computersspeakfrench

2011-06-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

So, I have been writing the proposal for my thesis this summer, and I just thought I would post a little section to give some background on what it's all about:

The American Cancer Society estimates approximately 1,596,670 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2011. Five percent of breast cancer patients, 20% of colon cancer patients, 56% of lung cancer patients, and 53% of pancreatic cancer patients will be diagnosed stage IV. Stage IV is defined as any cancer that has spread (metastasized) to remote organs or tissues. Considered incurable, it is usually inoperable but can be controlled for a time with treatment. For most patients diagnosed with stage IV cancers that period of time is rarely greater than five years. Many face a prognosis of just one or two years.

However, the number of people living with stage IV cancer is on the rise. Data collected by Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program from 2004 to 2008 shows a significant improvement in 5-year survival rates for breast cancer (6% in 1999 vs. 23% in 2008), which receives the largest amount of cancer funding. During this time, research and treatment has moved away from traditional chemo and radiation therapies toward targeted treatments, which have helped women live longer with fewer side effects.4 Although the survival rates for colon, lung, and pancreatic cancers have not increased as dramatically, they are steadily improving and should continue to rise as more targeted treatments come on the market for all types of cancers.

These individuals living longer with metastatic cancer face different issues than the newly diagnosed and those patients at the end of life. Most of them will be in treatment for the rest of their lives. They live in fear of the day when their treatments will stop working or the side effects will become intolerable. They anxiously wait for their next scan as their very lives depend on the results. They are living longer with dying as their disease slowly slips into a chronic state. The constant ups and downs of their experience may leaving them feeling gratitude, guilt, alienation, optimism.

When my mother was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with metastasis to the brain, doctors gave her a year maybe less. Fortunately, she turned out to be one of the statistical anomalies who has lived years beyond her prognosis. But with this good fortune, there have also been unique challenges. As her treatments drag on, her cancer is now resistant to first-line therapies. There is no cure. There is often not even a prescribed course of treatment, just a set of options, which must all be weighed based on their potential efficacy and side effect.

As a caregiver, I often feel a looming sense of uncertainty about her future as well as my own. As I think about finishing my thesis within the year, I cannot help but wonder how her cancer could affect whatever planning I do. I cannot predict how her next round of treatment will go, what kind of response she will have, and how she will be able to manage the side effects. Still, I am glad for the uncertainty because in it there is hope.

Earlier this year, I was driving home from an appointment with my mother’s radiation oncologist when an interview with Katherine Russel Rich came on the radio. Rich has lived with advanced metastatic breast cancer for over 18 years. Hearing her story and listening to her familiar experiences was encouraging to me. I thought capturing stories like hers and my mother’s could be inspiring to other patients living with incurable cancer and could raise awareness about metastatic cancer as a chronic illness rather than a death sentence.

2011-06-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed I watch docs. In the past couple of years, I've watched nearly a hundred of them (complete list below). Of course I watch them because I enjoy them, but I have been also learning the techniques, modes, and styles I like (or dislike) because for my MFA thesis I am going to be making my own. Starting this summer.

I will be documenting the process here from time to time, and to kick things off I thought I would just collect some thoughts on a few of the standout docs from the big list. These aren't necessarily the best of the bunch or even my favorites, but they do represent the docs I believe I've learned from the most.

Dear Zachary. This little doc is rough around the edges, but underneath some of the cruder aesthetics is a devastating story expertly told. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the documentarian to pull this movie together, and he does it so effectively. I can't imagine anyone not having an emotional reaction to it.

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. Errol Morris is always pushing the boundaries of the medium. This doc may be quirky and gimmicky, but personally, I found the editing of Fast, Cheap & Out of Control to be eye-opening. When I think about my own project, this doc always comes to mind as a personal challenge to think about the visual and sound editing and how I can use them to make my piece even stronger.

Manda Bala. I have to admit that I wasn't really looking forward to seeing a doc about kidnapping and corruption in Brazil. But from the first few minutes of Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), I was hooked by the teaser. I don't think I'd ever given much thought to those first few minutes before. The teaser (I like to call it the "xa") is the little scene right before the opening credits. It's where you put one of the strongest quotes that will set up the themes for the rest of the movie. Manda Bala was a great lesson in how to show the theme visually and skipping the chitchat.

Stone Reader. To me this one stands out as on of the worst of the docs I've watched. According to Rotten Tomatoes, I am clearly in the minority, but I felt the movie was incredibly self-indulgent. Two hours plus of a guy looking for an author, who isn't really hiding from anyone, left me feeling like the director just wants me to think he's smart and well read. I should say I have a general dislike of documentarians who feel like they need to insert themselves into the story without a really good reason for it. There were a number of docs in the list that I felt really would have been stronger if the directors stuck to the intricacies of the story rather than trying to be a star (Beer Wars, Stripped), but this one takes the prize. I also have a general hate of documentaries that feel fake, and there were just too many examples of shots that had to be staged for me to enjoy watching this movie.

A Certain Kind of Death | A State of Mind | The Atomic Cafe | Beer Wars | Bigger, Stronger, Faster | Born Into Brothels | Brick City | Capitalism: A Love Story | Cocaine Cowboys | Comic Book Confidential | Confessions of a Superhero | Connections Series 1 | Cosmos: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean | Crips and Bloods: Made in America | Cropsey | Crumb | Danielson: A Family Movie | Dear Zachary | Double Dare | Encounters at the End of the World | Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room | Every Little Step | Exit Through the Gift Shop | F for Fake | Fall from Grace | Fast, Cheap & Out of Control | Food Inc. | Grey Gardens | Guns, Germs, & Steel | Harlan County, U.S.A. | Hearts and Minds | Helvetica (again) | I Have Never Forgotten You | I Like Killing Flies | Imaginary Witness | In the Realms of the Unreal | It Might Get Loud | Jesus Camp | Ken Burns' Civil War (again) | Ken Burns' Jazz | King Corn | Little Dieter Needs to Fly | loudQUIETloud | Lynch | Man on Wire | Manda Bala | Manufacturing Dissent | Michael Jackson's This Is It | Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. | Murderball | My Kid Could Paint That | No Direction Home: Bob Dylan | Objectified | OT: Our Town | Outfoxed: Murdoch's War on Journalism | Overnight | Planet B-Boy | Revolution OS | Roger & Me | Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired | Scratch | Sherman's March: A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love In the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation | Sister Helen | Stone Reader | Stripped | Tales from the Script | The Business of Being Born | The Face Is Familiar | The King of Kong (again) | The Order of Myths | The September Issue | The Thin Blue Line | The Way We Get By | This American Life: Seasons 1 and 2 | This Film Is Not Yet Rated | Up Series | Very Young Girls | Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price | Witch Hunt | Word Wars | World's Most Dangerous Gang

2011-03-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

A few new designs up at Minted.com.

2011-03-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

Last semester in my Design Business Link class, we were paired with a local nonprofit organization to help them with their design and marketing needs. I was on a team that got to work with People's Community Health Center, which serves the un- and under-insured in Baltimore. We were asked to help brand and advertise their new dental office, and one of our recommendations was to do graphic wall decals in the clinic to tie in the brand and brighten up the place. I am pleased/relieved! to say those decals are now up and ready for the grand opening on Saturday (thanks to the help of my long-suffering spouse).

Campaign posters coming soon to a bus shelter near you (assuming you are someone who lives in our around the Anne Arundel area).

I also hope to have some minty fresh news to announce soon.

2011-02-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

I actually had some free time this weekend, and instead of updating my blog (hey, it's only been six months since my last post), I designed a few business card for Minted.com's Stay in Touch Business Card Challenge. Here are the finished products:

You can even vote for them if you feel so inclined but don't feel like you have to. Oh! And they have really cute stuff you can buy like this and this and this and this...

2010-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics of the letterpress invites I designed for my Mum's 60th birthday party. I also designed a custom return address stamp.

2010-08-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

Just bought this great type print. Love it. What typographic mustache are you?

2010-07-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

I've been designing invitations for a party my sister and I are throwing my mom to celebrate a milestone birthday. A perfect excuse for letterpress, right? I'm also trying to finagle a field trip to Typecast Press to see my invites come off the press. If I do, I promise to post pictures. In the meantime, I'm loving all the great letterpress stuff out there, and here are a few of my favorites.

from Lemon and Lavender, Orange Beautiful, Bella Figure, JP Gary & Kiera Ormut-Fleishman, Sycamore Street Press, Jessica Hische, Gilah Press + Design, Ty Mattson, and Hello Tenfold.

2010-03-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Some photos from our recent trip to Ireland (and a couple from our last trip, too).

2010-03-09T06:58:00.000-08:00

I'm a poet, and I didn't even know it. Check this haiku generator.

2010-03-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Rube Goldberg machines are the new stop motion.

2010-02-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

I'm taking an ActionScript class this semester, and I'm surprised by how much I'm learning and (shock!) enjoying it. For our final project, we are going to be developing a Flash game, but in the meantime we've been working on these cat video games:

Nervous

Enclosed

OK, so they aren't really cat video games, but Pumpkin Escobar seems to like them...

2010-02-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

It's time for my semi-annual blog posting! In my last post, I mentioned this poster series for my Advanced Graphic Design class. The assignment was to design posters for three films by one director. The director I chose was Billy Wilder, and I focused on three of his films noir, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, and Sunset Boulevard. I also designed the condensed modern typeface I used for the film titles (I call it Bill Noir), and I am pretty pleased with the final product (definitely click on the image for more detail).

Anyway, no promises, but if this snow keeps up, I might post again before July.

2009-09-25T09:04:00.001-07:00

In my advanced graphic design class we are going to be designing a poster series advertising a hypothetical AFI event celebrating the work of a director featuring three of his films. The director I've chosen is Billy Wilder. A contemporary of auteurs like Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder is much more understated and in my opinion underrated. Not only was he one of the preeminent directors of the film noir era but also continued to consistently produce great films for over 50 years. The three movies I am focusing on are Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, and Sunset Boulevard. In addition to the poster we are going to be designing a typeface (YAY!) to reflect the style of the director and/or films. So I have been researching handdrawn titles from the 1940s. Some inspiration.

2009-09-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's coming...

2009-09-18T09:34:00.001-07:00

I was watching the Typophile Film Fest opening title sequence and was reminded of how much I love the intersection of meat and typography. So, I thought I would just post a few meaty typefaces as well as beefjerky business cards. I even found a magazine called Meatpaper that is all about art and ideas about meat.

And what goes better with meat than potatoes. There's even a time-lapse video.

2009-09-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Back to school already! I can hardly believe it, but I am very excite about my Advanced Motion Graphics course. I'm sure I'll be posting projects soon enough. In the meantime, here's a little inspiration:

2009-07-28T10:02:00.001-07:00

I am organizing my video projects to put them up on my site and came across this one from my previous video class (not the one this summer) and thought I would share it. The assignment was to edit together a three-minute video about your day based on the sound.

2009-07-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I must find away to make this mine. Anyone have £2,700.00 they could lend me?

2009-07-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

The audio production project from my summer video class: I Am Poseidon! God of the Sea! I Also Teach Water Aerobics On Saturdays by Colin Nissan, published in McSweeney's, and read by Aaron Royer.

2009-07-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Another month has gone by without a post! I have finished my summer video class so I expect to post some new work soon. In the meantime, I've been busily preparing for our Twin Peaks Marathon this weekend (we've only been talking about it for a year). In anticipation for the party, here are some great Twin Peaks inspired items I heart.

[Who Killed Laura Palmer Charm Pendant by CharmedMemory; Twin Peaks Pin Set by lolabot; The Owls Are Not What They Seem Cross Stitch and Bookhouse Boys Earrings by thegreatnorthern]

I also still love this Log Lady illustration by seasprayblue.

2009-06-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

Félicitations, Adrian Frutiger!

2009-05-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Randomly stumbled upon some amusing compositions from Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre.

2009-05-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Holy moly! Two month with no updates. I thought I would post some of the work that's been keeping me so busy during the weeks and weeks I've been away.

For my Design Principles and Strategies class we had to design a brand identity for a fictional English tea shop in the trendy Fells Point neighborhood. I choose the name Grey (a play on London weather and English tea varieties). We also had to use our logo to design a number of items including tea packaging (from left to right: Classic Grey, Double Bergamot, and Green Citrus).

2009-03-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

In my Design Principles and Strategies class, I've been doing a lot of abstract compositions to demonstrate, well, design principles and strategies--not much that I would want to share. But I thought I would go ahead and post this week's assignment, which was to make patterns demonstrating the concepts of repetition, similarity, and anomaly because patterns are purdy.

Just one more week of abstract concepts (YAY!), and then we'll be doing some book covers, a series/set of three. I think I am going to do a series of Modern American Classics, including Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, and White Noise by Don DeLillo. Gotta get reading...

2009-02-25T13:17:00.000-08:00

Some really beautiful stop motion work by Oren Lavie and a sweet song to boot...

2009-02-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a little speculative project and have been fiddling with some cover ideas, and I was wondering which cover you all think looks best. It's a graphic novel set in the 40s in the classic crime/mystery genre. Any and all comments are welcome. There is a poll on the side there if you want your vote to be counted.

(a)
(b)

2009-02-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

I saw this technique used on a poster about a year ago. Just this week I saw it used on a Threadless T and the new Animal Collective record, Merriweather. Pretty neat, huh?

2009-01-20T20:01:00.001-08:00

Just six [tiny] days away from the start of the Spring semester, and I am still finishing up my over-the-break projects. But as of right now, the web site kristinroyer.com is indeed done.

2009-01-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

In addition to working on my website, I've also been designing my business card, so I thought I would post the (almost definitely) final design.

2009-01-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

I've been working on getting my website done before school starts up again, and to that end, I spent the night writing my bio. All I can say is self promotion is a loathsome undertaking. Let me know what you think...

Kristin Royer is a graphic designer and writer living outside of Baltimore in Catonsville, Md., the hometown of TV legend David Hasselhoff. She graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in English and an interest in graphic design. After spending the past seven years earning a living as a writer and editor, taking on freelance design work and geeking out on typography in her free time, she is now a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Integrated Design at the University of Baltimore. In her spare time, she enjoys starting short stories, daydreaming about becoming a comic book creator, and referring to herself in the third person.

2008-12-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

Just a little something special to get me through the day...Could a person write a song about Obama that's better than this? Jimmy Carter says, no.

2008-12-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

So I am {finally} working on my website again and going through my work to-date and came across a couple of Christmas-themed projects that have never seen the light of day. I am fond of both of them. So I thought I'd post them here. The first is a Christmas card I designed last year, but didn't get them done in time to have them letterpressed. Have I mentioned I like type? Because I really like type, especially when it's punny.

I was also working on a design for a Christmas CD a few months back, but things fell apart, and the client was interested in going in a different direction. Humbug! Oh well, Merry Christmas.

2008-12-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

As 2008 comes to a close people all over the tubes are publishing best of lists. One of my personal favorites is Pitchfork's best of the Worst Album Covers of 2008 which includes this gem from Brad Paisley. Really, Brad, you thought this looked good? It must have been a pretty good year for album art. There are some on this year's list that aren't so terrible. The Deathcab cover could have been worser...

2008-12-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

There's a great design challenge this week over at Typophile. I am posting my submission because I like to not post anything for a really long time and then post a lot in two days (Have you noticed?). My design is a bit morbid, but that was the luck of the draw. The rules of the challenge are:

1. Create a book cover, using a fictitious title and an image from the LIFE photo archive.

2. To get your title, click on the Wikipedia Random Articles page and whatever topic you get is the title.

3. Head over to the LIFE photo archive and enter the title (or part of the title) as your search term. Use any image from the search result for your book.

Hopefully, I can stay on top of Type Battles and post one each week at least while I'm on break.

2008-12-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

So I turned treinta on Monday. To ring in a new decade, I celebrated with an unstoppable cake. Despite our best efforts, me and 30 friends were unable to devour it in one sitting. We did manage to make a mess though. Yes, that is cake on the wall.

2008-12-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

School is nearly done, and I am really excited to start working on some side projects over the break... In preparation I was looking for a little inspiration and stumbled upon the photographs of Thomas Allen. He creates 3-D dioramas from pulp paperbacks. They're amazing.

2008-11-09T13:58:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted in an age. My video class has me in the computer lab most evenings as well as Saturday mornings and Sundays. But I am officially finished with my first real video project, and I am pretty pleased with it. It's a four-minute rockumentary about the guys in Farewell Flight. Let me know what you think...

2008-10-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last night we watched The Big Combo, a 1955 crime noir drama featuring a police detective who tries to convict a mob boss by appealing to the man's girlfriend. While the movie was good, I was sorely disappointed when there weren't any combos (big or otherwise) in it at all...

2008-10-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend: Jenny Lewis at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington on Friday; Farewell Flight and friends in Lancaster on Saturday; and being productive on Sunday.

2008-09-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last night, I dreamed I was at Nick's Fish House with a group of zombies eating seafood. I was filling up on popcorn shrimp so I would be "too full for brains" because honestly who wants to eat brains. When that didn't work, I resorted to telling them they could get kuru from eating brains, but apparently transmissible spongiform encephalopathy means nothing to the undead.

Dreaming about zombies could have several meanings:
+ They may refer to the mindless acceptance of ideas and a general unquestioning nature.
+ They can link to boredom. If you are unable to do anything meaningful then your mind goes blank.
+ They can represent people who will simply not think rationally.
+ They can relate to moments when you are unable to act and feel paralyzed.

Or maybe it just means I regret not going out to Nick's on Friday and gorging myself on popcorn shrimp.

2008-09-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

You can stream Farewell Flight's new album Sound Color Motion for free on the Drop. These great guys are from the Harrisburg area and the album is decent. So give it a shot...

2008-09-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I wish I had this much free time and three hundred thousands sticky notes.

2008-09-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

Gosh, this makes me happy...

2008-09-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

I've sort of had Oregon on the brain this week, and it got me thinking about that game The Oregon Trail, and how I always killed my family without ever reaching the lush Willamette Valley. Now that I am a grown up with a cat to take care of, I wondered if I was mature enough to safely navigate my family through the game. So I was thrilled to find out I could relive the adventures online. And yes, despite some rough road and some squirrelly squirrels, we all came through in good health.

2008-09-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Highland boys for introducing me to Turkish Superman. These are just the highlights. You can actually watch the whole thing here. And yes, that is a doll. Can't wait to see Turkish Star Wars...

2008-09-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

It's 4:09. Class starts in 1 hour and 21 minutes, and I'm nervous for the first day of school...I'm taking Media Design and Workshop in Digital Video this semester. Here goes nothing...

2008-08-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

So tonight I met another member of the Wire cast, Jay Landsman. We were at the O's game, and we were sitting among a rowdy crowd of "good police." Seriously though, they were really great including Jay who introduced us to everyone as part of his family.

Oh and the Orioles won 11-3 which is always a plus!

2008-08-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

From YTMND, I got about 20 of them...

2008-08-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has awarded Garrison Spik it's highest prize for bad writing for this opening sentence: Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped "Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J.

2008-08-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Just some snaps from our trip to New York [Ollabelle playing at One New York Plaza; MTA says "Please, dip your ATM card"; Nassau Avenue, Brooklyn; Brooklyn Brewery; Monster, cashier and brewery cat; Aaron enjoying his hefeweizen; the Apple Store; a.k.a. Mecca; beers and frites at Vol de Nuit; and this guy who was on our TV the entire time we were there, just laying there, I don't know why]

2008-07-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of stop-motion videos, especially when they involve cooking...

2008-07-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

James Houston is brilliant.

2008-06-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Petticoat 5, the first computer made by women for women. Thanks, Gotwalt.

2008-06-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is this pig and his wellies just about the cutest thing ever? Cinders apparently suffers from mysophobia, a fear of dirt. I am hoping Wellington Boots will make teeny tiny galoshes commercially available. They could be the only hope for my cat's debilitating case of agrostophobia.

Cinders is using her celebrity to raise money for the Farm Crisis Network. I'm thinking my cat (with the proper footwear) would make an excellent spokesanimal for the Society for Lazy Unemployed Goodfornothings, that's right SLUG.

2008-06-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, and cats on the Internet make me laugh...

2008-06-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

J. Spaceman is back...and opening for Lenny Kravitz? The only thing better (and by better I mean more random) would be Portishead opening for (the new) Journey .

2008-06-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling the irony of being a pinhead is lost on this guy.

2008-05-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

So after a two week Buffy-induced malaise, I am back and trying to be productive. School's out for summer, and I have some home projects to get done including wallpapering our bathroom.

Need to get the house ready for a get-together sooner or later. Anyone interested in a watching Twin Peaks? We were thinking about rewatching the first season and thought if people were interested we might make it an event with cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee.

Question for Shia LaBeouf: On a scale from 1-100, how much pressure do you feel to be "the beef"?

2008-05-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader. Only you could be so bold.

2008-05-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Now that classes are winding down, I've had time to think about my plans for the summer, and I booked a hotel in NY for the last weekend in July. Cannot wait.

I also have about ten weeks to get back in shape for a race in July. To do that, I'll have to get my IPod in shape first...Some recently added tracks:

+ Simian Mobile Disco, Hustler
+ Chow Nasty, Ungawa
+ The Go! Team, Grip Like a Vice
+ Gnarls Barkley, Run
+ Kanye West, Stronger
+ CSS, Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above
+ the National, Mistaken for a Stranger

Any suggestions?

2008-05-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

See if you can beat my 31/34...

2008-05-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

I really like the ambigram on the cover of the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Princess Bride. How do they do it...

2008-05-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

For this week's show & tell we have to bring in an example of something we collect. I'm not much of a collector, but in the past month, I've started collecting a number of new things:

+ empty bottles of wine
+ an impressive assortment of dirty laundry
+ dust bunnies that look remarkably like actual bunnies atleast in size and furriness

2008-04-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

This logo for London's Office of Government Commerce is pretty funny (if you don't get it, try tilting your head 90 degrees counterclockwise). In honor of this logo mishap, the Telegraph put together this slideshow of regrettable logo designs...

2008-04-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the husband who officially won the internet today when one of his LOL cats made it on the front page of I Can Has Cheez Burger.

2008-04-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Posting this week's show and tell from Paste Magazine, The Weepies' Guide to a Happy Life.

2008-04-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

I am posting my spreads for this week's project.

2008-04-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Embarrassing as it is, I do fantasize about fame and celebrity, but mostly, I just want the chance to talk to famous people and get answers to the running list of questions I have in my head. I thought I might start posting a few of them here, just in case I never get famous enough to ask them myself.

Today, I was wondering if Michael Cera ever sings "Sarah" by Starship and imagines the song was written for him...

2008-04-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's is my Show & Tell for today's class (mostly just tell...), "So a Squirrel and a Chipmunk Walk into a Bar" by David Sedaris. It's only about 8 minutes long.

2008-04-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

So mi esposo and I have come down with a serious case of Spanish fever. We've been studying Spanish for about a month now, and last night I re-christened our cat, Pumpkin Escobar, with un nombre español, Santa Cruz-Cruise. The poor thing must have an identity crisis with all the nicknames we give her (including Slugabed and Cool Pack). As you may be able to tell from her pic, Santa Cruz-Cruise es una gordita.

In school-related news, I watched Atonement yesterday, and I'm pretty sure that my movie is not going to be as good as that, which is really disappointing to me. But I am hoping to start building my sets tonight. So we'll see how that all goes..

2008-04-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

I almost picked mixtapes for my classification project. Now that I know about Muxtape, I almost wished I had gone with it...

2008-04-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

[Click to enlarge]

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, India
Executive Creative Director: Piyush Pandey
Creative Directors: Abhijit Avasthi, Shekhar Jha, Mahesh Gharat
Art Director / Designer: Makarand Joshi
Copywriter: Anurag Agnihotri

2008-04-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

What's a better example of the synergy of words and imagery than lolcats? To build a lolcat, take a cat, mix in some kitty pidgin (aka "lolspeak"), set it in Impact, and you've got hours of waste-able time. Aaron has become a little obsessed with creating lolcats, and yesterday we were lol-ing the night away. This one was my personal favorite that we can up with. Enjoy!

2008-04-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

We need more party animals.

2008-04-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

So, not only do I get to bring show 'n tell to school, I also get to make art the good old fashion way with construction paper, scissors and a glue stick. I think I'm in grad school. Anyway, this is a group project we did on Saturday on imagery and narrative. I don't think we ever did come up with a title. Suggestions are welcome.

2008-04-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

So a social cause design-y thing, I might bring for show 'n tell this week is the Hurricane Poster Project. THPP is a collection of posters designed in response to Hurricane Katrina. The posters were sold and the proceeds were donated to the Red Cross.

Here are some of my favorites:

2008-04-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

pobres emo niños

2008-03-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

Rest in peace, Herb Peterson.

2008-03-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-03-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

It's official. I am white.

2008-03-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-03-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-03-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-03-05T07:21:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-03-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

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

2008-03-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-02-29T08:54:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this photo series from the March issue of Vanity Fair. They are recreations of classic Hitchcock moments restaged with some of my favorite actors [Javier and Jim, I'm talking about you...]. Not to mention the pictures just look incredible.

2008-02-27T06:12:00.000-08:00

So I found this blog Girls Are Pretty Forever and have been enjoying it this week... I thought I might share an excerpt since it's a fun example of writing in the second person. It's the opposite of daily inspiration, celebrating each day as a holiday with an accompanying [funny/twisted] vignette:

Your Robot That Carries Drinks From The Kitchen Into The Living Room Is In Love With Your Teenage Daughter Day!

Thanks to the miracles of science, you now have a Cocktail Robot that carries drinks from the kitchen into the living room, and it only cost you eleven thousand dollars. It will even sometimes gather your empty glasses and bring them back into the kitchen, though it doesn't know the difference between "empty" and "still working on it" just yet.

It also doesn't appear to know the difference between a robot composed of wires and circuits and a human teenage girl. Any time your sixteen-year-old daughter Christine walks past, your Cocktail Robot will follow her with its robot eyes, its clunky robot head whirring on its neck until his head has turned all the way around. It will always try to offer Christine a gin and tonic, which she thankfully doesn't accept. And yesterday, you found out that your Cocktail Robot can teach itself words. When Christine passed through the living room, out of nowhere your robot blurted out "Beautiful."

Tonight something tragic is going to happen. While you're out at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Christine will have her new boyfriend Ronald over. The two of them will order your Cocktail Robot to bring them peppermint schnapps all night long. Then Ronald will get fresh with Christine. She will playfully put up a fight, but your Cocktail Robot won't think she's being playful and it will tear one of Ronald's arms off.

Happy Your Robot That Carries Drinks From The Kitchen Into The Living Room Is In Love With Your Teenage Daughter Day!

2008-02-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

So I basically started from scratch with my fruit design and spent Sunday afternoon photographing fruit. Here's a behind the scenes shot...

2008-02-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

I just submitted my six word memoir to SMITH. I finally decided on: All the good words are taken.

Kinko's killed my will to live was a close second choice...

2008-02-21T17:41:00.000-08:00

I find this site completely amusing. I can't help clicking over and over again...

2008-02-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

So, I'm finished with my comp for Assignment 1, and I have to admit that I think I might hate it...so on to Assignment 2. I wrote this for/in the style of Complex Magazine. That means I'd love feedback from the guys out there. Is it man enough for you? It's also too long. So if it drags in any spots let me know.

All Bets Are Off

Back in June Adam Ryan celebrated his retirement at a pub a few blocks from his Center City apartment. Raising a pint, he drank to the end of 6 am, to no more deadlocked traffic on Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Expressway and no longer working. The 26-year-old former engineer was now a professional poker player.
The decision to quit his job played out slowly over a year and a half. Work left him restless and unfulfilled. He wanted a life that was about more than just “grinding out a living,” he says. But in early 2007, his wife, Joy, was hesitant. As time passed and he became increasingly withdrawn, Joy agreed he needed a change. He spent the next three months determining if it would be financially feasible, playing 50,000 hands of low-stakes hold ‘em to see if he could make enough money consistently to cover their expenses before giving his notice.
Since then, he’s enjoyed the life of a poker player: roll out of bed around 10 am, make coffee, check e-mail, eat breakfast, screw around online for a while. He hits the tables by 12 or 1, playing four to eight tables at a time. After 1500 hands, roughly three to four hours later, he packs it in.
He also has a policy for triaging the inevitable down swing. “If I get down $1000 for the day,” Ryan says, “I shut down and get out of the house.” Recently he broke this rule and followed a bad player to a higher limit table. He risked a lot of money on a pot with a pair of pocket kings. His opponent had pocket aces. He ended the day down $3500, the most he’s lost in a day since going pro.
Despite occasional down swings and bad beats, the money he makes playing poker has given him a chance to escape his job and the opportunity to explore other interests such as photography. “I don’t want to be playing cards in five years,” says Ryan. “Right now, I’m enjoying the freedom of not having to work, but I can only play poker for so long before burning out.” He hopes to use the time to explore ways he can make money while doing things he really enjoys.