loquat73

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T06:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

WNYC - Mapping New York City's Cultural Landscape

2009-12-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

My morning routine, is to click onto the WNYC website and listen to their live streaming news. Today when I clicked on the WNYC link I was greeted by the top image - a bright colorful graphic, that caught my attention right away.

After reading and going through their website, http://culture.wnyc.org - I thought, "WOW! what a great idea." Not only are they mapping New York City's cultural landscape but it's another great way to interact with their listeners and even gain new listeners.

Below is their mission statement and what they are trying to achieve.

This site is devoted to capturing the best of the present--and looking ahead to see what's next. You’ll provide the local knowledge to fill out the map of the city's cultural landscape, from music to food to theater and visual arts and more. We'll suggest some places to pull over and take a look around. But you’re in charge of plotting the way to places unknown. Look down the alleys and around the corners where the next big thing may be developing, or hiding in plain sight. Experience the joys of serendipity. Then tell us, and each other, what you've found.

But there’s one thing to do before we head out. Every territory needs a name, and that's your first assignment: help us name this place. A name makes a difference, and we want you to be part of the difference, right from the start. Leave your suggestions in the comments section below, and we'll set out on our trek together.

A&E Hoarders Show - Taxi Promotion

2009-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

Walking into work today - I walked past three parked taxi cabs with the same A&E Hoarders promotion on their roof. I really like the simplicity of this promotion. All they did was filled a clear taxi roof sign with a bunch of old newspapers. Brilliant way to tie in to their show, also a pretty fun and unique way to use the taxi roof signs as their promotion.

Street Sweets: Improving the Idea of Street Vendors

2009-11-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

I came across Street Sweets one day walking to the MOMA museum on 53rd St. between 5th & 6th Ave, in New York City. The truck caught my attention right away from about half a block away. As a designer, I was automatically attracted to it because of the typography, color and the design of it. But what keeps me going back is their food, coffee and desserts.

I really love the look of this truck -the typography is fun, clear and organized. You can't help but to read all the adjectives that are painted on the truck, (your eyes seem to automatically read them as you walk up to the truck). Their menu, business cards, coffee cups, and their website are designed beautifully. The simple orange logo fits perfectly on the truck and pops off the blue background. It is a magnificently designed package all around. I think I can safely say, this food truck stands above any other food truck in New York City and New Jersey.

I was interested in the origins of Street Sweets food truck so I contacted Grant Di Mille, one half of the husband and wife team (owners are Grant Di Mille & Samira Mahboubian).

I asked Grant some questions about the origins and branding of Street Sweets:

How did Street Sweets come about? Well, we both were working in marketing for over 24 years. Specifically in the print arena and seeing how bad things were getting, we decided last August to get out of the corporate world and get into the food business.

Did you have any experience in the food business? We knew nothing about the food business, but what we did know was we wanted to create a unique experience for New Yorkers that would be an alternative to the status quo. We knew it had to be aesthetically pleasing and something we could be proud of.

How did you come up with the look of the food truck? Coming from a marketing and branding background we knew the truck had to be easily recognizable as well as eye catching. We started by creating a custom food truck and had it painted a cyan. Originally we wanted to have a subway map painted onto the truck. But instead we came up with the idea of having words painted on the side of the truck that would describes the food we sell. Having our logo in an orange circle makes it easy for our customers to spot us.

Is there any other collateral you created for the Street Sweets? The branding extends to a business card, rewards card and gift certificates. We purposely didn’t create flyers or loose take-out menus - we didn’t want to add to the paper trash that you see in New York. If you want to see our menu you can go to our website and download a copy or come up to the truck where the menu is mounted and displayed on the side.

I really like the big windows on the side of the truck – I’ve never seen anything like this before! We wanted to create a unique custom food truck -floor to ceiling windows was always a must. It serves two purposes. One, it showcases our product beautifully. Our customers can see all the freshly baked croissants, cookies, brownies and muffins. Second, this makes us stand out from other food trucks and lets our customers look into the truck.

Why would you want your customers to be able to see inside? Let me just say, I wouldn't eat from other food trucks because they are disgusting and dirty. But you wouldn't know that because you can't see what they are hiding inside their trucks. We on the other hand have absolutely nothing to hide, you can see inside the truck and see for yourself how clean it really is. Having this was very important to us.

I just want to say thank you to Grant for taking the time to talk to me. I visit Street Sweets at least once a week. I am a fan of their food, their design and what they are trying to accomplish. If you want more information on Street Sweets click on the word Street Sweets to go directly to their website. Or if you want to know where they are going to be next click here to follow Street Sweets on Twitter.

Fatherhood the reason for my lack of posts:)

2009-11-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. But last week I became a father - I took two weeks off of work to bond with my little girl Sofia. Now I've been trying to figure out how to balance fatherhood and the rest of my life. Which for anyone who has kids must understand how difficult it really is. One thing I have been doing is taking a lot of photos.

By next week I should be back in business. Please hang in there.

The Humanity of Vogue magazine

2009-10-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Being interested in print and editorial design, I read as well as look through many magazines month to month. Now, before I continue I should mention that from time to time I do read and look through Vogue magazine. (And I am not ashamed of it!)

Yesterday while carefully looking/reading through the October 2009 issue of Vogue. An opening photo from the story, The Bold and the Beautiful on page 254 caught my attention. Something looked off and I could not put my finger on it. On closer examination, I noticed a foot under the thumb on the gold hand chair. At this point I thought I must be mistaken. Then I noticed the foots reflection in the chair. On closer inspection you can also see that they did a quick and rough photo retouch on the chair rail - the chair rail doesn't really line up.

Vogue is seen as invulnerable and ethereal in their editorial and photography. I am not saying that isn't true, but sometimes it's good to see that they are human.

Piece of the Berlin Wall in NYC

2009-10-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

I walk by 520 Madison Ave in NYC all the time, this is the first time I noticed this huge piece of a graffiti wall - it's an actual piece of the Berlin Wall. Incredible, that it's been there for a long time and this is the first time I noticed it. If you want to go to take a look for yourself it's right around the corner from the Thomas Pink store you can't miss it. (Keep your eyes open, if you walk around haphazardly like I do you might miss it.)

Cheesy Aliens from the 1980's are Back - V

2009-10-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Walked past the new poster for the new ABC television series V. Another remake of a show from the 1980's. Sadly, I remember seeing the show back in 1984 - I was around 10 years old.

From what I can recall back in the 80's, there was alot of buzz at my school's playground around the V series. I was super excited to see it. And yes it was super cheesy with bad special effects (but what do you expect, it was an early 80's television show with a small budget).

The basic storyline, a group of aliens come to earth - they look like humans and state that they are here to help the human race. But, we humans are suspicious of them and after a couple of episodes we come to find out they are really lizard aliens disguised as humans! They are here to infiltrate our world - SOMEONE HAS TO STOP THEM!

That's the basic plot, some key points that stick in my head about the show - a scene where they eat rodents, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) was in it and they wore red jumpsuits. Now if that doesn't make for a great remake then, I really don't know what does.

DOMO at 7-Eleven!

2009-10-09T06:23:00.000-07:00

Domo is at 7 Eleven!
What?....You don't know who Domo is?

Well here is a brief history on Domo, (or Domo-kun). He was originally created by Japanese filmmaker Tsuneo Godain 1998 as a mascot used to promote Japan's NHK's satellite broadcast services. Godain used stop motion animation to create the shorts episodes for NHK. Domo, is a curious creature basically, a brown puppet with a big mouth and sharp teeth. Domo was hatched from an egg that had fallen into a cave, where an old rabbit (Usajii) lived. It is said that the first object Domo ever saw on Earth was a television set. The meaning of Domo's name "domo" translates as "hello" or "thanks."

Domo is very popular in Japan but seems to be more popular in the United States. Last year Domo was used as Target's mascot to promote Halloween, (photos taken from Target Store's last year. I knew there was a reason I was saving them). And now he is being used by 7-Eleven to promote Slurpee's, coffee and hotdogs and much, much more. (There is a 7-Eleven close to home I kept seeing Domo everywhere, finally went in to snap some pics.)

Stefan Sagmeister - (Ted Talk) The Power of Time Off

2009-10-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

I know this video has been posted on a couple of blogs and websites. But, I am a big fan of Stefan Sagmeister (like probably many of you are). I feel he is designing in a way most graphic designers aspire too. He has an interesting way at looking at design - also a very introspective way at looking at himself and his design projects. When he talks people should listen and pay attention. I agree with him that sabbaticals are very important, (I have been trying to convince employers of this for years now with no success).

Who is going to get the 2016 Olympics?

2009-10-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

If I was a betting man I'd bet that Brazil is going to host the 2016 Olympics. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Rio, winning the bid for the summer olympics. It would also be the first time any South American country hosted an olympic event.

I feel Tokyo is out just because a far east country (China) recently hosted it and it would be redundant for Tokyo to host it again since they hosted it in 1964. Madrid has been campaigning hard but haven't heard anything that would indicate they were in the running. They could surprise everyone in the end or be knocked out early.

Chicago is the real contender against Rio. Having Obama physically being there campaigning for Chicago in Copenhagen definitely didn't hurt. But I feel even this won't help America host another olympic event. I only say this becaue we've hosted 8 total olympics and 4 of them being summer olympics.

We shall see though... Announcements will be made this afternoon. Good luck to every country.

To see contender country's logo - click here to my old blog post, Olympic Logos.

Strange Angular Products & Design

2009-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

For quite some time now, I've been noticing products and designs rendered in an angular "three dimensions" style. This is a strange phenomena. Well I should reiterate, that it is strange but at the same time I find it fascinating.

Seeing flat two dimensional designs with a angular "three dimensional" look to it really grabs your attention. A good example of this is the City of Melbourne identity and Fract (engineered flowers) design and look. Both use a "three dimensional" angular style throughout their campaigns making them very unique and original. I am really impressed with the Fract flowers 3-D looking wrapping paper, beautiful and brilliant.

I don't know how practical some angular products really are such as, the concept Coca-Cola can, the angled shirt and the multi angled Dorito's bag but they are fun and captivating to look at. It is really impressive to see what people are creating in this angular style. I don't know if this is a trend or a fad but I look forward to seeing more angular projects in the future.

I should mention a couple of months ago Michael Surtees noticed this also and posted about it here, Weird Angle Stuff. Check it out and let me know if you see anymore of these angular projects.

Killer Fashion-Dexter, Lord & Taylor & Details cross promotion.

2009-09-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Came across an interesting cross promotion between Dexter (the Showtime show), Lord & Taylor (retail store) and Details magazine. This cross promotion was created as a launch for season 4 of Dexter. Details magazine and Lord & Taylor are using this as a vehicle to promote fashion (or "Killer Fashion" as they call it) - They also created a sweepstakes, you can enter for a chance to win their “Killer Sweepstakes” by filling out an entry form at the Lord & Taylor on Fifth Ave. Which includes a weekend getaway for two to Dexter’s hometown of Miami, a Killer Fashion wardrobe or a private style consultation. Plus, if you’re shopping at Lord & Taylor and you spend $200 or more (in the men’s department), you'll get a free DVD box set of Dexter Season 3.

I find this type of cross promotion interesting and I am very curious how successful it will be. It's an out of the box thinking used to promote a successful show that, already has had some interesting advertisements in the past. The Dexter's advertising & promotions always seem to come up with something better every year, they always try to top what was done before. Which is exactly what they should be doing broadening their audience and keep their show top of mind.

This morning I walked past the Lord & Taylor windows to see what they looked like as well as snap some pics. Very fun window display's depicting some "Dexter styled" scenes. The website they created to go with the promotions is very easy to navigate. It gives you some behind the scenes photos and video. If you are interested in the promotion head over to DETAILSkillerfashion.com for more information.

Gigantic Rorschach Starbuck's Ad in NYC

2009-09-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

Walking down west 42nd street in NYC, my eyes were ambushed by this hard to ignore enormous banner advertisement from Starbuck's. The banners are as wide as the buildings it hangs off - you can see from the photo that the banners have strategic cut outs for the buildings windows. If they wanted to get New Yorkers attention they definitely got it with this advertisement.

The tag line, "What's Brewing In Your Subconscious" plays well with the rorschach styled illustration. I like the that it has both a male and female figure in the illustration. Very fun & creative advertisement. It seems Starbucks's is stepping up its presence.

Target Billboards Recycled into Vinyl Tote Bags

2009-09-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

Walking in Times Square it's hard not to notice Target's HUGE billboards. First time I saw them I recognized Laurie Rosenwald two collages right away. I wasn't sure who the other artists were, so I looked them up. From the top Charles Wilkin & Josh Goldstein, another Charles Wilkin, Michael Anderson and the last two billboards are Laurie Rosenwald's.

Not only did target use the billboards to showcase and support emerging artists they are planning on recycling the billboards in a fun, interesting way. The billboards will be taken down at the end of October - then they will be restyled/recycled into limited edition tote bags designed by fashion icon Anna Sui. This promotes Target in multiple ways - it continues Target's association with fashion designers, Target recycles/reuses a billboard and at the end offers a unique one of a kind tote bag to their customers.

I went to the target website to get more info and see what the tote bags looked like. They look pretty cool and they are reasonably priced at $29.99. But, they are selling out pretty quick. So if you want one you better hurry.

If your interested or want to find out more information about these limited edition totes click here, Target.com/billboardbag

Takashi Murakami - new exhibit in Paris

2009-09-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of Takashi Murakami's artwork, I have been following his career since 1998. His artwork, the colors he uses, images and objects he creates are truly inspiring, to me. Anytime I feel uninspired, bored or blocked - I like to stare at his artwork, (which I have reproductions at my office & home) they always seems to spring a flood of ideas for me.
He's been in the media quite a bit over the years. Most recently he worked with Louis Vuitton as well as doing video and artwork for Kayne West's Graduation album. He has a new exhibit with some new pieces in Paris, at the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. Above are some of his new images and if you want to see more click here, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. I wish I could go to Paris to view his new artwork.

Wipe your feet on The Tyra Banks Show

2009-09-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Walking down 33rd street I kept seeing the same floor mat on the doors of some local store fronts. I finally stopped read what it said and snapped the photo above.

What a strange promotional/advertising tool used by The Tyra Banks Show to advertise that they have moved, a floor mat? What does that say about the show?

Typographic Absolute Ads

2009-09-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Walking around NYC yesterday I kept seeing these Absolute ads posted everywhere. When the sidewalk became less crowded I snapped this photo. Beautiful typographically rendered Absolute ads. Absolute always seems to consistently create really nice work. Great stuff thought I'd share it.

Pictograms

2009-08-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Pictograms are simplified graphic symbols that represent an idea. I have always been interested on how people represent actions or ideas. When I'm out & about I'm always on the look out for pictograms. Recently Vermont's tourism board used pictograms over photographs depicting things you can do in Vermont. It's always fun and interesting to see how different countries use pictograms. Images above are of pictograms I have taken photos of or found.

Pret A Manger where you'll always find good package design

2009-08-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

Pret A Manger is a very convenient place for me to go and eat because of its proximity to my job -just around corner. Every time I buy something there to eat, I end up staring at it and admiring the design of it.

Take this orange soda can - I really like the playful image of the orange made to look like a fish. Not sure why they took an orange and shaped it into a fish? (thought about it for a second, maybe the used a fish because soda is a liquid and fish live in a liquid?) But it gives the whole design a cheery carefree feeling to it. Also like the side of the can with the bubbles reinforcing the fish theme as well as suggesting the bubbles in the soda.

(Sorry for the quality of the photos all I had was my cell phone camera with me that day.)

Art & Copy - film about adverising

2009-08-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

I've heard alot of hype for this movie for a while now. Finally saw the trailer, it looks better than what I heard. If you are interested in adverting and creative ideas in general this is a must see! The films website, artandcopyfilm.com.

Here is a synopsis of the film: ART & COPY is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray (SURFWISE, SCRATCH, HYPE!), it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time -- people who've profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising's "creative revolution" of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in ART & COPY were responsible for "Just Do It," "I Love NY," "Where's the Beef?," "Got Milk," "Think Different," and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

Tomatoes, Eggplant, Peppers, Zucchini, Parsley, Basil - Oh My

2009-08-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

In the corner of our backyard we have a vegetable garden. I'm not going to pretend that I have a green thumb or that I actually went out and planted everything in my garden. I wish I could take credit for that but that was all my father-in-law, he's the one who planted the whole garden. All I do is water it, weed it and pick the vegetables, (actually I should be weeding a little more often than I do).

This year we have so many cherry tomatoes that we can't keep up with them. This exact thing happened to us in early June with lettuce - we had lettuce coming out of our ears. We gave out a lot to family and friends. Now we are doing the same with the peppers and cherry tomatoes.

I'm not going to lie to you, it is fun picking vegetables. There is a zen-like feeling that comes over you while walking through the garden looking for ripe vegetables. There is no stress as you walk through - carefully looking at each individual plant. You have one single mission and that is to pick the vegetables that are ready to be eaten. Green peppers are easily camouflaged in the leaves and you have to carefully go through them to make sure you don't miss one. Crouching down to reach the ripe cherry tomatoes that are hiding under the leaves of the tomato plants. Slowly and carefully pulling huge heirloom tomatoes off the vine without bruising them or knocking the other tomatoes off the vine.

Weird and strange that it is relaxing. Since I am not of fan of mowing the lawn or weeding. But I do enjoy eating the vegetables we grow, even though I am kind of getting tired of eating tomatoes everyday.

T Magazine - NY Time Magazine Covers

2009-08-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

The Moment is a blog for the New York Times, it's a good blog that I visit from time to time. But recently, they started posting some of their T Magazine covers. Each day this week, they are posting a slide show of the T’s covers made by artists and designers from past issues.

Visit their site here themoment.blogs.nytimes.com - check it out. Most of the covers are interesting to look at as well as beautiful. It's entertaining to see all the original variations of the T that has been created for the covers.

Bracelets Made Out of Printers CMYK Color Bands - Simple Idea

2009-08-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

The other day I came back to my desk from lunch and sitting on my keyboard was this bracelet pictured above. The bracelet is a very simple idea, all they did was laminate the printers CMYK color strips and fasten metal button clips to it. I thought it was very cool, printers cut those color codes off the printed piece and usually trash them. This is a cool way of recycling wasted paper.

This was a free promotion given out by a paper company, not sure which one - since I didn't attend the meeting. A co-worker brought this bracelet back for me. One small critique, the bracelet should at least have the paper company's logo on it. (No one I've talked to can remember the name of the paper company that made the bracelet)

Movie-The Hitcher Negative Review in my Info Section

2009-08-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last night couldn't sleep, so I was flipping through channels looking for something to watch. If I see a movie that looks interesting I always hit the info button on my remote to find out what the movie is about. I was a bit shocked last night when I hit the info button for the movie, The Hitcher and read a negative review of the film in the info section! (View photo above).

I have never seen them critique a movie in the info section before. Then I thought, how strange having a negative review on a movie they are currently showing. Why bother showing it then? I'm sure this is some sort of mistake but found it amusing anyway.

When Technology Fails...

2009-08-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

Technology right now seems to be changing at the speed of light. New technology is great, fun and even saves us time. People seem to be adapting to it pretty quickly and depending on it. But what happens when it breaks down, fails or crashes?

The answer: We get angry. In the end we are all helpless when it comes to technology. We really have no control over the situation whatsoever.

Sometimes I forget that, it takes witnessing a man at a mall screaming and banging on a new Coca Cola vending machine to wake me up. Listening to him explain to passerby's that he just put his money into this piece of junk - when the vending machine decided suddenly that it didn't want to work anymore. That's when I realize that we are at the mercy of technology. Seeing the vending machine out of commission I think - What else can we do but get angry?

Great Rant from, Craig Ferguson -Youth / Young and Stupid

2009-07-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Wanted to post this rant because it's true, simple as that. Advertising started this youth movement and now we are stuck with it.

Not a Fan of the Redesigned Newark Museum Logo

2009-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Been meaning to talk about this for a while. In Newark, New Jersey there is a museum (The Newark Museum) that has been around for 100 years. I remember going to the museum when I was a kid and I have continued visiting it as an adult. I have a soft spot for the museum - It's not the biggest museum and it's certainly not the flashiest. Thats why I was shocked when they came out with a new advertising campaign promoting their 2009 Centennial Celebration with a brand new redesigned logo.

Now I agree that they needed to redesign their logo - but this new logo makes no sense to me. In my opinion, this new logo was picked because it looks young and trendy. Thats it! It doesn't reference the old museum logo or for that matter anything at the museum. Being familiar with the museum and visiting it so many times - I could not come up with any good rational to defend this new logo. Look I understand that they need to appeal to a younger crowd, I totally get that. But, I feel this could have done this in a better way. What's the point of a logo that has no meaning.

How do you Relax and "Turn Off" Work?

2009-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been noticing that it has become easier and easier for me to stop thinking about work on the weekends. I've always had a problem of "turning off" - not thinking about or discussing work when I'm at home. My weekends seemed to always center around brainstorming ideas for the following work week. For the last couple of weeks though, my brain has been automatically turning off on Friday nights. Not sure how I'm doing this, I'm guessing it has something to do with it being summertime or maybe its just keeping myself busy with other things. This is great because I'm not as stressed out over the weekends and come back to work some what refreshed. (Trying to analyze my "turning off" like this makes me a bit nervous - that somehow I won't be able to turn it off, again.)

I know worrying about work is a common problem and I wonder how other people "turn off"? Do you have a technique or ritual you do to "turn off"? I would love to hear it.

MOMA Museum Thinking Outside of the Box!

2009-07-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

Saw the MOMA poster above at my train station which peaked my interest. Went to their website and was amazed. MOMA is going the extra mile for you - They are taking social networking to the next level. The site does an analysis of your facebook profile and interests to create a personal agenda.

You just click onto their website here, http://mydayat.moma.org/ Plug in the dates you're planning to go to MOMA, it will ask you to sign into your facebook page and then based on your profile/personality it will create a customized tour for you. You will be able to share this information, invite friends and discuss events. Awesome use of social network sites to benefit their patrons. A+ to MOMA really innovative idea!

GIANT Hello Kitty in NYC

2009-07-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

Walking down Park avenue today I came across these GIANT Hello Kitty statues. Pretty cool to see up close. If you're in the neighborhood check them out - The statues come from artist Tom Sachs. They are outside of the Lever House at 390 Park Avenue at 53rd, NYC. Found out they are only there till September 6th.

Yummy Rats - from Ikea:)

2009-07-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite sections in Ikea is their strange but fun swiss food section. I enjoy going through this section and buying something I have never eaten before. This past weekend I was there while they were restocking the Jelly Rats. They look like long "rat shaped" chewy candy. I found the name hilarious and fascinating - Why Jelly Rats?

Whatever the reason the name still makes me laugh.

To Many Problems To Count?

2009-07-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

This poster really got under my skin the other day. I was on the train heading home and quickly scanned the poster. Immediately, problems seemed to jump off the poster. Now I know this is an ugly poster. And I'm sure not much time was spent on creating it. But it just had to many typographical & basic communication design errors that it was to hard for me to ignore.

First off it looks like two separate posters. The top part seems to be talking about Lowe's winning the JD Power award for customer satisfaction and the bottom half is a poster advertising appliances for Lowe's. Easy way to unify it would have been to just have the background of the poster all white or carry the blue gradient to the top of the advertisement. Second problem is the bottom tag line, "Come to Lowe's first for appliances." What bothers me is that awkward period after the visual of the refrigerator. It would have worked it the used the word appliances or refrigerator, but using a visual instead - the period does not work. The period should not be there it seems like a mistake. A weird square dot just floating there. And finally the small print copy at the very bottom. They gave a hard return to a sentence that separates it from the rest of the copy - it looks bad. It's weird type break which just screams out MISTAKE!

Favorite State & Country Logos

2009-07-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Out of all 50 state logos that exist these are my top five picks. Most state logos are just simple type, sometimes it looks fine - but I chose these based on uniqueness.

If you look at all the country logos they all kind of start looking the same. Most of them look like updated folk art or use colorful colors for their fonts. They all seem to blend and look the same. These are the few that stood out to me.

Dissecting a Horror Movie Poster

2009-07-14T05:55:00.000-07:00

Last night, I walked past these two movie poster's advertising a new horror movie called, The Collector. Lately, I have been paying closer attention to quotes and statements that are printed on these posters. This one caught my attention - it states, From the writers of Saw IV, V, VI.

Is this the best way to market this movie? Not only is this movie from a bunch of writers it also goes on to state that these writers worked on the sequels not on the original Saw movie. I view that statement as a warning sign?

First, saying," from the writers", makes me think that this story was written in parts, with each writer handling a different part of the story line. This leads me to think that this story line is going to be disjointed and not tied together very well.

Next, they are making sure they mention the Saw movie sequels to create an association to the Saw movie franchise to help sell their movie. This makes me think this movie will have a similar (if not exact) story line as the Saw movies.

Finally, they mention," from writers of Saw VI" - So far, only five Saw movies have come out. They are trying to sell their movie with a movie that hasn't even come out yet.

But then again this is a horror movie... I'm sure no one is expecting it to have a great story line. You just need a killer in a mask that "collects" people throw in a lot of blood and gore and you are done.

What? You Don't Have the Obama Chia Pet!

2009-07-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Are things getting just a little bit ridiculous or is it just me? Saw the commercial for the patriotic Barack Obama Chia Pet last night. I though I was watching a Saturday Night Live spoof commercial - Kept waiting for the punch line...

Multi-Tasking old fashioned idea now it's Switch-Tasking

2009-07-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I was listening to the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, he was live from the Aspen Idea Festival. The topic was, Being Human in a Digital World - His guests were, Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, John Palfrey, faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Will Wright, creator of Spore and Sim City and Brooke Gladstone from On the Media.

They brought up alot of interesting topics, such as: how the digital media affects your thinking, how you process information and how this new digital media takes you away from other activities in your life.

But what really caught my attention was when John Palfrey stated that this new digital landscape has also created a new way of working, Switch-Tasking -working on multiple tasks but switching through them quickly. I found that very interesting because we all do this seamlessly throughout the day. We all move through our email, facebook page, twitter, digg, stumble upon, wordpress, blogger, flickr and any other social/digital website we participate in. Great topic that gets you thinking about how this new digital world really is affecting you as an individual.

If you want to listen to the broadcast click here: Being Human in a Digital World

Marvel Comics Annual Report 1993

2009-07-02T10:26:00.001-07:00

Visiting some blogs that I follow I came across Marvel Comics 1993 Annual report. This was found on I Love Rob Liefeld blog by Sandy - where he reviews comic books, To see more of the annual report click here http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/
Being a comic book fan and interested in information graphics I thought this was pretty cool. Sure its not that clear and visually it's a little hard to read but it's sill a good idea - execution is just a little off.

A Banner Ad that isn't annoying?

2009-07-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Pringles created a very interactive, very fun banner ad. Companies take note - this ad is actually amusing, engaging, and really smart. It does what it supposed to do make you want to to click through - You want to find out what it's going to say next.

Let me mention that this ad won the 2009 Cannes Cyber Lions Gold award, CLICK HERE - to see the ad and interact with it. I've clicked through the whole ad - it is very long but funny. Good work all around.

The Piers Shop in Atlantic City - Missed Opportunity

2009-06-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend at Atlantic City, NJ. Just a weekend get away, to get some sun and gamble a little. Had a good time there didn’t win any money but had a fun time trying.

While walking on the boardwalk, my wife and I went to The Pier Shops, which is a shopping mall on the boardwalk. The interior of this mall is very impressive. You walk through the front glass façade that has a great view of the beach. On the opposite side there is an open balcony with ocean views. You are so close to the water that you can feel the ocean spray hit you. I know this is a mall, but it really does have a beautiful interior. They used a lot of different materials for the floor, ceiling, columns, and even lighting - that it doesn’t feel like you‘re in a mall. These little touches throughout really make it stand out. The interior is very well done.

The big problem with this shopping center is the exterior of it. Other than the front glass façade and the back balcony it is basically a box with billboards everywhere advertising anything and everything. With a giant screen television on the very top that kept advertising a big fight that was happening there next weekend. Why couldn’t they create a complete package? Have something nice and elegant on the exterior and the interior. It feels as though the exterior of the building was an after thought. They really missed out it creating something really special that would stand out from all the advertising that you are bombarded with when you’re on the boardwalk.

"Handwritten Custom Lettering"

2009-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Lately - I keep finding beautiful handwritten custom letter designers, care of photo websites like fffound. Every time I see a new custom font designer I automatically go to flickr looking for more of their work - If they have a flickr page that’s a huge bonus for me. I bookmark their flickr site automatically and look for updates weekly.

Here are six designers that I always look for updates. They have created some of my favorite pieces. If you click on their names it links back to their flickr page. Aron Jancso, Crystal Kluge, Jessica Hische, Linzie Hunter, Seb Lester, & Steven Bonner.

(Jessica Hische is the only one that doesn’t have her own flickr page, but she has a lot of people that upload photos of her work.)

What are you doing with your old iPhone?

2009-06-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Since Apple’s new 3G iPhones just came out and sold about 1 million units in less than a week - I can’t help but wonder what happens to all those old “obsolete” iPhone’s now?

Illustration by Paulo Pereira

Brüno is coming!

2009-06-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

Started seeing taxis promoting Brüno movie for about 2 months now. Then, I stumbled onto the movies "social website" - www.meinspace.com/bruno. It's a pretty funny meinspace site with facebuch & Tvitter links. I thought that was very clever social network promotional tie in to the movie. The only problem with the meinspace page is the music on the page gets on your nerves pretty quick, (I know its supposed to).

The movie comes out on July 10 - I'm not sure if this movie will be funny all the way through and maybe the trailer is showing us the funniest parts but the trailer is pretty hilarious. You can be sure - I'll still go to the movie to see it for myself.

Would you invest in a company that filed for bankruptcy?

2009-06-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

Since General Motors has filed for bankruptcy protection and our government keeps saying, that the taxpayers are now all owners. I have seen blogs, websites and people on flickr pick up on that idea - and create their own GM business cards. At first I thought that was funny idea - but thinking about it some more, I wondered - Would you really take your hard earned cash and invest it in a company that has filed for bankruptcy?

Look at GM, they now have to restructure their company. Which means selling off parts of the company (like Saturn, Buick, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Cadillac, Chevrolet), stop producing GM cars and trucks. Lay-off a bunch of people, close dealerships and end all contracts with suppliers.

Then they have to borrow money (from the government) to make new cars. Prove to their investors (again the government) why these cars make a sense to produce. Then they have to find suppliers (again) that haven’t gone under because of GM filing for bankruptcy. Have them start producing parts for their new car. Hire, back some laid-off workers to help produce these cars. Then start to advertise these “new and improved cars. “

If GM goes through all that and still fails - they will have to file for Chapter 7. Which means they liquidate whatever’s left of the business. Whatever is left of the company is pretty much worthless by that time. You will never see any of the investment money you just put into it.

Now tell me - Who in their right mind would want to be part owner in that?

Banksy - New Exhibition In Bristol

2009-06-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well the news is out - Banksy's new exhibition is in his hometown of Bristol,UK. Check out the video and images from BBC. There are great new pieces from him. Big fan of his work for years always good to see new work coming out from him.
Click here to watch the BBC video link - BBC Video. You can also see photos of the exhibit here - BBC Photos.

Just added video clips of Banksy himself working to get his exhibit up at the Bristol museum. Click here.

go bus - excellent design idea

2009-06-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

I was in Newark, New Jersey last friday waiting for my wife to pick me up and saw this bus parked near the train station. The navy blue color really caught my attention. I walked up to it then noticed that near the front entrance where the passengers get on there was a list of all the stops the bus makes. What a good idea! How many times have you got on a bus and wondered if you were getting on the correct one? Or even held up the line asking the bus driver if this bus was making a certain stop. No more confusion - This is a really simple solution to that problem.

NINJA- Nine Inch Nails & Jane's Addiction Tour

2009-06-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I went to see Nine Inch Nails & Janes Addiction with my brother at PNC Arts Center in NJ. Got there a little late. We missed the opening band, Street Sweeper Social Club. By the time we got to the seats Nine Inch Nails was in the middle of their third or fourth song already. Let me personally thank the staff working that night at PNC Arts Center – who pointed us to the wrong seats. We were watching Nine Inch Nails 20-30 rows from the stage. When Nine Inch Nails ended and Jane’s Addiction was setting up we asked some security guards if we had correct seats and they told us no. They proceeded to move us, to our amazement & shock, five rows in front of the stage. A little pissed that PNC staff messed up but got over it real quick when Jane’s Addiction started.

Both bands have over 20 years experience so it’s no surprise that this show was great. NIN - Trent Reznor’s voice was perfect there were really not miss-steps at all. The touring band was tight and flawless. The band’s energy really invigorated the crowd. The fans loved them and were amazed. It was really a perfect performance that was very impressive to see live.

Let me say that Jane’s Addiction roadies only took 15 minutes to set-up the equipment, which amazed me. I’m used to waiting 30 to 45 minutes for the next band to have their equipment set-up. Then still have to wait as they do sound checks of the instruments and microphone. Right off the bat I was impressed. Then the band started to play behind a see thru curtain and bang - the crowd erupted. Jane’s Addiction was awesome - they played all their original songs flawlessly. For a fifty year old man, Perry Farrell looked better than some 20 year old musicians I've seen. His voice was perfect-he was full energy dancing around the stage. The rest of the band members were incredible - being five rows in front of the stage made it an amazing experience. Also it was great seeing Eric Avery back with the band - he was really in a zone, playing his heart out.

If you have the chance to see the NINJA tour this year, I would highly recommend it!!!

A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (review)

2009-06-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have been a comic book fan for over 15 years now. I went through the superhero phase-then got bored with it. Later on discovered alternative comics and then even later in life I stumbled across a more personal styled comics called, mini–comics. I don’t read a lot of comics now-a-days, a few here and there. But I have been buying all comics produced by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. I bought The Push Man and Other Stories a couple of years ago, then Abandon The Old In Tokyo and then much later his book titled Good-Bye. These were written so different from what I was accustomed to reading that I became hooked right away. They are not typical and some of his short stories are realistically disturbing.

A Drifting Life, is Yoshihiro Tatsumi memoir. This is a thick book, eight by six inches with a two inch spine and 856 pages. It took Tatsumi over a decade to complete.

We follow the main character Hiroshi, (Tatsumi’s alter-ego) at the beginning of manga industry. The story begins right after the Japanese surrender in World War II. We watch young Hiroshi obsessing and creating manga - as a postwar Japan slowly changes into an industrialized nation around him. Even thought this is a quick read your are instantaneously, immersed in the story. You emotionally get caught up in Hiroshi's life and you want him to succeed. What makes the story even more interesting is you are also witnessing the beginning of manga. It’s inspirational reading the Mangaka (japanese term for creators of manga who both write and draw their comics) trying to meet deadlines and brainstorming about story ideas.

Mr. Tatsumi style is simplified and rugged. He skills are unmistakable - his art perfectly evokes Japan’s past. He has a quick, rough inking style-Which complements the story.

This is a great book - which I highly recommend. Even if your not into comics pick this up you won’t regret it.

Hand Painted Signage- Sampiyon Fenerbahche (unique find)

2009-06-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

They other day walking to the train station after work, I saw this white van with the words Sampiyon Fenerbahce painted on it.
I was so fascinated by the hand painted letters that I didn't even notice the owner get in the van and start the engine. I quickly pulled out my camera phone to take a picture.

I find the hand painted lettering beautiful. The vibrant navy blue and yellow creates a very unique visual. The thick and thin blue outline with blue hairs standing on end is puzzling but at the same time engaging. Fun use of star's under certain letters instead of the traditional accent mark the cedilla. Even the placement of the words Sampiyon Fenerbahce on the van is a little off that the letter E of Fenerbahce gets cut off by the van's door. Charming and unusual lettering style.

(I've looked up Sampiyon Fenerbahce, from what I can decipher this is a Turkish soccer team whose colors are navy blue & yellow.)

Taking a Generic Store Brand to the Next Level

2009-05-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been grocery shopping at a Stop & Shop supermarket. Walking up and down their aisles I have been noticing their generic store brand products. Actually, it’s hard not to notice their store brand – their products packaging is designed better than some of the brand name products on the same shelf. They have done a very smart thing by creating a simple clean and appealing package design template – that is used throughout the store.
Very smart move on their part for mainly two reasons. One, their generic store brand is cheaper than the name brand - having a nice package design for it gets it noticed and you don’t feel like you are buying a generic product. Second, this helps establish their store brand and makes it easily recognized for future purchases.

Here is a sample of some of their products:

BRZ Team Graffiti Sticker (unique finds)

2009-05-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

I have been walking past this sticker for about four months now (maybe longer). I never payed any attention to it because its about three inches in size and its on construction site door thats surrounded by large posters. Once I noticed it - I would stare at it everyday making sure it was still there. I was drawn to it because of its uniqueness - it's an all red shiny vinyl sticker. I tried looking up BRZ Team to see if they had a website, no luck. File this under unique interesting find.

Social Networks Racing to be Number One

2009-05-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

MySpace-vs-Facebook is really heating up. MySpace recently hired Owen Van Natta as their new CEO. If you recognize the name that’s because Owen Van Natta is formerly the COO of Facebook. MySpace is currently promoting from within, as well as hiring a lot of people with strong backgrounds in digital media. They are gearing up to take back what they have lost.

MySpace has their work cut out for themselves though - Facebook has surpassed them in worldwide users. Currently, Facebook is seen as the cooler out of the two social networks. MySpace is seen as the old man on the social network block. Another problem facing MySpace is marketers and marketing companies view MySpace users as lower middle class. This image is going to be very hard for MySpace to shake. They have to do something soon to change people’s perceptions of their social network.

Thrown into this mix is Twitter. It’s very unique - it is a mini-blog and has a very powerful search tool that is current up to the minute. With 140 character limit per post, it’s easy to stay current and updated with family and friends. All this is becoming a thorn in Facebook’s and MySpace’s side. But for now Twitter is still considered new and small, but a potential threat to them in the long run. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the big guys (meaning Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo or Google) are in negotiations with Twitter.

Keep a watch on any news about these social networks -big deals and big changes are coming.

Illustration by Paulo Pereira

KRAZY! at the Japan Society

2009-05-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

Been meaning to post about this exhibit for a while. Since this is Memorial day weekend I thought it would be a good time. If you are coming to NYC or you live in NYC and need something to do - Go experience the exhibit at the Japan Society called, KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games.

If you have any interest in video games, manga or anime this is a real cool exhibit. They have rooms set up, so you can play video games, they have manga pods where you can sit and read manga or you can watch some anime (check the website for anime schedule). Click here to go directly to their website, http://www.japansociety.org. Highly recommend it a very fun exhibit with tons to do, expect to spend a couple of hours there.

Lost My Sock

2009-05-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

Saw these leaflets posted everywhere the other day – And thought, this might be a fun to visit the website or it can turn out to be a disturbing! I was willing to take a chance on it and see what happens. You never know what you’ll get when you go to a website that you find posted on a wall in New York City. When you type www.lostmysock.com it brings you to the LittleMissedMatched.com, which confused me for a second. I thought I typed in the wrong web address. I then realized that this was actually supposed to bring you to this site only after I read what’s posted below,

The last time I saw my warm and fuzzy friend was in the dryer and now it's gone!
Don't you just hate when that happens? Then you're left with all those single spares who've lost their pairs. No fun! Or waaaait a sec, could it be??
Can't I just wear any two socks that I wanna wear? And then I'll never have to worry about the missing sock again! I mean, who said socks have to match anyways? That's my theory and how my entire company got goin'! So as a super special THANK YOU for trying to help me find my lost sock, I'm giving you a pack of my marvelous, fabulous, kooky or zany socks for FREE!

All you gotta do is:  Print this out, Bring it into my new LittleMissMatched store in Grand Central Terminal.  No surprises or sneaky moves, just bring this in and you'll get a pack of 3 coordinated but non-matching socks for FREE!
And in honor of this month's Lost Sock Memorial Day, you'll get an extra treat if you bring in all of those single guys you've got lying around. I'll be donating all gently used socks to charity so come celebrate Lost Sock Memorial Day and help others out at the same time!  Soooo thanks again for trying to help me find my sock – hope I've now helped you solve this age old problem for yourself!
Can't wait to see you in Grand Central Terminal!

This seems like a fun little promotion targeting moms and young girls. I don’t know how successful it will be (or is). How many moms or girls actually saw these plastered all over NYC and thought, “hey this looks like it could be fun website to visit”. I feel as though it needed to be a bit more direct toward moms or young girls- It’s way too vague. You are not sure if it’s a joke or not. The idea is good just the execution seems a bit off.

Bottling Wine

2009-05-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend I helped my father-in-law bottle wine - He makes both red & white wines every year. The photos above document the process - first transfer the wine from the barrels to the bottles, then the bottles are corked, the corked bottles are then moved to the shelves and at the end is the clean up. My job which is not pictured, (because it isn't very glamorous), was moving bottles around. Moving empty bottles so they can be filled, then moving the filled bottles so they can be corked and then taking the corked bottles and storing them on the shelves. This all took place in the basement and at the end everything smells like wine. It was a fun experience, that didn't feel like work at all.

Fiat's Eco:Drive, Great Idea!

2009-05-15T05:07:00.001-07:00

Carmaker Fiat has been in the news lately, because of the plans to partner with Chrysler. So while reading up on Fiat, then going to their main website - I came across, Eco:Drive, their Drive Greener program.

Basically, Eco:Drive is Fiat wanting to be more environmentally responsible by providing the car owner with tools where they can analyze the way they drive. This will then provide the car owner with tips & suggestions about how to reduce the environment impact and their costs.

Below is Fiat’s explanation on how it works if you don’t want to read it click here to watch the video.

The car owner plugs a USB drive into their computer, goes to the Eco:Drive website downloads the program for free. Then plugs the USB drive into their car. When they get home they plug the USB drive back into their computer and then the “EcoDrive” system presents the driver with detailed environmental performance of the car including the CO2 emission level for each trip. It analyses the driver’s style and then provides tips and recommendations on how to modify style to achieve CO2 reductions – and save money on fuel.

EcoDrive will encourage the driver to set himself challenges – CO2 reduction targets for specific journeys or over a set period of time. And in a community site will encourage all drivers to come together and pool their savings - working towards much bigger collective targets and showing that a lot of small contributions join to have a massive impact.

I should note that this right now you can only use this in two of Fiat’s cars - Fiat 500 and the Grand Punto but they state this will soon be available in all of their cars. This is an interesting idea overall. Will this make people buy a Fiat? I think so.

I See Pop Chips Everywhere

2009-05-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

These ads seem to be popping up everywhere I look, (pun intended). This visual bombardment made me take notice - which in turn led me to post about them.

The packaging is simple, clean and to the point. Very unique and fun typographical treatment. I really like their color-code system for each flavor of chips they produce. The whole look will definitely make it stand out on store shelves. The ads really co-exist nicely with the packaging - Overall a very good advertising campaign. (I do remember seeing this packaging about a year ago on The Dieline website, back then I thought it was a very different (in a good way) for a potato chip packaging.)

They are supposed to different type of potato chip compared to other potato chips theses are literally popped into existence. They apply heat and pressure to the potato and create an unique looking and tasting chip. I have yet to buy them so I can’t comment on their taste. But if you are curious here’s their website where they list all the stores where you can purchase them - www.popchips.com

Design without Borders discussion at NYIT

2009-05-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

I went to a graphic design discussion last Friday, called Designers without Borders at NYIT (New York Institute of Technology). The talk centered around a panel discussion about design in a globalized world. Designers that participated in the discussion were:

Roberto de Vicq – company Vicq Design born in Brazil.

Matteo Bologna – company Mucca Design born in Italy.

Maya Kopytman – company C&G Partners LLC born in Russia (but moved to Israel)

Carole Goodman – company Blue Anchor Design born in United States (New Jersey)

Takaaki Matsumoto – company Matsumoto Inc born in Japan.

Pablo Medina – company Cubanica born in the United Stated (Washington D.C moved to New Jersey)

The talk overall was interesting. It was fun hearing from all the designers discussing their background: where they came from, what projects they worked on, funny stories about people they worked with, etc… They discussed cultural differences and how they dealt with it all in their own way. Some designers had problems assimilating to the language and some had a hard time dealing and working with other cultures.

Something I found interesting was that they all pretty much felt that their cultural backgrounds did not influence their design. I’m not sure that’s true. They might think their cultural background doesn’t appear in their design but I disagree. It might not be so obvious, like a design style or certain look that can somehow represent their country of origin. But their cultural background influences the way they think and problem solve. Which is a big part of graphic design.

Another topic they brought up was about how in some countries graphic designers are treated differently, almost like “Rock Stars.” In certain cultures clients value the designer and their opinion more than they do here. They know your work and ask for your help on what to do. They don’t dictate their idea, you design what you think works. They look to you for answers and guidance. This was also a revelation to me -I know some companies here in the states do seek out designers’ guidance for ideas and projects but for the most part, we are there to communicate their ideas. If they don’t like what we have produced, they will tell us and sometimes they’ll tell us how to make it better.

Overall, a good talk with lively designers that kept you engaged. Glad I went. I look forward to more talks from NYIT.

Coffee Wars

2009-05-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

Here is Starbucks new print ad campaign plus a video explanation from Howard Shultz himself, (click here for the video explanation). Starbucks is going with an eco-looking print campaign, the eco-look is to show you how environmentally conscious they are over other coffee places. The campaign also puts down other coffee makers, in a nice way. It looks as though they are gearing up for an all out coffee war. But if Starbucks is going through all this you know they are a little worried about McDonalds & Dunkin Donuts taking away their coffee drinkers in this touch economy.

I am curious to see where these new ads will appear? If they advertise in the typical areas they usually advertise in, (for example New York Times) how do they really expect to grow their business? They just keep talking to the same people that already support them. Right now it's tough for them and I think it's going to get tougher. Not sure if this is really the right direction they should be heading. I feel this ad campaign is not going to help them make any head way. The people that buy Starbucks will keep buying it - They people who buy Starbucks but can't justify buying it because of cost will probably stop and buy cheaper coffee some where else - The people who never bought Starbucks are not going to start now.

Got An Original Idea?

2009-05-03T19:05:00.001-07:00

In 1993 the California Milk Processor Board was formed to remind people to drink milk. They hired ad agency Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein, who did research and produced the popular milk commercials for the California Milk Processor Board. The television commercials set up the groundwork for the got milk? advertising campaigns that everyone now-a-days recognizes.

Since 1993 there have been countless companies that have co-opted the got milk? tagline, (above is just a small sample of what I found). Usually these knock offs are done by small local businesses who don't have a marketing budget and don't really understand branding. The just "borrow" popular taglines from commercials or print ads that they have seen. Most of the time these appropriated taglines that they use don't even work or make any sense for that particular company.

I feel this forced branding hurts those small businesses and confuses their targeted clients rather than help them. I like the idea of small local companies branding themselves, but why not come up with something original? Come up with a campaign that actually means something to that particular business. Or better yet, create a brand by helping the community, and in turn this will help their brand get recognized locally.

Farewell to Portfolio

2009-04-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

This past Monday, after many months of speculation and rumors, Portfolio - Condé Nast’s business magazine closed down. I was saddened by this news - of all the business magazines out there, (Forbes, BusinessWeek, Money, Fortune, Fast Company) I thought Portfolio magazine had the best editorial design for a business magazine and the articles were by far interesting as well as compelling. It was one of the few magazines that I could read cover to cover without falling asleep. I had really hoped they could make it through this economic downturn:(

My Daily Commute

2009-04-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

A small glimpse of my commute from New Jersey to New York and back to New Jersey. All from my perspective, these are just the highlights. Some images are a bit blurred, that's because I was running or walking very fast to catch a train.

FDIC Going For Broke

2009-04-24T07:05:00.001-07:00

I was wondering recently if the FDIC bailing out of banks would have an affect on my personal bank account. I foolishly believed that it wouldn't. But as I did some basic research on the matter I discovered that, Yes it will impact me. The FDIC's bailing out of banks is going to affect everyone who has a savings account or a loan through their bank. I quickly put together a simple information graphic (above) showing you the link from the U.S Treasury to the bank customer.

U.S. Treasury increases FDIC's line of credit from $30 billion to $100 billion. The FDIC wants an option to borrow another $500 billion in case of another banking emergency.

FDIC bails out 36 failed banks - that fail from September 1, 2008 to April 1, 2009. Because the FDIC steps in to pay for all the insured deposits, at all these failed banks, the FDIC Has to raise its bank premium fees.

Banks now have to pay higher premiums to the FDIC. To recoup the increased FDIC fees - banks will pass this cost onto their customers.

Families who are tightening their belts because of the economy with have to tighten it a little more. Bank customers deposit rates as well as loan rates will be affected by the raised FDIC premium fees.

Illustration Paulo Pereira

Tim Tsui + Li Ning + Milk Magazine - The Revolution of Green

2009-04-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Since today is Earth Day, I thought I’d post about a green initiative that took place in China earlier this month. It was created to bring green awareness to China. The project is called, The Revolution of Green - this is a collaboration between artist Tim Tsui (urban artist, who creates graffiti styled art), a Chinese sporting goods brand Li Ning and Hong Kong based Milk Magazine. Tim Tsui created the wooden sculptures that stand six feet tall. They are on display for two weeks, at Li Ning’s flagship store.

ISBRAVE - Ads for Diesel's new fragrance, Only the Brave

2009-04-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

Walking to work today, I saw these confusing posters. I had no idea what these posters were for - I could not make heads or tails out of the image that was used to create them - the brain, the heart (I didn't know it was supposed to be a heart, I found that out later) and the final image of the spine.

When I got into work, I looked up the website isbrave.com and found a really confusing site that is set up like a blog. There is an "artsy" video and toward the bottom there is a Twitter looking application that states, What is Brave? - where you're supposed to post a comment telling Diesel - who or what is brave. Whatever you post, will then turn up as a statement under it. At this point I still didn't know what they were promoting. Only after I clicked on the news button was it revealed to me. This is a promotional site for Diesel's new fragrance - Only the Brave. They are also using the rapper Common to promote this new fragrance. Diesel states that, "Common embodies what it means to be brave and how to overcome adversity." You can find links on isbrave.com for their isbrave Flickr page, isbrave YouTube page and isbrave Twitter page. I'm sure there is a Facebook page for this product, but I couldn't find the link to it on the site.

Now I'm sure Diesel intended these ads to peak your interest and purposely kept it vague so that you would go to their site. But I found the whole experience very annoying. There was no immediate payoff, you didn't know right away what you were looking at, they created links to all the newest social sites with no purpose - and really no content, no good navigational direction on their site and there is barely mention of the product they are promoting.

What is brave? - comes across as though they are full of themselves, who cares what is brave? It sounds as though they are using this statement, "what is brave?" to promote some sort of charity or cause, but they're not. They are using it to promote their cologne instead. The name of the the cologne, Only the Brave and the question what is brave? is a play off of there indian head logo that Diesel uses. All this rubbed me the wrong way. There is no wit or clever idea, just brashness and artificialness to their campaign. Thumbs down for this promotional campaign. I expected better from Diesel.

The Influencers -SVA MFA Lecture

2009-04-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I attended the School of Visual Art’s MFA lecture series, The Influencers. The four speakers Allegra Burnette - Creative Director Digital Media at Moma, Steven Heller - Design Author and Co-founder of MFA at SVA, (Mr.Heller has a long list of credits I’m sure you know about him if not look him up). Jason Santa Maria –web designer and consultant. Molly Wright Steenson – PhD student, Princeton University School of Architecture.

The point of this lecture was to discuss where each speakers influences come from - People, history, industry, or maybe even take a look into possible future trends.

Allegra Burnette discussed the redesign of Moma’s website, interactive displays and the creation of the Moma Flickr page. The driving force or influencer in this case is the visitor’s interaction with the museum (staff and budget was also listed as an influencer with these projects). Creating and easy to use website so that it gives the user the feel of the museum as well as creating a simple and sequential navigation throughout the site.

Steven Heller discussed the influence of Ladislav Sutnar whose influence can be felt even today. He was the pioneer of information design. He created his own systems or organization and information graphics, before there was such a thing.

Jason Santa Maria discussed the lack of influence of print on the web. In his discussion he juxtaposes a beautiful editorial designed article and then shows the webs “translation” of the same article, which is just a headline with a lot of type under it. He’s questioning the reasoning behind this, why does it have to be that way?

Molly Wright Steenson – discussed the influence of one man Christopher Alexander. In the end she stated, Love him or hate on you cannot deny his overall influence in architecture as well as computer science.

I felt that this was a very concise, informative lecture series that easily jump starts conversations and thoughts about the topics that were discussed. It was very good lecture, I will be attending more of them in the future.

You Just Tweeted the Wrong Person

2009-04-15T12:04:00.001-07:00

depeche mode-Sounds of the Universe

2009-04-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Walking home this week, the new poster for Depeche Mode's album, Sounds of the Universe, caught my eye. I have never been their biggest fan per se. But, there are certain songs/albums that I do have and really like. To tell you the truth, I haven't bought a Depeche Mode album since 1990's Violator cd - and that was more of a "best of" type of album rather than new music. This new album has peeked my interest though.

Back in February they released their new single with the video for the song, Wrong. The single has a very exposed, violent - hardened sound to it. The video's visuals are breathtaking, beautiful and amazing - The videos look directly connects to the song. I can not separate the song now without visualizing the eerie video. The video is directed by Patrick Daughters - who has directed other videos for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kings of Leon, Beck, The Muse and Interpol.

I still have to listen to the other songs off their Sounds of the Universe cd before I decide to buy it, but if this single is any indication to what the rest of the songs will be like, this will be an easy decision for me.

Click Here to check out the video.

Who Drives Foreign Cars?

2009-04-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this earlier this week - A little tidbit of information I caught on NPR last friday about the appointed Auto Task Force members. Only 6 out of 20 key members on the Auto Task Force drive American cars. You also find out foreign cars do well on the east & west coast's, with highly educated people. American cars do well in the midwest, with blue collar workers.

Click here to listen to the NPR broadcast.

The Future of Home Phones

2009-04-08T18:33:00.001-07:00

It looks like telephone companies are finally offering "the phones of the future." I have been waiting for a home phone like this, ever since the iPhone came out. I was sure telephone companies would try to mimic the iPhone's features sooner than later. Verizon, so far, is the first to advertise the Verizon Hub on TV. And it looks as though AT&T has started selling a similar version called Home Manager online, but has not really advertised it, (at least not here in the east coast).

Verizon Hub and AT&T Home Manager seem to have similar features - both include a 7 inch touch screen access. You can receive traffic updates, weather, news, sports, directions, watch movie trailers, order a pizza on both phones. Other phone features include - a phone contact list, calendar reminders, you can receive and send text messages, video messages and visual voice mail (this feature transcribes your voicemail to text so you can read it and don't have to listen to it, which makes it easier if you missed a phone number or address).

Now we just need the phone companies to figure out a way to sync-up home phones and cell phones. So when you're on the road and someone calls your home phone, your cell phone rings too. This way you'll never miss another important call again. All you can do right now with both Verizon's Hub and AT&T Home Manager is sync-up your calendar events, reminders and you can send text messages to cell phones. But the cell phone and the home phone have different numbers and are still considered separate entities. Phone companies should think about creating something similar to Google Voice, one number for both cell phones and home phones. Now that these new home phones can work seamlessly with the internet, this is the next logical step.

All Images via Verizon and AT&T

Nine Inch Nails [NIN] iPhone 1.0 App

2009-04-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

It seems Mr.Reznor has been listening to what his fans want. He's not guessing at what his fans want, he's not having executives telling him what his fans want but going to the source itself. This is truly the key to his current success.

This new NIN App will be FREE and available through Apple's App store in a couple of days. It will let you access the Nine Inch Nails website (NIN.com). The new App will let you read and respond to discussions through your iPhone. You can download music, photos, videos and locate other NIN fans with the built-in GPS locator. Mr.Reznor goes on to state that this App is another level for the fans to experience their live shows - fans can create live show feeds to other fans anywhere in the world.

Overall a very good idea it gives the fans what they want and creates a tighter fan base that feels as though they are part of something. If you haven't seen the video about the new NIN 1.0 iPhone App click here to watch the video from Trent Reznor and friends explaining all the App's functions.

All Images via NIN and Wired.

The Final Four Olympic Cities

2009-04-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if anyone has seen the final four candidate city logos for the 2016 Olympics yet? If not here they are - final cities are Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. The Olympic committee won't be making the final decision until October 2009.

The are all nice logos, but I'm partial to Madrid's logo. The hand forming the letter M is a nice touch. (And no, me choosing the Madrid logo does not have anything to do with me being married to a Spanish citizen.) Second choice would be Chicago's logo, very nice.

Zimbabwe Can it Get Any Worse?

2009-04-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Zimbabwean Newspaper created an ad campaign to protest the current Zimbabwean currency, that is essentially worthless. The printed their message on the worthless Zimbabwean bank notes to get their point across to the public. It's a brilliant idea just sad and horrible circumstances.

The country's in a dire situation right now, food shortages, cholera epidemic, economic melt down, human rights violations and so on! What's it going to take for someone to put a stop to the Mugabe regime?

Here are some links to news sites that show you how bad it's getting - CNN.com, Newsweek.com, New York Times and The Zimbabwean Newspaper for updates.

All Images via The Zimbabwean Newspape r.

BMW Art Car Exhibit

2009-03-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

This week as I was passing through Grand Central Station I came upon the BMW art car exhibit. If you are in New York City this week and need something to do - pass by Grand Central Station and take a look. It is really cool to see these cars up-close. On Andy Warhol's car you can actually see the physical brush strokes he painted onto the car. My favorite though, has to be Roy Lichtenstein's car with the zipatone dot pattern and swashes of yellow, blue and green - very graphic.

This is a FREE art exhibit created by BMW. It is currently being housed in the Vanderbilt Hall, part of the Grand Central Station. This exhibit will only be there till Monday, April 6,2009, so hurry if you're planning on going.

South Park on the U.S. Economy-Margaritaville Episode

2009-03-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of South Park I've been watching it for years now. They have a certain way of pointing out what's wrong in our society and then make it hilarious. This weeks South Park episode deals with the recession that hits South Park's (and the United State's). Above is a small sample from the show, where Stan goes to the U.S Treasury to return his Margaritaville blender, in turn revealing how the government currently makes its decisions on the economy. Either let you fail, bail you out, print more money, cut education, go to war, tax the rich and so on. If you haven't seen this episode yet you need to watch this one, it is hands down one of their best episodes. (My favorite part from the scene above is, after they cut off the chicken's head and throw the chicken's body onto the economic board the guy in the center plays a kazoo until the chicken's body collapses. How do they come up with this? Brilliant.) It should be repeating all week on Comedy Central, if your like me and live online now, you can watch full episodes on their website www.southparkstudios.com.

All images via, http://www.southparkstudios.com

Herman Miller Chairs at Costco!

2009-03-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

I recently heard a rumor that Costco was going to carry Herman Miller chairs. So, today I went to Costco's website to see for myself, as you can see it wasn't a rumor. It looks as though options are limited all I see are two different styled chairs, the Equa and the Caper. It has a small variety of colors and materials for each chair. But, that's fine with me. This means I can walk into a Costco purchase one and take it home same day instead of placing an order through a certified Herman Miller dealer and waiting for it to be delivered. Plus, buying them through Costco comes out to be cheaper because you are not paying for shipping. A win, win situation all around, cheaper chairs for people and Herman Miller gets to increase it sales.

Now all Costco has to do is convince Herman Miller to let them start selling their Aeron chair.

Similar but Different

2009-03-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Let me state that I am not implying that anyone one pictured above is copying anyone else. They may look similar but they are executed very differently in-turn creating an original design. But how many times have you worked on something only to have someone say, I've seen that before.

You work long hours, sketching, creating mind maps, the design is not quite there yet, slight tweaks, different typefaces, flipping the image with the text, making the fonts bigger then smaller, make the photos bigger then smaller, bolding fonts, epiphany strikes, then eureka an original design. Then someone looks at it says, that's looks okay but I saw the same thing in such and such magazine. You turn to them and say, What are you crazy? I worked on this for a month this is my original idea. They turn to you and say yeah sure it is. And then they show you something that they think looks exactly like your design but not really. You explain to them calmly what makes your design different and original but they still don't see it and say, no its the same thing. FRUSTRATION STRIKES...

But I too am guilty of this - About a month ago I met up with 2 friends of mine they handed me their company's 2009 New Year's card, that they designed (Q Collective-check out their site they are great designers and a source of inspiration for me), the 2009 card is pictured above on the top left. When I saw it, like an idiot I blurted out, "wait I've seen this before." I didn't mean to make it sound like they had copied it from someone else, even though I'm sure that's how it came across, (in my defense I was drinking and had no tolerance for alcohol at the time). But I felt horrible that I even said that. That night when I got home I looked at a couple of sites that I had looked at earlier that morning (the images that are on the top right hand side are the ones I saw that day). They have some small similarities but they look nothing alike. And that is the point.

Is it hard for people (I speaking of non-designers) to actually see the difference? You can explain it till you are blue in the face, they still don't get it. Does anyone else run into this problem? How do you or did you handle it? Email me letting me know, at loquat73@gmail.com - I'm curious to see how many people run into this same problem.

Risque Ad - Schick Quattro for women, Trim Style

2009-03-22T18:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend my wife and I were at a bookstore flipping through all the new magazines. We were sitting there quietly reading when she gasped at this new Schick Quattro ad, for women, trim style. She said, "wow they are being very direct with this ad, no need to guess at what they are hinting at here."

I took a look at the ad, but I wasn't shocked by it. Schick is looking for some publicity (good or bad) with this new ad campaign and I'm sure they will get it. Is it that shocking? I don't feel like it is, its just a bit more direct than I'm used to seeing from an American ad. Compared to ads from europe this is actually pretty tame. Will this directness work for Schick?

Optimistic Look at the Economy

2009-03-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Getting a little tired of all the negative economic press. The news media just seems to thrive on all this negativity. This is what I hear all day: Bernie Madoff, AIG, bailouts, retention bonuses, Iceland collapses, mortgage crisis, credit slumps, businesses closing, socialism, banks failing, unemployment, Bernanke, layoffs, blaming Greenspan, Ponzi schemes, John Stewart vs. Jim Cramer, blame game, recession, foreclosures, GM bankruptcy, pension funds, what's wrong with Obama's economic plan, nationalizing banks, problems in Detroit, and slipping consumer confidence.

It just never ends -the more the media focuses on the negativity, the more people get scared. Creating a vicious cycle of fear and confusion. Can't we focus on something positive? I know its not great out there, but just focusing on dismal economic news isn't going to solve anything either.

Illustration by Paulo Pereira

Shepard Fairey- Saks 5th Ave

2009-03-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend at a New Jersey mall I came across Shepard Fairey's graphics for Saks 5th Ave. I was passing by Saks, barely paying attention to my surroundings when I came across these new graphics. Let me say, they really stand out in a mall setting.

I like the overall graphic look to it - the sterile artwork mixed with the expression-less white mannequins work to create a unsettling look and feel. The pseudo russian constructivism style does exactly what it is intended to do, look cold and apathetic. But I think it does the opposite of what Sak's is trying to do - persuade consumers to "Want it!" There is no emotional connection what-so-ever. Russian Constructivism was meant to be emotionless, cold, hard and true. It certainly does stand out but will this new campaign hurt or help Saks 5th Ave in these hard economic times?

Original Ideas

2009-03-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

While cleaning out some boxes, I found old projects from college. What you see above is from a book making class I took in my freshman year. I created my own paper clip fonts, that was then pressed into the paper and bound. For the project, I decided to reinterpret the Dick & Jane - See Spot Run books. I was playing with the idea of readability and how much of the word you actually need to see before your brain fills it in. (click on book above to see bigger and clearer)

I thought this was such a great original idea back then - But when I started studying graphic design and graphic design history, I soon realized this wasn't such an original idea. Futurist artists back in the late 1800's early 1900's had already started to play with typography. Then discovered a bunch of designers and artists that had also played with typography. So much for my "original" idea. But it seems, every couple of years someone new pushes the boundaries of typography - Every designer pushes it a bit further than the last one. Below are some artists and designers that played with typography way before I did.

Some what in order: Piet Zwart, H.N Werkman, Lucien Bernhard, A.M. Cassandre, El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, Willem Sandberg, Robert Massin, Paul Rand, Alvin Lustig, Saul Bass, George Tscherny, Ivan Chermayeff , Rosmarie Tissi, Wolfgang Weingart, Dan Friedman, April Greiman, Louis Fili, Carin Goldberg, Paula Scher, Rudy Vanderlans, Katherine McCoy, Edward Fella and I'm stopping at David Carson. (Photo above in same order of names, left to right. I'm sure I skipped a few artists and designers here and there - this is a small slice of graphic design history.)

NYC Women's Resource Network

2009-03-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

This will be a short post. I just wanted to bring attention to the really good work coming out NYC.gov lately. I came across this poster for NYC Women's Resource Network. Really nice simple, to the point design.

World Baseball Classic Logo?

2009-03-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Walking past a sports store in New York the other day, I saw this logo plastered across its windows. At a quick glance, I thought this was a soccer teams logo. I took another look and realized it was the World Baseball Classic logo. This is the official international baseball tournament, created by MLB. Am I the only one that forgot that it was happening this year?

But I digress, I really want to comment on their logo. I know it is hard to create a logo that can encompass all the international teams that are participating in it. But, this is not the logo. It really seems as though no thought was put into this logo. How does this logo convey international baseball tournament? -By having a baseball with the latitude, longitude lines on it? Does this logo really mean anything? I know the World Baseball Classic is trying to build a fan base and trying to create something bigger and grander but they really should start with a inspiring/ bold logo. They should take a look at olympic logos past and present to see what creating an international logo really entails.

(World Baseball Classic logo owned by MLB Advanced Media, LP)

Progress vs. Digital Memories

2009-03-06T00:15:00.000-08:00

As I was sifting through some of my "old junk", I stumbles across old Polaroids, zip disks, old cds, cassette tapes and even old sketchbooks. I then realized that I couldn't open zip files because I no longer own a zip drive anymore. Some of the programs and files on the cds no longer exist or have been corrupted. Forget the cassette tapes I can't play them. The Polaroids and sketchbooks are starting to yellow even though I've stored them in a dark, dry place. This all got me thinking... If my old files and memories won't last - What will happen to our new digital memories in the next couple of years?

Our technologies keep advancing but there still isn't a file format, storage device that is permanent or universal. What do we do with our current files and photos? Store them onto an external hard drive, store them on internet sites or onto cds/dvds? These only last give or take 5 years. Then what? Keep moving them onto new storage devices? Storing digital files is actually the easy part, preserving these digital files proves more difficult. Programs are always changing, being replaced or even phased out. Plus there is the problem of digital degradation, when you migrate your digital files onto new storage devices you lose something here and there. Sometimes it's formatting issues, other times you sacrifice quality or sometimes you sacrifice the file itself. This all brings me to my main concern - How do you preserve your digital memories?

Everyday Color Mood - Today a hazy blue

2009-03-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

I am going to attempt to post my mood Monday's - Friday's, visualized only by color. I have always interpreted my moods with color and thought this would be an interesting account of my daily emotions.

My weekly color mood will be living as a Flickr set here at My Color Mood. At the end of every month I will collect all the colors and post them as a one sheet on my blog. I won't actually be stating my mood for that day, hoping it will be obvious enough with the color choices I use for that day.

A Positive Note on the Whole Tropicana Redesign

2009-03-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of coverage over the whole Tropicana redesign. I don't really want to spend too much time on it, other than saying - There is a positive side to the whole Tropicana design - the "squeeze" screw top that looks like an orange. I thought that was cleverly executed, I was more fascinated with that simple design then the whole new Tropicana package. I am glad that they are retaining the "squeeze" screw top even as they are returning to the old Tropicana packaging.

Side Note: In the long run this whole Tropicana misstep (in misstep I'm talking about Pepsi Co pulling the new Tropicana design) will become a problem for the graphic design community and designers in general. As a fall out from all this, I fear that companies will rethink redesigning their products - as well as second-guessing graphic designers and their design decisions. This will hurt the graphic design community tremendously.

Reasons to be Pretty

2009-02-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

I have recently been seeing these posters popping up throughout the city - Reasons to be Pretty, a new play by Neil LaBute. The bold color, fonts and photos really catches your attention and stands out. A simple design but very effective - at first I wasn't sure about the font sizes getting bigger for the website but looking at it again it doesn't bother me and I feel like it works. Good design overall and does what it is supposed to do.

After I took a pic of the poster, I jumped onto their website for details

http://doesthisplaymakemelookfat.com - You must watch the video that pops up there, they ask people about their body image, the answers are genuinely hilarious! It seems like a good original idea for a play. I'm not a person that goes to plays often but this one seems funny and interesting enough to make me go. If you want more information go to there website, it is all listed there. Maybe I'll do a review of it for a future post.

Outliers - The Story of Success. (Book Review)

2009-02-23T18:43:00.001-08:00

The idea behind the book Outliers is to help people understand success. Explaining why/how certain people become successful, Mr.Gladwell, is convinced that our concept of success is wrong. "We," the public think that successful individuals (like Bill Gates, The Beatles, Mozart & Bobby Fischer) were all somehow fast tracked into being successful. That they were just geniuses and success just happened. You start the book by reading accounts of people's histories as well as facts & figures - all to demonstrate to the reader that it wasn't luck that made them successful, but hard work.

Here is my brief synopsis of the book. To be successful at certain sports, one would have to be born in the month of January to have an advantage. Hold on, on top of that you have to also put in 10,000 hours into your specific skill to be successful. Wait, if you come from a rich social class, that will help you become successful. Um... it seems that some cultural societies might/might not give certain people an edge over others and poor social communities might hold back individuals from reaching their full potential. Wait, wait, I have it now; being in the right place at the right time will make you successful. So maybe, it is just luck and not hard work that makes you successful. Or is it both? Now you understand how/why people become successful? No!

After reading all the facts, figures and testimonials it seems to me that this book never really answers the question it sets out. Like life, there is no simple answer. Too many variables come into play to make someone successful. Also, I for one have always believed people who became successful made it because they worked harder, were smarter, were given an opportunity and ran with it; not because it magically happened.

Other problems with the book are that the chapters progress abruptly - tons of information, figures, quotes and testimonials are all packed into each chapter. But it still all comes across disjointed. Another problem I had was the way Mr.Gladwell uses quotes/references from other articles and books. It is obviously very one sided - he uses supporting quotes that help him sell his heavy-handed view. While reading these "facts" that support his stories you get the feeling as though he left some things out that might contradict his point or better explain it.

Overall, I was disappointed with this book. I heard many great things about it, I tried to understand his points and kept hoping with each chapter that it would get better, but it never did.

Earth Hour 2009

2009-02-20T05:44:00.000-08:00

Last night watching TV I saw an ad for Esurance - it seemed like their typical commercial, with their female cartoon spokeswoman. But this time, they weren't promoting their business, they were actually promoting Earth Hour, http://www.earthhour.org/. This peeked my interest and I jumped online to do some research to find out, what exactly is earth hour. Below is a brief description about Earth Hour from their website.

Earth Hour 2009 is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to take responsibility and to get involved in working towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world will turn off their lights and join together in creating the vital conversation about the future of our precious planet.

We began as a campaign to get Sydneysiders to turn their lights off, it has grown to become one of the world's biggest climate change initiatives. In 2009, at 8:30pm on March 28, people around the world will turn their lights off for one hour - Earth Hour. We're aiming to reach one billion people, more than 1000 cities, all joining together in a global effort to show that its possible to take action on global warming.

This is simple act that everyone can do. They're not asking for money, they are not asking you to show up to a rally - All they ask is on March 28 at 8:30pm turn off your lights for an hour. Go to their website http://www.earthhour.org/ and click on your local area and sign up.

(All images via, http://www.earthhour.org/)

Yo Gabba Gabba - Good Fun Designed Kids Show

2009-02-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

Unless you have kids you probably never heard of Yo Gabba Gabba - on Nickelodeon Jr. I don't have kids (but I am a fan) I discovered this show by accident back in 2006. Right away I could see the appeal to kids - vibrant colors, fun looking characters, crazy costumes and high energy.

The show itself has a "weird" 70's feel to it, yet at the same time, it is very modern. It is a mix of live action with animated shorts, music and added to the mix is old school rapper/beat boxer Biz Markie who does a segment called Beat Updates.

The show, as well as their website itself, have a great sense of design. Good, fun typography that doesn't come across as awkward or goofy. This is always hard to balance (using the right typeface but not have it look boring and "grown up"). The website is very kid friendly - easy and simple to navigate. Even their loading pages are colorful and active to keep their young viewers entertained until the page loads up. The shows set designs are minimal, colorful and effective. The segments inspire creativity and community. Overall, the show's designs reflect exactly the market they are after. Put simply, it works.

Recently, I read that Yo Gabba Gabba has gotten so popular with young kids that they have optioned it for a movie and toy deals. It's always good to see that good design and quality can still become popular. Plus, getting kids used to good design at a young age will hopefully make them more aware of it and demand it in the future.

Here are some sites related to the show, http://yogabbagabba.com & http://brobee.blogspot.com

All images via http://yogabbagabba.com

4 Lessons Learned from Swiss-Miss AIGA Design Remix Talk

2009-02-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

1. The Swiss take design seriously & sometimes do something fun.

2. Inspire others and they will inspire you.

3. Do it because you love it.

4. Inspiration is everywhere you just need to open your eyes.

Go to her website and get your daily inspiration http://www.swiss-miss.com

Please, Gucci & Chanel Only!

2009-02-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

This has to be my new favorite stencil graffiti pieces. I discovered these little gems about 3 weeks ago behind a strip mall near my home. The top picture is the first time I noticed something peeking out above the trash. The intertwined letter C tipped me off - I quickly whipped out my cell phone and clicked away. I went back another day parked the car and headed to the dumpsters to actually get a close-up look. Went back a week later and took the second picture - I received a many strange looks from passers-by, but I feel it was worth it. I like graffiti that has something to say and this is very appropriate for this economic time.

KAWS

2009-02-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

Forgot to mention last week about, KAWS's/Brian Donnelly new interview on CBS -Sunday Morning Show. I woke up early yesterday to catch it, overall good interview. Wished they spoke to him in more detail about his graffiti, but they chose to focus more on his current work & paintings. Big fan of his graffiti, toys and artwork for years now, The only thing that really shocked me was his age - he is only 34 years old?

2009 HOW Design Conference

2009-02-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

If you have never gone to one of How's conferences you should really consider it. It's a good way to keep in touch with other designers as well as keep up to date with the design community in general. This year they have fifty speakers with a variety of panels, sessions and discussions. Check it out if you haven't already, http://www.howconference.com/GeneralMenu/

The Best Super Bowl Ads Recap ‘09

2009-02-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl ads this year, like most years are hit or miss. I decided not to waste time and list the bad commercials - but instead just focus on the good ones. I looked at them for creativity, humor and if it hit it's mark.

Careerbuilder.com - the recapping of the stages of grief at a job really got their message across loud and clear, in a very funny way. It made me laugh every time I saw the koala get punched in the face, "Oh My."

Monster.com - really strong commercial they made their point with no fluff at all. It was very direct and clever.

Hulu.com - with Alec Baldwin, dead on seriously funny. He sold me on hulu.com

Audi - with Jason Startham, executed and shot very well, kept me visually engaged. It was like a mini-film that clearly was on target.

Hyundai - car competitor bosses angry over Hyundai winning the car of the year. They made a statement with just a little bit of gloating.

Coke Zero - (Mean Troy) - good update on the Mean Joe Green Coke commercial from the 1980's - I really liked the twist to it.

Doritos - (Crystal Ball) - all I can say about it is "stupid funny" but I liked it. It was unexpected and made me laugh.

NBC - (LMAO) - for a second during the commercial I didn't see which way they were going with it but then it all came together -Kudos to NBC.

Doritos - (Power of the Crunch) - Doritos brought their A-Game this year. Ludicrous idea that made for a good commercial.

Teleflora - I know, I know a lot of mixed reactions to this commercial but I found it funny. A very clear point they made - Don't buy boxed flowers! Does your loved ones care if she/he gets flowers in a box? I don't know but now this commercial will make them question it.

Cheetos - this was another commercial, I heard/read that people thought was creepy. Cheetos has been using this advertising campaign for almost a year now. It does have this mischievous slant to it but it is unique and effective for their brand. To me it seems it is targeted to a younger male demographic and maybe that's why people were on the fence with it.

Coke - (Heist) - different styled commercial for coke. It came across as whimsical, fun and creative. Point, point and point.

Super Bowl Ad Live-Blog Sunday Experiment!

2009-01-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 1st at 5:45pm a couple of creative blogs are getting together to do a Super Bowl Ad Live-Blog Event. They are going to blog/discuss Super Bowl commercials during the Super Bowl - all live in real time. It should be an interesting experiment and recommend everyone check them out on Sunday.

Target Update :(

2009-01-28T10:44:00.000-08:00

An update to my Target post from last week, I'm sure most of you have already heard that Target said yesterday that they will cut 600 jobs at its headquarters, not replace 400 positions they have open and close a distribution center that employs 500 workers. I knew it would be hard for them to escape the economy - the recession is slowly taking down companies to the left and right.

A multitude of financial issues have combined all at the same time creating this tsunami of a recession. I'm hoping (as is everyone) that Obama's stimulus package will help the people hardest hit and slow down this economic storm. The only thing we can do now is try to stay positive, hold on to something stable and wait this out.

Elusive on 33rd Street

2009-01-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

I have walked past this sign for about 2 years now. I wanted a photo of it for my reference file, but every time I saw it I kicked myself for not having my camera on me. The one time I actually had my camera, the lights of the sign were turned off. I tried taking a picture with my cellphone's camera but it always came out blurry because of the lights. Today was the day all the stars were aligned - Finally caught the elusive sign.

Economic Downturn Affecting Inspirational Target

2009-01-22T19:42:00.000-08:00

Going into a Target store has never been a laborious task for me in comparison to say, going to a mall or even a supermarket. I have always walked through the store looking for inspiration and ideas. Their signage, gift cards, bags and store displays have always kept my designer's eye interested and engaged. Even back in September 2008 - when Target temporarily opened Bullseye Bodegas across New York City. I was curious to see how differently they would market themselves in this bodega styled shop.

But recently, I began to wonder how Target was doing in this economic downturn? And how this economy would affect their design and marketing efforts. Funny thing is the same day I wondered this I received a direct mail piece from Target for $10 off any electronic or home purchases of $100 or more. There is a Target store less than five miles from my home and this was the first time ever that I have received a coupon from them. I took this as a warning sign - of things to come. Hopefully they can weather this horrible economic state and continue with their design for all mantra - Great design, Everyday, For everyone.

Above are some of Target's self promotional items that I have collected over the years. Included is the coupon mailer I received from them.