[From the Shiloh website:] Shiloh is a New York City not-for-profit Christian organization dedicated to equipping at-risk children with tools that build hope, confidence, and the skills to attain their goals.

After I was introduced and asked some guided questions on what life as a designer is like, I decided to have some real fun with the kids and as a group, design a movie poster from scratch. I went into it with a blank slate and let the kids make all the creative decisions. After we came up with the movie itself, it was time to discuss who the actors were, the plot, title and emotional feeling that we wanted to get across. We projected my computer onto a big screen so they could see it being built. It was very spontaneous and a lot of fun - and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

The movie we came up with was a story about a NYC-based chimpanzee named Charlie who got mixed up with a no-good talking parrot named Squanto. Squanto convinced Charlie to give up on his love interest, Delilah, and pursue his stage career in the Broadway version of Dirty Dancing. I doubt I could have ever come close to predicting THAT plot line! You can click on the visual to see the final poster larger.

“The very worst thing for a designer is to not have direction and then be told they didn’t deliver on what you wanted.”
Seriously, we’re not mind-readers.

“Creatives don’t work like you do.”
Not only do we not work like you do, we don’t even work like our fellow designers.

“Don’t stand there watching over their shoulder.”
Well, you can, but if you do I’m going to start designing exactly the opposite of what you wanted until you walk away.

Link.

Last week it is was Wal-Mart trying to collect $470,000 from a former employee who is now brain damaged. Way to care about the little-guy there, Wally. Luckily they finally woke up and retracted their suit, but the PR damage was done.

Now it is Apple, Inc. submitting a formal opposition to the City of New York’s (aka The Big Apple) trademark for a new apple logo for their GreeNYC Campaign. Apple Inc. claims that NYC & Company’s new logo will “confuse” consumers into thinking it has something to do with their computer company.

You can decide for yourself, but I say that’s completely ridiculous. As someone who designs logos, the notion that even the most obtuse consumer would see these as the same company is ridiculous. What surprises me even more is that Apple has traditionally been the company that truly cares about design, and one would think that they would have a better understanding of design as a whole. Apparently they only care about their own designs. This self-obsession comes across in the actual legal opposition (.pdf) as they refer to their own company as “world-famous.” That just rubs me the wrong way.

(Sources: Neatorama and Wired News)

My amazing spouse, referenced on my blog many times, got me an awesome birthday gift last month. She got me the opening day package to the Red Bulls NY home opener at Giants Stadium. The package includes four tickets for opening day (amazing seats at midfield!) and four Red Bulls NY long-sleeve t-shirts.

If you’re confused about the strange attraction I seem to have with this popular energy drink, please allow me to explain. Red Bulls NY is the New York area Major League Soccer (MLS) team. They used to be called the NY/NJ Metrostars. I’m a lifelong soccer player/fan.

So this Saturday I and three soccer-loving buddies (well, two soccer-loving buddies and one slightly-intrigued buddy) will begin the afternoon with bowling in NYC, then heading to Giants Stadium for the game and finishing up at the premier soccer pub in NYC, Stout NYC.

I’m really looking forward to Saturday. Thanks babe!

(Click photos to enlarge)
It’s that time again, time to post the result of our annual Easter photoshoot. The girls have gotten so big and it’s so much fun to look back over these photos. The first two, of just E is from 2005 and 2006. The two of E and A are from 2007 and 2008.

via my friend, and yours, Yangblog.

Film titles in italics are films that I’ve already seen.
Bold titles are films which I still need to see.

2007 - No Country for Old Men
2006 - The Departed
2005 - Crash
2004 - Million Dollar Baby
2003 - Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2002 - Chicago
2001 - A Beautiful Mind
2000 - Gladiator
1999 - American Beauty
1998 - Shakespeare in Love
1997 - Titanic
1996 - The English Patient
1995 - Braveheart
1994 - Forrest Gump
1993 - Schindler’s List
1992 - Unforgiven
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs
1990 - Dances with Wolves
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy
1988 - Rain Man
1987 - The Last Emperor
1986 - Platoon
1985 - Out of Africa
1984 - Amadeus
1983 - Terms of Endearment
1982 - Gandhi
1981 - Chariots of Fire
1980 - Ordinary People
1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer
1978 - The Deer Hunter
1977 - Annie Hall
1976 - Rocky

I did have a good run from 1988-present, having missed only three films… but I have a lot of catching up to do with the older films. Anyone want to suggest the order I see them in?

“I’m Arial, mermaid princess.”

And then, giggling, she asked, “Who are  YOU??”

“I’m the daddy who’s going to dry you off.”

“No…” she whined, clearly not satisfied with my answer… “I mean your LAST name!”

I’ve finally joined the ranks of the twitter revolution. Not really sure why… or how exactly it will improve my life, but I’m willing to give it a trial period.

For those who are twittilliterate™, twitter is a program that lets you make short updates about your day, life, situation in real time and have it appear either my account page on twitter’s website, or if you are following my twitter RSS feed, or if you visit my blog and see my updates at the top of the sidebar.

Since I can send updates via Instant Messenger, I may do it more regularly than I think. But like all new technology, I’m sure the novelty will wear off and I’ll go through periods where I don’t post any updates and eventually just let it die a slow death.

But for now, enjoy my twitters!

PS - “twittilliterate” is MINE. Use with permission only!

I was browsing the latest issue of HOW magazine (the 2008 International Design Annual) and the advertisement above caught my eye. Pratt Institute is my alma mater (’98), and they’ve placed this weird 1/8-page ad way in the very back of the issue… back with all the crappy ads for cheap handwriting fonts, $15 business cards and creative head hunters.

Why do I think it’s a weird ad? Well, let’s take a closer look…

First off, I can kinda get into the heavy black text on the brown, recycled paper look. The green/eco-movement is sweeping the design world just like the rest of the world, so that’s a good start on the layout, and the simple black text can be visually powerful.

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from there.

Moving from the outside in, the rounded corners on the box is so dated (as in, it was cheesy a decade ago)… not to mention the stock thick/thin white border that comes standard with most popular page layout applications… Both the rounded corners and white border(s) are completely unnecessary to the integrity of the design. The colored background is enough by itself to make the ad pop off the white page. They only lend to the layout feeling more cluttered.

The “Think” headline with white accent marks over the ‘k’ is interesting. It’s a fairly modern typeface and the accent marks imply action/thought. Though they feel a bit cartoonish, they compliment the chosen typeface. What has always separated Pratt from other NYC-based art/design schools is that they pride themselves on making sure their students can think creatively, opposed to mass producing commercial artists and sending them packing out into the advertising world, with their crisp, nearly identical portfolios.

The Pratt logo and URL are a decent size, in relation to the ad size, and are typeset well, though I think the URL’s line-spacing is a bit tight to the white border and should be brought up a point or two closer to the logo.

Finally, we have the eight round symbols… the elephant in the room. They make the entire ad confusing and sophmoric. The spacing between each circle is nice, but the two on each end are too tight to the border. You want to have as much, or more, space on the outer edges to keep it from feeling crammed in and too tight.

Now, let’s examine the content of these tiny gems of clip art…

1. The first appears to be a floating, yet lit, light bulb within the pages of a book… no doubt signifying thinking, and bright ideas… The granddaddy cliché of all visual clichés… As I wipe up my tears, let’s continue…
2. The second is the bitmapped hand icon you get when rolling over an internet hyperlink… I suppose it is meant to suggest interactive/web design? What kills me is, it’s the hand icon you get on a PC, not a Mac. Brilliant.
3. The next is a Helvetica lowercase ‘a’… one can only assume to represent typographical design.
4. The fourth circle is a swerve of ink and the nib of a pen.. which — again, only assuming here — signifies the fine arts (drawing, painting, sculpture, etc…).
5. The fifth icon looks to be a closed door at the end of a hallway… Is this possibly the career path of someone specializing in the Clip Arts?
6. The next icon is two interlocking gears, which of course is the second most cliché and generic symbol in the world, needing no explanation whatsoever… because something so generic can mean pretty much anything.
7. The second-to-last icon appears to be the head of a hammer slamming down a nail, reminiscent of the old Soviet-era propaganda posters. I don’t recall construction and general contracting being an available course at Pratt, so maybe this symbol represents Pratt’s architecture school… because, if nothing else, you learn how to swing a hammer after 5 years of architecture classes.
8. The final icon is a box… or a Rubik’s cube. My guess is either Package Design, Industrial Design, or that your diploma will qualify you to work for U-Haul.

Seriously, how do these cheesy circles of clip art help reinforce the message that Pratt will provide a superior art/design education? If I had seen this ad as a junior in high school, I would have thought Pratt was a joke. It really is embarrassing as an alumni, because I would think that the quality of education in the graphic design/advertising departments is as good, or better, as it was when I was there. How could they let this ad represent their department or their school? I’m going to try and be a little optimistic and hope that this was simply the best entry in a student design competition, and they were bound by the contest rules to publish the winning entry. Yuck.