The folks at Cit/ID have an ambitious task at hand: to collect a logo for every city in the world. The goal is to create visual representations for every city on earth in a way that is both accurate to the culture and beautiful to the rest of the world. Aside each other, the vast array of logos already collected are truly inspiring. Check out the site, and maybe next time you hear something about an obscure city like Budapest you’ll have a little artistic context to place it in.
They’re currently accepting submissions for the hundreds of cities yet to be represented (they’ve already got a few from every continent). So far, the US has the most cities covered, but Europe is dominating the continent race. Perhaps the most amazing part of this project is the artistic talent that comes alongside the abundance of work. So give it a solid effort and submit soon… the best entries will eventually be compiled in book form.
A few cities have multiple entries (Portland has a few), and some cities with either ugly or seriously flawed logos might need your help. Street Attack’s home-bases Boston and New York are possibly the ugliest logos of the bunch, but with the great design talent in these cities, we’re sure Boston and New York can step up their game.
Here’s our favorites:
Portland, Oregon, United States:
Osaka, Japan:
Acapulco, Mexico:
Bristol, United Kingdom:
Retail chain Daffy’s recently launched a campaign beneath the streets of New York City featuring 40 pieces of a highly provacative photo from their latest look book. Consumers were set on a hunt to find and then tweet the pieces of the puzzle in a race to complete the full picture for a chance to win the ultimate prize: an entire year of living rent free in a high end Manhattan space. The campaign, developed by agency Johannes Leonardo also integrated a truck Twitter tracker on the Daffy’s site and a live event incorporating performance and film. One of the freshest campaigns we’ve seen in a while and worth the hunt for sure. Check out some pictures of the puzzle pieces and the final image below.
Is there a “happiness deficiency” in the United States? JELL-O seems to think so, and they’re teaming up with Bill Cosby once again to turn things around.
With a new logo, J-E-L-L-O jingle, and the relaunching of their iconic Cosby connection, JELL-O is pulling out all the stops to bring more smiles to America. They’ve even launched a nationwide giggle contest – the Hello JELL-O “Give it a Giggle” Tour – and the winner will be recognized by Cosby himself on his new weekly webisode series, “OBKB”.
Does America need more laughter? Or is JELL-O just betting on a positive consumer association between happiness and the brand? KFC recently branded their entire Facebook identity around Breast Cancer awareness: even the Colonel is wearing pink and promoting a good cause. Ultimately, whether or not these campaigns are genuinely interested in changing the state of the world, they’re making a positive impact.
We may never know if America truly faces this happiness deficiency. Perhaps you can tell where you stand with HappyTweets, a measuring stick for how positive, or happy, a particular Tweep is. Or, you could always get yourself some JELL-O and see how things turn out.
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Check out the latest from artist Sonny Smith. His project 100 Records is described and documented below:
“Gallery 16 is pleased to welcome San Francisco based artist, musician and playwright SONNY SMITH to his first solo show with the gallery. 100 Records is a dauntingly ambitious project that bridges his interest in art, music and dramatic form. Smith invited 100 artists to produce artwork for the record covers of fictional bands. Smith concocted the personas of all 100 fictitious bands, then wrote and recorded two hundred songs (the A side and B side) for each. On display at the gallery will be all the original album artwork as well as a jukebox that plays all two hundred songs recorded by Sonny Smith and other notable musicians. Artists include, William T. Wiley, Mingering Mike, Chris Johanson, Reed Anderson, Jo Jackson, Harrell Fletcher, Chris Duncan, Tucker Nichols, Paul Wackers and 91 others!”
via sonnysmith.com
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One of our favorite artists and graphic designers, Matt Moore, has recently collaborated with Rayban in creating a limited edition wayfarer as part of their Rare Prints collection. Check them out below as well as photos of the storefront in NYC done up by Mr. Moore himself. Via mashkulture.
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In their attempt to add a lowercase ‘i’ in front of nearly every word, Apple has stumbled upon something great. The iPhone’s next operating system, the iPhone OS 4, will feature Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform. Essentially, by providing users with interactive games and information within an application, an iAd will combine the emotion of TV ads with the interactivity of web ads. Apple will serve the ads, but the marketing tactics are completely developed by the firm. In the future, there’s no doubt that Street Attack will be able to provide our alternative marketing expertise in yet another forum and in even more dynamic ways. And we think that’s iAwesome. 
Naoto Fujisawa, Japanese industrial designer out of Tokyo, is known for his simplistic designs. His mantra “without thought” refers to how objects should be used; naturally and spontaneously. This mantra has been front and center since he opened his own design company in 2003.
Being able to use an object intuitively results in a design that is user friendly to all. Take, for example, the Muji CD player Fujisawa designed. Inspired by how the spinning CD reminded him of a rotating fan, Fujisawa quite literally interpreted this into his design, creating a wall mount CD player that starts and stops at the tug of a string.
As introduced in the Universal Design segment in DWELL magazine March 2010:
“[the CD player] comfortably accommodates many kinds of disability: There is no visual display, so it is easy to use with impaired vision; the main control is a generous pull cord, not a tiny button, so it can be used with reduced dexterity too. Its very simplicity also makes it approachable to people with learning difficulties or other cognitive impairments, because you don’t have to decode cryptic icons or be familiar with the conventions of computers or ATMs.”
In the future, the ease of which an object can be used may become as important as its aesthetic beauty. Fujisawa’s designs embody both qualities allowing us a peek into industrial design of times to come.
The Muji CD player is part of MoMA’s permanent collection.
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The Texans Bring It! Tour had a very successful official kick-off and press event today at the Francisco Medrano middle school in Dallas, TX.
Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, Todd Staples, visited the tour this morning to address kids, educators and press about how important this cause and campaign is. With obesity rates in Texas one of the highest in the nation, the Texans Bring It! Tour will visit four additional middle schools in the next two weeks to propel a movement and bring awareness to the Texans Bring It! campaign, the 3 E’s – education, exercise, and eating right – as well as the website, www.texansbringit.com.
Other key figures in presence today included top officials from federal and state USDA offices, as well as key figures in the local school district.
Street Attack is thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking campaign. The tour and website were built and managed by the Street Attack team.
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Opening statement in Protest T-shirts, Designs from the Cult Independents:
“Can a slogan change the world? Or is it enough to make people think? The public have been willing to wear and advertise brand names for years; now the independents are hijacking a desire to wear good design to showcase the issues they want to promote or confront. As a result, those who are buying the shirts are doing more than getting dressed in the morning they are using their bodies to stimulate debate, amuse, turn heads, and minds.”
Street Attack designs from both Birdhead Design, a clothing line with goals to merge art and fashion, as well as Mess with Texas, were featured in this massive archive of political wearable fashions. Check out the designs below.
Check out this creative promotional package for Red Bull Cola. The promotional box is handmade and holds one Red Bull Cola along with its 17 natural ingredients. Who are the lucky ones to receive this limited gift box?
