I received a Grammy award, several years ago, for a CD package I had designed. Receiving a Grammy for a package design is like winning a Nobel Peace Prize for giving up a seat on the subway to an old person.
The ceremony for the lesser awards took place before the live television broadcast. As each winner was announced, we went up onstage, accepted a statuette, and then went backstage where we handed it over to be used for another winner. Some months later, I received one with my name engraved on it. I was particularly impressed with the laser-cut foam in which it had been packaged for mailing — a perfect negative image of the object it was supposed to protect. The foam demonstrates a lot of care and is done with beautiful simplicity. I like to call it the grammyfoam.
The grammyfoam is displayed proudly on a shelf. The award itself is in a box of odds and ends.
This short essay is excerpted from Taking Things Seriously: 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance, a book by Joshua Glenn and Carol Hayes in which they and other writers discuss the importance of objects in their lives. This is the seventh essay in a series to appear on Design Observer.
Comments [14]
This is a book I'm definitely looking forward to read.
HyIl
02.09.08
07:25
This is your chance to start a band, and promote yourself as "Grammy Award Winner."
02.10.08
02:20
02.10.08
07:23
02.11.08
09:22
02.11.08
11:13
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Best story in the series yet, too. I really liked this one a lot.
02.11.08
01:01
Stone
02.11.08
01:02
02.11.08
01:06
Hope no offense is taken to this link of work mentioned above. Was curious, as many other might be.
Good stuff!!!
VR/
02.11.08
01:27
02.14.08
09:55
02.18.08
04:34
Léonie.
paranoiaparadise
02.20.08
04:50
02.29.08
06:18
I wonder .. it looks so soft and harmless. Perhaps making negatives of more harmful objects using this material would be an interesting contrast. World War II floating contact mines (the spiky ones) for instance. 1/1 size they are quite large and extremely heavy. The safe transportation of those must have been a real challenge . *ponders*
Give me a hoot if you decide to.
Also - If you want to design The Cheaters next cd cover, you're welcome to contact me
P.s.
Congratulations on your award (how ever long ago, I still feel obligated to nod smiling and shake hands).
03.06.08
10:12