Hasta La Ideas

The IxDA Interaction 11 conference is off to a great start. Presentations, interactions, demonstrations and connections are everything you would expect them to be and the beautiful weather and scenery (view from hotel window above) add a unique Boulder vibe to everything. Tonight we’ll be rocking the Coroflot Connects cocktail party early on — we promise to do our best to make as many introductions as possible. For an overwhelming live stream of the conference make sure to check out the #IxD11 Tweetscape put together by Catalyst Group.

Overheard at IxDA Interaction 11

I have a real problem with buttons that are not tangible.
– Bill Verplank, Stanford University

Usability is overrated.
– Tim Wood, EffectiveUI

The right story turns skeptics into evangelists.
– Carl Alviani, Ziba Design

I don’t come to your website to see pretty colors; I’m here to do something.
– Richard Buchanan, Case Western Reserve University

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The windchill here in Chicago at the moment is putting us well into in the negative two-digits, so it’s difficult to believe that these foreign concepts of “spring” and “warmth” actually exist. However, if they do, and you’re in the area, we highly recommending making this the year you finally make the trek out to Connecticut to tour Philip Johnson‘s Glass House. Hard to believe they’re already in their fifth season, as we remember reporting on it back when they first began (have we really been here this long?). This year, in addition to several new tours, we’re most excited about the launch of a new monthly program called “Third Thursdays: Conversations in Context.” Here are all the details:

Leading minds in the fields of architecture, art, design, history, landscape and preservation will serve as hosts of this special curated tour. Figures such as Paul Goldberger, New Yorker Architecture Critic; Barry Bergdoll, Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, MoMA; Theodore H.M. Prudon, Founding President, DOCOMOMO US; Hilary Lewis, Philip Johnson Scholar; Donald Kaufman + Taffy Dahl, Donald Kaufman Color; Charles Renfro, Diller Scofido + Renfro; Gregg Pasquarelli, SHoP Architects; and Tod Williams + Billie Tsien, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, will provide narrative, interpretation, and personal inspiration while walking the Glass House site with an intimate group of visitors. Following the tour, guests will gather for a reception on the site. ($150 per person, per evening)

We’d love to catch all of these. Is Cristina Ross‘ house still on the market? Season tickets for this season at the Glass House start on February 15th at 9am. Tours themselves will begin sometime in May.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

India Carpenter

The Aram Gallery in London is well-known as a forum for the exposition of experimental and emerging design. Daniel Charny has been instrumental in bringing fresh, new work to the gallery, he recently stepped down from his position of curator and handed over the role to Ellie Parke.

Parke’s first show, 6 Hands, features the work of Peter Marigold, India Carpenter and Ella Robinson and takes a close look at their processes and intentions. The focus of the collection is to bring to the viewers attention not only to the parallels but also the idiosyncrasies that exist within each designers material practice.

6 Hands runs until the 19th of February and can be found in the top floor gallery above the Aram Store in Covent Garden.

>> See more images from the show after the jump.

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Snap + Tumble

In celebration of the release of the latest issue of the magazine for the creative and curious, UPPERCASE presents “The Touchy Feely Letterpress Exhibition” and “The Perfect Match Miniature Label Montage”.
 
The current issue features a Letterpress Sampler in which an actual letterpress item like a card, art print or other goodie is inserted randomly into each magazine. You can see (and feel) all the submissions at the exhibition in the gallery, read about all the letterpress printers in the magazine, and view their work in our online gallery.
 
We’re giving away a dozen complete samplers, each containing over 50 amazing items. Stay tuned to the blog through the month of February for details. Come down to Art Central this Thursday to win one in person!
 
Also on display are vintage matchbox labels; have your own free label that comes with a purchase of the magazine or a subscription.
 
A must-see show for lovers of letterpress and those enamored with ephemera! Join us this Thursday, February 3 from 5-9pm for a warm reception.

Running through March, the Design Loves Art show, hosted by the Pacific Design Center, is an emerging arts program inviting galleries, local artists, curators and filmmakers who, “reflect particularly on design as an extension of artistic practice, spanning a variety of disciplines and mediums” to utilize currently unused space in the Blue Building of the PDC.

As a lover of both art and design I respect the idea that an artists’ process can be an extension of design practice. As I see it, in a family of three children, engineering may be the oldest, design the middle child, and art the youngest who, as any one in a large family can tell you, gets away with everything. The Design Loves Art show is a Los Angeles party thrown by this youngest sibling, possibly making use of its older brother’s popular name as promotional material. Once you’ve arrived, artists had a good time, designers too (possibly left wanting a little something more) and engineers are still wondering if they’ve been adopted into this modern family. The below projects represent some of the highlights from this year’s family get together.

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