Hasta La Ideas

Core-fave Jan Chipchase, Nokia researcher and cultural observer, has just completed 6 weeks of intense fieldwork in China, posting a wealth of discoveries and experiences to his blog, Future Perfect.

My favorite is the neon hospital he found in Lhasa, pictured above, looking more like a convenience store or an all night grocery. Notice that the ambulance (or what looks like one) is backed into the parking space, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

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MyFonts sends out a monthly e-newsletter that is worth signing up for. They feature in depth interviews with the “faces behind the fonts”. This month features Argentinian type designer Alejandro Paul.

“Graphic designers are always looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the crowd, and type was still officially uncharted territory in 1990s South America. Then came the internet, which brought it all to the surface. Hence the overwhelming exposure of a lot of South American work all at once. And it persisted because the internet suddenly made the whole world an open market for us, instead of the almost non-existent market we’d had here all along. There is also something to be said about the Argentinean design process, which is part of the appeal to the world markets. Argentina doesn’t have the European design history, but we do put all of our being into our work, and sometimes because of that it comes out looking more innocent, more real, more human, with less of a mechanical base.”

Back in June, we issued an open letter to copy editors asking them to stop writing Frank Lloyd Wright puns (e.g. “He Has the Wright Stuff”) because you can be successful without resorting to them and having to sacrifice your dignity. And to help prove our point, we turn to the Guggenheim Museum who has just reported that their recent, just-closed exhibit, “Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward,” which celebrated both the famous architect and the museum he built that housed it, drew in the biggest crowds they’ve ever had, blowing the roof off all previous attendance records, bringing in close to 400,000 people in just under three months. Here’s a bit:

The exhibition is on its way to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, where it will be from Oct. 22 through Feb. 14. The museum said that before “From Within Outward” its most well-attended exhibition had been “Frank Gehry, Architect” in 2001, followed by “Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe” in 2008, “Giorgio Armani” in 2000 and “The Art of the Motorcycle” in 1998.

We wonder: could Frank Lloyd Wright be the next King Tut cash cow?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

German designer Hermann August Weizenegger presents his latest project, Digital Couture, at Appel Design Gallery in Berlin later this month. (more…)