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PUBLISHER’S NOTE: CREATIVE LEADERSHIPI have had some truly horrible bosses in my time. Mostly they were children in grown-ups clothing, confusing the exercise of raw power, with what it means to be a real leader. A rogue’s gallery of screamers, tantrum throwers, spirit breakers, micromanagers, pencil tossers (pencils are little wood-and-lead instruments that people used to write with), credit hoarders, non-communicators, non-listeners, disrespectful of those who reported to them and obsequious to whom they reported. I consider myself a loving and forgiving person but, in truth, I continue to harbor dark fantasies of revenge for acts and omissions dating back two decades. Of course, being a lawyer in the early years of my career, I was managed by lawyer/managers, which is a lower form of life than regular human beings. But you get the point. With this as background, I was especially pleased that GDUSA is co-sponsoring — along with staffing experts at The Creative Group — an original survey of the winners of the American Inhouse Design Awards regarding the traits of a successful creative manager. Excerpts from the “Creative Leadership” study will be published in our Inhouse Design Annual, which hits the streets next week, and more comprehensively in a white paper available to GDUSA readers in the fall. Among the results: our audience feels generally more positive about the current crop of leaders than I did about mine; they sense a transition from traditional command-and-control types to a more open-minded, sensitive and flexible style of leadership; and they are hungry for more formal business and management training at school and work. Please make a note to read the new survey; it is time better spent than crafting little voodoo dolls of, or scanning obituaries, for past employers. Trust me. — Gordon Kaye GRAPHIC NEWSGrowth Meets Tradition Internet And The Campaign Walmart’s Evolutionary Logo Household Heads Graying Weather Beaten HP: THE COMPUTER IS PERSONAL AGAINFor information on putting the power of HP Workstations to work on your next big idea, click HERE MORE GRAPHIC NEWS20/10/5 Less Sociable Kung Fu Fighting Visualizing Science Lottery Takes A Chance NOW ON GDUSA.COMLogo Trends Color Trends Print Trends Web Trends 
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By turns provocative, thought provoking, playful and experimental, “3030: New
Graphic Design in China” reveals an emerging creativity in China in which “the
opportunities of astounding economic development negotiate with the legacies of tradition
and ideology.” The title refers to the book’s focus on the work of 30 of mainland
China’s most exciting young designers around 30. It features introductory essays
about each designer and select examples of poster, packaging and book design to illustration
and environmental installation. The editor is Javin Mo.
Walmart has revamped its logo as part of an “ongoing evolution” of the
company. A terse official announcement states: “This update to the logo is simply
a reflection of the refresh taking place inside our stores and our renewed sense of purpose
to help people save money so they can live better.” The new logo — made up
of rounded, lowercase characters, and without the hypen — won’t begin to
appear on storefronts until the fall. The logo’s debut coincides with CEO H. Lee
Scott’s goal of transforming the retailing giant into a more consumer and
environmentally friendly corporation. In a recent BusinessWeek article, branding expert
Marty Neumeier commented that “The new sunburst ‘looks organic’.
My sense is they are trying to say, ‘we’re an eco-aware company.’”
Comments Tobias Frere-Jones, professor of typography at Yale University and a principal at
the Hoefler & Frere-Jones type design firm: “They seem to be going for something
friendlier.” The visual shift, says Frere-Jones, is apparently an attempt to recast itself
as a kinder, gentler company since lowercase letters tend to be interpreted as more casual
and approachable.
Fletcher Martin marketing communications agency, developed these highly stylized print
ads to promote the new line of carpet called “Altered Elements” from
Invision Carpet Systems, a division of commercial carpet manufacturer J&J / Invision.
The line is inspired by the way natural elements affect objects over time, making them
uniquely beautiful, such as weathered steel or tumbled stones. Print ads feature statuesque
people painted by French artist Nelly Recchia. The models pose amid stone, metal and slates
alongside copy such as, “when the elements collide, something beautiful
happens,” and “the hands of time wield an expert brush.” Brandy Gill
is executive creative director for Fletcher Martin and Mark Clayton is vice president of
marketing the client.
MSLK has created a new packaging system for WigWam, helping to unify the 103 year old
brand and prepare it to succeed in five distinct merchandising categories against stiff competitors
ranging from funky Smartwood to technosleek Nike. The design firm created a bold color system
for each category that allows consumers to distinguish the WigWam brand from 20 feet away,
the sock category at 10 feet, the product name at 5 feet, and the individual features at
close range. Silver foil was added to the “Pro” socks to for a premiumn feel.
Design and branding studio, Shine is responsible for the main title sequence for the
summer movie hit, Kung Fu Panda. Michael Riley, Shine’s creative director, composed
images of traditional Chinese landscapes, calligraphy and 2D character animation set in a
3D landscape — choreographed to a remix of the classic Carl Douglas song
“Kung Fu Fighting.” Riley found inspiration in the way a traditional Chinese
scroll opens, and his concept includes reprising the film’s main characters in original
cell animations by finding them hidden in a gigantic Chinese calligraphy character. The
result is a collaboration between Shine, James Baxter Animation and the DreamWorks
Animation team. In addition to Riley, Shine credits include executive producer Bob
Swensen, designer/animator Dru Nget and animator Dan Meehan.
Peddy Mergui, an award winning designer and former head of the Visual Communication School at
Israel’s Holon Academic Institute of Technology, has become the sole Lottery Ticket Design
for the Israel Lottery. After winning various Lottery Design contests, Mergui came aboard as a designer
for the Lottery itself. His energetic designs are being credited with changing the face — and
breathing life into — the program. “Why shouldn’t there be high quality design
on Lottery Tickets?” he asks, rhetorically.