ExplorationGetting There at Design Museum Boston
Recently, our team had the opportunity to help out with a Design Museum Boston exhibition called "Getting There: Design for Travel in the Modern Age." Open until Sept 1st at Grand Circle Gallery in Boston, "Getting There" showcases how design has transformed the experience of travel over the last century. From the experience of getting to the airport or train station, to the flight check-in interface at the terminal, to the design of luggage and how it fits into storage compartments, every one of these experiences has been considered by a designer. With affordable air and train fare making travel more accessible for millions, the experience of travel is transforming rapidly, and with it, designers' vision for how to make it more efficient and enjoyable.
Bloomberg Sustainability Report Wins Corporate Register Reporting Award
Bloomberg LP's 2010 Sustainability Report, designed by Two Twelve, was honored by the Corporate Register Reporting Awards with 1st-runner up in the "Best First Time Report" category. Developed to acknowledge the best in corporate responsibility reporting, the CRR Awards boast the worlds largest annual reporting competition with 179 entrants from 29 countries.
http://www.corporateregister.com/crra/
Building New York: NYC Archives Offer a Look Into the Past
Have you ever looked at one of New York's majestic bridges and wondered what it looked like during construction? When I think of the 59th Street/Queensboro Bridge, I immediately see it plunging between the towering apartment buildings that embrace it as it eases into Manhattan, the Roosevelt Island Tram lines waiting for the next car of passengers to arrive. What my mind couldn't see was what the city looked like at the edges before these elevated connectors were complete.
The Dirt on Compost for Earth Day
There's nothing like a shovel full of rich, dark, black compost. It's light and flakey and so so good for you. Well not exactly good for YOU. I mean it's good for the things you grow, and they're good for you -- the city trees and flowers that nurture the spirit and the air we breathe, or the home grown organic vegetables that nourish the body. Good fresh compost is something I think a lot about these days.
Mommy Groups and Civic Illiterates
Photo Credit: Mind Lab
Recently the Supreme Court held hearings on the constitutionality of the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration's health care reform legislation. As a one-time Canadian citizen and former beneficiary of the Canadian single payer health care system, I was transfixed by the exchanges between the justices and the attorneys as they weighed the role of government in people's lives and the future of public health care in America.
In the midst of the hearings, I attended an evening panel in New York City on Design for Public Sector Innovation, hosted by Parsons The New School for Design and the Public Policy Lab. The dialogue that night helped shed light on the fierce debate in Washington and caused me to reflect on our several decades of design for the public sector at Two Twelve.
Play Ball! Opening Day for the Mets
It's that time of year again: baseball season! And boy, do we love our baseball here at Two Twelve. To celebrate Opening Day, Ann Harakawa and Darlene van Uden enjoyed watching the Mets warm up at Citi Field – and the photo booth.
Next home game is Mets vs. Giants on April 20th. Come on out!
For the full season schedule go here
8 Million Stories, 32 Reasons, 1 Big Apple App
Photo credit: Film still from The Naked City
"There are 8 million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them." That iconic phrase gravely ended each episode of Naked City, the gritty black-and-white late '50s crime drama and precursor to Law and Order, CSI, NYPD Blue, and others of that ilk. Each week the show presented a story of one New Yorker and his or her untimely end. It captured the mood of the city, the glamor, the grime, the excitement, the fun, the fear – the way that people inhabit the city, how they interact, how they lived, and yes, how they died. There are so many stories in New York, just make a trip to work, to dinner, to a show, to a ball game, and you'll see them happening live and in color on the streets, every minute of every day. It's what brought me here, it's what brings so many of us here - we want to write our own New York story.
Signage vs. Wayfinding
Most everyone understands very quickly what “signage” is, even if they haven’t used the term themselves: signage comprises all the types of signs that appear within a given building or other discrete environment, such as a public park or an office complex.
An identification sign is one type of signage that tells you the name of a place, space or room; an orientation sign – usually a panel or kiosk with a map on it – is another type that gives you “you are here” information; a regulatorysign that says “no smoking” or “wheelchair access”– is a third type.
A “wayfinding” system, on the other hand, is more complex and may involve multiple media. A wayfinding system comprises communications that have been designed together to help people navigate a given environment. In addition to the forms, colors, messages, symbols and graphic design of signs, a wayfinding system may include other kinds of environmental graphics and tools: online maps, floor or wall treatments, printed directions, artwork and other visual cues, specific language that staff are trained to use to give directions verbally, or even a custom developed application for a smartphone.
A New Home For Our Growing Green Materials Library
Part of Two Twelve's longstanding environmental mission has been to encourage our designers to incorporate "green" materials and production methods in the design process. Our EGD (environmental graphic design) teams typically specify materials and fabrication methods for the signs they design, and physical building product samples allow us to best understand the various aesthetic and physical properties of the many choices on the market. When we first started our Green Library in 2005, there were only a few "eco-friendly" products on the market that were appropriate for signage. We originally created a labeling system for each material to describe its basic "green" qualities. Over the years, we have acquired a larger collection of materials with the ever-increasing number of products available on the market. Simultaneously, the vocabulary to describe qualities and facets with regard to sustainability has also grown.
A Winning Vision: Designing Major Proposals and Bid Submissions
To help our clients succeed with major proposals and bid submissions, there are a number of issues it is helpful to understand as early as possible in the working relationship. The following discussion is based on our ten-plus years of experience creating major bid packages and visioning documents for the likes of the NYC 2012 Olympic Bid (pictured above), Princeton University, Van Wagner Communications, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Brookfield Properties, and Cornell University.
We have learned that putting together any major document involving multiple parties is an intense and sometimes unpredictable undertaking, but it can be highly rewarding and exhilarating as well. To ensure that the excitement comes from putting together a winning package and not from costs and schedules running out of control, we encourage would-be proposers to take the following issues into serious consideration.
