Viva Design Inc.

Our recent trip to San Franciso was short and intense. I could not help shooting windows again, my favorite thing to do... More photos are at vivadesign.com/SanFrancisco 

The Party was a smashing hit. We invited designers, djs, musicians, artists, innovators and techno-nerds. Saul Grey-Hildenbrand and Ethan Turpin are exhibiting their great art , Ellen Sherwood from lapiubellatavola.com was catering delicious food as well as peach bellinis, DJ B-Michael (Brendan) was mixing and Katerina Istomin played beautiful viola pieces by Bach.

 

I finally added some images from Daniel Vosovic, fashion designer in NY and Fashion Runway Finalist. Daniel is very inspiring and creative. Here he shows work in progress, what inspires him, how his day looks like...www.vivadesign.com/DanielVosovic He creates wonderful work.

 

 

Last Wednesday I spoke at fishbon (fishbon.org) about the highlights of the 2008 BDA conference.

This year's conference was surprisingly inspiring...maybe due to new management there is fresh wind at Promax/BDA. The things that inspired me most was

1. PSYOP - Their work is stunning and they truly deserve the "lifetime achievement" award (check out psyop.tv)
2. The Best of design session and State of the Art - the shown samples were awesome, delivery by Justin Cone was great (check out his site motionographer.com). A lot of great spots can be found on that site (http://motionographer.com/index.php?s=procrastination)

3. interactive storytelling on multiple platforms - it is no longer that simple, content is found everywhere...Is tv dead?

4. I presented the ideas of Nicholas Negroponte about One laptop per child (laptop.org).

5. Sir Ken Robinson has the right ideas about creativity and the lack of it in our schools. One of his speaches can also be downloaded from ted.com

6. I love the shortfilm "procrastination" (http://motionographer.com/2008/04/08/johnny-kelly-procrastination/)

5. Last not least I showed the ted-video of "Jill Bolte's powerful stroke of insight", downloadable at ted.com

Cosmopolitan TV got a makeover. Bold, sassy, and unapologetic. Backed by Hearst Corp and Corus Entertainment, the new digital TV network designed for women 18-34 began airing February 14th.

Viva Design was called to the challenge to capture the Cosmo spirit, celebrating the sexy lifestyle of young women via shows about men and relationships. The network is the first English-speaking version of the Cosmopolitan TV already running in Spain and Latin America. Cosmo TV in Canada was coming next, en route to the U.S.

Six IDs were shot, animated, and composited into a comprehensive, on-air ID package. Viva's creative director Ulrike Kerber found "the challenge was to find the right medium between too fashionably "Vogue" and the more practical "Cosmopolitan" mag style." Meg Barbour, Viva producer recalls, “Although the deadlines were tight, we were given great creative freedom using live action with two- and three-D elements.

Corus Entertainment creative director Dolores Keating was happy with the launch: "Viva Design totally got and contributed to the creative brief. They were realistic and creative about how to achieve the amount and quality of the work. They totally understood the demo and took the creative execution up at least 100% over the Spanish and south American companies. The caliber of design is totally amazing and world class."

click here to view the video in a pop up window

Viva Design Inc. has an open space to rent in downtown Santa Barbara. It is an ideal space for a gallery or a media lab. According to your need you can rent a smaller or larger area.

It is also possible to create a coop with tenants who work in film/production/media. The spaces are great for freelancers or small companies, where ideas can blossom and project teams can be potentially formed. There is a common area for meetings, screenings, art openings, etc.

The new earth is all about ideas, collaboration and a community that finds creative solutions.
For more info, please email ulrike@vivadesign.com

I spoke at the AIGA typography panel, which conveniently took place at a winetasting room in Santa Barbara. The panelists were John Roshell from comicraft, Bill Kienzel and I. After testing some local wines, I started the panel by talking about what inspires me. Since I love shopping (I mean window shopping) I have many examples of how typography is used in fashion. I categorize the current use of type as 1. handmade, 2. ornamental, 3. classical, 4. conceptual.

Handdrawn type has been a la mode in the last few years. I showed some cool motion graphics samples (Shilo for cartoon network). There are beautiful spots using calligraphy, like the Heidsiek Piper commercial. Stefan Sagmeister's work inspires me as it is conceptually very clever. He spoke at the ted conference some years ago and the talk can be downloaded from their site (TED.com). Last not least I ended showing recent examples of vivadesign.com

 

Italy was great, I am thinking of moving there for good, drinking cappucino all day and pondering about the meaning of life as we know it.  In the meantime, we are working on the finishing of the website.

We are officially selected as speakers and session presenters for the Promax/BDA.

BDA session

"Fashion Inspired!"

June 14th 2007, 10.30 am, New York Hilton Hotel, Sutton center

Moderator: Ulrike Kerber, Founder/Creative Director, Viva Design, Inc.

Presenters: Elaine Cantwell, Founder/Creative Director, Spark Creative Inc.; Daniel Vosovic, "Project Runway" Finalist, Teri Agins, author of  "The End of Fashion" and Wall Street Journal senior special writer

A showcase panel of award-winning broadcast and fashion designers/editors present the cross pollination between the fashion industry and television - covering trends, the creative process, how fashion brand awareness is created, television as a launching pad for fashion designers careers, the new roles celebrities play in fashion, and where fashion and broadcast designers draw inspiration. Come and be inspired in this fashion forward session. Appropriate attire not required.