Henar´s Blog

Interesting stairs designed by Gabriella Gustafson & Mattias Ståhlbom.
Nice looking and different, but... don´t they seem a little bit difficult to climb?


More designs by them in TAF Arkitektkontor´s web site.

These other stairs are absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!! I´d give anything to have stairs like these at home!!!!!

Designed by Petr Hájek, Tomáš Hradečný, Jan Šépka, cooperation Jan Kolář, Martin Maršík, from the architectural and design office HŠH architekti.

Although I would be happy enough with these too:

I love the way the light comes through! The author is Jan Šépka, from HŠH architekti too.

I hate it when clients look at a logo, painting or any other form of art a designer created and not very delicately say: "It couldn't have taken you more than 10 minutes to design that"... or "Even a child could have done that". Here´s a story for all of them...


Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a woman approached him.

“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the woman his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”

I find this Mac/PC commercial very interesting, the way the two men personify the essence of their respective brands and bring it to life in the way they speak and act, and their appearance. It´s a very intelligent way to present the differences between these products, and convince the consumer that we´re not dealing with “machines” or technology, but with something much more important, which is the essence of the brand, its personality, its heart and soul.


I believe a designer should be aware of this while designing a corporate identity for a company, comparing the identity as a brand and essence as a company to an individual’s personality. Doing this simple exercise companies would avoid having logos or identities which, sometimes, clearly don´t represent the personality of the company, its ambitions and how it sees itself.

"To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse".

Paul Rand.

Visual Poetry by spanish photographer Chema Madoz. Beautiful and inspiring, isn´t it?
His work makes me smile...