Pentawards is the first and only worldwide competition exclusively devoted to packaging design in all its forms. It is open to everybody in all countries who are associated with the creation and marketing of packaging.
Judged by a prominent international jury and endorsed by Icograda IDA, bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond Pentawards were distributed to the best brands’ packaging designs of this year’s competition and handed on to the winners at the Pentawards Ceremony, at Luxepack Monaco (France), on October 30, 2008.

Piper Heidsieck - Rosé Sauvage designed by Viktor and Rolf won the Best Of the Show Diamond award.
Entitled 'Upside Down,' this is a bottle that rests on the neck, the neck and front labels and cap foil reversed!

“How do you do something new with something timeless? We had only one answer: reverse the proportions;”

This is how the two Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf express it. So the designers kept all the traditional graphic features of champagne (bottle, cork, ice bucket, glass, and labels) but thought that if champagne could turn one’s head, it was only necessary to reverse all these visual elements to amplify this impression, and especially to differentiate the Piper Heidsieck brand from its competitors by recreating the packaging of the champagne.
The bottles of Pieper Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage signed by Viktor & Rolf were launched on the market at the end of October 2007 in several duty free shops and in exclusive bars and wine bars. This is therefore a limited-time edition. The glass bottles are covered by a sleeve produced by Sleever International, a leading global company in this very innovative area of packaging design.

The idea of working with such an exciting signature as Viktor & Rolf is born from a strategic and creative design management partnership between Piper Heidsieck and BETC Design. It is this creativity in support of packaging, also expressed throughout the communication (the site will also spin your head around) that won over the Pentawards jury.

Not a piece of cake

Not a piece of cake
Originally uploaded by Sugarpoppy

One of the poster designs submitted to ArabAd peace poster contest.
For more about the results, visit IF WE CAN'T MAKE PEACE title of ArabAd's first edition of the Middle Easter poster design challenge, all on Flickr group.

Celebrating 50 years of PEACE-sign

Nada Borji-8
Originally uploaded by Sugarpoppy

“The 100+ posters submitted for ArabAd peace poster design contest reflect the diversity of religions and beliefs in the communications industry and the Arab community at large and we believe we have succeeded in addressing responsible design in a creative approach,” asserted Walid Azzi, Publisher of ArabAd.
The posters received for ArabAd magazine poster design contest demonstrated the sheer power of the peace symbol, the peace imagery and the extraordinary visual vocabulary the peace sign continues to inspire 50 years later....
For more about ArabAd Peace Poster Design Contest & Exhibit/Show
visit:
ArabAd Peace poster contest, THE BLOG
flickr/mabulle


here is Nada Borji's poster submission and top 8 in the final selection winner pick...Borji's is an architect at Solidere company in Beirut.

;0) ...a little secret here...that's my dad, Walid's fav among all...Here was a scoop..:0)

The Art of Politics

Posters are frequently proclaimed to be the democratic medium that holds a particular attraction for the designer. Despite the many claims of various new media as being the dominant forces in contemporary communication, the poster continues to thrive and prosper.
The poster is described as a persuasive and positive educational force that provides social and aesthetic frameworks.
As Polish poster designer Roman Cieslewicz has said, “posters need powerful occasions and significant subjects.”
Here is a sample of artwork from Art of Politics site that exemplifies the poster as a modern medium to appeal to the most modern of phenomena, the masses, and proves to be the favoured medium for propaganda, used as a psychological weapon with striking messages, delivering direct and simple communication and struggling for hearts and minds.
For more thoughtful posters from Art of Politics, click here.

Project Mulsaq

The Khatt Foundation and the trend-setting company Mosaiques, in collaboration with Dubai-based design gallery Traffic, are launching a wall stickers competition dubbed 'MULSAQ' [in Arabic, stickers] aiming at reflecting the multifaceted Middle Eastern identity.
The design competition is set to provide a platform for talented Khatt Network members to reach out to wider audiences, within and outside the design world of Dubai, the Middle East and beyond.
Design Submission Deadline: 1 August 2008
Out of all submissions, 20 designs will be selected for a limited edition of 50 numbered pieces. The 20 designs will be produced and marketed under the label “Khatt Design Collection, a Limited Edition of Vinyls by Mosaiques,” and will be exhibited at Traffic on November 13th.

For further details click here and read more on how to reinvent your space & bring the Middle East home.

Give Peace a Dance

Some symbols have become so familiar, they overshadowed their true significance, drove us blind, as to forget to question their origin. The iconic Peace sign is, without a question, one of those symbol, many took for granted, and with such a positive appraisal that no one thought to dig further... PLANE WORLD!! PAIN WORD!!

• How did 'PEACE Sign' manage to stick so gently on our t-shirts, caps, bags, and trendy looking items...?

• What made that 'crippled' looking circle gain such an unanimous sympathy and one authoritative massive popular base ?
  

ArabAd Magazine is launching a Poster Design Contest to make us Ponder to The Real Notion of Peace, and The Means
to Spread IT.

Log on ArabAdvertising blog or email:
peace@arabadmag.com
to get the whole picture.

PePsixpressive Art

ARTCO & Pepsi

While the art and design worlds are trying to reconcile their differences and work together, Cary Lietzes of ARTCO is working to bring artists and major corporations closer, by creating branding that is visually stimulating and unique. Design has a long history of struggle with the mass market but Lietzes has pioneered a fresh approach to the subject and carved out an intricate niche for herself and the artists and brands with which she works.

Using her knowledge of fashion, marketing and publishing, Lietzes recognised the need for new blood in the marketing world and identified current artists whose forward thinking and creativity suited these needs.

Hence, ARTCO's current project with Pepsi is not surprising, but is refreshing.
ARTCO has assembled 10 artists to design the Pepsi cans for the company's 4 biggest markets.

Very specific guidelines were set, along with some technical restrictions in relation to Brand Pepsi.
For instance, artists were only allowed to work within 6 colors, 5 of the 6 were Pepsi designated colors; not more than 20% of the design could be in red, in order not to be confused with you know who, "Always NANANA"...

The challenge was even greater with such a limited creative framework; however, the wide exposure, artists will be getting as a result, is by itself a satisfying reward.
The 10 different designs will be sold worldwide, with the new designs rolling out in select countries before expanding to more locations throughout the year, reaching a wide cultural mix.

USA / NICK Z; China / STELLA LAI; Puerto Rico / DZINE; Korea / YOON LEE; Brazil / AVAF; India / THURKAL & TAGRA; UK / JON BURGERMAN; Russia / DUBOSSARSKY & VINOGRADOV; Mexico / FERNANDA BRUNET

Around the world Helvetica is Helvetica

Falvay Borbala was among the selected designers whose posters got the Honorary mention
from Linotype Helvetica Now Poster design Competition. And here at Sirdab, we like this poster very much.

Lebanese Jamal Issawi scoops 3rd place

Helvetica NOW Poster Contest
2007 was HELVETICA’s 50th birthday.

Throughout the summer of 2007, Linotype put out the call for posters created with the Helvetica typeface.
And ArabAd had a long feature on the a half-decade history of the font.
Hundreds of entries were submitted; visitors to Linotype.com were able to vote for their favorite designs.
Now the Winners are out!!
& Guess What?
the 3rd Winner is a Lebanese national!! Isn’t that Absolutely Wonderful??


3rd Place:
“Today”
Jamal Issawi, Lebanon

2nd Place:
“hel()v(s)et(h)icA(s) or hell vs ethics”
Alexandre Rola, Portugal

1st Place:
“Bread-and-Butter-Type”
Nina Hardwig, Germany





Loaded below are our favourite [actually the Lebanese participants who made it in the 30 best line-up;
but you check can all Top 30 Posters displayed at Lino.
Click Here


#5:
Jamal Issawi


#8:
Nanor Ghazar


#9:
Nanor Ghazar


#14:
Nanor Ghazar


#17:
Nanor Ghazar


#29:
Jamal Issawi



Linotype also, rewarded some designs that didn’t make it to the final;
however, as encouragement for several posters that showed
great typographic know-how, wit, and a strong conceptual level,
a special honourary mention was given to the designs that deserved it.
Here is our favourite





Click here to view all

Read between the lines

Described as one of the five "best-read national conservative bloggers", Michelle Malkin, columnist, author, and Fox News contributor is frequently used as an example of the blurred line between bloggers and reporters. But this post isn't about her personally, rather about a funny initiative she took last year.
Back in November 07, when Arianna Huffington in association with GMM Rich Silverstein (the man behind the infamous 'Got Milk' ads who we nickname got milk man) launched The HufPo 'Posterizing the Modern GOP' project, Michell Malkin was obviously laughing.
The HuffPo project, aimed at "graphically capturing the lunacy of the Bush years," asked the blog readers to contribute by adding names, events, and slogans to Silverstein original Posters' design.
Malkin went on parodying the Huffington Post’s, 'Michelle style' as to say the least, as she launched with her own graphic art contest “Posterizing the Democrat Party.”
The result is interesting and proves once again that Design does matter!
Check the shortlisted posters on Malkin's blog and the see for yourself how they manage to graph socio-political points, each one his own way and tone.
Or buy the original stuff. 50 bucks for each poster; a silkscreen limited edition is also available, signed by Arianna Huffington herself, mind you!

Meanwhile, here in Lebanon, we should launch a similar graphic project to tackle the Lahoud bloody years or Aoun's wicked presidential ambitions. The list is unlimited as much as their apetite for power (was) is!!

Crowdsourcing Design Competition

Random House and Creative Review invite designers, creatives, and doodlers alike to submit their own designs to design the book jacket of Crowdsourcing, WIRED editor Jeff Howe’s upcoming book about the new internet revolution driven by the masses.
The winning design will be printed on the UK edition of Crowdsourcing and win £500.
You can also vote for your favourite designs to form a shortlist of entrants which will be taken forward to a panel vote to decide the final jacket.

The panel will consist of the following people:

Jeff Howe, author of Crowdsourcing and WIRED Editor
Richard Ogle, Random House Art Director
Patrick Burgoyne, Editor, Creative Review
Angus Hyland, Partner, Pentagram Design UK


Design submissions will be welcomed until midnight GMT 10th February 2008.

For more on creative direction and rules, go here.

On another note, read in the Guardian Unlimited how, even with books, it's the first impression that seems to count.
CLICK
Jackets required: why cover art matters
How else are readers supposed to judge books before they've read them - except by how they look?

Go Green

Michael Goldson


Fred Murell



tda Design & Advertising



Martin Mendelsberg




Seymour Chwast

Hyun Jung Kim

Kent Hunter

Scott Poli

FutureBrand

Thomas Matthews

Alan Fletcher

Omar Vilnupari

Visual Lingual

Let’s start the year on a green light and hope a rosy future for all tree huggers

Here are bubbles of brilliant posters submitted for the spectacular visual arts event, an unprecedented outdoor exhibition as a result of 'The Urban Forest Design competition' held throughout Times Square, NY in 2006.

In this unprecedented gathering of original works of art by the world's most celebrated designers and visual artists, Times Square was the perfect host of this extraordinary exhibition - "Design Times Square: The Urban Forest Project" -- a collection of banners designed by an international roster of over 175 international visual artists and designers who have created banners using the form, idea or a characteristic of a tree as their inspiration.
The exhibit was organised by the AIGA NY Chapter, the Times Square Alliance and Worldstudio Foundation.
The tree is metaphor for sustainability, and in that spirit the banners from the exhibition were recycled into totebags designed exclusively for the project by Jack Spade. Profits from the sale of the totebags went to Worldstudio AIGA Scholarships and the AIGA/NY Mentoring Program to sustain the next generation of design talent.
Among the prestigious brew of participants from the international design scene, some prominent names including New York's Lawrence Weiner, late Alan Fletcher from London, Vince Frost from Sydney, Hideki Inaba from Japan, Uwe Loesch and Fons Hickmann from Germany, Massimo Vignelli, Vaughan Oliver, James Victore, Carin Goldberg, Paula Scher...

Featured above are Sirdab’s favourite artworks, out of the 186 showcased at Central Park.