrative.

http://www.mottodistribution.com

Category: Events, New York, Our People, Print & Direct

Communication Arts Ad Annual 2009

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Saatchi & Saatchi New York work featured in the annual advertising edition of the beautiful Communication Arts magazine. Covering online, television, consumer magazine and newspapers, for our client brands Tide, Olay, Luvs (all Procter & Gamble), and Miller High Life (Miller Brewing Company). Gerry Graf Chief Creative Officer.

Consumer Newspaper Ads (pg 112-113)
Procter & Gamble, Olay, client (series)
Ralph Watson, art director
Beverly Okada / Ralph Watson, creative directors
Gerry Graf, chief creative officer
Ric Frazier, photographer
Maggie Summer, art buyer
Yan Apostolides, retoucher
Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency

Consumer Magazine Ads (pg 103)
Procter & Gamble, Tide, client
Michael Vaughan, art director
Neil Levin, writer
Maru Kopelowicz / Neil Levin / Michal Vaughan, creative directors
Gerry Graf, chief creative officer
Mark Weiss, photographer
Marcie Heffron, art buyer
Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency

Consumer Newspaper Ads (pg 114-115)
Miller Brewing Company, Miller High Life, client (series)
Kirstin Graham, art director
Mitch Gage, writer
Andy Carrigan / Ralph Watson, creative directors
Gerry Graf, chief creative officer
Hamish Mcarthur, graphic designer
Paul Ober, photographer
Maggie Sumner, art buyer
Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency

Online Advertising (pg 172)
Miller Brewing Company, Miller High Life, client “Foam Finger”
Kirstin Graham, art director
Mitch Gage, writer
Andy Carrigan / Ralph Watson, creative directors
Gerry Graf, chief creative officer
Stephen Dunmon, editor
Final Cut, editorial company
Joe Arcidiacono / Andy Carrigan / Ralph Watson, directors
John Swartz, intergrated production director
Diane Burton, agency producer
Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency

Online Advertising (pg 173)
Procter & Gamble, Luvs, client “New Kid”
Gerry Graf, writer/chief creative officer
Tris Gates-Bonarius, creative director
Ian Mackenzie, editor
Andrew Sherman, sound design
Harold Einstein, director
David Perry, producer
Station Film, production company
Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency

Television Commercials (pg 199)
Miller Brewing Company, Miller High Life, client (single and part of series / series)
Kirstin Graham / Jaclyn Rink, art directors
Ashley Davis Marshall / Mitch Gage, writers
Andy Carrigan / Ralph Watson, creative directors
Gerry Graf, chief creative officer
Stephen Dunmonceau / Alex Israel, editors
Final Cut, editorial company
Joe Arcidiacono / Andy Carrigan / Ralph Watson, directors
Diane Burton, producer
Saatchi & Saatchi New York (New York, NY), ad agency

Category: Clients, Digital & Interactive, Film & Television, Print & Direct

TIDE Style

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

First breaking campaign of the new decade. Created in 1943, “Tide was disruptive technology at its best, positioning Procter & Gamble for decades of growth.” #1 in Clean for six decades, now Dressed for Success. Saatchi & Saatchi New York lead agency. Article by Stuart Elliott, The New York Times. See also an excerpt from Rising Tide, a history of Procter & Gamble from Harvard Business School Press.

Category: Clients, Print & Direct