Graves Fowler Creative

National Design Week thoughts from Cindy Fowler… My pick for honoring design around me comes from life on a bicycle. Of course I admire the amazing work done for the Livestrong Foundation, the Tour de France and all the sleek lines of expensive bicycles at the local bike shop. But my pick is the jerseys. Not the cluttered ones that scream with color and look like walking billboards, but the ones hanging in my closet as markers of past rides.

My favorite is from a ride down Maryland’s C&O canal. I smile whenever I have it on because I’m wearing a map of a place I love (and because it has these great diagonal panels of blue that make me look less square.) Now that’s good design.

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We live with design 24/7 whether we’re at work here at Graves Fowler or elsewhere. It’s heartening to know that we have the capability to make a difference in the quality of daily life with this hard-to-describe but always challenging career choice. National Design Week will be back next year, but at Graves Fowler Creative the talk goes on. It’s a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say) to keep that awareness on a more conscious level. Thanks, AIGA, for bringing the celebration to Washington and to us.

National Design Week thoughts from Alla Omstead… One of my favorite places to go is a local restaurant called Sub-Urban Trading Co., a wonderful little mom and pop place (in this case mom and son).  It’s a marriage of bohemian and gourmet culinary vision and will absolutely delight all of your senses.

As you walk in, you can’t help but feel at home, relaxed and happy. You can buy local produce. You can have them make you a plate of whatever is fresh for the day. You can also have them make a lunch/dinner to take with you.

Seating areas almost force you to share your table with someone else and mingle. The café is the ice breaker, and time and time again people will start off by talking to one another about how great the food is and what a wonderful atmosphere it is and end up making new connections.

National Design Week thoughts from Mariann Seriff… I love interactive media. What wonderful tools we now have to take storytelling and learning to a whole new level. The web has given us the ability to reach large audiences hungry to learn new things and share creativity. One of my favorite fun sites is a simple, elegant, interactive picture “book” of the alphabet called Bembo’s Zoo.

This site appeals to the designer in me with its playful take on typography and it appeals to the kid in me with its alphabet adventure. The simplicity, intuitive interface, and the sheer joy it instills make it a really valuable lesson in what makes great interactive design.

National Design Week thoughts from Vicky Robinson… Sure, my new fire-engine red third generation Prius steals the show visually with its sleek, aerodynamic design and sporty details. But the exterior design isn’t what I mean. Or even the thoughtful details that characterize the interior.

What impresses me the most is the stellar gas mileage. I normally get over 50 miles to the gallon on my hour commute on congested suburban streets, even without delving into the arcane world of hypermiling. What goes on under the hood is a mystery to me. All the fancy displays showing its inner workings intrigue my engineer husband but just distract me from the business of driving. All I know is that I drive it around just like my old car, I can put the same number of kids in it, and load the same number of grocery bags, but I get twice the gas mileage! Now that’s great design.

National Design Week thoughts from Sue Bodde…  I’m a big Food Network fan and one of my favorite shows is “Ace of Cakes.” It’s all about two of my favorite things — creative design and cake!

Charm City Cakes, where the show is filmed, is a bakery in Baltimore that makes fabulous one-of-a-kind cakes. Everything from modern and sophisticated to fun and funky. I really admire the skill and artistry of each designer and how well they bring to life what each client wants. The personalities and sense of humor in the shop are entertaining too.

Charm City’s website reflects their brand; fun but sophisticated, bold and energetic without being difficult to navigate. The writing captures the company’s personality and the cake photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

National Design Week thoughts from Jeff Everett… Recently my wife and I purchased a new car which aligns us perfectly with the middle class family — two cars, two kids — with only one issue… one base for our infant car seat. With the birth of our son mere weeks ago we decided to invest in a new car seat. Our original car seat, now residing in a recycling plant, did a serviceable job but was cumbersome and not easy to shuffle between our car and the grandparents. There were multiple straps and solid metal buckles that had to be finagled around small braces which posed problems for my big hands and my lack of patience.

So with baby #2 coming, I decided to do a bit of planning and research to figure out what would serve us best. Yes, we wanted the baby to be safe but needed a level of convenience to accommodate our lives and schedules. With so many bases and seats available out there were many options to keep in mind. A quick trip to Buy Buy Baby presented a myriad of options. I was amazed that most seats operated more like Transformers — pull this latch, grasp this lever, yank this cord, press this button, clip these five buckles, and then go to Step Two.

We were lucky enough to whip out our essential iPhones (another design marvel) and have the trusty Consumer Reports website guide the way. One gem they mentioned was the Chicco KeyFit 30. This simple base has two connectors and one safety harness allowing us to move the base between cars. The connector release is elongated so that the clasp can be opened above the seat not while awkwardly hidden under a cushion. When not in use the connectors can be coiled and secured within the base so as to not drag across the pavement. Normally, the safety harness is similar to a seat buckle where the harness double-overs itself with a brace that must be lifted or manipulated making extraction impossible in the dark or when holding two little ones. On this model, the harness straps are tightened or loosened with release lever which means no straddling the seat tightening both sides equally or dealing with tangled straps.

Great design isn’t always the prettiest postcard or most alluring ad campaign. In a time where frills and extras are the norm (what, no expresso maker in the front!?)  it is nice to have a design that eliminates all extraneous parts and have a safe, secure, easy to use product.

National Design Week thoughts from Terry Graves… My son is a high school senior. That means sports events, testing schedules, teacher conferences, college searches and a dozen other important issues to deal with every day. As a parent, I’m on the school’s web site a lot. I want all the features we repeatedly tell our clients are essential: fast access, real time information, content that is particularly relevant to me. Last month his school relaunched its web site. It works. Good, smart design.

The first thing I notice is the clean design and beautiful photography. The images are warm and engaging and rotate out every time I visit. What I like best about the site is the information architecture because it is so easy to find what I need. The top navigation bar has drop down menus which helps me in navigating the site. The ever important calendar and news events are right on the home page. And I have my own Parent Log-In with my son’s grades on every test and homework assignment. This site sometimes gets bogged down with heavy traffic, but this “good design” really makes my life as the parent of a teenaged boy easier. Well, at least a bit more manageable.