I was conducting some research [ahem, aka "goofing off"], when I came upon this picture of Clarabell the Clown from the Howdy Doody show. Clarabell, played by Bob Keeshan, later morphed into Captain Kangaroo. As Buffalo Bob would have said, “Cow-a-bunga!” Somewhere I have a set of Howdy Doody Christmas Cards. I’ll look for them, scan and post them. They are a trip in the way-back machine.
Today’ warm weather made me think of the ‘Summertime, Summertime,’ song, which is not to be confused with Eddie Cochran’s teen anthem, ‘Summertime Blues.’
I was also reminded me of the advice given me after I moved to Columbia, SC. A veteran of many summers told me I needed to heed the Big Three:
Wise words, especially in Columbia, where in the pre-air conditioning days it was said that the only thing that stood between Columbia and hell was a screen door.
If you want to see a lavish film/advertisement done with taste, you must look at the Cartier piece. Click here to go to the site.
How unlike to me side with the “over-dog,” which is my neologism, but all the attacks on the logo for the 2012 London Olympics have approached the hysteric. Usually I ignore the noise. After all is said, it isn’t my design. But given the reported price tag [$650,000] I can’t help but wishing it were.
I think it is time for the design community to take a deep breath. This is a logo. It is not a cure for cancer or a plan to end all conflict in Africa or the Middle East. It is a logo. And, as I just said on LinkedIn, this logo does just what a logo is supposed to do. Time for the design community to return to the notions of craft and value and stop pretending that the road to heaven passes over our desks. You can view the entire discussion thread here.
I was driving past a subdivision the other day and noticed the boundary signs, which used a script font similar to the one on the top of the list below. Thinking about the font and what it said about the developer’s vision of the project made me wonder what sort of development it would have been if it had used a different font for the signage. Hmmmmmmmm.
At the corner of 120th and Sheridan Blvd in the fair cities of Broomfield [to the north] and Westminster [to the south] are two commercial banners displayed for all to see.
One of the signs, the top one, does a better job of presenting its information. Pondering this situation, I assigned myself the task of improving the bottom one and insuring that the improvements would mean increasing the cost of the banner exponentially. Over the next several weeks I will show how some very simple changes could make the banner more effective.
I saw recently a pickup truck with its business name on the tailgate. The name of the business [which was not "Johnny's Carpet Service"] was set in blue text with a very thick red outline. The result is a continuing failure. The contrast between the red and the blue is minimal, so what appears distinct from a few feet away becomes visual mush at ten or more feet. In the graphic below, I show the blue text alone, the blue text outlined with red, and white text outlined with red. Either the top or bottom treatment would be better.
According to Denver Post and Askmen.com, Sofia Vergara is the “Most Desirable Woman of 2012.” Hmmm. Seems a bit early in the year for the “best of” awards. And how insulated must I be from PR puffing not to recognize the name?
When out for a walk, I noticed a puddle with a crystallized ice surface. I was fascinated by the structure. If you are enjoying warmer weather than we are here in metro Denver, you may not have had a chance to see something like this.
Ice Crystals photo by mgk dba Black Swan Image Works all rights reserved.
The new look for the Black Swan Image Works will be slowly implemented over the next few months. Here, I am trying to present visitors a simple, easily navigated site that shows some of the better work I have done for a variety of clients. And I also am making copies of older issues of my newsletter and articles I have written about different design issues available for download on my Resources page. Please troll the site and enjoy! And, should you find any functional errors or an odd typo, please let me know about them.
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