when you think of any brand or company that consistently offers a user experience that fosters a cult-like following, apple or target might come to mind. what do they have that other groups can’t seem to capture? well google seems to be the most recently initiated member of this club, and they believe that it is a unified design culture that informs the entire brand.

here the verge addresses google’s attitude adjustment that is bringing them rave reviews:

and here allan peters [a senior art director at target] features designer, clesete prevost’s work that illustrates google’s new direction:

have you ever found yourself in a target store or viewing an advertisement for the iconic chain and thought to yourself: it would be awesome to design for target? their love of simplicity and affection for the power of white space nearly makes me giddy. not to mention their collaboration with great designers and brands of varying disciplines, like the new shops concept and the recent campbell’s warhol soup cans. target inhouse, target’s “internal creative studio” is behind much of this eye candy, and they have launched a new website that features the work of their “collective of designers, copywriters, art directors, developers, information architects, production designers, account executives, art buyers and producers.” they also have a blog where you can follow the development of many of their creative wonders.

no it is not an obscure math course you avoided like the plague in college, it is a community-inspired type endeavor. the phraseology project is an on-going typography experiment that allows followers to submit words or phrases that the team turns into a type study. this creative community was concocted by drew melon, and has since become popular enough to require the contributions of four other type-lovers.

The Iranian Internet – An Infographic by Maral Pourkazemi from Gestalten on Vimeo.

for infographics to be successful they must distill complex facts into manageable and meaningful visuals that tell a specific story. maral porkazemi has created a six-piece series of infographics that do just that, which is made all the more impressive that she was able to access facts at all. her subject: the iraninan internet. the notoriously isolated country provides very little information and statistics to it’s own citizens, and further censors and or manipulates any information accessed by the outside world. with such a sprawling subject as the internet, which in and of itself is difficult to visualize, these beautiful circuits of statistics depict in detail how iranians are harnessing the power of the internet and social media to access uncensored information.

the key to making a house a home is a little typography. webdesigner depot is featuring a collection of typographic furniture that will have any typophile salivating. hide your wallet… seriously.

the annual report has officially been inducted into the digital era. companies are not only offering a downloadable pdf version of their printed annual report, they are all together abandoning the annual printed tome of business practice past. shareholders are now able to access the usually dry data in the dynamic form of websites. here are a few organizations embracing the future of the annual report.

warby parker

mailchimp

at&t

ge

when we talk design we think of the tangible product that the process yields, but there is often a human application that can inform the way we think and behave. here are two projects that approach design on a more conceptual level that work to change behavior through the design of experiences.

the starving artists project

The Starving Artists Project Film from Thompson Harrell on Vimeo.

design thinking for educators

Why Design Thinking? from Design Thinking for Educators on Vimeo.

there is a friendly battle brewing on lettering vs. calligraphy between martina flor and giuseppe salerno. you can vote for the daily letter and compare the two typography techniques. a phrase or keyword is issued to inspire the letters and their creative variations to everyone’s visual delight.

in 1977 the eames’s studio produced an educational documentary illustrating scale by the power of 10. this visual adventure harnesses the power of television, applying the media in a format that is still relevant today. not only did this short film stimulate curiosity for science, it has now inspired a new generation of short films for the powers project, with 40 artists interpreting the original film for the modern era.

here is a sneak peak at david lobser’s contribution to the project, which will hopefully be complete in 2013 and available on the powers project site. so stay tuned…

POT loopFinal from David Lobser on Vimeo.

consumerism has consumed our culture, raising package to an art form. here is a selection of art that only a designer could love: elevating the common container from the retail shelf.

jonpaul smith’s consumer trends // bill barminski’s cardboard spray cans // ecoist