Ken Carbone

The Case Against Lowercase: Design Experts on Re-branded Aol. [VIDEO]

Alissa Walker — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:45:13 -0500

Since we reported yesterday on AOL's new logo, vision and creative punctuation tactics, reactions to the new Aol. have flooded in. As did this video, a sneak peek of Aol.'s new campaign:

Man Ray: An Artist Any Designer Could Love

Ken Carbone — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:11:40 -0500

Man Ray has one of the coolest names in the history of art. However, he was born Emmanuel Radnitzky. He rejected his birth name moved to Paris in 1921 and became the sole American in the vanguard of Parisian Modernism. This transformation represented a conflicted identity and his deep desire to escape the limitations of his Russian Jewish past.

Nike Designers to Tackle College Football With Pro-Combat Gear

Ben Paynter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:08:22 -0500

Nike's new mantra should be Just Re-Do It.

In recent years they've successfully tackled everything from Olympic running shoes to swimsuits, to creating a essentially an elaborate pedometer that plays music, the Nike Plus.

Next up, it seems they've borrowed a page from design guru Ken Carbone's own style playbook.

Penalty! Unnecessary Blandness! Redesigning the Worst NFL Helmet Graphics

Ken Carbone — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:26:17 -0500

The conservative columnist George Will once said football combines the two worst things about America: violence punctuated by committee meetings. As a designer who occasionally gets caught up in the fury of the game, I'd like to add graphic design to what's wrong with football.

Big League Chew: Phils Out-Spit Yanks

Ken Carbone — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:30:49 -0500

To quote the late, great sportscaster Jim McKay, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" never looked better than in high-definition TV. The pristine, crystal clarity of the widescreen image adoringly captures an athlete's grace, strength, speed and--in the case of baseball--his saliva.

Major League Baseball is the expectorator sport.

Creepy, Crawly, Crafty: A Tapestry Woven by Eight-Legged Artists

Ken Carbone — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:28:35 -0400

What could possibly drive two men to spend $500,000 of their own money over four years, become employers of a million female spiders, and rekindle an indigenous tradition on the island of Madagascar? The answer: To create an incredibly beautiful artifact that is unique in the world.

Designed to be Wild: Full Throttle Choppers In Vermont

Ken Carbone — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:38:37 -0400

I've never ridden a motorcycle and probably never will. Too fast, too dangerous. However, this conviction was seriously challenged when I visited Full Throttle: Vintage Motorcycles, Custom Choppers and Racing Machines at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont this past summer.

A Better Way to Health Care Reform: We Need an Information Design S.W.A.T. Team

Ken Carbone — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:34:49 -0400

Long before the "town brawls", "grass roots vs. Astro-Turf," and "death panels" became the three rings of the health care media circus, an op-ed piece appeared in the Washington Post positing that the U.S. health-care system was critically ill. The diagnosis? Terminal Information Design.

Les Paul: The Guitar, the Logo, the Legend

Ken Carbone — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:14:06 -0400

Yesterday, a deafening cry of disbelief was heard from every electric guitarist on the planet. Les Paul had died. He was 94. We all knew the day would come but the shock was seismic.

Bill and Kim's Excellently-Posed Adventure

Ken Carbone — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:41:46 -0400

There they are, sitting side by side in a photographic balance of power. President Bill Clinton looking his sartorial best and Chairman Kim Jong Il looking his janitorial worst. This photo released yesterday by the Korean Central News Agency, is designed to demand the respect the totalitarian state of North Korean so desperately wants. This tableau is so perfectly choreographed that it begs visual analysis.

Ron Arad at MoMA: Who Needs Discipline?

Ken Carbone — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:25:32 -0400

Variations on Ron Arad's Ripple Chair, photo by Jason Mandella

Ron Arad's exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is a lot about "no." No limits. No right angles. No expense spared.

François Robert Finds a Face for FLOR

Ken Carbone — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:49:50 -0400

The unintended consequence of industrial design and manufacturing is the parallel humanity that lives in the objects of our lives. It's a global population and they surround us. A wall outlet seems to be expressing a face of fear. A baby's pacifier possesses a bulbous nose. The front end of a vintage roadster can suggest some fierce facial features.

Architecture in Golden Gate Park: A Matter of Life and Lifeless

Ken Carbone — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:38:30 -0400

During a recent trip to San Francisco I had the pleasure of visiting Golden Gate Park, which has undergone a wonderful transformation since my last visit almost ten years ago. I had planned to spend the day there and was pleased to see that I was not alone. The park was packed and so was my agenda. I wanted to visit both the de Young Museum designed by Herzog & de Meuron that opened in 2005 and the recently debuted California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano.

Dear SyFy, Imagine Greater - Please!

Ken Carbone — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:59:07 -0400

We have been warned.

The Sci Fi channel announced that it was changing its name to SyFy a few months ago, and the switch happens tomorrow. Unfortunately Bruce Willis is not going to rescue us from this colossal attack of bad branding and phonetic foolishness. This name change has been widely criticized, so I'm only adding a final pinch of salt to the wound on the eve of its debut.

Design Roundtable: What Will Cell Phones Look Like 10 Years From Now?

Alissa Walker — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:22:05 -0400

We're back with the final installation of this week's cell phone roundtable. We choose the topic, put forth a few questions to our panel, and bring the most provocative answers back to you. This week, with more details about the Palm Pre and Monday's iPhone G3 S announcement it seemed a good time to ponder some issues about our love affair with mobile.

Design Roundtable: Why Do Cell Phones Go Out of Fashion so Quickly?

Alissa Walker — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:38:57 -0400

Once again we've got our favorite design experts gathered around our virtual roundtable, talking about (but not on) cell phones. Here's how our design roundtables work: We choose the topic, put forth a few questions to our panel, and bring the most provocative answers back to you.

Design Roundtable: How Can Cell Phones Improve the World?

Alissa Walker — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:45:55 -0400

This week, with more details about the Palm Pre and some rumors about Apple's 2009 iPhone event on Monday, it seemed a good time to gather our design experts together and ponder some issues about our love affair with mobile. Today's question: How can cell phones be used to improve the world?

Hot Diggity Dog! Design That's Good Enough to Eat

Ken Carbone — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:54:38 -0400

Take one baguette, slice it in half, impale it on a warm spike, add any of six sauces into the resulting cavity, insert one of five grilled sausages and serve. That's DOGMATIC: the Gourmet Sausage System.

If you're looking for a tasty lunch wrapped in tasty design, DOGMATIC is for you. Located on a street full of fast food fare near New York City's Union Square, DOGMATIC stands above the rest. They opened their doors last October just as the world was imploding, but their top-to-bottom commitment to great design shows no sign of compromise.

One in a Billion: iHandy Level - A 'Yes to Less' Review

Ken Carbone — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:05:57 -0400

iHandy Level - ****

Thirteen-year-old Connor Mulcahey made headlines last week when he downloaded the billionth app in Apple's "Billion App Countdown Promotion." As the grand prizewinner, he's now enjoying a bunch of Apple gear and a $10,000 iTunes gift card to purchase more gadgets, games and gags for his iDevices.

Flawless to Clueless, Part III: Peanut Birdfeeder

Ken Carbone — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:30:29 -0400

Peanut Birdfeeder - *****

Flawless to Clueless, Part II: The Fender Telecaster

Ken Carbone — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:46:01 -0400

Fender Telecaster *****

What constitutes a "game changer?" It's usually an idea so bold that its effect completely alters preconceived notions of what something can do or should be. Think Apple's iPhone, Toyota's Prius or even the typeface Helvetica.

Introducing Guest Blogger Ken Carbone: A Look Inside His Private Journals [video]

Linda Tischler — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:28:36 -0400

About a year ago, I happened by the offices of Carbone Smolan, a design and branding agency here in New York. Their work for clients ranging from Morgan Stanley to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was--is--wonderful. But I was most entranced by a collection of personal journals that co-founder Ken Carbone showed me.

Viva Le Louvre! At 20, I.M. Pei's Controversial Pyramid Defies Critics

Ken Carbone — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:53:03 -0400

La Pyramide du Louvre - *****