Notes Design

In a man-vs machine face-off, Chipp Kidd, renown book jacket designer, and Janne Kyttanen, rapid prototyping guru, took the stage in front of a hungry crowd. Kidd walked us through the best (and worst) of his career in book design. His unconventional methods (throwing a bucket of water on paper to produce Burroughs' 'Dry' cover!!) and his skillful artistry demonstrated how unique ways of thinking lead to successful design. He emphasized the role of limits when creating, stating "The more you are limited the more you are forced to think."

On the other side of the industry, Janne Kyttanen presented work from Materialise, the rapid prototyping resource. From tiny shoes to lamps, Kyttanen emphasized the role of speed in his creation process, as well as the joy of being able to make "anything he wants". He recounted the story of designing a product in the length of a cab ride from JFK airport to the MOMA in New York. When asked about his pace of work, Kyttanen happily admitted it was his dream to work on projects that only take one or two days to produce.

During Q&A the designers were asked about the role of hand vs technology. Neither discounted the other, but Kidd left us with a quote to chew on (man we're hungry!):

paraphrased

I was part of one of the last generations of graphic designers to be trained working by hand. That experience trained me in the IDEA, to be concept driven vs technically driven. That's something we can't lose. The idea, the concept is king.