With his book, If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs, Big Boom (trust me, you want to click on this link) has won the prestigious Bookseller magazine's oddest book title prize for 2008.

Past winners include:
The Joy of Chickens
American Bottom Archaeology
Versailles: The View From Sweden
Re-using Old Graves
Highlights in the History of Concrete
The Joy of Sex: Pocket Edition
Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers
The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories
People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It
The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification

Rest in peace, Herb Peterson.

So, if I wasn't so scared of Adam Wallacavage's octopus chandeliers, I would totally want one...

So I stumbled upon this site. Yes, it is brought to you by the Microsoft (boo! hisss!) Zune, but there are some amazing Flash videos there. I thought I would post my favorite. Gotta love robots, but if you are more into monsters, birds, emo bears, everlasting life, or trees made of meat, they've got those too. Hopefully it will be inspirational for our next project...

Beefscapes: They're What's for Dinner
For this week's show & tell, ad campaigns, I found these print ads featuring what the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board are calling "beefscapes." That's right those sinewy beaches, cliffs, and mountains are made from meat. You can even download recipes to make your own Moroccan-Style Beef Kabobs with Spiced Bulgur coastline. I read there are also commercials with the same concept, but being as white as I am, I don't really have TV.

It's official. I am white.

Ever wonder what it would have looked like if Saul Bass did the opening title sequence for Star Wars?

I can't stop looking at this poster for Funny Games, opening this Friday. As much as the picture is mesmerizing, it's the typography I'm in love with. It's a simple, unexpected solution that creates great visual tension. I love it. Designed by Creative Crew.

Poster: WELLNESS
ONE DOLLAR, ONE PERSON, ONE HOPE.
This is Thembi. He and over 300 million African people lack the most basic human resource, clean water. Without it, Thembi and others suffering from HIV/AIDS cannot take their prescribed anti-retroviral medications. Without safe drinking water, they expose their already weakened immune systems to potentially fatal water-borne illnesses. Clean water for one person for a year costs one dollar. The first step toward achieving overall community health in Africa costs just a dollar. Blood:Water Mission’s 1000 wells project aims to build 1000 wells in some of Africa’s most needy communities, and with your dollar donation, they hope to free these communities from the diseases and inequalities caused by unsafe water. To find out more, visit www.bloodwatermission.com.


Magazine Ad: WELLWISHER
ONE DOLLAR, ONE PERSON, ONE HOPE.
Under the sub-Saharan sun, Layla travels two miles to the nearest potable water source. On her back she carries a jerrican, which she fills with five gallons of water and weighs roughly 40 lbs. She makes this trip three times a day. Blood:Water Mission’s 1000 Wells Project is building wells in African communities like Layla’s, and they are asking you to donate one dollar, the cost of clean water for one person for a year. Just a dollar, less than the cup of coffee or a bottle of water. With your one dollar donation will help free these communities from the diseases and inequalities caused by unsafe water. To find out more, visit www.bloodwatermission.com.


Postcard: WELLBEING
ONE DOLLAR, ONE PERSON, ONE HOPE.
Meet Amani. Living in sub-Saharan Africa, a shortage of clean water and unsanitary living conditions increase his risk of contracting water-borne diseases. These include typhoid, cholera, giardia, and dysentery—the combined forces of which infect over 50% of the developing world’s population at any one time and claim the lives of over 2 million children like Amani each year, five times as many as HIV/AIDS, more than AIDS and malaria combined. Without safe water and sanitation, sustainable development is impossible, and without these most basic human resources, breaking out of the cycle of poverty will be nearly impossible for Amani.
 Clean water for one person for a year costs just one dollar, less than the cup of coffee or a bottle of water. One dollar provides the first step toward achieving overall community health in Africa. Studies show every dollar invested in clean water and sanitation saves seven dollars worth of long-term public services. Blood:Water Mission’s 1000 Wells Project aims to build 1000 wells in Africa’s most needy communities, and with your one-dollar donation, they hope to free these communities from the diseases and inequalities caused by unsafe water. To pledge your dollar online, visit www.bloodwatermission.com.

I'm posting my writing for the cause & effect assignment. I pick up my poster from Kinkos tonight. Hopefully I won't destroy it when I go to mount it. That would be unfortunate.

"The Oscars of Type Design"
Typographica’s fourth annual review showcases the best in new typeface design.

Posting my "Show & Tell" for tomorrow's class. It's a striking poster designed by Pentagram for a human rights organization called Witness. But the call to action ("Act Now") leaves me to wonder how exactly? Maybe that's what's in the fine print at the bottom there is all about.

Does anyone ever go to the AIGA Blend events? I've always wanted to go, but I am too cowardly to go alone.

Idiom Shortage Leaves Nation All Sewed Up In Horse Pies

WASHINGTON—Authorities expect the shortage to subside by April, but until then, urge citizens to skip shy the rickshaw until the flypaper marigolds can waterfall.

I just preordered my copy of Graphic Design: The New Basics. I love the design problems that are presented on the website. I hope I'll have time to work on some of them over the Summer break. Yes, I AM a nerd.


Which of these is not like the others?

I also recently bought Colgate's Caribbean Cool toothpaste. Obviously, it wasn't intentional. Who would actually want their toothpaste "with a splash of tropical mint!"? It tastes like minty Hawaiian Punch. It's basically an abomination. The only upside is that it gives me a reason to sing Caribbean Queen while I am brushing my teeth, or thinking about brushing my teeth, or blogging about brushing my teeth.

I saw this ad campaign that used compare/contrast really effectively...

So I heart data visualization...This NY Times graphic shows box office sales by movie over the last decade. Not only is it informational, it's darn pretty to boot.

I also love this pie chart [posted by a friend, thanks Gotwalt]. No explanation necessary...