If you’re under 25, you’re probably saying, “Paul Who?”, and if your over 30 you’re probably saying “Paul, Mr. IBM, Rand”. Truth is, Paul Rand had a very successful graphic design career before the time of internet and mobile phones (fax machines and copy cameras?).
Well it seems the Paul has resurfaced, and is now designing great 140 character messages for the graphic designers of the 21st century. Now, in comes “The Angry Paul Rand”, and the greatest bit of graphic designer sarcasm since AnyoneCanSwiss (a small plug).
Example genius: “In my day I had a name for stupid clients who would not listen to my brilliant design advice. I called them “David Carson’s clients.” – The Angry Paul Rand.
We are designers here too. We were even trained in print design (like, on paper). While we recognize the work that Paul Rand did was indeed influential in his day, we also try not to harp on the past, and romanticize about “how design used to be”. @SwissMiss tweeted about him, and we also suggest that you go check him out. I hear he’s really old now, and please, don’t forget to laugh. @AngryPaulRand
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 – On Wednesday night we spoke to a crowd of photographers, designers, and architects about our ‘number one hit single’ Anyone Can Swiss. The response to our presentation was quite exciting. We met some really great people, and enjoyed the 20 slide, 6min 20sec format, as it is in the vein of how we work: fast, to the point, and with maximized efficiency over all.
I had lots of great conversations with many people. If you didn’t get a chance to say ‘Hey!’, then drop us a comment below!
Every two years, the AIGA has it’s Best of New England design competition. If you have been following our updates (or love/hate Helvetica) you probably have seen our project Anyone Can Swiss. Well, we can now call Anyone Can Swiss “Award Winning”.
That’s right, Dirk+Weiss has won a Best of New England (BoNE) award for outstanding design. The BoNE awards only go out the best New England designers with ‘knock your socks off’ work. Admittedly, the website for Anyone Can Swiss is not your typical graphic design project, but somehow, it felt right at home inside a graphic design competition.
Overall, we feel the judges connected to the bigger picture, and maybe even had a little fun with the project. That’s exactly what we wanted. Anyone Can Swiss is not just a “Perfect Helvetica Poster Generator”, it is a social experiment for graphic designers. Sure it pushes a few buttons, and causes some to ask “is this a joke? or serious?”. That’s the whole idea: contemplation and discourse.
We would like to thank the AIGA BoNE Show Judges and AIGA Boston for taking the time consider Anyone Can Swiss as an award winning design project, and creating an opportunity for us here a Dirk+Weiss to promote what we do to the greater design community.
Now what? Well, check out our Anyone Can Swiss iPhone app. Why the iPhone? We ask simply, why just be on the web, when you can be on the web and mobile? And we feel it is a safe assumption that many of the 40,000,000 iPhone users in the US are indeed, graphic designers.
First, thanks to all of you who have supported AnyoneCanSwiss by downloading our free Swissmaker 2.0 App. Our new build is on its way. This time, we have outdone ourselves.
There will be an update to the current free app, with some new abilities including:
Multiple line text (instead of single line) input with line breaks to create “White Space”
A status view that shows details of the Swissmaker Process
Background information about AnyoneCanSwiss
We are also announcing the release of our SwissmakerPro App. This is a $0.99 upgrade to the current free app, and it introduces the new features listed above and two exciting new features!
Pull a photo in from your library, and use it as a poster background
Take a photo with your camera, and use it as a poster background
That’s right friends! The Swissmaker 2.0 App for your iPhone is now available for Free Download in the iTunes App Store. Since its approval this Saturday June 6th, we are averaging over 65 units downloaded per day!
The Swissmaker 2.0 includes the ability to create a “Perfect Helvetica Poster” from a single line of text. Then, you can save it to your photo library and share with friends.
How can we make it free? The same way the rest of the web can be free, with a twist. We have included inside our Swissmaker 2.0 app, an advertising model that incorporates a co-branding vehicle to help promote products and brands virally. As a participant, you only pay if your ad is viewed. We have a detailed reporting and advertising system plugged in behind this and all our up coming apps, powered by OpenX.
If you our your company is interested in advertising on the Swissmaker 2.0 App and co-branding with AnyoneCanSwiss, contact us.
Download it now! Fun at parties! Try it with friends! Now Available For Free Download — Visit http://www.anyonecanswiss.com for more details.
