HyperQuake

So, for all our Twitter followers, this is slightly older news by a week or so, but we wanted to share it on the blog as well.

The ‘Create Your Own Environment’ poster that we posted about a number of months back has been traveling around the world lately as we wanted to share it with as many people, blogs, organizations, etc., that we value and respect, as possible.

Some of the people we’ve sent it to have loved it so much that we’ve gotten some shout outs about it online in a few places. To say we were pretty ecstatic about that and the fact that so many people like the piece, would be an understatement.

Not only do we want to say thanks to all the blogs who talked about the print (again, Thanks Everybody!), we want to encourage everyone that reads our blog to make sure they go check out these sites.

We know you’ll find something inspiring and something that you like about each of them. So don’t wait any longer, go see what they had to say about our poster and posterquake.com and stick around for a bit to check a few of their sites out. Tell them the crew over at HQ says hey.

HQ on For Print Only – www.underconsideration.com/fpo

HQ on Dirty Mouse – www.dirtymouse.co.uk

HQ on The Doomed – thedoomed.co.uk

HQ on French Paper Sample Room – www.frenchsampleroom.com

So the issue of cloning has been a hot debate ever since the world’s most famous sheep, Dolly, hit the news media back in 1996 as the first mammal to be cloned.

Ever since then, people have been trying to clone everything. Heck, it seemed like everyone was obsessed with the topic so much so that many of us had to sit through horribly unfunny movies about cloning.

Well, fast-forward to 2010, and cloning has met design in a rather unique way, courtesy of a young man named Philipp Stolenmayer. What has Philipp done that is so great you want to know? Well, he cloned himself through the design of a life sized papercraft model.

Yes, I know it’s not a true ‘clone,’ but there is no doubt that it is quite awesome. Philipp outlines the steps to his project here if you are interested in giving it a go.

If that seems a bit ambitious for your first papercraft project, let us know. We might have something for you to practice with. We’ve been kind of obsessed with papercraft lately. If you’ve been following us on Twitter, you might know what we’re talking about…

So MillerCoors has recently launched some updated packaging for the Champagne of Beers. That’s Miller High Life, but I refuse to call it anything else because the tagline ‘Champagne of Beers’ is awesome.

It’s been a little while since they did anything to the packaging, so I personally do think it was due. The logo has been minorly tweaked, but the packaging on the cases is where you’ll really notice things. Even if you’re not very familiar with the brand, you’ll notice things right away. The ‘Girl in the Moon’ logo adorns the sides of the packaging now and the front/back is much simpler and fitting for the brand. It doesn’t feel like the box is shouting at you, it feels more polished. Other minor tweaks to logo sizing for example are there, but that’s about it.

In terms of how I view the brand, everything about the changes seem fitting to me. For a brand that also has apparently been seeing growth in recent years with consumers changing their beer choices with the economic rollercoaster, I think the update was well deserved and hope that it does well.

Out to Launch, a blog I subscribe to, posts a Random iPhone App of the week. This week: Cheese or Font? The game presents the player with a word, say “Tetilla,” and the player is to guess if the word is type of cheese or a type of font. It’s a cheese, by the way.

You can download the app for free at the APP Store, and, lucky for me and all of the other iPhone-less people in the world, you can also play the game online. None the less, it’s a great game for foodies and font-ies (?) alike.

Enjoy

No. 3 in the HQ Poster Series is officially out the door, all hot and bothered to meet that special someone who appreciates taking a chance, and we sure had fun with this one.

Given one word, ‘environment,’ we wanted to do something different, to look at what the word ‘environment’ really means, and what it means for us beyond just being conscientious. We wanted to explore how a poster can change with our environment and adapt. We wanted our potential clients to know that we’re thinkers – not just a couple of design punks sitting in a studio waiting for something to happen. And we wanted the poster itself to be kind to the environment (no ink, 100% recycleable).

Aside from this, we wanted a printed showpiece – something for people to talk about. So, with a beautiful French Paper and top-notch laser work from LaserExcel out of Green Lake, Wisconsin, we set off to make some kick-ass posters with a hand-signed, limited edition of 160.

The poster itself wasn’t enough. We want those who are lucky enough to get one to check out posterquake.com to see the full story and even customize their own downloadable desktop wallpaper.

Wait a minute. You didn’t get a poster? Hmm…
Well, if you call and ask Chris Strong nicely enough, I’m sure he’ll figure out a way to do a reprint, or maybe he can find a way to replicate one for you by hand.

Thanks to Chris, Kate, Julie, Mike, Corrin, Dan, & Adam for all the work. Enjoy, y’all.

Poster Design: Dan Barczak
Posterquake.com: Julie Hill, Adam Daniel
Photography: Dan Barczak, Corrin Acome, Mike Dew, Dan Mahan, Julie Hill

Paper: French Paper, Construction, Charcoal Brown, 100#
Lasercut: Laser Excel
Emboss: Hathaway Stamp

As Smashing Magazine puts it, “most college websites are horribly designed,” and I’d have to agree; but I’m also proud to say that my alma mater, Ball State University, made Smashing’s list of beautifully designed higher-education websites. I’m not really sure if the sites are listed in any particular order, but because Ball State’s pops up second, I’ll call it second place.

“Ball State University uses a sophisticated color scheme and typography combined with plenty of negative space.”

Hop on over to Smashing Magazine to review every site in their Showcase of Academic and Higher Education Websites.

Case-Real, a Japanese design firm, just introduced a new way to think about “dual purpose”. The obvious answer has always been to add storage. A bed that doubles as a dresser, a dresser that doubles as a bookshelf, the list just goes on and on.

But where does your cat go you ask? Why, under this table of course!

Thanks for the tip Apartment Therapy.

First off, let me clarify that I am not an industrial designer. That being said, DUDES, why do you keep designing remote controls the same old way? Why, as technology progresses, do TV/satellite/stereo/etc remotes by and large remain ridiculously overburdened with cryptically named buttons, half of which I never have occasion to press (literally never), still have shaky back panels that let the AAs fall out, and find designed “improvement” only in the ergonomics of the thing?

We all know that remotes are wonderful things, and there have been neato little advances, like being able to control iTunes with your TiVo remote, but let’s be honest: the whole thing needs to be rethought. Insert obligatory Apple reference here. I’m not sure if it’s encouraging or disheartening that my first searches for rethought remote controls yielded only product concepts from design students (like this one and this one), but at least someone is thinking about it.

It’s not just remote controls; there are so many things that we as designers (of all stripes) just keep rehashing because they’re familiar and have worked reasonably well in the past. Oftentimes with deadlines, budgets and nervous clients, there is no opportunity to step back and really look at the problem the way we should. It’s easier to put a hundred buttons on a remote like the client wanted and be done with it, instead of fighting to rethink the product into something more useful and intuitive. That’s not to say that the wheel must be reinvented with every project, but it seems to me there are plenty of wheels out there that do need complete overhauls (Department of Motor Vehicles, anyone?) and it’s up to us to identify them. And hey, it might even be fun.

Even more axey goodness today on the HQ Blog!

Best Made Co. makes arguably the loveliest axes in the world, even an indoor kid like me can’t help but be romanced by these things. Still not convinced? Read about their process and philosophy, I bet you’ll change your tune.

For those of you who are architects, builders or home-improvers in Washington State, and need to clear off some rough, brushy land before you can begin work, BUT ALSO want to be as green as possible, I have good news!

“…rather than spending tons of money and time on diesel-powered machines, filing the proper permits, and administering dangerous herbicides, the Seattle-based Rent-a-Ruminant organization will loan you a team of 100 goats for all your brush-clearing needs” - Excerpt from a great article about RAR

That’s right! GOATS. They put up a fence, let the goats go to town, and then chop down any rough stuff the animals couldn’t eat (FUN FACT: Goats cannot eat everything. I do believe they can eat shoes and cans, though. Maybe I just want to believe). With apologies to any industrial design readers who might be developing various weed-whacking products that the moment, can a more simple, elegant solution be devised for clearing land of brush? Both customer and vendor benefit, not to mention that the goats get to eat as much as they want, which I’m pretty sure is their goal in life. (BONUS: Rent-A-Ruminant will even throw in fertilizer for free!)

Deceptively simple, totally perfect.