Stupid Sign

The other day at work, someone asked me to post this warning sign.

I said no.  He asked why not.  I explained that it was unnecessary to post such a sign because it is universally understood that nobody should be eating or drinking poison or lead, regardless of whether or not it's in a work area.  He didn't see the humor or comprehend that the lack of punctuation and word placement changed the meaning of the sign or at least
opened it up to different avenues of
interpretation.  

I fixed it by changing the word placement and using hierarchy to make the meaning more clear and less funny to me.

Steve Martin

I just caught Steve Martin on the Colbert Report where he discussed his new book, An Object of Beauty. Just like Shopgirl, I knew that this would be a side of the classic comedian that I'm not used to.  Colbert described a recent event held at the 92 Street Y in Manhattan. Martin was there to promote his book and discuss art but the crowd wasn't happy with that. They wanted to hear about Father of the Bride, The Jerk, and Bowfinger.  Martin was even interrupted halfway through the event with a note requesting that he talk about his movies.  I'm not much of an artist nor would I pick up a book about art, but I also wouldn't be angry if I went to an art lecture and had to hear about art. It's sad that the general public is not only confused but upset about anything with more than one side to it. This article sums it up nicely. The Y even gave displeased attendees $50 certificates to make up for the disappointment of the event. Jeez!

iPad Light Painting Video

I came across this video made by people at Dentsu London and BERG. It's this innovative technique that uses an iPad to light paint single photographs which are then used to create stop frame animation. They use software to create a 3D image and then take what they call a virtual cat scan of the 3D image. They replay that image on the iPad and then drag the iPad in one direction which extrudes the single 3D animated frame as light in the photograph. I'm probably not explaining it as well as they do so definitely check it out.

I didn't make him up!

Last class you all saw my movie which featured the art and music of Daniel Johnston.  Amy asked if I had drawn the characters, probably because they looked like the handiwork of a five-year-old.  But no, Daniel Johnston is an actual artist and musician.  This piece uses the same song that I originally had in my movie.  I was using it as a backdrop for an original narrative that I wrote, but it is used here to narrate aspects of Daniel's life.  It's not really a linear narrative, but you can see how the lyrics match the selected pictures of him and his artwork.  I hadn't seen this before I did my movie.  It works much better here.

You'll shoot your eye out kid

Check out this is the classic scene from A Christmas Story when Ralphie is trying to ask Santa for that gun with a ridiculously long name reenacted in typography.  Since I started at UB, I've learned that kinetic typography is one of my most favorite things in the world.

Christmas List

Nobody really asks me what I want for Christmas anymore.  This really doesn't bother me at all - bring on the gift cards and/or cash.  I'm not picky.  Some people say an Exxon card is impersonal.  I see it as someone filling up my gas tank and that someone deserves a hug and a genuine, "Thank you!"  Anyhow, for any of you who still get Christmas wish list requests, here is a list of holiday gifts for designers, things you probably didn't even know you wanted.  Or, these may be some ideas for designers that you're buying for.  And here's some fun stuff for writers.  Most of the stuff for writers are goofy, but the practical gift lists were just a bunch of books and pens.

Futurama eyePhone

I was diligently working on school assignments in my room, as usual of course, while my sister watched Comedy Central in the living room.  I overheard what I thought was a commercial.  A voice said something like, "With the new iPhone, you can stalk your ex or even download porn on a crowded bus."  I thought, "Wow, Apple is really switching up its advertising theme."  Then I realized that this was not a commercial but an episode of Futurama where Fry, Bender, and the rest of the gang all get new eyePhones.  I watched it later on Hulu and I thought it was hysterical.  You can read about it here.  This is Fry having is eyePhone programmed.

 
 

Before & After

I'm slowly getting used to the blogosphere and have been putting together a collection of reference sites.  I found another blog that I think will be helpful for me in the future.  Before & After is "dedicated to making graphic design understandable, useful, and even fun for everyone."  It probably is rather elementary to many of you in the class with more experience than myself in graphic design, but we all will eventually suffer from a case of designers' block and I think this back to basics site might come in handy one day.

Jessica Biel warfighter pics?

All of the ex-military personnel in my office were up in arms this week about an e-mail that went around with specs for and pictures of three carriers and the new fighter jet.  Apparently, all of the pictures in the e-mail came from the movie Stealth which stars Jessica Biel.  All of the specs in the e-mail were accurate.  The images, too, were the described crafts; but they were all shots from the movie.  The information was true but the origin of the photos was intentionally left out.  Recipients of the e-mail felt that their intelligence was underestimated.  Not to mention that they were all totally annoyed with the guy who sent this to everyone on the base.  I guess the moral of the story here is to be aware of your audience - something I know we've gone over a thousand times.  This case illustrates that your audience is the key to you not looking stupid.  Because the person who sent this e-mail?  He looks really stupid.

This is the cover of Jay-Z's new book Decoded.  The ink blot symbolizes himself (or as he sees himself) as an ambiguous entity, impossible to define, and interpreted uniquely by each individual.  I don't know if I buy all that about him personally, but I really like the concept and am interested to take a look at the book just because of that.  I really like the chosen colors on the cover.  It's more subtle and organic than what I would assume Jay-Z would want on the shelf.  Good work Hova!

Good and Bad Infographics

This infographic, Rally Capitol, depicts an approximate attendance at rallies and protests in Washington. Landmarks are numbered and the crowd is color coded according to the estimated number of people present in that area.  Across the bottom are descriptions of six rallies held from 2000 until the present and the estimated number of people who attended.  It packs a lot of information (and a lot of people) into a small, organized space.  A typical depiction would be several bar graphs, but this uses the actual geographic layout and color coded symbols to create a new way of looking at this information.

The image in this infographic, Political Nascar, is needlessly confusing.  On the left is a list of top contributors by industry for each candidate.  On the right are the two candidates as Nascar drivers with their contributors patched on their shirts and pants.  Then there is another set of symbols that represent other types of industries (very few of which are found on the lists on the left) which correspond to the patches on the drivers' clothes.  That was confusing just to explain.  Anyhow, I'm not sure how the numbers on the left correlate to the images on the right and why there's an extra set of symbols in the middle.  Also, what does each candidate have to do with Nascar anyway?

Adventures with Bon Bon

I bought this calendar in 2003.  It features this little Japanese/French girl who goes on adventures throughout the year.  Each month captures her in a different setting.  I've never seen any other Bon Bon gear and a brief Google search didn't bring up anything either.  Perhaps Bon Bon's last adventure was her last (gasp!)  Anyhow, even though the 2003 calendar year is long gone, I still have her snapshots lining my wall just because I like the images so much.  I enjoy the simple shapes used to create such an adorable and mischievious little heroine!

Overthinking It

I stumbled across this blog called Overthinking It.  I'm new to the blogosphere so forgive me if this is one of those sites that everyone knows about except for me (this happens a lot.)  The site "subjects the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve."  This is what I do all day every day!  I particularly liked the post on "Glee"'s misogyny issues.   

Product Package With A Story To Tell

Sam Adams beer boxes include a short and sweet story.  You can't read it from the picture here, but underneath Boston Lager, it says, "Back in 1984, I dreamt of starting my own brewery. I found my great-great-grandfather's 1860 recipe in the attic and began brewing it in my kitchen. This is still the best beer I brew. I hope you will enjoy each sip."

There's a different story on each Sam Adams flavor - Dunkelweizen, Harvest Pumpkin Ale, Octoberfest, Winter Ale, Noble Pills, Holiday Porter, Chocolate Bock, etc.  The Sam Adams website has more narratives.  For example, a new episode is posted every couple of weeks documenting the current Sam Adams/Weihenstephan collaboration.

Narrative

Kid Koala is a young Canadian DJ/turntablist (I just learned this word) signed to the British record label Ninja Tune. He has participated in several alternative hip hop groups including the Gorillaz.  I found one of his old CDs recently called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  This is the CD book, a fun but odd little narrative.  This is only the first few pages.  The entire story is 34 pages.  Check it out.  What do you think happens next?

Really: New Windows Phone 7 Official Ad

Have you seen this commercial?  I think it's funny and smart.  A friend of mine said that she interpreted it as saying, "Our new phone will suck so bad that you won't want to use it."  That's not how I took it though.  First of all, I couldn't stop watching this commercial.  We've all been in or observed these scenarios before and it really makes me want to say, "Really?!" sometimes.  Anyhow, I interpreted the message to be that this phone will be simpler to navigate through, making it easier to find what you're looking for so that you can put the phone down sooner.  How did you interpret it?

IMMORTAL Cirque

I've always been a Cirque du Soleil fan and I despise when people say "Circus du Soleil."  (That's two languages!)  Today I learned that the French-Canadian circus company recently began selling tickets to their Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour, which will feature the King of Pop's music and moves.  Sure, I'd consider myself an MJ fan, not because I feel any innately significant connection to his music but simply because I did grow up in America, where he happens to be a legend and an icon despite his questionable decision-making skills.

There is a unifying narrative woven throughout the show, which takes place in Neverland, "a fantastical realm where we discover Michael's inspirational Giving Tree - the wellspring of his creativity. The secrets of Michael's inner world are unlocked - his love of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature."

I'm interested to see where this story takes us.  First of all, the Giving Tree is an intriguing character in the storyline.  The children's book of the same name by Shel Silverstein always had dark undertones to me.  The boy in the book and the Giving Tree shared an odd relationship, unhealthy and somewhat abusive (or maybe I'm just entirely too cynical.)  Anyhow, I'm assuming that Michael's Giving Tree will represent his fame and fortune, which provides for him nearly anything he could ever want, just as the Giving Tree did for the young boy in the children's book.  So I'm curious to see how they will portray Michael's Giving Tree as "inspirational" or if they're going to allow some of its inherent darkness (that I think is there) to shine through.  I could really see it working either way.

Also - "fragile beauty of nature?"  By the time he passed, there was nothing natural about Michael Jackson and I doubt he had any concept of fragility either considering the amount of synthetic drugs he consumed regularly.  I found that phrase to be an odd choice of words in the show description.

Candy Snatcher

When we were constructing these five scenes, the action was so crystal clear to me.  It was interesting to see how everyone else interpreted it.  Shapes and placement are lot more complicated than I thought, making the range of interpretation broader than expected.

This is Halloween in Typography

I saw this video on YouTube called "This is Halloween in Typography."  Halloween fonts are cheesy and overly dramatic, and I love them!  I thought this video was great because even the fonts that are not Halloween-themed fit because of color choice and placement.  And the song has been stuck in my head for a few days now.

Instructions

I had to change the fuser on the printer at work the other day.  I didn't know what the fuser was.  It turns out that the fuser is an important component of the printer as a whole.  I still don't know why, but the printer won't work without it.  So I opened the fuser box in our supply closet and examined the instructions.  There was not a single word printed on the instructions.  There were, however, ten pictographic illustrations which led me through the process of replacing said fuser.  At first, I was baffled.  I thought, "What do I do?  I need words to tell me how to proceed!"  But I was wrong.  Not a single word was required.  I read the pictures, did as they said, and successfully replaced the part without a single bout of confusion.  Hooray for pictographs - the instructions of the future.  I googled instructional writing and found that it's well on its way to becoming an obsolete form of communication.  Why read about how to do something when you can simply mimic an easy to read series of graphics?  It really was much less stressful and time-consuming than I thought it would be.  As it turns out, the future is now.

My Favorite Words

My favorite word is superfluous.  I like that it's spelled SUperFLUous but it's not pronounced that way.  It's also a much more fun way to say "too much."

I enjoy words that are better ways to say something easy such as penchant (better than "I like"), vice (better than "instead of"), adjacent (better than "next to"), and verbose (better than "using way too many words.")

I appreciate indulgent and excess probably because I enjoy being self-indulgent and living in excess.  Plus, I think that s's and x's are pretty.

J's, k's, z's, and q's are also pretty.  So I also like juxtapose, cognizant, oblique, and kitchy.

50 Spectacular Type and Text Artworks

Check these out.  I wish I was clever enough to design something like this myself. Maybe by the end of the semester.  I love words, but until I started this program I really was only concerned about the connotations of words, which is the main purpose of words I suppose.  But ever since last January, my first semester at UB, I see words in my head as pictures.  Fuzzy, vague, half-colored pictures, but images nonetheless.  As someone so fond of words, how they sound, how they flow together, the pictures that they paint, I'm rather disappointed in myself for not realizing this art form sooner.

I went to the grocery to buy some bread, a case of Mountain Dew, and a copy of Swimsuit Nerds.

I spend at least a few hours of each work week complaining specifically about engineers who try to write.  Engineers are smart people.  Very smart.  I suppose that's why they feel it's a-okay to disregard every basic rule of the English language, sacred rules that I learned to live by long ago.  Don't get me wrong - I probably ask hundreds of questions each month about the proper way to word this or punctuate that.  By no means am I an expert.  However, after reviewing document after document with the same blatant mistakes and the same awkward phrasings, it tends to wear on one's soul.  Here's a brief description of what I deal with regularly.

Call To Action

This is an ad for burdastyle.com, an online sewing community from the October/November issue of Bust.  I don't think it works that well for a half-page ad just because it's not large enough.  It's outlined by tiny thumbnails of clothes and accessories that people have sewed but the reader really can't see any of them clearly enough to be impressed.  I probably wouldn't have stopped on this ad if I weren't looking for a call to action.  Anyhow, it clearly states that "BurdaStyle is a place for people who sew or would like to learn."  The steps are numbered one through five.  Whoever made this ad gave you step by step instructions on how to get into the sewing world - pick your pattern on burdastyle.com, download PDF and print at home, assemble the pattern, sew up your project, and share with the community and check out other projects.  The message not only encourages you to visit the website, it encourages you to sew, share, and sew some more.

Daniel Johnston

My sister is a huge fan of Daniel Johnston.  I'm already quite certain that you're uncertain about who Daniel Johnston is.  I was first introduced to his music through the soundtrack to that movie Kids that came out in 1995.  His music was awful.  He can't sing and the percussion on most of his tracks sounded like someone just banging on an upside down garbage can.  And not in the street cool, make you want to dance, go-go upside down garbage can kind of way.  More in the wow this guy can't afford a drum set kind of way.  However, after listening to my sister rock out to bad song after bad song, I grew fond of Daniel Johnston.  And when I saw his artwork, I liked him even more.  I saw him live last year and was shocked to see him in person.  He's a 49-year-old overweight man who shakes uncontrollably behind the mic and his voice still cracks.  He's adorable.  His artwork is the physical manifestation of his music.  It's bad.  But so good.  Daniel Johnston is proof that you don't have to be good at what you love to practice what you love and make people love you for it.

787 Cliparts

I thought clip art was cheesy, lame, generic, and used as a last resort.  Well, that might all still be true for the most part.  But check out this video from Oliver Laric.  He edits together 787 clip art images of people (the worst category of clip art) to create a visually stimulating minute-long action video.  Very clever.  I'll never look at clip art the same way again.

Campaign

 

                 














This is an Absolut Vodka campaign.  These four ads were actually all found next to each other in the same magazine.  Each are similar in that they depict beautiful models in sexy clothing looking dramatic.  The bottle of the particular flavor for each ad is featured in the lower left along with a cocktail, whose recipe can be found in the top left.  The unmistable "Absolut" logo is at the bottom of each page with a scripted "Cocktails Perfected." The scenes in each ad have a strange, retro feel to them.  They are different in that each one highlights one specific color, a color closely associated with each respective cocktail.  Green for the tonic and lime cocktail, pink for the cosmo, red for the Bloody Mary, and orange for the orange crush.

Life Leaves Spaces For You To Create In.

I like this American Express ad that I found in the October issue of GQ.  The purpose is to promote "ZYNC from American Express, the Card you can build by adding Packs that are filled with bundles of rewards and benefits, to help you enjoy more of the things you're into, and get more out of them."  Some of the Packs to choose from are restaurants, travel, music, style, personal finance, or charity donations.  The graphic shows snapshots of varying lifestyles and how each can be interpreted as a blank canvas.  I was immediately drawn to this collection of pictures; they are all visually eclectic and each effectively portrays a specific type of individual.  But they are all similar in that they all are blank and dying to be personalized.  It works for me, and incidentally, it also works for the ZYNC Card.

And here's another piece from this campaign for music lovers.

Its'

Okay, okay.  I give up!  I have scoured over my grammatical desk references and random cheat sheets from my entire undergraduate career.  I've Googled, I've Yahooed, I've even Asked Jeeves.  "Its'" is never okay.  I'm not okay with this because I just know that there's some very specific instance in this universe to which "its'" will lend itself useful one day.  I will patiently bide my time until this special instance makes its way into my life.  I will let "its'" rest in peace until this day.  But when that day comes - I will let you and everyone in the world know that "its'" lives.  I am very much looking forward to this day as I have spent entirely too much time on this curiosity as it is and nothing would be more satisfying at this point than to one day, confidently and correctly, use this silly little word previously shunned by the world, ignored and left for dead until I victoriously resurrect it and its glory.

Concept

You probably have seen these water splash ads for the Schick Hydro Razor in magazines and in commercials.  I found the boxing one in the September issue of Rolling Stone.  The ads show a man partaking in typical masculine activities - getting pummeled in the face during a boxing match, heading a ball at a soccer game, getting smacked with a bo staff, , or playfully wrestling with a woman in bed.  In each of these instances, the man is not hit in the head with a leather ball, a sharp blade, a gloved fist, or a sexy pillow. Rather, he is met with an invigorating blast of hydrating liquid.  The concept here is linking masculine activity with smooth, refreshing hydration.  The Schick Hydro Razor can offer you one while you're enjoying the other.

Johnny Walker

Most whiskeys taste the same to me, but I attended a scotch tasting last weekend despite my immature palette.  And I really did learn a thing or two about the differences of each label (black, red, gold, green, and blue.)  I liked the green label best, even better than the exorbitantly priced blue label.  I was intrigued to learn the history of the bottle and label designs as well.  Johnny Walker whiskeys have been sold in those iconic square bottles since 1860 because they are less likely to break when being shipped.  In the 1930s, Alexander Walker created Swing - a gold colored whiskey that comes in a bottle shaped to swing back and forth to accommodate the rocking of the sea, balancing on a convex base.  Alexander Walker (Johnny Walker's son) registered the renowned slanted label in 1877.  Although  a simple alteration, this made the brand stand out against the competition at this time and promoted buyers to distinguish the blends from one another by the color of the label.  The Striding Man (shown left) was one of the first globally established advertising icons.  He represents the Walker spirit of progress and forward thinking.

Neologisms

A neologism is a word or phrase that is becoming more commonly used but has not been accepted into mainstream language yet.  These probably will never be adapted into mainstream language, although I may incorporate some of them into my personal vernacular.  I especially like ignoranus, foreploy, and sarchasm.    

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a  hillbilly.
5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high
8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer......like
12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido: All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.


The  Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

 And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Verbal Definition

I found this example of verbal definition in the October issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray.  This is a description of milkshakes around the country - Nashville, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia.  They all sound amazing, but my favorite is from Philly (on the far right.)  "The Caramel Apple Pie Hot Milkshake is a slab of warm pie sinking into a vanilla shake, draped in hot caramel and served with a spoon and a straw for mixing, eating, slurping and licking clean."  This description defines the product distinctly (and tastefully) using strong, enticing verbs.

Visual Definition

 

I found this example of visual definition in the October issue of Real Simple.  This is an article titled "What's Really Aging You?"  The subtitle explains that your skin is fragile, like these tulips that are in vibrant bloom at the beginning of the article. The caption explains that they were shot over a period of 40 days, showing the deterioration of the delicate bouquet which signifies the withering of your physical youth.  Although we once may have been robust, strong, and beautiful floral specimens, we can eventually look forward to developing into droopy, wrinkly, empty bits of shrubbery.  Fortunately, unlike these tulips, your skin regenerates itself as fast as every 28 days.  So I guess there is a silver lining.

Rallies

I regret to say that I am NOT politically inclined. I am an irresponsible American and I'm sorry. However, I absolutely love Jon Stewart's delivery of his political explanations. I'm sure that you all have heard that he is holding a Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30th. He advertises this gathering  as a "rally for the people who've been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) - not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority. If we had to sum up the political view of our participants in a single sentence...we couldn't. That's sort of the point." Apparently, Stewart will also be supplying signs for attendees because clearly, they will not have time to make signs themselves. This is genius! This is the type of rally that I'd like to support, although I can't attend because it's on a Saturday and I'll be in class.

What makes me even more disappointed that I can't attend the Rally to Restore Sanity is that at the same time, at the same place, Stephen Colbert is holding a March to Keep Fear Alive. Colbert uses colorful and calculating verbiage to gain support. His rally is "a call to put the panic back into our panic rooms, and to restore the 'AAHHHHH!!' back in AHH!-merica. Get ready to inadvertently wet your pants, Patriots! It's American to have a little yellow on those Red, White, and Blue undies we all wear. We have enjoyed the spoils of freedom and liberty without being vigilant of our fears for too long, America."

The imagery above, too, is fantastic. And absolutely ridiculous.

Pogs

Do you remember pogs? I was in sixth grade in 1994 when they got really popular. If you're unaware, pogs are circular half-dollar sized pieces of cardboard with random scenes or images displayed on one side. I had about 50 pogs while many of my classmates had hundreds. To play the game, you put a stack of your pogs in the center of some thin, plastic game board, which more often than not had the Yin and Yang symbols or an eight ball on it. Then the person that you're play with takes another game piece called a slammer, which is made of a thicker, weightier plastic, and literally slams the slammer atop your pogs. They get to keep your pogs that flipped over so that the blank, white side is face up. At least I think that's how it was played. Someone please correct me if I'm not getting it right. I wasn't really interested in playing so much as I was in collecting pogs with the strangest images. Here are a few. They're so random.  I wonder who came up with these designs. I like to think that they were students like us, just practicing the pen tool in Illustrator. Anyhow, regardless of how mindless and useless these gems from the 90s may be, they're fun pieces of modern art and I personally find them a little nostalgic.

Bad Food Photography

This is a page out of the October issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray. As with many of the other pages in the magazine, this is jumbled, cluttered, and all over the place. A small text box in the upper left corner reads, "A boisterous bash."  Okay, so I get it. This is a boisterous scene. It's an aerial shot of a table but whether it's a dining room table or a picnic table I'm not sure. There are mismatched teacups, saucers, and dishes of varying sizes and colors. Some are filled with tea. Others are filled with jewelry - ? There are also random pieces of toys, confetti, paper flowers, and sunglasses on the table. It just generally looks rather creepy and very confusing. What's it about anyway? Oh yes, those two less than noticeable ice cream sundaes within all of this busyness. Once I read about the dish with its bourbon whipped cream, I knew it must be delicious. But this picture does nothing for me and surely does not do justice for the Bananas Foster Split.

Good Food Writing

I enjoyed this article in the October 2010 issue of Real Simple. The entire piece is titled "The Power of the Microwave." I use my microwave for heating up leftovers and popping popcorn; I didn't know it was capable of so much! This machine can toast nuts (including coconut), make lasagna, poach salmon, even grill if you've got the right model.  I know what about three buttons on my microwave do. Realistically, that's all I need to know. However, I liked the article about the common buttons found on the average microwave and their functions. I love when complicated subject matter can be broken down and concisely formatted into short little informative tid bits. These are things that I might actually remember when I'm finished reading the article. I can share this information with those around me to demonstrate my capacity for sustaining knowledge. However, as it is with most Real Simple articles, I am intrigued as well as I am 100% certain that I will not incorporate any of these tips into my real life.

Anonymity and Digital Cardboard

You are here.  Thank you for coming!  I'm new to the world of blogging and very intimidated by it.  I generally try to keep my name out of anything world wide, the web included.  I'm from a very small, rural town where everyone knows everything about everyone else and their mothers, their grandmothers, their best friends, their ex-best friends, and all past and present significant others.  So I value anonymity. 

I recently purchased a Mac and am slowly becoming more comfortable with it but I still struggle with the simplest of tasks sometimes.  I've been bothering random acquantances that I have collected over the years that I happen to know own Macs with my inane questions, like how to open up multiple windows in Safari.  I'm not even friends with most of these people anymore.  I'm sure they're probably wondering why I still have their phone numbers.  Anyhow, I enjoy taking my Mac in public.  People look at me like I'm a trendy, well-informed consumer.  In my head, they're saying, "Oh wow, she's one of those tech-saavy young people.  She must have all kinds of impressive projects on that fancy machine."  (Like I said, I'm from a small, rural town.)  Of course, I don't have all kinds of impressive projects on my fancy machine, but I do have some pieces that I find personally fulfilling that I've created playing around in Illustrator and Photoshop.  And iMovie.  I LOVE iMovie. 

I've always been particularly interested in how and why words and images are laid out on the printed page as they are.  When I was very young, I wrote and designed a publication called the Daily Dellava out of construction paper and cardboard.  My mom still has a few issues of it.  At first, I didn't understand why the real newspapers and magazines looked SO much better than mine.  When it was explained to me that machines were used to make them digitally, I got very excited to use what I called "digital cardboard" to enhance my own periodical. 

Well, hopefully I have sufficiently exposed myself for this first post.  I'm really enjoying the Pub Design program at UB and very much looking forward to expanding my skill set and knowledge in this exciting field of digital cardboard.