Rick Landesberg: Design & Generosity

Pictured above is my friend & colleague, Rick Landesberg and photos of a wonderful little book that he produced called "Design & Generosity". The book was done as a remembrance of a talk that Rick gave at TEDx Leadership Pittsburgh in November of last year. The book itself is something to be cherished—a letterpress printed cover on stout recycled stock, beautiful typography and design, and hand stitched by Debra Williams, a fine artist and Office Manager at Landesberg Design in Pittsburgh.

But more than the book itself, are the ideas which Rick has captured. In Rick's 3 minute talk, (See it here on YouTube)  he is able to summarize the importance and value of a fully developed aesthetic sense in work that might be done by graphic and industrial designers. He points out that even modest objects with the most utilitarian of functions can be designed so that they are imbued with beauty as well as utility. This, as Rick defines it, is the gift that is given by the designer. He goes on to define this idea as generosity and encourages all of us who create things to invest this spirit into those things that we design. "...investing our work with a bountifulness and kindness that makes the work truly generous."

 Thank you Rick! Truly inspirational.

Spring is coming...

I was walking in the woods looking for photographs when I came across this tiny feather, less than 3 inches in length, cresting on top of the frozen snow. A sure sign that the birds are returning, the sun is shining, and maybe, just maybe, we'll survive this god-awful winter we've had. I did add this to my collection of feathers.

David Rohm's Brilliant Self-Promotional Mailers

I received these self promotional mailers the other day from a designer named David Rohm. 

Now we all know how welcoming we are to unsolicited e-mails—but these just grabbed me because of their simplicity and unique positioning. This guy, whom I don't know, but look forward to meeting, has written and designed what I think are some of the best self-promotional mailers that I've ever seen.

Simple, bold grab you by the eyeballs typography, and messaging that can't be beat. In the first ad at the top (I realize it's hard to read the small type) but David is offering a 30 day, no cost free trial of his creative services. 

In the second he's saying: "Graphic Design is all about me"--cut on dotted line, rotate 180 degrees. This is funny & inventive stuff here. He's captured the stereotypical weakness that designers are known for, and used it as another grabber with the "rotate 180 degrees to form "We".

The third is another take on the free for 30 days offer using the current financial mess as a platform for the idea. 

So, if anyone reading this knows of anyone looking for a brilliant designer (and writer) call: David Rohm (412) 200-2724; davidcreative@comcast.net