"American Trademarks" Traces the Origins of Our Logo Lust

“In the year 100,010, some evolved species will be digging through ancient digital rubble and find a strange visual iconography made of tiny colorful squares with rounded corners. They will diligently attempt to decipher what we meant by “I am T-Pain,” “Doodle Jump,” and “Zombie Farm.” Finally, they will conclude that our native tongue was something called Apps.”

(via Fast Company)

Does MTV's New Logo Look Too Mainstream?

MTV has “updated” their iconic logo. Personally, I think it’s a sad thing.

“Music is still at the center of so much of what we do, but we’ve really expanded what that means,” Stephen Friedman, MTV’s general manager,  said. “We needed the logo to be flexible enough to have the artists within it but also the stars of our shows. It’s an updating that speaks to this audience in a much simpler, bolder way.”

(via Advertising Age)

World's Most Influential Designers

“Not only is “influential” difficult to measure, but “design” is also nigh on impossible to define neatly. Nonetheless, we decided to put together a list of some of the design world’s most influential movers and shakers. From design thinkers to hands-on design doers in industries from graphics to industrial to auto design, our chosen 27 luminaries represent a diverse cross-section of design disciplines. But all those selected have one thing in common: They are in some way responsible for shaping the world around us.”

(via Business Week)

Fire, Agriculture, Design: How Human Creativity Built Society

“Ever since the Renaissance, we have been told that art is a product of a noble society, one that is rich enough and functional enough to support the muse. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs made that belief into science: In order for humans to reach the peaks of artistic thinking, he postulated, they must provide for their most basic needs such as food, shelter, sex and more. This social science axiom has been introduced to me more than once in meetings about design, effectively suggesting that design (and art) are secondary and may exist only at the benevolence of functionalists, those people who satisfy our core existential needs first. With that idea so deeply ingrained in our culture, society is now programmed to see art and design as luxury we can afford only after our basic “needs” are met.”

(via Fast Company)