ART PARK
Part of a larger expansion to the Seattle Art Museum, which will be relocating to its new downtown digs in May, the Olympic Sculpture Park opened early this year to rave reviews. Among the 21 sculptures that dot the nine-acre park are Alexander Calder’s spiky red Eagle and the iconic waves of Wake by Richard Serra, plus site-specific works by artists like Ellsworth Kelly. Built on the site of a former oil refinery, the open space brings a much-needed swath of green to a still very-industrial area of Elliott Bay. But the park, designed by New York-based Weiss/Manfredi Architects, is a sculptural achievement in itself. The planes of grass and native plantings zigzag over railroad tracks and surface streets all the way down to the water, letting Seattle reclaim itself in a truly contemporary fashion.

NOW SCREENING
Jason Welsher constructed his own screen printing factory in his parents’ garage at the age of 19 to make shirts for his friends’ bands, and soon enlisted his graffiti-savvy brother Josh to lend expertise to the graphics. Ten years later as To Die For Clothing, their tattooed aesthetic has transcended T-shirts—Disney tapped them to lend Mickey and Minnie some much-needed street cred for a series of logos—and they’ve also perfected a performance art of their own. Late last year, To Die For appeared at a series of events where they screened shirts on-site, creating ripples of buzz throughout the art and DIY community. At one party sponsored by the magazine Beautiful/ Decay, To Die For cranked out hundreds of free one-of-a-kind T-shirts for hipsters so eager to snatch their own, they were sneaking them away still wet.

“TWELVE DESIGNERS, PICKED TO LIVE IN A LOFT …”
It may not have the fur-flying fashionistas of Project Runway, but when Bravo’s newest reality show, Top Design, swung its spotlight on design, a dozen designers were more than ready for their close-ups. Sequestered in a loft near the décor headquarters of the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif., the contestants of Top Design are drawn from diverse fields— architects, industrial designers and fine artists are equally represented among the many interior designers. Host Todd Oldham plays the quirky father figure, and designer Jonathan Adler, Elle Décor’s editor- in-chief Margaret Russell, interior designer Kelly Wearstler and a cache of mystery judges turn their thumbs up or down on contestants one by one. Season finale is Wednesday, April 18, 10 p.m. EST on Bravo.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING
The words “Design is to branding what jazz is to music” open the new book Brandjam: Humanizing Brands Through Emotional Design. From there, author Marc Gobé guides readers through an inspired thesis: Case by case, design beats advertising for its ability to deliver solid, authentic emotional experiences. Using jazz as a metaphor for the ultimate brand “jam,” Gobé draws from his own history as founder and CEO of Desgrippes Gobé, where he not only nurtured the likes of Coca- Cola but also brought brands like AOL, Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret to global prominence. He’s been singled out by BusinessWeek’s Bruce Nussbaum for his declaration that “design is the new advertising,” but Nussbaum won’t be the only one singing Gobé’s praises. Copublished with the Design Management Institute and with a foreword by design darling Yves Béhar, Brandjam is more than just music to designers’ ears—it just might be the first true requiem for traditional advertising.

BRANDING BERLIN
When Nik Hafermaas left his firm TRIAD Berlin two years ago to take the graphic design chair at Art Center, he vowed to use his extensive European connections to help students understand design in a larger context. “The profession has become a much broader discipline, constantly elevating its impact on society,” he says. “Students’ work should be seen outside precious books; they should claim all media, claim the hallways and the facades of the school, claim the urban environment.” Working closely with city officials in Berlin, Hafermaas organized a “studio abroad” for 14 Art Center students to live there for 14 weeks designing a new image for the city; the program was named “Fresh Eyes Berlin.”

A den of cutting-edge art and design, Berlin on the surface doesn’t seem to need much help attracting talented folk to its city limits. But according to the students’ assessment, concrete financial information about Berlin is still sketchy, which might deter more established businesses from relocating there. The students’ exhibition, titled “Exposed Capital,” rebrands Berlin as a vibrant economic center through a series of installations aimed at attracting investors. Their four-month experience is documented on a project website and concluded with a five-day gallery show in Berlin. The show will travel to Los Angeles in March.

As commentary on the project website attests, the program had a profound affect on the Art Center students, who hailed from six different countries. But Fresh Eyes also creates a new model for global perspectives in design education. “The Fresh Eyes idea has the potential to be applied to other international hot spots in the near future as well,” says Hafermaas. “It is a great assessment of other places and fosters a new network of international relationships for everyone involved.”