Should design come from disaster?

The truly devastating natural disaster which decimated parts of Japan just over a week ago has lead to a heated design debate. A flood of designers have offered up designs for posters (many based around the Japanese flag) which are being auctioned to help raise money for the cause. Few people would be able to argue with this as a worthy deed. The problem is that the posters often have no further info on how to donate to the cause and in-fact feature the studios name and a link to their website. Here then, lies the problem, is it right for a designer to get any sort of free promotion from a terrible event such as this?

Definitely an interesting read, the full article can be seen here

A hard question to answer

Having received the 2011 Census Questionnaire in the post yesterday I did chuckle when I got to question 17.

There must be some feasible reason for this but I like to think it's the designers way of stealing back some ever cherished white space.

The most stunning TV spot for.....yoghurt?

This advert was done for FAGE a popular food brand, although not in the UK, to help them launch in the US. It's called Plain Extraordinary and is a rare mix of 3D CGI, video compositing and editing combined with a great poem.

Obviously a lot of craft went into making this spot and it is the mix of great imagery and playful use of words that really make it special. You could be forgiven for thinking it was an advert for some high end fragrance or beauty product instead of a yogurt, mind you, they look fairly tasty!.