The internet said what?

mini-hiatus

2009-04-18T05:30:00.003-04:00

(last time i was home, I had a bonding session with the kitten)

It's finals time. The last finals for me. So since I barely have enough time to sleep, I won't have time to find things to share. So thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back once I fire this puppy up again but until about May 5th, I shall be signing off.

(I might sporadically post random star wars stuff because...well I think I have a problem)

oh! sometime in the next few weeks my website should be up! so check out http://www.karolmiekina.com/ and eventually you'll be able to see what I've been up to! Or you know...twitter me for fun. (I'll mostly be freaking out about school and life. )

Friday Movie Morning : Great Star Wars Mashups!

2009-04-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

Maybe I should just start a star wars blog?

Ok ok, this video is called snatch wars (teehee)

Mash up between Star Wars and Snatch. REALLY well done and kind of hilarious:

For a more instant gratification, here's a short mash up that's not as good but still kind of hilarious!

Hahahahah...I REALLY LOVE THE INTERNET:

and finally...i kind of like this too. A lot of great dubbing. Not every time but a lot of it:

Frank Chimero & his united states of america

2009-04-15T07:00:00.001-04:00

I really enjoy these. Frank Chimero takes the silhouette's of states and finds an image that fits within them. A lot of these are really lovely. Frank is an illustrator and designer based out of Missouri and has a client list that includes Starbucks, Fast Company Magazine and American Airlines. Pretty nice.

no blog but some words

2009-04-14T07:00:00.002-04:00

paraphrased from "My Dinner with Andre"

"The 1960's represent the last burst of the human being before it was extinguished and that this is the beginning of the rest of the future. From now on there will be all these robots walking around thinking nothing, feeling nothing. There will be almost no one around to remind them that there was a species called the human being with genuine feelings and real thoughts."

Umm...wtf?

2009-04-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

Umm...what is going on here? Is that what I think it is? Is this some sort of butt cream? Somebody clue me in! (click on pic for bigger version)

I love this man

2009-04-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

and the wonderful things he wrote.

you are forever remembered and revered.
:(

America and political correctness are becoming synonymous

2009-04-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Friday Movie Morning Time! (sort of)

As far as advertising is concerned, that statement is very very true. Americans are afraid of nudity, taboo, innuendo and even anything that can be taken the wrong way. Oh yeah, and anything that can be considered inappropriate for children (by the way, by the time the average U.S. child starts elementary school he or she will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,00 acts of violence on TV.)

We have an economic shit storm happening outside yet somehow everyone and their mother knows and has time to get offended by a certain "special olympics" comment (I must admit, I got offended too- I bowl 100 and it's celebrations all around so you better celebrate that 129 mister!)

Aaaanyway. These are some commercials from around the world that wouldn't be shown in the good ol' US. (sorry for the grainy quality....youtube is not my friend when it comes to crispness):

The Axe Effect:

HILARIOUS commercial for washrooms:

Polish commercial (at the end is says "Time to find your own place?) :

Spanish Bic Commercial:

This one is REALLY grainy but pretty damn good:

Pygmy Excitement!

2009-04-09T18:55:00.005-04:00

This motion graphic is meh (mostly due to the legibility problems..or maybe not. I dunno, I'm just not feeling it. To me, it feels like it could've been awesome but then something happened...) BUT I'm sooooo excited for this to come out!

Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club and Choke)

Comes out May 5th!

Tropfest Winner 2008

2009-04-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

This is a little old but I thought it was a very nice short film. And great use of the typography we see in our day to day lives to convey a message.

Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It was founded at Sydney's Tropicana cafe in 1993 by Australian-born filmmaker, John Polson (swimfan, Hide and Seek, Tenderness) and now has a single-night attendance of around 150,000 in Australia each February, as well as thousands more in New York and other cities at other times of the year. It is known for being the world's most exciting platform for up and coming film makers to gain international exposure.

Quizno's too racy?

2009-04-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

Anyone else notice that the original Toasty Torpedo commercial by Quizno's has been modified? Was the original to racy and suggestive? What gives?

This is the original:

The current has the same video just a little redubbing done to the Hal-esque toaster. The new commercial has something to do with not rubbing the machine with a shammy (??) and instead of saying it "sexy" it is now "with more passion".

Quzino's has always had pretty good commercials, I'm just curious as to what happened here? Was the guy looking at his crotch and saying "I'm not doing that again, that burned" too racy? Was it the "put it in me " line? Are we too stogy for this to be acceptable?

Things I love about Poland

2009-04-07T15:00:00.000-04:00

That just about every polish person knows at least the first 30 seconds to this song:

Example: Here is a stadium full of people singing it at a soccer game.

Why? Czterej Pancerni i Pies is basically the greatest and most popular series to ever come out of Poland. It's about 4 tank men (yeah I don't know the correct terminology) and their dog (it's name is Szarik. Due to this fact, half the German Shepards in poland are named after this dog...he was our Lassie)and their lives in the army during WW2. The characters were really wonderful and you basically go through the entire war with them. Filmed in 1966, it's still regularly played on tv. I think the last time I saw any of this was when I was 13 or younger and would definitely love a marathon.

Saved By The Buoyancy Of Citrus

2009-04-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

This HAS to be Mitch Hedberg inspired. HAS TO BE. If you don't know who Mitch Hedberg is, youtube him. He was a great comedian who was excellent at one liners. Even when the joke wasn't funny, it was funny.

This is the quote I'm suggesting was the inspiration to this picture by Frank Gannon (if you don't laugh, seriously, youtube Mitch. The way he does his jokes is priceless):

"(Talking about his drink) Look at all the limes in this god damn thing! This fuckin' thing is tropical! Look at the limes, how they float. That's good news. Next time I'm on a boat and it capsizes, I will reach for a lime. Like I'll be water-skiing without a life preserver, people will say "What the fuck?" and I'll pull out a lime, and a lemon too. I'm saved by the buoyancy of citrus."

World Wide Fund for Nature and it's surprisingly good advertising

2009-04-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

The World Wide Fund for Nature, formally the World Wildlife Fund (but still WWF) is the world's largest independent conservation organization. And unlike many organizations of this type, they've opted not to go with the heartbreaking images of suffering animals that make many people turn away instead of act. ( I love animals but when that Sarah McLachlan song comes on and images of suffering, shaking dogs are juxtaposed in I often find myself needing to go do something in a different room for the next 30 seconds) The intention is good but the execution is not.

WWF chose a great and simple image for their logo, the panda. Even if you know nothing about the animal world, it's safe to say that the panda is one the most well known species to be endangered of extinction. Especially due to the fact that they have major issues mating and reproducing in captivity so when it actually does happen, celebrations and media frenzies follow. The fact that it's a cute image also helps in this genre.

Anyway, here are some of the ads put out by WWF in the past that I think are extremely well done. They get a very strong point across while not making the viewer uncomfortable--just aware. (click on them to view the bigger version)

This last one is my favorite. The compilation of three meanings made by one image is truly beautiful and well executed.

Scrabble Posters

2009-04-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

These are great! Honestly, I can't think of a better way to visualize Scrabble through images instead of words.

Oh P.S--did you notice the scrabble redesign? I'm sure The Dieline readers remember it but here it is again. Could..that be a smile we see?

Wild Polar Bears and Sled Dogs=

2009-04-04T16:00:00.000-04:00

friends?

Great Aids awareness ad

2009-04-04T14:46:00.003-04:00

Haha, get it?

Can I...?

2009-04-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

XD genius!

Friday Movie Morning with Voltaire

2009-04-03T07:00:00.002-04:00

Aurelio Voltaire Hernández, aka Voltaire (whose song video I featured Monday) is not just a musician. He's also a director, stop-motion specialist, author and professor at SVA!

Here are a few examples of his stop-motion work:

I love this style. Transrexia (the second video) reminds me a bit of Clash of the Titans, which really is not surprising considering Sinbad was Voltaire's initial inspiration to start doing what he does. At the tender age of eight. I wish I had the patience to do stop motion because the results can really be beautiful. I am, however, so happy that the art hasn't been put to the grave yet (this year's Coraline was beautiful beyond words and I highly recommend it...which is saying a lot because I was expecting to hate it going in).

Voltaire has also done a lot of spots for channels like SciFi, Cartoon Network and TLC:

Hmm.. sensing a theme here...

And finally here is Voltaire's song and video for Happy Birthday (my olde friend):

I must say that his voice reminds me of a certain skeleton king's. Can you guess to whom I'm referring?

I like boys

2009-04-02T12:00:00.000-04:00

Is it weird that this little doodle made me smile?

Craig Robinson and Flip Flop Flyin'

2009-04-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

I have been following Flip Flop Flyin' since high school. The man behind the website is Craig Robinson. He does a lot of cute and sometimes disarmingly heartbreaking illustrations and mini stories/animations.

Stuff like the Minimoma (the old one...click on the entrance to enter!), his charts, Boy Meets Pixel, and Flipcam are my simple joys in life. I'd recommend giving this site a real chance...looking through all this stuff, it never gets old. And I love how low tech everything is.

Craig is also a super nice guy. I emailed him once a few years ago to ask him about this vh1 campaign and if it was his or did some body rip his style. He emailed me back saying that yes it was his and gave me kudos for recognizing his stuff. It's kind of amazing how he's made a career out of pixels and I just adore all of it.

Seriously what are you still doing here?! GO check his site out!

I love everything star wars

2009-03-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

I think that's safe to say at this point. I'm also super excited for the star-wars-marathon-crazy-wino-fest I'm going to have with my dad next time I'm home.
But the point of all this is that I want this:

That is all. Happy last day of march!

Viva Calaca

2009-03-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Video done by Ritxi Ostáriz, song sung by Voltaire. Ostáriz website is currently down but here is another video done by him. And another (actually I think I like this one the best).

I love this style of animation. Everything is flat but put within a very detailed depth. It fits very well with the song (check out Voltaire's myspace site. I really dig his music. It's very much along the lines of Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa but with a thicker American flavor). Overall he seems to just do very beautiful worked and I'm bummed his site is down.

My personal hero: Kevin Richardson

2009-03-29T12:12:00.005-04:00

oh man... this is amazing. I really had no idea hyenas could be friendly towards humans let alone side by side with lions. This guy is crazy. Although the lions and lionesses are HUGE, the hyena's have a greater jaw force. My dad had talked about this guy, who considers himself a general "animal whisperer" and...well i believe it. This guy is definitely living the good life.

I'm actually watching animal planet right now (the logo still burns my eyeballs) and a feature on him is on. I really still can't believe someone has the ability to stand up to a male hyena that is whooping and not run for safety. This guy is really amazing. and has quite the amazing job.

Friday Movie Morning!

2009-03-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Can you talk forward?

Haha this video is kind of cute. It's called George Lucas in Love. I'm sure most of you have seen this already but I just found it. Enjoy XD

Little Red Riding Hood

2009-03-26T15:09:00.004-04:00

Going through my daily blogs today, I found this video on Geekologie:

Love everything about this video! It's brilliantly simple while also jam packed with a lot of complex details.

Also, check out Geekologie. Seriously, this blog is really great. Especially if you love Star Wars, dinosaurs, intense themed cakes, video games and random robot technology. I know I do. Half my day's entertainment comes from this blog.

Great Park Signage!

2009-03-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's very simple and to the point, as signage should be. Definitely a thumbs up.

Where the Wild Things Are Trailer

2009-03-25T22:09:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't seen it yet.

I am SO excited. I don't even remember the last time I read this.
The screen play was co-written by David Eggers.
So I'm fully prepared for a beautiful and funny movie.
Come see it with me :)

Life is too expensive

2009-03-25T13:30:00.004-04:00

well it's official. starting may 31, the subway fare will officially increase to 2.50 in ny. Commuter rail fares will increase the next day. This really sucks. Especially since I will be (hopefully) commuting from new jersey to new york next year, those extra 50 cents are going to add up and quick. It's already expensive getting around anywhere right now. And I can see the Chrysler building from the street. I don't want to imagine the expense from 70 miles away. With the recession in full swing and unemployment going up, it seems the price of the essentials are only going up. And the options on what to do seem to be growing thinner and thinner.

If you want more details on this, other than my melancholy lamentation, check out the new york times article.

movies new and old

2009-03-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

I want to see this:

I want to own this:

They aired Helvetica at Pratt two years ago and it was a great night. The auditorium was packed and director Gary Hustwit was there. Afterwards, everyone left the auditorium buzzing about typography, design and Massimo's amazing eccentricity. Regardless, it's been about two years (at least I think) since I saw this movie and I have changed so much that it would be nice to watch this again....and be less oblivious.

Also, since this isn't Friday Movie Morning, here's some pretty pictures I got off of dropular.

I don't know how much of this is real or how much is photoshopped but I enjoy them. Whether it's because I like Dylan and Hendrix or regardless of them, enjoy.

don't let your website resize my browser window

2009-03-24T12:44:00.003-04:00

yeahy! I'm glad I'm not the only one who curses under my breath when I go to a website and my browser explodes to full screen or some awkward smaller rectangle. Just don't do it. We are each capable of readjusting our own browsers. (I am aware that Sagmeister's site does this. But since he is a rock star and absolutely brilliant, he can do what the hell he wants and I will still visit his site.)

(click the picture to make it bigger, I realize some of it is a bit illegible at this size)

World Cup 2010 Poster

2009-03-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Guess I've got soccer on the brain. Here is the poster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It's beautiful and simple with a very true color palette .

And also, that black squiggle coming from the lower left area...I'm going to say that isn't really there. Because it makes no sense!

443 days until it begins!!!

Brent Neustifter has quite the last name

2009-03-23T07:00:00.002-04:00

I love illustration. Love love love it. Brent Neustifer's drawings are creepy and cute at the same time. I'm really glad I found these wonderfully weird creations. They feel very old school futuristic. Like the creatures from the world Blackwolf led in Wizards. ESPECIALLY the first two. Anyway, enjoy.

I even enjoy the marker texture. I know it wasn't on purpose and is usually frowned upon but, personally, I like it here. It doesn't feel accidental nor is it too distracting. It's strongest in the background color fill (I've colored an entire 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper using a prisma marker...props to anyone that can fill that up without leaving "marker texture") but I feel it fits. This last guy seems the most different from the rest but I really like him so I added him anyways. I mean... look at that pout!!!

Cat Hair Hand bags

2009-03-22T19:00:00.004-04:00

Apparently this was aired on the Animal Planet some months ago. I don't know how I feel about this. A fashion designer, she is not, but I'm not totally adverse to the idea. Maybe it would be cool to have a cat hair sweater? Maybe I secretly want to start being a creepy cat lady already (by secretly I mean not at all).

Although....people have Alpaca farms and their fur (fur?) is used to make sweaters and whatnot. I think I may have finally found my excuse to have a heard of cats! If in ten years, you hear of cat hair sweaters coming into fashion...well you'll know who started it all. (Technically this lady but we can forget that).

INTERNATIONAL NO SMILING DAY!!

2009-03-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

When is it?! haha

Eurocup 2012, soccer and apologies. But not in that order.

2009-03-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

So, even though it's spring break, life has been rather busy! Trying to catch up on work, be a good intern and get some face time with the parents (but not in that order). Sorry for the lack of updates. Until May 18, 2009 (AHHHHHHHHH!!!! graduation!!) the updates will probably get more sporadic and less frequent but I'll definitely try my best.

So World Cup is next year and whatever BUT Euro Cup 2012 is going to be in Poland!!!!!!!!!and ukraine but POLAND!! Anybody that saw me on the day this was announced (a little over a year ago) definitely could tell I was bubbling over with excitement. It would be a dream come true to be there when this is happening (not even at the games, THAT'S wishing for too much haha, but definitely on the streets, watching the game from the pubs and feeling the shared excitement with everyone else.)

And I'm getting way off track. The point of this entry was just these three soccer posters.

These two are rival posters about a match between Argentina and Brazil. The first one was made before the match by Argentina. I think it's wickedly funny and really clever (and would NEVER fly in America).

This flyer was designed right after the match was over and Argentina lost 3-1. Ooh talk about burn! Not as good as the previous one but a great response nevertheless.

This last one is very simple but very good. The swastika is probably one of the most recognizable symbols in the world and generally just stands for hate. Hate for someone that is not like you. So again, simple poster, simple concept but powerful message. Especially with how much hate there can sometimes be surrounding soccer.

We put anything on paper

2009-03-17T07:00:00.003-04:00

Does anyone else find this incredibly depressing? I mean I know that the one thing we're not responsible for is killing off the dinosaurs but I definitely took this image as a social commentary on the human race.

I'm probably looking way too deeply into it. But it just made me sad. And I have a blog so therefore I share.

Design is honest.

2009-03-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Although... design is a vessel for advertising. Hmm... I guess it's the fact that design can just be beautiful while advertising is always just that...an advertisement for a product. What do you think?

I really enjoy this

2009-03-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

Not the design so much but definitely the titles. Very clever. And cute.

Quiddities. Teehee. You know...P. Diddy's various name changes sometimes can be quite comical...on purpose. On his Twitter, P. Diddy sometimes refers to himself (jokingly) as P. Twitty....and I kind of love that.

and I might use it as inspiration.

maybe. Then again maybe not. For right now, I just like it.

Oh yes, and I twitter. Or tweet? I have yet to utilize my twitter for more interesting means but check me out!

I made this little guy

2009-03-12T09:30:00.001-04:00

He's part of a poster (for autism if you can believe it) and I kind of love him. He's just super cute. and an elephant...maybe that's why I like him so much.

I do feel like like my work has taken on a certain "flavor" in the past year. I hate saying "cute" but god damn... I've been finding myself doing a lot of cute stuff. And a lot of pattern. I don't know, maybe it's just a phase, maybe not only time will tell right?

For now enjoy my elephant. Bc he's adorable.

And if you can't tell he's an elephant....trust me he is.

My Life

2009-03-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

And I really hope it stays this way for a long long time. (and hopefully I'll be a designer and not just a program monkey :))

Albert Einstein on computers and people

2009-03-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

Light up. Cigarette ads from yesteryear

2009-03-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

Cigarettes are slowly becoming a taboo. Not everywhere but it's rare to see a character you like smoking a cigarette (can you name a habitual smoker currently on tv? The most recent to come to mind is Carrie) and they are now rarely depicted in movies or tv shows. I'm always a little surprised to find a cigarette ad in a magazine. Anti-cigarette ads, however, are a plenty.

But it wasn't always like this. There was a time when cigarettes were accepted not only with open arms but with a bit of ridiculousness as well. Check out the video below to not only see doctors promote cigarettes but also THE FLINTSTONES.

I've been a smoker for several years (and have been trying to kick the habit for several years as well) but that...that was a little much for me. But I guess back then it wasn't such a big deal.

However, as strange and alien as it seems now, there is a certain beauty to the old ads. Before the antismoking movement really took off by way of the Truth Campaign and other similar organizations, Joe Camel and the Marlboro man were a part of day to day life. Don't get me wrong, I am totally happy that there is a war on cigarettes and do (often) curse myself for starting (I'd like to say when I was young and dumb but I'm still quite young....and still quite good at making dumb decisions) but I wouldn't mind going to an exhibit filled with the best ads from this category. This is a multibillion dollar business that is now the villain if the general marlet. I happen to find that very interesting.

The Alphonse Mucha Job cigarette posters are beautiful. Smoker or not, these are just very appealing and seem more like a fine art painting than an advertisement. And also appear on many college student (at least at my school) walls, whether they smoke or not.

I added this one even though it isn't a cigarette advertisement. It's a sweater advertisement. A MANLY sweater. A MANLY man who boats and smokes. I guess more along the lines of exploring the culture of the cigarette back then as opposed to now.

This one is a little unsettling...mostly because only children are suppose to believe in Santa...and he's hawking cigarettes..

Yeahy Mr. President!

Ok ok, lets end this on a good note. As a cultural phenomenon, cigarettes have taken on very different roles in our society. Cigarettes in themselves are also very interesting as they are a product linked with death and disease yet completely legal (I spoke with my dad about this earlier today (which sparked this entry) and he said something very interesting. He said that if cigarettes were invented right now, there is no way they would ever be allowed anywhere near the market because the idea would be just too absurd. I have to say I agree with him, Especially since chewing tobacco and cigarettes became popular before they were tied to health hazards and then once the hazards came out, they were too engrained in culture to erase? I guess the government learned it's lesson when it came time to decide what to do about LSD) and still carry a certain connotation with them. For some people a very negative one. For some people a very comforting one.

So time for that positive I promised! This is an anti smoking ad poster from a campaign in Poland:

Rough translation (but with the meaning intact) is basically, "Smoking is for assholes." (When something is "do dupy" it means it's crappy so a literal translation is "smoking is crappy"...I like my take on it better. Especially since "dupa" means ass).

Hybrid Design Poster

2009-03-09T19:34:00.003-04:00

I love this poster...so much. Seriously love love love it. That is all I wanted to share.

I want to kearn U and I

2009-03-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

I love design nerd posters. They're like inside jokes that are very funny and sometimes very important to only a small group of people. I don't know..maybe I'm just lame but I think I am not alone. So here are a few nerdy posters. About design. And such like things that may not be completely about design. (I am very tired so I hope that I'm not only enjoying these things because of lack of sleep but because they are actually funny...)

I remember there being a website that had a whole bunch of these. Basically, the white part is the typeface, the red part is what it says about you/how it feels/what might happen if you use it. Who ever did this did a great job because most of them were pretty funny and pretty true.

Perfect thing to wear on a day you feel like getting shot.

Ok..this one made me teehee. It's just very ridiculous and I like it.

Ok, these are obviously starting to be a lot less designy and a lot more teehee-able. But I do like this one. Most because every time I do get the rainbow circle of doom, I think the exact same thing. Nothing too angry and nothing too intelligent just "This sucks" and "stop spinning already" and sometimes " I hate you".

This last one I just like and happened to find in while I was writing this entry so I decided to share. Plus they made Poland legible so all is good in my book :).

I've admired this girl since our very first survey

2009-03-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

Funny, I was looking around the internet and found another set of illustration pieces I really loved. Looking through them, I thought "these remind me a lot of this girls pieces that I see and love at survey every semester." Then I looked at the profile info and realize it was indeed the same girl I was thinking of. Even on the internet, the world can be a small place :)

I don't personally know Chelsea Greene Lewyta but her work is absolutely beautiful and it caught my eye our very first survey at Pratt. And continues to do so every survey. Her touch is beyond beautiful and haunting. There just aren't enough good things to say about her except that I am a huge fan.

I like this one a lot because it reminds me of this book I had in poland as a little kid. The story was always too complicated for me to read but the pictures were mind blowing and gave absolutely no indication as to what the plot could possibly be about.

Her ability to go from the sublime to the incredibly disturbing is seamless and flawless. I just love her stuff and am happy I fell upon a website of it. Please check the rest of her work out! It's really beautiful.

another smiling logo

2009-03-07T00:15:00.004-05:00

I meant to add this to this post but completely forgot about it. Or maybe was just very adamant about this rule of three business. Jack in the Box is a fast food joint that is mostly a west coast thing. I dunno...I gotta say...this logo is definitely smiling at me. TRENDS PEOPLE!

Friday Movie Morning!

2009-03-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! Cartoon time!

This is a really adorable cartoon entitled Oktapodi. It's about Octopi in love and it's very endrearing and very well done.

Perhaps I'm in a french mood because here is another French cartoon. Although this one has words, it also has subtitles. I really really love the animation style. Plus the main character is great!

And the last of the day is also French. A short animation about a young french man that goes to the army and his adventures there. French always sounds a little inhuman to me...but sort of in the way angels are inhuman. I just cannot wrap my head around how they make the sounds they do. Anyway! Enjoy and have a great friday!

What the font?!

2009-03-05T07:24:00.003-05:00

I want an iphone.

I'm even over having an actual keyboard, I can get used to the iphone one. It's the applications that make iphones oh so delicious. (I don't have one so to prove my point, I will disregard the 3g network or whatever awesomeness comes with the iphone and just say it's all about the apps...).

Back to my point, by now we all, even us iphoneless folks, know of about Shazam. In case you don't, that's the program where if a song is playing that you fancy, you can whip out your phone and have it listen to the song, identify it and show you where to purchase it...which is probably always itunes.

Well, these crafty application people have also made What the Font! (Yes, I know that the applications are made my different people/companies but let me generalize anyways!)

I know at least three people that should be super excited about this! With What the Font you can use the camera that comes with the iphone and photograph an ad in a magazine, or basically anything that has lettering, and it'll search through its database to locate what typeface you are probably looking at. Exciting stuff! I do wonder how well it works. Anybody with an iphone that feels like clueing me in will be greatly appreciated! Download the app here!

It was developed by the people from MyFonts so I actually have pretty high hopes for this thing working pretty darn well.

Everywhere I look logo's be smilin' at me

2009-03-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

By now, we all know that America is in a recession. I do kind of love how every few weeks the news tells me that the stock market has hit an 11 year low. It's like instead of a race to excellence, we just keep beating our score of doing worse and worse. So, obviously, companies have to make products even more desirable so that we spend our hard earned cash. The result? I've been seeing a lot more smiles lately.

In 2000, Amazon.com changed their logo from amazon.com underlined to this, i gotta admit, pretty brilliant gem:

They got the arrow pointing from a-z (which at this point, amazon does really have everything from a-z), not to mention the bright yellow smile. The upgrade makes their old logo look like it's frowning, making this one seem even better! (Also, since I'm on the topic of Amazon, check out this website to see the progression of the Amazon logo. Can you believe what their first logo looked like?! I was flabbergasted by it's ungodly badness. That logo is definitely the early 90's in all it's glory...)

Ok fine, a smile from the year 2000 has very little to do with THIS recession but I believe in the rule of three. So I added it. Plus it's the only one I like. So next is the most famous smiley, the pepsi smile. I do believe I've shared my insight on the matter of this logo already so let's not go there. Again.

And the third smiling logo is new and quite QUITE hideous. The logo was unveiled on February 17th (my dad's birthday...i rate this an awful present) and is only being used on the corporate level. What does this mean? Basically that they spent money to get this beaut on their letter head but not on their packaging so as not to confuse customers...or turn them away.

The press release said this:

With a new purpose and values setting a fresh direction, Kraft Foods also gave its corporate logo a facelift to more clearly deliver "delicious." Starting today, people around the world will begin to see the new identity that deliciously features a smile, the natural reaction to delicious foods and experiences, and a colorful flavor burst. It signals to employees, consumers and investors what the new Kraft Foods is all about.

To more clearly deliver delicious.....oy. Ooooh but lookie, this website has a progression of the Kraft logo. (you can kind of see how the current....well the one right before this lovely lady, started to begin in 1986. I like that)

I'll keep my eye's peeled for more smilin' logo's but let me know if you see any in the super market yourself! Maybe there is no trend at all and I am going off on a nudge but we shall see. We shall...see.

beautiful illustrations

2009-03-02T12:30:00.003-05:00

I was zooming round on the internet when I, quite literally, stumbled upon this gem. The artist, L Filipe dos Santos, applies blobs of color into a sketchbook and then closes it, creating something reminiscent of a Rorschach inkblot test. He then goes over the colors and creates wonderful images. Makes me wish I still kept up on my sketchbook :-/

He, of course, has other beautiful work but the Rorschach inkblot tests are my favorite.

A literal Book Barn gives away free books in Bristol!

2009-03-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

The scene above looks like the result of some sort of disaster or catastrophe. Or the preparations to a book burning, what with the piles and piles of books. This is actually the scene of a warehouse that, at one point, held as many as 5 million books that were designated for sale on Amazon.com.

However, the lease expired for the bookbarn, the firm running the business packed most of the expensive and new releases and left the rest behind. Overwhelmed with the amount of books left behind, the people who owned the lease on the building decided to open the bookbarn to the public.

The result was overwhelming. People came from all over, filling their cars and trucks to the brim with books. Hmm..if only something like that happened in New York....Actually, who am I kidding? Strand would be all over that like white on rice.

However, in today's world, it's nice to see that something like this is still possible and that instead of trying to turn a profit on all these books, they just let the public have it for free. As you can see from these pictures, there is an obvious lack of organization and I'm betting that many books got destroyed in the process of people searching for something they like.

I LOVE second hand book stores but I have to admit, often time's it's hard finding something worth taking. That seemed to be the problem here. Nothing was organized so people had to search for themselves and in such an overwhelming sea of books, it's easy to just not care about stomping over some.

I am curious as to why these weren't sent out to surrounding libraries and public school's though. Would make more sense than to open it up like this and risk so much damage.

Eh, what am I talking about? Deep down I'm just glad that people were excited enough about this to show up in the thousands to get their hands on some of the findings!

This is what what the Bookbarn's usually look like:

Friday Movie Morning

2009-02-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's was only a matter of time until I put this up...even though no one's going to watch it all the way through, I just feel better having this up.

This morning's video's are the three parts of a documentary about Timothy Leary: The Man Who Turned On America. Basically, he gave LSD to the people in the 60's. Even thought I've never done LSD, the whole history of how LSD came about to be and what it became and how it basically defined a generation fascinates me so I give you guys this.

It's pretty insightful with lots of interviews from people that were actually there and pretty much goes through his entire life time.

Have a good friday!

Movie poster redesign

2009-02-25T07:00:00.002-05:00

I love limited color palettes. love love love. So I was really excited when I found this set of posters. Olly Moss participated in the Make Something Cool Everyday challenge that is gaining popularity on the internet. These posters are the outcome of that and although I don't like everything in the series, I think these are really really great!

(I am willing to accept that I like almost everything Indiana Jones related....except for the fourth movie)

I should really look into the create something cool everyday thing. and actually do it. I keep saying "oh, I'll do it next year when I'm out of school" but technically... I should be doing that now regardless. But I'm lazy so I'll say I'll do it next year sans the pressure of school!

Tropicana to revert to old packaging!! Hip hip hooray!

2009-02-23T16:30:00.004-05:00

This is beyond exciting news! For once, the complaint heard round the world was heard by the PepsiCo people! The old tropicana packaging will be brought back next month! So no more:

I really did not see this happening as nothing was done when millions out cried "give us old facebook!" or I cursed the skies for no longer being able to watch animal planet because of this. (no i will not get over it! this tropicana change gives me hope dammit!) For more on this story, we take you to the New York Times. I am feeling rather under the weather and cannot muster more musings.

Harry Potter Can Read Movies too ( I can read movies part 2)

2009-02-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

My friend sam (fellow prattie and 8 year friend)sent me a link to something very similar to my previous post I Can Read Movies. Someone else had the same inspiration of using the Penguin Classics style to make book covers for the Harry Potter books.

My favorites are:

The designer is named M.S. Corley (check out the blog for the rest of the pictures). I love some of the other redesigns, like this one for the Spiderwick Chronicles:

but then again, I'm a sucker for line drawings. For the Harry Potter ones (or even the one above actually), I don't know if this was a color palette choice or again trying the aged effect BUT I feel it works and a bright white would be too stark. They do seem a bit retro but then again that was the inspiration .

Hmm..actually looking through more of the blog, it seems that this is a trend for this designer. After looking at too many it starts to lose the charm that originally drew me to the work but I guess that happens with everything. Anyway, check out the blog! Check out the work! And check sam's blog (yes linking it again), it's full of delicious randomness and she actually walks around the city and takes pictures of lots of interesting stuff. and is obsessed with lolcats (much to my delight haha).

Panamap? Lenticular technology used in a smart way!

2009-02-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

Wowowowow. Wow. This is brilliant! It's called Panamap and why hasn't it been thought of before? I really want to see one of these things in real life! Wow!Ok, trying to not be super excited. And getting to the explaining of what this is!

Panamap is a map which uses the lenticular technology we've all seen as kids (and more exceedingly on dvd's. Those things when a picture changes from one thing to another as you turn the object in your hand. Technical description, I know. Click for wikipedia to explain.). It is developed by Urbamapping and it combines subway, neighborhood and street views. The back lists popular attractions of the city.

Another cool feature of this map is that, unlike many subway maps, it actually shows the subway stops where they actually lie (sorry Vignelli, geometry doesn't always win in functionality. Often, but not always (i still love you)). Also, when you turn the map, the map reveals the exact street view of the subway but, now, unencumbered by the lines of the subway system. In clarity and readability, this really seems like the way to go. Beautiful.

So far, there are only ones available for Manhattan and Chicago. I really like the design of this and it's really a smart idea. The whole thing folds up accordion style into a manageable size (vague I know but the video below should help!):

At about 20$ each, I'd consider buying this. Better yet, I would gladly receive this as a gift (wink wink) and that's saying a lot considering it is just a map.

Friday Movie Morning

2009-02-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

It's cartoon morning today!

I found this animation a while ago and have always always loved it! Terrifically done and really engaging. Just over two and a half minutes long, this animated short is really really terrific.

I wish this next video was better quality. It's called 'Samurai Versus'. Super cute. A little predictable and reminiscent of Spy vs. Spy but definitely worth the watch!

Aaaaand last but not least, here's this short little gem. Under two minutes but very funny and, as also seems to be the theme of today, ridiculously adorable. The little robots are at least.

Have a great friday!

George Lucas raped my childhood?

2009-02-18T18:06:00.003-05:00

Of course I want to see this! Of course I think it's a little unfair. We love him for the things he's given us yet hate him for ruining a lot of those things (I'm sorry but my love for Harrison Ford does not excuse him surviving an ATOM BOMB in a fridge..). Regardless, Star Wars 4-6 and Indiana Jones 1-3 were VERY prevalent in my childhood and I will forever love him for that.

And I say that after watching a huge chuck of The Star Wars Holiday Special...oh the horror...

Amazing Life Photos

2009-02-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

I found a website that had a whole bunch of amazing photo's from old Life magazine issues.

Here are some of the ones that really hit a nerve with me:

Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta Georgia in May 1960 (photograph by Howard Sochurek). Such a simple photo but I've never seen it before and it captures a very different side of him. To me this seems like a photo of the man but without the legend of what he did enshrouding him. Actually cancel that. I don't know how to describe it but it's just a great portrait and I don't know if it's the photographer or the subject that makes it so.

Washington D.C., August 28, 1963 (photograph by Robert W. Kelley). This was during the civil rights march on washington dc for jobs and freedom. Crazy amount of people. There's a lot of photograph's around of this event but I dunno..every single one seems to have the same impact.
JFK November 1963, New York, New York... (photograph by Carl Mydans)

RFK, June 5, 1968 (photographed by Bill Eppridge)...

really weird video i found

2009-02-17T01:58:00.001-05:00

Really weird but interesting so I decided to share. It's definitely anti-consumerism but just the way it's filmed and presented is just very weird.

7 Deadly Sins

2009-02-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

So Kacper Hamilton, a designer residing in England, has designed a series of wine glasses based on the 7 deadly sins. They are all hand made and priced to order. Lust and Sloth are my favorite (mostly because of how ridiculous they are but also very fitting to the sin):

Envy's pretty good too.

The glasses are a cool novelty item and if I was at a party and someone handed me one of these, I'd say my night would definitely improve (unless I got envy I suppose). I can't really imagine anyone buying these for serious though. Unless maybe they have a surplus of cash and want to have a "difficult to drink from" themed wine glass party. Check out the rest of the series (and bigger pictures) on Kacper's website!

Real quick pepsi slam

2009-02-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I'm one of the people anti the new pepsi logo (or is it three logo's?). I don't obsessively hate it (like I do this piece of crap...why? WHY? WHY?! Why was this allowed? The sideways M, fine. Fine make some stripes whatever, fine drop cap the A. Go nuts. BUT WHAT IS WITH THE STRETCHNG OF THE LETTERS?! Why is the N and A's squished wile the I and L stretched to fill the voids? WHY?!)

Ok..enough of that. ANYWAY back to my original topic: pepsi. The new logo has always reminded me of a weird combination of these two:

However, now I will probably always see it as this (teehee):

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T19:00:00.001-05:00

I don't really like this holiday that much but

for you lovers:

kiss me daily

for you haters:

failblog

Friday Movie Morning

2009-02-13T20:00:00.002-05:00

Really sweet stop motion short. Cute, simple and short brought to you by Giant Ant Media. Enjoy:

Even though I don't like football and don't get the point of fantasy football, I did like this series of spots:

I can read movies

2009-02-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

This was a great idea and I wish I had thought of it. Le sigh. Someone that goes by the name of Spacesick has developed a series of book covers. The book covers are retro versions of movies we've all seen and loved. They are simple, beautiful and very clever. Here are some of my favorites:

I do sort of wish that he didn't add the "aged effect" to them though. That's the only thing I feel brings them down. Otherwise, they are really terrific.

Gardasil- Worth the risk?

2009-02-09T22:14:00.003-05:00

So about a month and a half ago, I got the first of the HPV vaccine shots called Gardasil. There are three shots all together. In two weeks, I’m schedule to get the next one and I must say, I’m rather conflicted. I also wish I hadn’t been so hasty to get the first one so that I could think about this longer than the next two weeks.

Ok, a little background. Gardasil is the first ever vaccine against 2 types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). You’ve seen the commercials:

The messed up bit about this is that men are the carriers of it. They may have it and pass it without ever having any knowledge of it, although they can sometimes be affected by it as well. It’s transmitted through sex and in most cases clears up on its own. However, it can also lead to cervical cancer. So, in theory, something that helps prevent this is a god send right? That’s what I thought. Not to mention, the commercials are pretty effective in convincing me that this was absolutely necessary. The commercials do point out that some of the side effects include pain, swelling, itching, and redness at injection site, fever, nausea or dizziness. Not too bad in exchange for a better shot at not having cancer, right?

They forget to mention Guillain-Barre syndrome, thrombembolism, gastrointestinal complaints, disorders of the lymphatic system, hypersensitivity, bronchospasm, musculoskeletal disorders, and connective tissue abnormalities.

Since June 30, 2008, 9,700 adverse “events” have been reported. The scary thing? No one really knows why these side effects occur. At first it was thought that the aluminum salts in the vaccine were the culprits but Dr. Diane Harper (MD from Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire), who was the principal investigator during the clinical vaccine trials says that this proved to be untrue.

So if they don’t know what exactly causes all those horrible things to happen, why push the drug so fiercely? Merck does have a monopoly on the market and they’ve already supplied 6 million doses of the vaccine in the US alone. With each individual shot costing over 100$, that’s quite a chunk of change in the bank, especially during a recession.

Having read the Merck Clinical Studies, I’ve summed up a few interesting things:

The vaccine is 0% effective for girls already exposed to HPV (now remember, often times people get HPV without knowing about it so if you’ve had sex, you technically could’ve already gotten it, in which case, this vaccine is null and void to you. 90% of the time, HV clears up on it’s own in 1-2 years in healthy women). In fact, the vaccine has only been tested on people who have never been exposed to HPV.

There is no data of how effective it is beyond 36 months post injection. They are now conducting research to see if and when a “booster” shot needs to be administered. Not to mention, regular PAP screenings are still 100% necessary to ensure prevention of cancer.

The side effects that are a result of the vaccine beyond 36 months have also been undocumented. With what I have listed being side effects that happen within a 36-month period, it’s hard to move past that in confidence that everything will be ok.

p.s. Remember Vioxx? Merck was responsible for that one, too.

It’s a strange time we live in. Medicine has really become a double-edged sword where you’re screwed if you do and you’re screwed if you don’t. I’m usually a proponent of holistic cures due to the fact that it’s making less and less sense to me that everything doctors prescribe has negative side effects, for which they often prescribe more miracle quick fixes. As a culture, this has become completely acceptable; diseases and allergies that didn’t exist 20 years ago are a part of life today and we’re just taking it. And I’m really disappointed with myself for slipping into it and believing a COMMERCIAL BY THE SUPPLIER who happens to have a monopoly on the situation.

I’ll keep doing research but just from today I think I may have made up my mind. Cheers to vitamins being the only pills I’ll be popping daily for as long as humanly possible.

Thank you minio for waking me up.
Thank you marissa for fiercely agreeing.

Where in the world is....Stefan Sagmeister?

2009-02-09T11:30:00.001-05:00

Stefan Sagmeister is, in my opinion, a rock star. Living legend. Brilliant thinker. I could go on but enough about that. I'm just one of many many fans and other's, I'm sure, describe him with much more eloquence than my drooling cliches could. So google them.

Anyway, Stefan is in Bali. For 12 months. Not taking any commissions. Did you know? I did not. Apparently, Sagmeister goes on a sabbatical about once every decade. Well, that is the plan anyway, this is only his second one. The first he took was in 2001 and stayed in New York City (where his studio is), just without doing any commissioned work. Just experimenting. In a way, it's almost the exact same thing we (Pratt ComD majors) do in our senior projects. Think of problems and create creative solutions for them. He just does it much muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch better.

Sagmeister's work took on fresh life after his last sabbatical so he then decided to take one about every decade until he is 65 (his planned retirement year...somehow I don't believe him. In my mind, he's as monumental as Rand and that man kept creating timeless work until the year he died! So again, retire at 65? Maybe..but he'll be making a comeback at 67!)

His first journey into experimentation was such a short distant away because the designer was scared that his clients would leave and he would have to start from scratch. Because this is so forgettable. Hah. Lucky for him, no one forgot him and he came back to a waiting list of clients.

Now, Sagmeister's clients are warned up to two years before he up and leaves, just to make sure no one bothers him. He's also super dedicated (surprise surprise) to making sure he does go on his sabatical when he plans to. Even if it means passing on really exciting opportunities (the Obama camp approached Sagmeister to design a poster for them. More proof that Obama's campaign people really knew the difference between what is great, relevant and attention grabbing as opposed to the political agenda's of the past. I'm pretty sure that elections from this point on will look VERY different than those of 2004 and previous years. But i digress..).

The last thing Sagmeister did before his departure was complete another maxim. The beautiful "Obsession makes my life worse and my work better":

Any other project has been pushed back until September 2009, so I guess we shouldn't expect him to be back until then. Although not a maxim, another one of Sagmeister's words to live by should be the fact that he gets up at 5 a.m ..."simply because it's more exciting to start working than to turn around and sleep some more."

Definitely one I need to work on.

The link above is to Steven Heller's website which has the .pdf article (which appears in the current edition of Print magazine) where i got all this stuff from. Just written much better because it's a convo between Heller and Sagmeister...gimmie a break I'm new at this! (yes i will ride that excuse until at least my 6th month writing in this!)

c-c-check this out

2009-02-08T19:07:00.001-05:00

real quick! this is cute!

If these walls could blush

2009-02-05T18:12:00.000-05:00

There's a lot about going green that gives me that warm, bubbly feeling. There is also the upside that when I'm not being friendly to the environment, the environment doesn't personally attack me for it. The downside of that is laziness often takes over and I waste instead of conserve.

This house is kind of a voice for that. It produces it's own energy for heating, cooling, electricity and hot water via solar energy. What makes this house really interesting is that it tells you how much energy it's producing and using. The energy meter is on the outside of the house as a series of LED lights that glow green when the house is producing more than it is using and RED when it's using more than it's producing! Pretty cool, eh?

There is also a computer inside the house that records all the specifics and stuff but the LED system kind of set's it apart in the sense that it let's other's around know whether it's doing it's part in being green or blushing that it's not. A cute addition to a very smart idea.

The house was constructed in November 2008 by Brightbuilt Barn (and all the photo's belong to them). Brightbuilt Barn is a....task force I wanna say, aimed at creating eco-friendly buildings. The website manifesto details their commitment to sustainability and open source collaboration:

"...we hold that each of us alive today bears a special responsibility to work toward a way of life that can sustain human life indefinitely, so that we leave a world where our grandchildren may have grandchildren. We conclude that our reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable in the long run, and may need to be eliminated in our lifetime if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change."