Draplin Design Co.: DDC European Tour 2010 - Day 02

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Draplin Design Co., North America

February 09, 2010

DDC European Tour 2010 - Day 02 - Münich, German

Posted at 11:21 PM

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The logo above is the tradeshow grounds logo. We dig!

Spent the day walking the ISPO show with Goo, David and Bob, checking out the Euro versions of North American snowboard brands, as well as miles and miles of crazy Euro shit. These Europeans know how to party, and they know how to make tradeshow booths. You should see the North Face, Marker and Atomic booths. Gigantic. Towering walls and sneaky meeting rooms and motherfuckers going shirtless with minotaur head dresses. Seriously. Plus, there’s no shortage of goffy gadgets whizzing around. Any kind of wheeled doohickie is fair game.

There’s a handful of things I love about Europe:

01. Beautifully-crafted street signs and wayfinding.
02. A respect for their old ways.
03. A painfully jovial quality to pubs and communities. IE: Singing, festivals, etc.
04. Train station pretzels.
05. Incredible cars whizzing all over the place.

And there’s a healthy list that makes me cringe:

01. “Euro” style. There’s no limit with these cornballs. Hair, jeans, wack humor, techno music, etc.
02. All the cigarette smoke.
03. No fucking ice in your water, anywhere. And god forbid if the shit is actually cold when they bring it out. I’ve pondered simply drinking out of the toilets for a good, cold splash of water to cool down my hot pipes.

I’ll stop. I hope to add more and more shit to the “like” category.

Bob and I are up in Berlin after a couple days in Münich. Looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow. We’ve been working up a list. Leigh comes in on Saturday, which will be awesome. My little nougat.

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Aaron,
You’d probably really appreciate Jan Gehl. European master of urban design and bringing the city back to the people. His outlook on cities is much like yours when it comes to graphic design. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with him briefly while I was still doing urban planing in Philly. Incredible man.

http://www.gehlarchitects.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Gehl

Posted by: twoeightnine on 02/10/10 at 9:26 PM

Berlin is amazing, one of my favourite cities for sure, planning to move there next year.

Hire bikes if it’s not snowing/raining, you can always take them on the metro & trams. Lots to see & do around the Boxhagner Platz part of Friedrichshain - Sunday buffet all day breakfasts from E6 a pop are a highlight. Check out the old glory of Communist architecture on Karl Marx Allee from Alexanderplatz down to Frankfurter Tor, some of the intersections have identical buildings on each junction, which I think is pretty cool.

Trace the path of the wall (pretty obvious, but awesome, particularly around Bernauerstrasse where parts are untouched by graffiti & there’s some interesting historical installations about it), check out the massive murals by Blu at Oberbaumbrucke in Kreuzberg, you can’t miss them. Get some food on the go at Marusch on Adalbertstrasse by Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg, cheap & filling. Plus there’s a huge amount of museums & galleries dotted all over town and something new & fascinating around every corner. There’s so much to do & see there, you won’t fit it all in…

If you have the time, try watch feelgood films Run Lola Run and Goodbye Lenin! beforehand. I’d also track down The Lives of Others and BBC documentary The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall for more historical contexts if that what floats your boat.

Posted by: ciaran on 02/11/10 at 1:23 AM

Denver seems tame compared. Our friends here in Bozeman MT / Spark R and D / won the ISPO BrandNew Finalist Award for innovation this year. They made the trek and are sharing the convention water with you guys. Enjoy.

Posted by: ryan wilson on 02/11/10 at 11:58 AM