We used Isotype icons as a small hommage to Gerd Arntz and Otto Neurath. In Frank Hartmann’s own words: the first to really understand that information must be transformed into pictures in order to be perceived at all.

You will notice as well a restrained use of visual design. If there’s one thing we’re obsessive about at Vostok is of not overcrowding our work with a mix of shapes, sizes, colors, etc. If done right, a small visual change should suffice. Like in this video. Where a change in color means something, a change in size, a change in position. Because when trying to get information across, nothing is arbitrary: every single detail counts.

Let us know what you think.

Lucky for us though, Canal+ Spain will premiere the film sometime in May. Take note of the date because this one’s definitely not worth missing. The amount of archive material these men had access to is astonishing and the way Jason Cohn’s script interweaves private and public aspects of their lives, pretty enlightening.

But, movie-aspects aside, this is a great opportunity to revisit the Eames’ work and, especially, their philosophy. El Pais’ Anatxu Zabalbeascoa did a pretty good job at grasping what this event was all about in her article a few weeks ago: Eames for times of crisis. Charles and Ray taught us that difficult times are a great opportunity to change things: to do more and better.

They injected some of this ‘good design is good business’ mantra in companies like Herman Miller, IBM and Polaroid but they also engrained this in future generations of designers. Like us. Many years after them. This is the main reason why we decided to do this event in the first place and share it with the people we respect. For those of you who came: thank you. This is the first time we do something like this. Hopefully it won’t be the last.

We’d also like to thank the great team behind us in this event: Pelayo and Marta. And Vitra Spain for their generosity.

The location, the actor and the voice-over are made by Vostok. The script, the photography, the music and the editing are made by Riot Cinema. A special thanks goes to Luis Enrique Carrión. This man can do wonders with a Canon EOS 5D and a bit of light.

I would encourage you to read along side a great post by Arquinauta’s Karina Ibarra in UX Mag that covers extensively lessons learned, she now shares, when designing for kids. Especially kids 3 and under.

We wish Arquinauta’s team the best and hope to see such a beautifully-designed app used in many more languages.

So the news is that the IFC Center  will premiere Eames: Architect and Painter by directors Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey. PBS will air it in December as part of their American Masters series. From this interview (Part 1 and Part 2) I get the impression that the documentary will be really good. Cohn’s devotion to the project (he has spent five years working on it: fundraising, documenting and filming) and his passion for both the Eames’ work and work ethos gives me confidence. The fact that he’s a journalist with a design sensibility and not a designer with a journalist sensibility is also a good sign. It’s a subtle but important difference.

The difference between telling the story of two people that happened to do great design and were able to convey the value of it to non-designers, making “the best for the most for the least” and something more centered on doing an appraisal of their work and the value of their legacy. I’m not saying that a designer wouldn’t have done a great job, I’m just saying it’s a matter of focus.

Sometimes people who are not designers are good at explaining the value of certain design concepts in layman’s terms. Sometimes not. We’ll see.

Until then, here’s the trailer:

In Cockedey‘s own words: stick it on full screen, watch in HD, turn the sound up, sit back and just take it all in.

Camera: Canon 5dmk2
Music: “Main Titles” and “Blush Response” from Vangelis.

More information on the process here.

Almost seven months have passed since 3/11. Time enough to erect a barrier separating what was from what will be. And it looks like Japan is making the most out of it.

The bittersweet reality of catastrophes is that, despite everything, they honor you with a precious gift: the opportunity to start over. Funnily enough, what comes across most strongly is their desire to start anew, create something that’s their own and not just an interpretation of other cultures. This documentary grasps a tiny tiny glimpse of that.

You can watch the complete series here.

As ‘Gabriela who works at Vostok‘ this is pretty much what I have to say. But, as ‘Gabriela who loves movies and doesn’t know what she would do without them’, I would like to say a few more things about Filmin:

1. It’s one of the best online video services out there. It’s run by people who love movies, it’s simple, it’s efficient and it has a great catalog. Sure there are a few things I wish they could do better… but hey, I also want my man to be handsome, intelligent, sensitive and understanding…everyday, at all time…so hey, who cares?

2. It’s one of the few bridges between –and I’m gonna be intentionally simplistic here to stress my point– the two sides of the Spanish film industry today: the more “internet is the devil” side Vs. “internet is our savior”. There are millions of caveats, trillions of nuances and loads of things one cannot talk about unless one’s there, working at it and sweating it but, I can say this: we need middle-grounds, we need fresh air, we need companies, people, organizations and production companies that realize film distribution (and exhibition) has changed and that the new change will only bring good things for cinema.

And that’s it.

So congratulations and in Monsieur Tarantino’s own words:

What started as a functional need later became a styling trend. Thousands of objects were designed in aerodynamic shapes even though they were supposed to be still. In this flickr gallery there are a few great examples:

The greatest advocate of streamline as a styling aesthetic were Norman Bel Geddes and Raymond Loewy”>Raymond Loewy who believed that curves were great, especially for making a product more appealing to the public. One of his most famous designs is a pencil sharpener that, although it was supposed to be screwed to a table, its shape was as streamlined as a supersonic rocket:

This quote of the streamline godfather explains everything:

The most beautiful curve is a rising sales graph

Raymond Loewy

It’s easy to spot the switch from honest appearance to styling, the gratuitious use of color and shapes that are not meant to serve function but to convey things different than the product purpose.

Some time ago we made a short video in homage to Dieter Rams and those beautifully designed products:

We also paid homage to Braun in in our recent “To me, design is…” video. How many Braun products can you spot in it?

We’d like to thank our clients and Riot Cinema for this video.