In Praise of Excellence

It’s that time of year--graduation season is in full swing and you can watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN. Here are some examples of award certificates before they were overrun by cartoon bees, smiling stars, and high-fiving books. 

The Afterlife of a Magazine

Sean Miller's National Geographic bookshelf was a finalist in 

an inhabitat green design contest.

Congrats to all the National Magazine Award winners announced last week. Especially to Time which won magazine of the year. But let’s face it. No matter how many awards a magazine wins, there are really very few you actually (or even should) keep.

So what happens to magazines after they’ve been “consumed?” For the most part, used magazines are tossed, and though fully recyclable, 80% are thrown out as trash. Taken together, magazines and newspapers account for about one quarter of our landfills.

So while 20% of magazines are being recycled, there is a teensy tiny fraction of magazines that are actually being upcycled and repurposed, mostly by eco-friendly/unemployed crafters. It’s not at all unusual to find bowls, beads, bags, and notebooks all fashioned from discarded magazines using techniques ranging from bookbinding to Victorian bead-making. Though glossy fashion magazines, of course, are favored for all the colorful pictures and ads, when it comes to individual titles, there’s only one magazine that “owns the category,” as they say. There’s National Geographic and then there’s everyone else. Take a quick look on Etsy and you’ll find envelopes, stickers, notebooks, and yards of garlands, all repurposed from Nat Geos of both yesteryear and today.

It’s hard to say exactly what it is about the brand (I’m sure it’s been case studied) that always made National Geographic the magazine you never threw out. Perhaps it was color photography at a time when the world was black and white--or the incredible maps, or the yellow spines. Or even the authoritative title, which no focus group would ever rate as catchy or memorable. One physical quality that probably contributed to its staying power could be, literally, its physical staying power. Unlike many other early-mid 20^th Century magazines that simply crumbled with age, National Geographic didn’t fall apart, or disintegrate in quite the same way. And in groups, the enduring tablet-like form factor has always lent itself to such satisfying stacks.

Over the years National Geographic has won a National Magazine Award in probably every award category for which it is eligible, including Magazine of the Year, which it won last year. So even though it has absolutely no need for nonawards of my own conjuring, it will always remain the top spot-holder of the non-category, “Most Repurposed.”

Spiral notebook

Map-covered school chair/desk

Stickers

Beads

Earrings

Envelopes

Garland

Garlands

Hang tags

Woven coasters

Picture frame

Wallet

Collaged handmade sketchbook

Pine cone ornament

Gift wrapping

The iconic yellow magazines as decor

Elle Decor via Interior and Architecture Ideas

And the “Malofiej” goes to …

Carl DeTorres took us through his IBM graphics

Given the recent explosion of interest in data visualization, I’m just assuming you’re all familiar with the Malofiej World Infographics Summit, which takes place every March in Pamplona, Spain.

Think Cannes Film Festival-meets-Ted-meets-World Economic Forum--but for infographics. This year’s confab being the 20^th, was a star-studded affair. Conference mastermind, Javier Errea, who is president of SND Spain, programmed two full days of back-to-back presentations. It made for an exhausting, yet exhilarating event. The roster of presenters, needless to say, was who’s who of Visual Journalism. (i.e. Nigel Holmes, Jaime Serra, Carl de Torres, Bryan Christie, Alberto Cairo, and John Grimwade to name a few).

The conference culminated in an awards ceremony for graphics created during 2011. The New York Times made its usual sweep, winning six of the eight Gold Medals awarded and a full one-third of the total 111 “Malos.” (I doubt “Malo” would go over in Spain as a name for an award, which, come to think of it, is probably why it’s never been used. I like it, though, in a 90s hip-hop bad-means-good kind of way.)

Design assignment: Brand this award with a nickname and trophy!

I tried making a Pin Board of the print winners. Easier said than done. Many of the graphics are not findable, and often, the print graphics have very different online versions.

Alas, many winning graphics I was able to locate are not pinnable (i.e. Nat Geo, South China News). It’s just a bit unfortunate because a “pin” retains its original-source link, and that provides an opportunity to experience sites you might not necessarily visit.  As it is, a number of the images I’ve linked to, are posts from other blogs. 

“It’s the beauty, stupid” is how I would summarize Bryan Christie’s message. Beauty, of course, cannot be defined, or taught, but we all know how powerful it is. Bryan’s epiphany upon seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta in Rome was that the force with which beauty communicates is not to be ignored by anyone, let alone an information designer. It has forever changed his work, and it is a large component of what we find so sublimely compelling about his anatomical and medical illustration.

Matthew Bloch’s map for the New York Times showing taxi rides per hour over an entire week in Manhattan involved close to two million data points and much experimentation.

We were all envious of Nigel Holmes’s artistic license authorizing him to “combine pictures and information.” We were also envious of his grandchildren for whom he makes wonderful toys from found materials.

Much thanks goes to Professor Michael Stoll who provided an exhibit of some mouthwatering vintage infographics from his collection. On display, in addition to large panels of reproductions, were original books and documents. Visit Michael’s Flickr galleries, at your own risk. Once entering, you might never emerge.

Euskara fonts popularized at the end of the 19^th century, with the emergence of Basque nationalism can be found throughout Pamplona, from the stenciling on dumpsters to shop and restaurant signage. Read more about Basque typography at Social Design Notes.

Another graphic feature you’ll see in the city is the stylized scallop shell signifying that you are on the Camino de Santiago/ Way of St. James/Chemin de St. Jacques, the pilgrimage route that leads to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Luckily the pilgrimage must be walked on foot, so Shell Oil has no tie-in here.

Model of Pamplona at the city’s Archive.

Stylish Blogger Award …

You can imagine my surprise and delight to find out that ALL MY EYES has received a Stylish Blogger Award! Much thanks to the generous and supportive P. Gaye Tapp of Little Augury, for bestowing this honor upon me. As I’ve mentioned previously, Little Augury is, from my point of view, the absolute last word in style, so there’s no arguing with her on this one.

Let’s see now, if I’m considered stylish, you can be sure that this award has no swimsuit component, and that cat hair has finally been recognized as a legitimate accessory.

As a Stylish Blogger Awardee, my duties are the following:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you

2. Share 7 things about yourself

Here goes:
1. I’ve tried hang gliding.
2. I own an obscene number of vintage bracelets.
3. When I was a kid, I was surprised to learn that “ladle,”

“spatula,” and “tumult” were NOT Yiddish words.

4. I’ve never had a microwave.
5. I’ve never seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
6. Once, for two days, my hair was “Winter Wheat” (think Joey

Heatherton).

7. Yup, that’s me with Bill.

3. Award 10 other bloggers

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award

Here are some blogs I’ve been hanging out at lately:

Accidental Mysteries
Art Found Out
Ephemeral New York
The Ministry of Type
Newmanology
Nothing is New
one piece
Stephen Kroninger
Subtraction
Word and Eggs

And now for my acceptance speech ...