So as the date approaches for me to hit that airplane and leave California in the dust, all sorts of shit is coming to mind that I’m going to miss that I probably didn’t think too much about when I went gun-ho after a job in South Carolina. And on the eve of my last full weekend in the south-bay, so we start the sad list of things I’m going to miss:
- Living on the beach in some sweet digs
- Surfing every morning
- Sunday Morning breakfasts w/ Heidi
- Avoiding yoga
- the 4 mile commute to work along the coast
- the ability to bike to work (not that I do because I’m too lazy and would rather enjoy #2)
- surfing on my lunch breaks
- surfing after work
- Saturday morning: shotgun a beer, surfing for 2 hours and on to OB’s for breakbast + bloody marys
- Followed by the beach and pub crawling the south bay on bikes
- the Poop Deck on a sunny Saturday afternoon
- Sunday Fun-day
- Grant’s boat on clear Sunday mornings
- My Trader Joe’s home-made pizza
- ‘course, good friends and a few beers on the weekend
- sunsets down 42nd Street…
big thoughts, Charleston, living
California, Charleston, shit I'll miss
With a little more than 3 weeks left in sunny California, I can’t help to start making mental lists of stupid shit I’m going to miss in the South. OK, my Mint.com account already reveals a very scary shopping trend; in the fact that 90% of my purchases are food or booze from Trader Joe’s. Maybe this needs to be part of a larger thought – “shit I’m gonna miss from SoCal” list….
If I thought I had an obsession, this guy actually made a video about it…. LOL, he’s so correct about hot soccer moms in yoga clothes: http://www.thesneeze.com/2009/the-tjs-song.php
Charleston, living
Charleston, shit I'm gonna miss, Trader Joes
Spent a portion of my morning re-building Depeche Mode’s “logo” for an upcoming event my agency is producing for W Hollywood Residences. Quite crazy, but I never thought of rock music as needing branding or really what might go into a band’s logo. Perhaps this is common in the industry, but the logo and “brand” seems to shift for each album that’s produced. I guess there is a bit more at stake with a headline band than the garage-band w/ album art designed by someone’s brothers friend.
While I can’t say DM was ever a band I truly dug back in the day, the Violator album cover is burnt into memory. The juxtaposition of the title “Violator” next to the stark visual of the red rose creates incredible tension and was brilliant. More so, it speaks towards the music.
The new brand appears a mash of 80′s glory – large abstract bars of colors – with abstract images and colorful gradients that are the pop-art of ’06. Much like the new music is almost more 80′s now than it was in the late 80′s. The logo cleverly uses these to “bars” to try and spell the “D” and “M” of the band name, but not quite legibly. One aspect I don’t know the answer to, is how much influence the actual band members have over establishing this look, or if it’s cooked up by their record label and stylists behind the scene.
In all respects, a coherent brand. And while I’m personally not in love w/ the aesthetic, it does do an excellent job of leveraging the old glory of a band who’s been out of the loop for a while aggressively trying to make their look contemporary.
big thoughts, Design, living, randomness, Visuals
branding, logo, rock, w hollywood
Found this alarming over this morning’s cup-o-coffee and the accompanying design reads, Digital Web Magazine is no more.
The landscape of web writing has changed. The value of well-edited and reviewed content is giving way to faster, less-refined posts on blogs, comments, and services like Twitter, and it is clear that many writers prefer to draw traffic to their own sites.
It’s a resource I’ve read and used many a time in my learning process, as well as keeping current with some of the bigger ideas that flow behind my profession. The founder statement that refined writing is being replaced the sporadic diarrhea of the mouth that blogs and twitter represent is a scary reality – especially as I sit here blogging about it. Also, it would appear that the increasingly selfish attitude as we all try to curate our “digital persona” are making it hard to get participation in new articles.
In my way, I’ve found myself using this blog increasingly as a vehicle for reflecting on the events that surround me; As a means to continue writing, even if the subject matter varies and is often fuzzy logic. A result of my sporadic writing attempts has been a greater respect for those sites and authors, like Digital Web, who pursue a refined goal with more structured writing. Not sure how to conclude this thought, so I’ll just leave it hanging here with the hope of returning with some brighter conclusion.
Design, living, randomness
blogs, coffee, reflection, twitter sucks
Just got new business cards back from the printer, and their freak’n SWEET. I’m a bit pumped because they’re the first “real” cards I’ve ever done for myself and my business. Was able to abused the bottom of a half empty press sheet and ended up with at least 3k worth of cards in 4 various designs. Now I just have to find someone to give them too….
BTW, the “Digital Band-Aid” idea came from the fact half the work I seem to do these days is picking up the pieces of others and solving problems at the last minute. Perhaps a “your interactive plunger” might be another metaphor. Still, not a bad way to make a buck or three.
Design, living
Was about to turn in last night, and stumbled across one of the funniest movies you can ever watch at 1AM. Pointless, yes. A stupid rip on Napolean Dynamite, probably. Stupid logic from the gods? Most certainly! Crack a beer and enjoy the wisdom:
All great men have mustaches!
- Rod Kimble, Hot Rod
big thoughts, living, randomness
Beer, Hot Rod, Stupid Logic
Think I already knew this, but Graphic Design, in particular Logos and Branding, are becoming more of a component for Pro sports. Especially considering the amount of money spent on swag, and the fact that live sports is an area of growth for television/advertisers. A good NYTimes article on the current “underwhelming” superbowl logo, and the history of superbowl logos: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/sports/football/28logos.html
As usual, Steven Heller hits the nail on the head:
“I’ll go out on a limb and say all the logos starting with XVII are based on beer labels,” Steven Heller, a design critic, said in an e-mail message. He added that the latest logo “looks like the Bank of America logo.”
The accompanying selection of “alternative” superbowl logos is sweet too: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/28/sports/20090128-logos-slideshow_index.html
living, randomness
branding, graphic design, logos, superbowl
Don’t often feel like one hits home, but a few drinks into a lonely saturday night, watching Grosse Pointe Blank. Had to hit rewind on this one, Cusack is at the 20 year class reunion, holding a baby as Queens “Under Pressure” plays in the background. For about 10 seconds this is all exactly perfect in some strange coming of age moment. It’s a beautiful, awkward and too shore moment. Like some strange metaphor for life, catching the moment that’s over before you realize it, and realizing through a movie some strange parallel in your own. ODD> let’s just leave it at that. It’s Saturday night. I’ve been out all day surfing, drinking, having fun. And now, on the couch, winding down, am drawing a tear watching a cheesy movie as John Cusask makes eye contact w/ a baby as 80′s music blairs in the background. Too much to comprehend, but in a High Fidelity sorta way, I gotta give it a 7 out of top 10, without knowing what the other 9 might be at this point….
big thoughts, living, randomness
Movies, Saturday night, thinking
Went fishing on Saturday with two major forest fires bookending the LA area. The sky started clear and as the day progressed, the smoke from the two fires converged creating a very apocalyptic glow to the sky and water. Guess this is a preview of what global warming will look like!
living, photos, randomness
Burn, Fires, fishing
So a longstanding Friday morning habit of mine has been to spend the first hour or so catching up on my design rags and blogs. This inevitably leads me on the wild goose-chase from site to site; destructively loaded on caffeine and bumping aimlessly through the pretty pictures of a dozen sites or so. At the end of which, I’m feeling a little mentally numb and begin feeling that everything I’m doing with my design career is equivalent to running in place at the retard farm. It’s a frustration that use to drive me nuts after architecture school, but as the years have past, I’ve become more comfortable with doing little and looking at the great work of others. And then you bump into a truly bad-ass site with people doing good work. Hell, they had me sold at the studio name, “We should do it all”. No shit, that should be MY name. I want to do it all too!
Then again, they probably didn’t just spend the first two hours of their morning wearing off a tequila hangover by surfing. anyhow, nice site, some great work, and maybe the envy will motivate me to do something other than sit here: http://www.wsdia.com/
UPDATE: Now I know why they hit so far into my creative gut – they’re architects gone designers! nice little interview with them at Archinet:
Architecture school is the highest test for anyone who wants to be a designer/creator. It’s an incredible test of your love for this profession, and you don’t love it…architecture school will definitely weed you out. The most appreciated skill I gained from Kent’s program was being able to communicate my ideas about concepts and ideas through heavy critique. This tool is vital for our studio in expressing our designs to our clients. Being able to critique your own and other’s work, and being able to take criticism, is something I am proud of.
big thoughts, living, randomness
coffee, cool websites, designers, Random thoughts