Fresh take on Cal!

In September photographer Elena Zhukova, her assistant Leon Brauer, and myself spent two days traversing the campus via golf cart in pursuit of capturing the energy, diversity, and spirit of UC Berkeley. The project was spearheaded by UCOP's creative director, Vanessa Corrêa, who is conducting similar photo shoots at each UC campus.


All photos are now available for use in campus publications and websites and can be previewed here.

Please contact Kathryn Bader, Office of Public Affairs, if you'd like a high res version of a particular photo.

UCOP is already using some of these photos, as well as photos from Santa Cruz, on the University of California website.

In or Out of Focus?

Photography that represents the University as a whole (the sum of its many diverse parts) has also been on our work radar since spring.

Any of you who alter photos in Photoshop (who doesn’t?) might have liked the Peter Henry Emerson (1880-1895) exhibit I saw at the J. Paul Getty museum in May featuring his early photography from Eastern England.

As suspected, the alteration of negatives has been going on from the get-go. I saw the variations of prints from altered negatives. The big debate then was about “truthfulness” vs. “character of nature” in photography. Whether photos should be sharply in focus capturing detail with startling clarity, or more fuzzy, closer to what the human eye sees. These were quite heated salon discussions.

Quotes from the time:

“Negatives must be printed without alteration.”

“Nothing in nature is a hard outline, but everything is seen against something else, often so subtly you cannot quite tell where it ends and the other begins. In this mingled decision and indecision lies all of the charm and mystery of nature.”

“Remember that your photograph is a rough index of your mind, it is sort of a rough confession on paper.”

Due to my procrastination in posting the show is gone but here is a link to the highlights: www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/emerson.

Free symbol signs for download

via the AIGA web site:

The complete set of 50 passenger/pedestrian symbols developed by AIGA is now available on the web, free of charge. Signs are available in EPS and GIF formats.

About the symbol signs
This system of 50 symbol signs was designed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events. Produced through a collaboration between the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are an example of how public-minded designers can address a universal communication need.

Prior to this effort, numerous international, national and local organizations had devised symbols to guide passengers and pedestrians through transportation facilities and other sites of international exchange. While effective individual symbols had been designed, there was no system of signs that communicated the required range of complex messages, addressed people of different ages and cultures and were clearly legible at a distance.

To develop such a system, AIGA and D.O.T. compiled an inventory of symbol systems that had been used in various locations worldwide, from airports and train stations to the Olympic Games. AIGA appointed a committee of five leading designers of environmental graphics, who evaluated the symbols and made recommendations for adapting or redesigning them. Based on their conclusions, a team of AIGA member designers produced the symbols.

A first set of 34 symbols was published in 1974, and received one of the first Presidential Design Awards; 16 more symbols were added in 1979. These copyright-free symbols have become the standard for off-the-shelf symbols in the catalogues of U.S. sign companies. They are now available on the web for the first time.