http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php Opinions and commentary from the Canadian creative community Matthew Clark http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=18 Part two of a three-part diatribe from Subplot Design's Matthew Clark examining the dominant players in the branding field and their suitability to the task at hand. Part one tackled advertising agencies, and here with part two, brand consultants and "decorator" designers are those in question... Mon, 07 June 2010 10:30:00 EST Matthew Clark http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=17 Fifteen years ago, advertising agencies were quite content to just make ads. But with atrophied media spending and dwindling traditional media consumption, itÕs no wonder that they want a piece of the pie that previously belonged to the original brand-builders: designers. But why have they faltered and given branding such a bad name? Mon, 31 May 2010 10:00:00 EST Andy Rutledge http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=16 When starting a design agency, the principalsÑwhether they grasp this fact or notÑare faced with a choice. One choice is to create something that enriches the lives and quality of their staff and the quality of their industry first. The other option it to create something that narrowly serves the desires and profitability of the principals first. The result of this choice will be either a nurturing agency or a destructive one. And there will be consequences... Tue, 25 May 2010 10:00:00 EST Stephen Beck http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=15 Is Flash on its way out? From where I sit, I canÕt imagine it anytime soon. BC Business recently posted an article about the demise of the Flash website due to an increased interest in HTML5. While there are a few points in this article that we can appreciate, the whole Flash vs. HTML5 argument seems to be fueled by a very narrow view of the web combined with the momentum of AppleÕs hype. WeÕre all for new technologies and advancements in the digital space, but assuming Flash to be irrelevant any time soon make very little sense... Mon, 17 May 2010 10:30:00 EST Stuart Thursby http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=14 It's no secret that we live in an almost entirely digital world. As a result, it has become more and more difficult to remember what passes before our eyes on any given day. As creatives, we have unprecedented access to inspiration and insight through a virtually endless variety of blogs, websites and other wellsprings of knowledge. But due to the ephemeral method of delivery and sheer volume of information, it has become much harder for any of it to sink in beyond the moment we click to the next page... Mon, 03 May 2010 10:40:00 EST Ryan Wolman & Keith Prestwich http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=13 This article appears in the Web Watch section of the April/May issue of Applied Arts. The following transcript represents the nearly factual tweet-alogue of the authorsÕ experiences at an unnamed awards show. Names have been changed to protect the innocent... Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST Chris Staples http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=11 ÒDigital will fuck you up.Ó With that simple, off-colour quote, new media expert Mark Comerford summed up the challenges facing advertising agencies in the new media landscape. He was speaking at a recent three-day seminar in New York hosted by Swedish digital school Hyper Island. The course, covering all things digital and geared towards active creative professionals, was attended largely by staff from traditional, integrated ad agencies... Mon, 5 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST Patrick Griffin http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=10 YouÕre at a type conference, shooting the breeze with some students, when you notice a sudden increase in foot traffic around you. Some kind of gathering is about to happen; a Type and Design Education Forum, the program says. Respected design educators came from all over the world and will be talking about typographic experimentation, typography in motion, interactive typography, typography as a cultural expression, the art of selecting typefaces for good typography, typographic grid system models, poster typography, typographic poetry, interpretive typography, multilingual typography and last but not least, effective ways of teaching typography. Then you notice that the entire program you are reading was set in Arial... Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST Scott Morrison http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=9 The breakneck pace of technological developments has spurred the rise of a middle class of collaborative, independent creatives. Enabled by widely available technologies and innovations, the coffee shop creative is here... Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:50:00 EST Peter Giffen http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=8 Coping with a crashing economy, crumbling barriers between professions and the Internet changing everything, can creative agencies reinvent themselves and adapt to the transforming digital world? Or is their screen fading to black? A feature article by Applied Arts editor Peter Giffen... Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST Jeannette Hanna http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=7 Looking to nature for inspiration in uncertain times for the creative profession is not as crazy as it initially appears. If you want to understand the future of marketing, advertising, branding and design, look no future than this: biomimicry. This is not science fiction. It represents a seismic shift in how to understand the way businesses, markets and customers are interacting today... Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST Eric Karjaluoto http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=6 Should there be a more rigorous accreditation process for practising and recently-graduated designers in Canada? Or is the current system up to snuff? SmashLABÕs Eric Karjaluoto thinks there needs to be a proper accreditation system for designers in Canada, bringing designers up to the same level as engineers, doctors and lawyers... Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST Applied Arts http://www.appliedartsmag.com/opinions.php?id=5 The new Applied Arts website has gone live. Echoing the print magazineÕs new design and format, our new website aims to become the hub of the Canadian creative industry by better representing the issues and work relevant to Canadian creatives. A reinvigorated editorial section, larger images for our Awards winners, as well as multimedia extensions from the print magazine are just three features of the new site. Now, more than ever, it will be possible to get an overarching look at whatÕs going on throughout Canada, with the same quality youÕve come to expect from the magazine... Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST