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.