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Merry Christmas!

WNYC - Mapping New York City's Cultural Landscape

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

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

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:)

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

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

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

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!

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

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?

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

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.

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

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

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

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.