This does promise to be the most fractious and expensive election of all time. Its hard to see the GOP candidate getting in; not based on Obama’s record, but rather on the power of incumbency, the huge war chest, the inability of a republican to capture even a small piece of the public’s imagination; but this exercise in democracy is an expensive one and Obama out the gate is focused on marketing, merchandising and getting voter X to hold their nose and flush their ballot for him. Perhaps the best piece of campaign swag, or the most fitting would be a keychain made with Marcel Duchamp’s famous “Pissoir” that iconic piece of the banal “readymade” the conceptual art object ties seamlessly into the theoretical political rhetoric. And the issues? The engagement with the electorate seems to be avoiding the central ones.
Read More:http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/kuspit/kuspit3-17-06.asp ---Duchamp is, in effect, the first conceptual artist, and the readymades are the first conceptual works of art. As he said in 1946, he "wanted to get away from the physical aspect of painting. I was more interested in recreating ideas in painting. For me the title was very important." He finally abandoned painting for readymade objects. The question is what ideas they recreated. He wanted art to be an "intellectual expression" rather than an "animal expression," but his very physical readymades -- in a sense, they are more physical than a painted picture, for they occupy real space rather than create the illusion of it -- may be an animal expression in intellectual disguise.---
From Michael Ferguson: America is headed for a divorce and Europe is not far behind. The technologies and forces of the Information Age will continue to push cultural identity and isolation to a tipping point, past which reconciliation is no longer possible. Simultaneously, the globalization of internet based groups and multinational career tracks will greatly weaken the sense of national identity. As unemployment skyrockets and a growing Knowledge Class continues to enjoy significant increases in income, the current angry protests could lead to riots which could lead to insurrection.Read More:http://eikonicopolis.com/the-future-101-abstracts/tag/singularitarians
Josh Higgins:
Read More:http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/7808 ---The position is demanding. “It’s the most intense job I’ve ever been in,” Higgins said. He oversees all the marketing for the reelection effort with the exception of video and writing. He puts in 12-hour days and works from home on weekends. He is hiring project managers, designers and copy writers and will supervise 29 people for the design team by the start of 2012. It is the experience of a lifetime. “My first week, I was on the phone with the President,” Higgins said. “To hear that voice on the other end of the phone is so surreal.” Higgins is consulting with Obama’s advising team to develop the branding strategy for the President’s reelection. He is also working on the design of the White House Christmas cards that will be sent to the most influential leaders of the world.---
Design Director for Obama for America. He will oversee everything graphic for the campaign including the website, brand systems and collateral. All the graphic design you see for the Obama re-election campaign will be from Josh and his creative team….
Read More:http://www.superswoon.com/2012/01/typography-tuesday-josh-higgins.html ---Josh Higgins is the Design Director for the Obama 2012 campaign. He collaborated with Mike Carnevale to create this typographic gem. And yes, I am an Obama supporter but regardless I think the design (and the message) stands on it's own.---
…Josh is a senior designer / art director who works across all disciplines including print, web, environment, identity and television. For over twelve years, he’s been refining the art of connecting brands to people with a concept-driven visual style that has earned him national honors.Read More:http://sdccgraphicdesign.blogspot.ca/2011/09/sdcc-alumni-josh-higgins-gets-top-job.html
From Michael Ferguson: Driven by advanced robotics and expert systems, technology will eliminate jobs faster than economies can add them, leading to unemployment rates that could exceed 20% by the early 2020′s. Many people who apparently don’t think it will apply to them are just plain wrong. Drivers, clerks, doctors, accountants, programmers, lawyers, teachers … everywhere you turn, many job categories will simply disappear, while many of those that remain will experience greatly falling demand as a percent of the workforce….
…The growing Knowledge Class, possessing exploding incomes and a Live Anywhere lifestyle, will move out of the Industrial Age urban centers for more commodious locales. The large Northern metropolitan areas whose populations have already stabilized will begin to lose population, falling to 50% or less of
ir 2010 levels by 2040. In other words, for these cities, the housing bust is permanent and many of their residents are more or less permanently ‘under water.’ In the end, the Industrial Age cities, no longer facilitative of Information Age lifestyles, will simply die.Read More:http://eikonicopolis.com/the-future-101-abstracts/tag/singularitarians
ADDENDUM:
Josh Higgins Design. Read More:http://www.divinecaroline.com/22354/43588-aiga-design-makes-choices-clear/3
Asking designers to work for free via ‘crowdsourcing’ for a poster on getting people back to work. Uhm, pardon me, Mr. President, but graphic design is one of many of the hardest hit industries lacking jobs and you want us to work for free? Wouldn’t it be better to LEAD the way and SHOW the nation you too are supporting paying people who are out of work for doing WORK. I really just think this nation doesn’t understand that graphic design requires skill and talent and it deserves to be PAID FOR. We are trained, educated and hard workers, so why do we constantly have to answer to ‘contests’ and ‘crowdsourcing’ games where people are asking us to work for free on the notion that if you like what we do, you MIGHT pay us something. If I liked your job as president, I MIGHT pay your salary, Mr. President. But I don’t get the choice. No one does when it comes to other industries. When you order a burger, you don’t get to eat it first and then decide to pay for it if you like it. So why is it OK for designers to be asked to work this way? The answer is, it’s NOT OK. You of all people should know this! Please consider reading the NoSpec site about why this is bad for us and the economy in general. Educate yourself and your team. Please.
Read More:http://www.designworklife.com/2012/03/26/monday-quick-links-115/ ---Josh Higgins recently designed this new poster for the Obama campaign, featuring a great universal message, no matter which candidate you support. It will be available in the store this week.---
It is the least you could do during this economic climate to pay for design work you ask for to promote jobs. Really. Read More:http://mkdesignhaus.wordpress.com/
COMMENTS
