Tuesday, December 2 
The Dutch have always invested in creating beautiful money. Pre-euro, their paper bills were the most beautiful around. My wife and I bought a few denominations before the Euro took over, and have them framed in a double-sided glass frame. The money is not only visually beautiful, it is full of symbology from Dutch history and culture, as well as being extremely counterfeit-proof. Now the Dutch have a coin to match, albeit a 5 euro coin rather than a gilder.
The Dutch government commissioned a comemorative coin to celebrate the long history of Dutch architecture. Here’s how the Royal Dutch Mint describes it:
The Architecture five-euro coin was designed by artist Stani Michiels (b. 1973). The design on the obverse of the coin pays tribute to the history of Dutch architecture, with the portrait of Queen Beatrix being distinctively constructed using the names of important architects from Dutch history. The artist used the internet as a popularity-meter to determine the names’ order of appearance.
The reverse of the Architecture five-euro coin draws attention to the striking fact that many Dutch architects have also included publishing books on architecture in their professional activities. To illustrate this phenomenon, recent books on architecture rise up from the sides of the coin like buildings. Through their careful placement they combine to outline the Netherlands, while birds’ silhouettes suggest the capitals of all the provinces.
What’s more interesting is the designer’s own description of his process in creating the coin, it’s really fascinating. I’d love to see one of the coins up close and see how the intricateness of the imagery holds up “in the metal”.
dutch, euro, coin, Stani Michiels, royal dutch mint, design competition, queen beatrix, dutch architecture, netherlands | IN CATEGORIES... Design, Culture Tuesday, November 25 
What with all the Presidential transition stuff going on, it renewed my interest in the Presidential lectern. It’s got a very distinctive shape and has become a minor icon in itself, a physical symbol of American power that is consistently used at press conferences, and at speeches around the US and throughout the world.
I have been wondering who designed it, but so far have not been able to find anything about that. It’s another one of those examples of anonymous governmental design, like tax forms and the post office logo, that just appear and seep into culture.
There are a couple of interesting factoids I found out about it though:
If anyone has any knowledge on who designed it (I’m guessing deep in the bowels of some government department), I’d appreciate hearing.
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barack obama, president, blue goose, blue goose lectern, potus, bill clinton, press conference, press briefing | IN CATEGORIES... Design, Culture Monday, November 10 
I’ve recently seen some commercials for an Essentials line of cleaning products from Arm and Hammer, and I’m really liking the concept behind the products. I haven’t used them so can’t talk to efficacy, but the concept is brilliant and really shows a more thorough approach to sustainability.
As you can sort of see from the picture above, attached to the top of each bottle is a cylinder. This cylinder is a cartridge that contains a concentrate. When you get the bottle home, you fill it with water and then attach that cartridge to the top of the bottle. Now when you squeeze the trigger you get a spray that is made up of tap water mixed on the fly with the concentrate in the cartridge.
This is very clever for two reasons:
Arm and Hammer also claims the ingredients are “plant based” and/or biodegradable, though as always with such claims the devil is in the details.
Nevertheless, kudos to Arm and Hammer for taking an innovative approach to their packaging and distribution. Is it perfect? No, but it’s a bold first step designed to appeal to a mass-market audience from a brand that has built some light green credentials from its baking soda legacy.
green, arm and hammer, essentials, sustainability, packaging, packaging design, waste reduction, green waste | IN CATEGORIES... Design, Sustainable Design, Brand, Innovation, Product Review Wednesday, October 8 Thoughtful post from Chris Byrne, co-founder of loudspeaker manufacturer NHT:
The amazing thing about China is the speed at which it caught up in manufacturing and design capability. By 2001 you could find some of the finest craftsmanship the world has ever witnessed, and on a huge scale. It was intoxicating. Factories were going up in a matter of weeks throughout the province. You could discuss an idea for a new part in a morning meeting and it was not uncommon to find a prototype, still warm from manufacturing, on the conference room table upon returning from lunch. For the first time in years we were no longer bound by cost constraints. Any design, no matter how complex, was possible to produce and often at mass market prices. It was so easy. We got lazy and complacent.
In 2008 the hammer fell. Costs in our industry increased by 30% or more this year. Consumers have not even seen the impact of this yet, but soon will. A substantial part of the sudden increase is due to the rising standard of living in China, but it also came from the rising prices of the world’s dwindling natural resources. Some believe manufacturing companies will move to the next low cost, underdeveloped country. I think not.
In my opinion there are a specific set of circumstances that made China the powerhouse it is and those same circumstances are also the reason we have run out of practical places to go next
Western Europe and the US watched Japan’s prowess in manufacturing efficiency emerge over a period of 30 years. As the standard of living rose in Japan, the crown moved to Taiwan where efficiency met lower cost labor. This lasted 15 years or so, then it all moved to China where the investment and skills of the automated world met the largest, untapped and under paid labor pool. This combined with the existing logistic infrastructure in the Pacific Rim and the proximity of Hong Kong, the world’s largest free port, makes China the perfect location.
Certainly there remain countries with abundant low cost labor. However most of them have little or no infrastructure in place to support mass manufacturing and are geographically difficult to get to. The investment required would be many times the amount used in building China. And don’t forget that our declining and increasingly expensive natural resources only exacerbate the problem, making costs higher no matter where products are made.
So what does all this mean to you and I?
It means that manufacturers are going to have to become clever again about design. We are going to have to choose what is important and give up on the “nice to have” features if we want to remain affordable. It means we are going to have get smarter, work harder and maybe for the first time learn real marketing.
For consumers it means mainstream products are going to be more expensive, or they are going to lose desirable cosmetic and feature elements to which we have become accustomed. It means that people will have to make choices that they will live with, not throw away.Read the full post >
china, product design, features, globalization, trade, cost of living, manufacturing costs | IN CATEGORIES... Business, Design, Innovation Saturday, October 4 
I’m a huge fan of the films that Charles and Ray Eames did, they are great examples of how “designers” can have a kaleidoscopic view of, and impact on, the world. Here is the promotional film they did for the landmark Polaroid SX-70 camera.
Despite a film production process that, by today’s standards, is very primitive, and devoid of anything even remotely resembling CG, the film does a brilliant job of the main point: storytelling.
photography, polaroid, sx-70, eames, camera, film | IN CATEGORIES... Technology, Design