Shhhh!

OK, don't tell anyone, but today, I got my membership card and handbook to the Very Secret Order of Creatives Understanding. What is this secret order, you ask? Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be much of a secret, now would it. However, I will point you in the direction of their website (but don't tell them it was me who sent you!).

Actually, it's just a clever promotion from Veer. But it's hysterical: How can you identify other members? By these secret code phrases:

Phrase: "Hi."
Response: "Resolution?"

Phrase: "There's a brainstorm coming, Pa!"
Response: "Get the horses in the barn!"

There's Rules of conduct, as well:

Rule 3: Treat swatch books like pets. You'd never walk off with someone else's hedgehog."

Rule 10: "Avoid saying "no" during brainstorming, unless you are brainstorming a bank heist."

I wish I had the time to come up with something so great. At the end of the day, it's junk mail (I have purchased fonts and stock imagery through Veer in the past, which is probably how I got on their mailing list in the first place); but if everybody made junk mail this intriguing, we'd probably be calling it something other than "junk."

Extremely Random Meme

Well, I was going to save this for a rainy day... but seeing as it's been a while since my last post, and I've got far too much on my plate to get creative here--well, let's just call it a rainy day. Thanks again, Marce!

The Extremely Random Meme

What is your occupation?
President/Principal/CEO of traciedesigns. I am also the creative director, art director, senior + junior designer, as well as copywriter, administrative assistant (to myself) and all around great gal. Oh, and shopaholic (that was actually the title on the business card of my last full time job--no joke)

What color are your socks right now?
No socks--like Marcy, I loathe socks and only wear them if I absolutely have to. And even then, I have to really think about it.

What are you listening to right now?
Yankees v. Red Sox.

What is the last thing you ate?
Ice cream popsicle, yum yum.

Can you drive stick shift?
No

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
I always answer maize or periwinkle--I think more for the names than the colors. As a child I was partial to mint green and peach. Now, I like raspberry. Of course, my heart will always belong to Pantone 166. (I think this was answered like a true creative type, no? :)

Last person you spoke to on the phone?
My friend's aunt.

What’s your favorite yoga pose?
I don't know the name of it (it has been far too long since my last yoga class), but I love the one where you lie on your back and lift your legs and rear into the air (above your head) and hold onto your lower back, so basically your head, upper back, and elbow support you (rereading that makes me sound like some kind of contortionist. Alas, I am not--whatsoever).

How old are you today?
32 years, 6 months, 8 days

Favorite drinks?
Sparkling water, Beer, Kettle One vodka

What is your favorite sport to watch?
Baseball. I prefer the Yankees, but I will watch anybody (except the Red Sox--when they're not playing the Yanks, obviously)

Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes. I had some lovely pink hair at one time or another. Now I am sporting some pretty cool highlights, that desperately need to be refreshed.

Pets?
As I tell my children: No pets until the house gets bigger!

Favorite cake?
Yellow cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. It was my wedding cake, and to this day is my favorite. But I don't discriminate, I'll eat just about any kind of cake.

Last movie you saw?
It's been so long, that I couldn't even tell you. It may have been Alvin and the Chipmunks. But just last night I was watching the Departed, on HBO--does that count?

Favorite day of the year?
I don't necessarily have one specific favorite day. I think any day that I get to spend having fun with my family is a pretty good day.

How do you vent anger?
I am trying desperately to count to 10 before I blow my lid. I know I get loud, but I'm a pretty loud person in general, so I don't know if that counts.

What was your favorite toy as a child?
Hmmm... I had a Barbie townhouse with a working elevator that at the time, I thought was the cat's meow.

Autumn or spring?
Autumn: my birthday, our anniversary... I like spring, but it usually comes with a healthy dose of allergies.

Hugs or kisses?
Ummm... both!

Cherry or blueberry?
Blueberry

Do you want your friends to respond?
Yes, but... (see below)

Who is most likely to respond?
I'm afraid everyone already did.

Living arrangements?
1 bathroom house in Fairfield with a husband and 3 girls (1 of which is a teenager. Impressive, no?)

Last time you cried?
I can honestly say, I don't remember.

What is on the floor of your closet?
A shoe's store worth of shoes, Madeline's sleeping bag.

Who is the friend you’ve had the longest?
While I still keep in touch with acquaintances from elementary school, I am going to say Tiffany. We've been best pals since senior year in high school.

Favorite smell?
Fresh lilacs, Antonia's Flowers perfume (smells a lot like freesia, but better)

Who or what inspires you?
I am an arteest. I am constantly inspired by everything. I was inspired by a box of cookies today (full disclosure: I am working on a cookie package design now, so I am especially aware and/or inspired by anything relating to a cookie).

What are you afraid of?
Small spaces. When I was pregnant, I was desperately afraid that my feet would grow, and I would have to get all new shoes. I would have nightmares about it.

Hamburgers?
Blech, no!

Favorite car?
It changes on a daily basis. Right now I'm longing for a Volvo wagon--which is such a mom car, I know. But when in Rome... (especially with 3 kids)

Number of keys on your key ring?
4. The sad thing is, I have way more Stop and Shop-type cards on my key ring than actual keys.

How many years at your current job?
almost 3 years.

Favorite day of the week?
Saturday.

How many countries have you lived in?
Just 1.

Dream job
See sidebar, about professional shoe shopper. Seriously, that is my dream job.

Just the fax, ma'am

Last week, my pal Becky started a new job (in the city, which gave her reason to buy a hot new Coach bag, but that's a different post altogether); and on one of the first days of the new job, she learned where the fax machines are. Which lead to this cute little musing on who actually uses fax machines anyway (seriously, I'd love to hear from those that do, if you're out there).

That said, I just finished reading Through the Children's Gate, by Adam Gopnick (a great collection of stories about his family's first few years living in NYC after a stint in Paris). In one of the last chapters, he talks about new technology (specifically, IMing), and oddly enough, who still faxes as a way of communication:

"A curtain falls around the age of forty, and whatever the medium of electronic communication that was in place then remains the medium that you use. If you were forty when the fax machine was in flower, you still send faxes, for all their snaky, mid-eighties kind of flimsiness [ed. note: Ahhh, I get it--old people use fax machines!]... Though I lived on email and caffeine—just got on that subway as the doors were closing—I had never sent or received an instant message."

His sentiment makes sense: my mother just--just!--upgraded from dial up to DSL, while we've got our cable modem before we got furniture (no joke, we seriously had internet access before we had a place to sit. If you have met my husband this will make perfect sense). However, I am just catching on to text messaging--I still don't get all the abbreviations Ashlee uses (cue the drawn out, mooo-oooooooooommmmmmmmm). But my goodness, this does not bode well for my future. I am wary to think of what kind of technology will be in vogue when Madeline and--gasp!--Eleanor get older; I don't want to be the mom that confuses LOL for lots of love, instead of laugh out loud (like Gopnick did. Very funny story that I will not do justice to by trying to retell it here).

Whoo boy, I do not want to get old.

Celebrity photoshopping strikes again!

There are many things that peeve me, but one of the biggest is celebrity photoshopping. I won't get on my soap box too much (OK, I will), but I find that celebrity magazine photoshoots are giving women next-to-impossible standards to live up to (having a teenager in the house, we have had our fair share of body image conversations).

Case A: A few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of People Magazine at the nail salon; the one with JLo--oh, sorry, Jennifer Lopez--on the cover. Now, let's recap why she was on the cover: oh, right she just gave birth to twins. Which explains why every inch of her post-partum body was photoshopped and styled to the extreme. I gave birth to one baby 5 months ago, and my body--on a good day--doesn't look like hers did 5 weeks after giving birth to two babies. The whole photo spread reeked of celebrity narcism, with pictures of Jennifer in ridiculous designer gowns prancing around with her babies like they were props. But sorry, unless you have 10 babies (and even then, whoa!), 50 pounds of baby weight does not just melt away like that. Seriously, there was not one inch of that woman that was not photoshopped.

Case B: The following cover of Britney Spears:



Now, I feel for the poor girl, I really do. She's going through a rough time right now, in the public eye. However, the only miracle diet she's been on has been, according to this article on the Huffington Post, is time travel (quite a miracle, indeed). The styled, posed, photoshopped Britney was actually a photo from Glamour Magazine, circa 2003, seen here:



Now, I realize that on a good day, OK Magazine is just another trashy, gossip-y read (People Mag only a hair more respectable), but come on!

Christophuh!

My pal Koleen forwarded me this email she got from Toad's Place:



I could be wrong, but this could--quite possibly--be the ugliest form of email marketing, ever. First of all, this poor guy's publicist was obviously not involved whatsoever; otherwise they probably would have had a much better photo to work with, rather than the current scanned-in-off-the-DVD-case one they have now.

Second, read the copy (if you can--the bright blue background is just a tad distracting):

Michael played the part of "Christopher", one of Tony's 'capos'. The name of his band is "La Dolce Vita", The Sweet life. He also played in many other movies including 'Good Fellas'.

I could be wrong, but it sounds as though one of my kids wrote it (the assignment being sum up Michael Imperioli's life in just 3 sentences). And what on earth does he do in this band? As my friend said, "do we just go to Toads and he sits on the stage and we all just stare at him for an hour? Makes no sense..."

It's definitely leaning towards the bizarre...

Opening day, take 2

Opening day, take 2 was AWESOME. Not only did the weather hold out (I was comfortable in my sweatshirt, sans jacket); but the game was great and the Yanks won. Oh, it also didn't hurt that this year, unlike last, I was not pregnant, and could enjoy a $10 beer along with the game (the enjoyment, of course, came from drinking it--certainly not paying for it!).

I only wish that I had a better camera other than my phone (the Nikon was far too large to bring). Derek Jeter was stretching with his cute little behind up in the air, and unfortunately--except for the white dot on the field--my phone could not capture it.



Sigh. Rough life, eh?

It's raining, it's pouring...

So opening day... was not so much. My father in law and I boarded the 10:39 to Manhattan this AM, got off in Harlem, subwayed it back up to the Bronx, and then proceeded to wait for about 2.5-3 hours for the rain to stop.

And it didn't.

So the game was postponed... and we'll try take 2 tomorrow night. In the meantime, here's the view of the new stadium from our seats. I can't believe it's the last opening day in the old stadium!

Spring cleaning

Last night I decided to forego the gym (yeah, THAT was a tough decision), and instead, I was going to update the blog a bit (this has been on my to do list for quite some time, and was one of those things that was just going to sit there until I actually made time for it). I had no idea the path that this blog was going to take when I started it last year, but it seems that it's become my "online personality"--in that people who read it have told me that it is so me (one of my pals has even told me that she can imagine me saying each post).

So I refreshed the sidebar with a little more relevant (I think) info, and finally (finally!) updated the header to match my site. As time goes on, I'll probably refresh things here and there, depending on what's working and what's not (and I'm still trying to make that effort of posting more often); but never fear, the theme is still thoughts, musings, oddities and the like.

Enjoy!

There are no heroes in this house

So I might've mentioned that we now have a Wii. This is the first video game console we've ever owned (aside from handheld's, like GameBoy) so it's especially exciting--the novelty has not worn off yet, for any of us.

Specifically, the novelty of Guitar Hero ("Totally worth it," Mattio says, defending the cost to his brother) has not worn off--for Ashlee and Mattio. While they have both mastered the easy level and are on to the more challenging Medium level--Mattio might even be on Hard--I can't get past the first song. Actually, no, I think I played the easiest of the easy songs (Slow Ride, by Foghat--which, by the way, 4 year old Madeline walks around the house singing. Thank you, Guitar Hero) through to completion--on like, the 7th or 8th try. Unlike Ash and Mattio, I have perfected the art of getting booed off the stage.

So when I read about Michelle Slatella's Rock Band woes in yesterday's Times, I could identify all too well. Seriously, I think the only reason Ashlee invites me to play is to have a good laugh.

Ah well, at least I know I'm not alone.

I heart Al Gore

So this morning, I had a meeting with my pal Debbie Fay of Bespeak Presentations; we actually met in her dining room, because she said her office resembled Al Gore's.

Huh?

Then she told me that last year, the Times ran a photo of Al Gore in his office, and it was a mess. And she said, if Al Gore's office looks like that--and look at what he's accomplished in his life!--then I don't feel so bad about mine.

Nor do I, Deb; nor do I.



PS. View larger pic here. Oh, and hey Al Gore, sweet monitor setup!

Best. Customer. Service. Ever.

I love Starbucks.

I don't even like coffee. But I love Starbucks. In the winter, I am a tall skim chai (yum, yum). And all summer long I am a tall mocha frapp--no whip, thankyouverymuch. Every once in a while I splurge and get a grande (medium, as Mattio would say :), but very, very very rarely do I go whole hog (literally!) and get the venti (large).

So today, I decided, was a tall skim chai kind of day. I had a couple of free drink coupons--thanks to my pal Sara--and I had to drop Madeline off at her friend's, so I offered to pick up coffee for the friend's mom, as well. So I go in and order my drink and a tall coffee for friend's mom; and go to pay with my coupons, and do you know what the cashier said to me?

He said (not snotty, but completely serious), "If you're drinks are going to be free, why not splurge, and make them venti?"

I looked at him, smiled, and said, "Why not?"

That, my friends, is customer service.

Hell effing vetica (emphasis on the "effing")

So Friday was--as I was referring to it--Helvetica Friday. I was dragging the kids to MoMA, to see the Helvetica, the exhibit; and as a bribe to get them there, we finished off the day at the Museum of Natural History. Then I was going to go home and watch Helvetica, the movie.

So Helvetica, the exhibit, basically sucked. It was, by far, one of the bigger disappointments in my life. Tucked into a corner of the third floor--literally, a corner no bigger than my bedroom--were some posters done in helvetica, as well as subway signage (saw plenty of that for free, thankyouverymuch). In a glass display there was the helvetica alphabet in printing plates, and on a flat screen on the wall they were playing bits of Helvetica, the movie.

That's it.

I was completely bummed. Of course, we were already there, so we walked around a bit. Ashlee got to see Starry Night, again (it's one of her favorites). We also saw the "big blue OOF" (as the kids referred to Edward Ruscha's painting), Warhol's Cambell's Soup Cans, and their all time favorite, the "wall of cows."





To add to the disappointment of the day, I couldn't find Helvetica, the movie, anywhere in the gift shop (Hello? There's a terrible excuse for an exhibit--I thought for sure they would have the movie!!). So needless to say, Helvetica Friday didn't quite pan out the way I had expected (although the kids had a great time at the Museum of Natural History--and even more fun in the gift shop).

Let's hope that in my next foray into the city I fare a bit better: next Monday I am (yet again!) going to the Yankees home opener. I got to go last year, and it was so. Much. Fun. It's bound to be even more fun this year, as it's the last home opener in the old stadium.

If I were a brand...

So I came across this interesting article today, in doing some research for a logo/packaging project I'm working on. It was an article on brandchannel, and it asked, "If you were to describe yourself as being a brand, what brand would you be? Why?"

Hmmm.... Incidentally, people answered the usual suspects: Nike, Coke, etc. However, they got a large response of people citing themselves as the brand they'd want to be ("I think everyone creates their own unique personal brand.")

Oh please. I'm all for being unique and different, but answer the question already.

Me, if I had to choose a brand--besides myself (although the end of the piece makes a good argument as too much of a good thing, a la Britney Spears--the term "good thing" being used loosely in that case)--I would want to be Apple.

Why? Apple is adored--no, worshipped--by its fans. People will spend money on Apple products. Like, lots of money. Apple is constantly ahead of the curve, and their products are not only cool-functioning, but cool-looking as well. And the while the majority of computer users are still using PCs (why is that?), once people switch over to Macs, it's like they get it. Plus, all the cool kids use Macs. ipod, itunes, iphone... need I say more?

By the way, I know you are shocked--shocked!--that I didn't choose a shoe brand. And believe me, I thought about it... nothing lays luxury and beauty like say, Manolo Blahnik; however, in the end, I thought that Apple was the better brand (it appeals across the masses--and isn't that the point?). Although kate spade is running a close second...

So... if you could be a brand, what would it be and why?

Hell effing vetica (and the kids!)

Every Monday, (ideally--I do have three kids I have to get out of the house in the morning) I like to do the New York Times crossword (I do it through Wednesday--Thursday's is way too hard, and Friday, well, just forget it. Besides, it usually takes me until the following Monday to get close to completion on Wednesday's puzzle). I usually skim it at breakfast, filling in the extra-easy clues, and then leave it around the house; so say, while I'm making lunch, I can get a few clues in. But today was a promising day: I had finished the puzzle by 9:30 AM. Wow, I thought, I have can actually read the Arts section! And it was there I came across this clever ad, from MoMA, thanking Target. The word Helvetica caught my eye, so of course I read it (It was a quarter page ad):

Thank you.

This is a message from MoMA to thank Target for their generous support of Target Free Friday Nights and to commemorate the arrival of our millionth free visitor this past Friday evening. It is set in 15-point Helvetica Roman, widely considered the official typeface of the twentieth century. Helvetica conveys an undeniably modern aesthetic clarity and is in fact the subject of an exhibition at MoMA. Just thinking about Helvetica totally makes us want to get down and party. Maybe its the triple Chococcino talking here, but suddenly we feel like screaming, ‘Thanks a million Target!” while mingling outside in the Sculpture Garden. Okay folks, here’s what we do: Meet us up on the third floor and check out the finest collection of modern art in the world. We’re going to rock out to Philip Glass all night long and gab to somebody we just met about how much Expressionism inspires us. Then,if the mood is right and all our planets are aligned, we’ll show our new friend what Expressionism really means. It happens every Friday from 4 - 8 p.m.

(By the way, I totally did not type this in. I have to give Bloghound the credit for that.)

And then came the big DUH from me... There's a Helvetica exhibit at MoMA! The trouble is, it's only until March 31. Uh, folks, that's 2 weeks from today. How on earth, with my schedule and workload, not to mention three kids--oh yeah, and Easter is this weekend!--am I going to get down to the city to see this exhibit by the 31st?

Easy, peasy: make it a culture day and bring the kids. See, when Ashlee was younger, we decided that our proximity to NYC was not to be wasted. So we started bringing her in a 2-3 times a year and going to places like the Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim, MoMA, etc. Nothing was planned, the whole day was up for grabs, we just started at a museum and let her lead the way. Unfortunately, with the pregnancy and resulting baby, we haven't made it down in quite some time.

So lucky for me, Mattio has Friday off, so Ashlee, Madeline, and myself are going down to see Helvetica: the exhibit. If I'm lucky we can spend some time at MoMA (Madeline is only 4 and a half, so we'll see how that goes), and then we'll cross the park and hit the "dinosaurs." I'm sure the day will be plenty exhausting for all, but I plan on ending it with a viewing of Helvetica: the Movie (which I told Mattio I'd rent, but seriously, who am I kidding? It's a movie about a font; of course I'm going to buy it!).

Thanks Marcy!

Ugh. It has been a week since my last post; and a stressful, busy week at that. And it's now past 11 on a Friday night, and I just want to do something completely mindless, but then I realize that it's been almost a week since my last post, and I really should write something, if only to keep the few people that do visit coming back.

But as I mentioned above, it's been a crazy week and I have not had a moment to myself, nevermind to find interesting blog topics online (the most online I went this week was testing a website I'm working on. I know, the fun ceases to end). so I figured, I would procrastinate a bit, and see what my blogging pals are up to.

And lo and behold, my pal Marcy tags me with this 5 things list. So special thanks to her, for giving me something to blog about! Here goes...

Here are the rules:
1. List five kind things you do for yourself.
2.List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
3.List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
4. Have fun!
5. Tag five people.

1. Five things I do for myself
- Buy shoes (this should be all 5, really. I mean, if you're a regular reader, and you don't know that...)
- Go to the gym
- Get pedicures all summer long
- Go for super long walks when the weather permits
- Every so often, get together with the girls and have a girls night out

2. Five things I do for my closest friend, partner or child.
- Buy them all clothes, and keep them in clean clothes
- Bake all of their favorite cookies (and then some) at Christmas time
- Drive them everywhere, and let them listen to "their" music, even if it is Lo-Ridah (Flo-Ridah?), or whatever that horrible song is, without complaint (If you have a teenager, you'll appreciate this)
- Hug them all the time
- Put their needs above sleep

--I'm also going to add: don't spend all the household money on shoes. This is particularly kind of me.

3. Five things I have done for a stranger.
- Let them cut in front of me at the checkout, when they have fewer items
- Picked up something they dropped
- Let them out of the parking lot, when traffic's terrible and nobody else cares
- Give directions
- Paid for coffee

Tagging: Tiffany, Sara, Mattio, Koleen and Barb

Learning to read... the designer's way

I have written in the past about our 4 year old, Madeline, and how she is an advertiser's dream ("Mom, you should buy OxyClean to clean the bathroom!")

(Sidenote: She said just about the funniest thing ever today. She wanted nothing more than to play--as 4 year olds are wont to do--and so she asked me if I would play with her. Then, sensing that there was a laundry list of things I had to do to come, she quickly turned to Mattio and said, "and dad, you have to do everything around the house today, including clean the bathroom!" Sidenote to my sidenote: Mattio is very helpful around the house, but the one thing he does not do is clean the bathroom. Wishing I had that Oxyclean right about now...)

Anyway, last week we got a notice home from school requesting that we send in logos that our preschoolers recognize (Cheerios, the GAP, Stop and Shop, etc.). In school, they were going to put together a book of logos, for each child, and start them on their path to reading. Wait, what? My kid is going to learn how to read... by reading a GAP logo?

But yes. Reading is about recognizing words, and what better way for someone so young to recognize a word than in a logo that's familiar to them. On her own, Madeline will not recognize that the word target says just that. But put it in red and add that bullseye, and she knows. As a parent, I thought this was pretty cool. As a designer, I thought it was brilliant.

Just goes to show how far branding your business goes... all the way down to a preschool level.

Logo design, 101

This should be required reading for all logo design clientele out there. Summed up, it basically says that your logo doesn't have to literally interpret what your company does. For example, Apple Computers (well, now just Apple): there is nary a computer-related item in this logo. Yet everybody knows they make computers.

The article is best summed up in this sentence: "... what you include in the design of a logo can be just as important as what you leave out."

Amen.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

This morning, I had the unforgettable experience of standing on line to buy a Wii (I seriously had no idea they were still that hard to come by, until I got laughed out of the store the other day). I was going to live blog the experience--what else was I to do for 2 hours?--but I was having problems with my mobile blogger account.

I arrived at Circuit City a little before 8 AM--at the suggestion of the store's employees. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot: mostly employees, but a few other nuts like me. At 8:30 the line outside the store formed. The car said it was 28 degrees outside. Hey, at least it wasn't snowing.

I took my place in line, about 5 from the front, 5 from the back. Everybody was making idle chit chat about how crazy we all were. I silently cursed the guy who decided it was time to get out of the car, thus forcing everyone to line up. This would have been much easier in the summer.

9:00 AM: a flood of cars turned into the parking lot--you could see the drivers counting the line. Rumor was that the store only had 10 systems. No, someone said, the circular says 15 per store. People would drive up and then drive away, not brave enough to face the cold. Others took the risk and waited on line. At this point, there was a little more than 15 people waiting. I silently thanked Eleanor--world's best alarm clock--for waking me up at 6:30. I was so glad I was 5th in line.

We all started to become friendly as time passed. The woman in front of me was discussing college options with her son. We had a Kansas connection, so I joined the conversation, as did the man in front of them. Talking made me momentarily forget just how cold it was outside (my body was suprising comfortable, temperature-wise--between my wool socks and sweater, knit gloves, down coat, and crocheted scarf, my denim-clad legs were really the only cold part of me. Should have worn long johns).

A little before 10, I got nervous with anticipation. Some children--young ones--joined their dad in line. I silently thanked them for being there--nobody stampedes little kids, right?

10:00AM: Doors finally opened. We all moved along, cattle like, into the store, and right up to the counter. There was plenty of consoles to go around (thank goodness). I actually got cheered by the end of the line as I walk out of the store, obvious purchase in hand. I wished them all luck, and prayed that I never had to see Circuit City that early again. Unfortunately, with 2 much younger kids to go, I have a feeling the fates are against me. Ah well, for the look on her face, it was all worth it.

I haven't yet had the pleasure of playing with our newest toy (I'm actually working today!), however, I'm sure what little free time I have left will soon be spent honing my musical talents on Guitar Hero.

Update: The children have beaten Mattio in boxing. It took Ashlee, 13, no time. It took Madeline, 4, three rounds. Oh Wii, thank you for introducing boxing into our little girls' lives.

Happy Birthday

My oldest daughter--who, all you moms out there will get, is still my baby--turned 13 today.

13.

That makes her a teenager. And it makes me feel old.

Happy Birthday, my baby. You're one of my favorite designs.

If You Give a Shoe Addict Some Shoes...

I bought flip flops today--2 pairs (oh my gosh, I am giddy just typing that! One was your basic rubber model, but the other was the prettiest pair of Coach leather flip flops, with a fun rainbow pattern on the sole. Oh, I know, like you care... but it was very fun and exciting for me)! And as I tried them on, I looked down at my toes, and boy, do I need a pedicure. I wanted to go get one, so badly--but common sense got the better of me (I had no time to spare, never mind an hour + to sit and relax... but oh, a girl can dream. Never mind the fact that it's still February--OK, almost March, and noone is going to see my toesies for at least another couple of months).

Thinking of my flip flops and almost pedicure made me think of warm, sunny weather.

Oh summer, where art thou?

Thoughts, musings, oddities, and the like

Thank goodness my computer is about 5 feet from my bed--I was playing catch up on emails late into the night tonight, and it's a short walk to bed, sweet bed.

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Is it possible to leave Target and not spend $150+? If so, can someone explain this strange and fascinating phenomenon? I don't think it will happen to me in my lifetime...

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Is it me, or is there a "leap year" overkill in advertising? I just read an article in the Times, about how everybody is jumping on the leap year bandwagon. But if everybody is advertising, "leap into savings!" then how are companies differentiating themselves--and, more importantly, standing out?

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Designing cookie logos has to be one of the best projects out there. The research, of which the crumbs are on my kitchen table, was deish. Now, if only Starbucks needed a Frappacino freelancer :)

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The gym I belong to serves pizza on Monday nights, and bagels on Tuesday mornings. I can't decide if this is brilliant or not. On the one hand, by serving fatty foods, you are keeping clients coming. On the other, aren't gyms supposed to promote health?

It's winter (finally!)

Yesterday Mother Nature called southwestern Connecticut and said, "Hello! Here's a friendly reminder that it's a) February, and b) you live in New England!"

Yes, it snowed for the better part of the day; so to celebrate the first storm of the year, I put down my mouse and tried my hand at environmental design--snow fort-building, to be exact.

When I was a child, we grew up on a side street that you only drove down if you lived on it. So when it snowed (which was all winter long), we would build snow forts in the drifts that the plows made next to the driveway, and have snowball fights across the street. Unfortunately, we don't live on that kind of street now, so the girls and I took to the backyard, building fortresses out of the wet, packable snow. It was Ashlee and her friend versus Madeline and myself (really just me, as she was much more interested in eating the snow, falling down in the snow, and teasing Ashlee and her friend that our fort was better, as 4 year olds are wont to do).

We had a grand old time, until the girls got tired (and here I was doing most the work!). We retired our wet outerwear to the mudroom and came inside and had some hot cocoa--the perfect end to the perfect winter day.

Print Geek

I love the internet--who doesn't?--but at the end of the day, I am a print geek. Which explains why, when I get a magazine, brochure, catalog, etc. I open right to the middle, hold it up to my nose, and inhale. Ahhhhhh, I love that freshly printed smell (OK, that doesn't make me a print geek so much as it makes me weird. But roll with me).

And I love love love going on press. When I first started out in graphic design, I worked for a trade magazine. Aside from the deeply discounted designer sunglasses, one of the perks was the possibility of going to the press to see the magazine get printed. Alas, it never happened, but I got my wish a couple years later when I got my first job that required me to approve pages at the printer--as they were coming off the press!!!

Today was another awesome trip to the printer to oversee a catalog I designed for One Kid. It never gets old. The wait is terrible--today it was taking an hour between runs, and there were 3 runs, which meant at a minimum I was there for 3 hours. But once I walk back to the actual press, I get giddy with excitement like a child on Christmas morning. I know what's waiting for me, but for me, the cool factor just doesn't go away.

A couple of years ago, Mattio worked at the Times. Along the halls inside one of the buildings, they had framed some of the printing plates (obviously, not the ones from, say, last Thursday, but more newsworthy front pages). He asked about them, and actually brought one home for me (of course, mine is completely random as well, but that doesn't take anything away from it).

Perhaps cubism is next

Took the kids to Hands On Pottery this morning--it's one of those "paint your own pottery" places here in town. Ash had been there numerous times, but it was Madeline's first time. And the whole time she was painting (she choose Ariel), she was saying, "Mommy, I'm an artist. Look at me, I'm a real artist!"

Then she proceeded to paint Ariel's face and arms blue (after first painting them flesh-tone). And I thought to myself, "Baby, you're Picasso!"

I am Jack's inspiration

The internet is, at times, both a blessing and a curse. Like right now, I am supposed to be working. Oh, I have pah-lenty of work to do, don't you worry. But here I am, writing a blog post. Allow me to explain how I got here:

I am working on a couple of different logo projects. One, in particular, doesn't necessarily have me in a stump, but it's more challenging than I had anticipated (it's still way fun--don't get me wrong--it's just requiring a lot more creativity than I had expected.). I can't even tell you how I got there, but somehow, I ended up on design*sponge (which is a pretty awesome site, btw. I loooove the design of the page, not to mention all the pretty items they feature). On the side, they have a list of links. Since I'm online, looking to get inspired, I click on several of these links. All of the sudden, I've got 30 different tabs open, in hopes that one of them contains some kind of awesome idea to spark my imagination.

I came across several interior design sites. Hmmm... nope, no inspiration there. Then one of my clicks leads me to a graphic designer's site (I love her bio, btw: she ends it with, "I like design. I like helping people. I like making people happy when the design I create accomplishes what they’d hoped." Amen, sister--truer words have never been spoken). Inneresting, but not quite my cup o' tea. A couple more blogs, some more links on the side... 30 more tabs open. Oh, it's a vicious circle.

But then, I come across this gem, and I realized that this is why the internet is just plain awesome: Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle (political disclaimer: I voted for Hillary. I was very, very very unsure when it came down to her vs. Barack; but in the end, I thought she was the better candidate. I still go back and forth).

So anywho... Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle is awesome. I don't know who made up this site, but I like the idea that Barack Obama made up my bed. Refresh. Oh! He mailed me a valentine! Refresh. Barack Obama baked me a pie--awesome. Refresh. Now he has a balloon for me. Keep refreshing. It's so stupid, it's great.

I am still uninspired. But now I am uninspired 2 hours later, and laughing about it. Thank you, internet.

Old School

When I went to art school, it was the dawn of the age of the Mac. I remember the first version of Photoshop I ever learned was 3.0 (I think there were all of 8 tools, and the History Palette was quite a ways away, at that point).

However, I went to Old School Art School, and before we got on the computer, we had to learn layout the "old fashioned" way: using rubber cement, waxers, stat cameras, rubylith, etc. We used relics such as french curves, non-photo blue pens, and Pro-white. Looking back, I have no idea why we were forced to take such a dated class--the computer was obviously the way graphic design was headed--perhaps our teachers wanted us to appreciate the how easy we had it. Lord knows if graphic design still involved paste-ups today, I think I would have gone into an entirely different profession altogether.

But I did get a major chuckle out of this: The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies.






It brought me right back to college--I can still smell the stink of marker from my advertising class. I'm sure somewhere--perhaps in my basement, maybe in my parent's attic--there is a shoebox full of forgotten supplies, such as rubber cement, rubber cement remover, charcoal blenders and Rapidograph pens. I know I definitely still have my Letraset book--an encyclopedia of fonts (if there was more than 100, that was a lot). My, how the times have changed!

Best. Font. Ever.

I am so excited... I'm working on a pretty cool logo design project. I won't say what it's for, but it's got fun written all over it. And let me tell you, "fun" should be written in this font:



Meet Burgues Script, by Alejandro Paul. Isn't she purty? No offense, Mattio, but I think I'm in love...

Office Space is on!

And even on Comedy Central it's too freakin' funny!

"Looks like somebody's got a case of the Mondays"

Getting it right

Yesterday I got a haircut--something like 6 inches chopped off (it was long overdue). I also got some new highlights (oooh la la!) so I was feeling pretty good. But what made me feel that much better was not only the superb service I got at the salon, but how my new hairdresser got me. I went in with a picture in my mind of what I wanted--of course, the smart thing to do would have been to actually bring in the photo; but I found it on the internet, and I was afraid it would be too small/the color too bad to print out. Instead, Nicole, my new favorite hairdresser, got my bumbled "Do you watch Project Runway? I like Nina Garcia's color. Remember when Jennifer Aniston cut off all her hair? That's the haircut I want" explanation. Not only did she get what I was saying, but she walked me through the entire color process, and brought swatches out and held them against my head, so I could see how the highlights would blend with my natural color. Being in a business where I sometimes have to visualize what people are trying to say, I appreciated her that much more.

This was only the second time I have ever been to this particular salon (Kate and Company, in Fairfield--it's actually fairly new). Nicole cut my hair last time, and even though it was just a trim she did a fantastic job. Plus, I'm a sucker for the small business. Not only that, but it's right at the end of our road (convenient) in a real up and coming part of town. So naturally, I went back. And I am so glad I did.

AND, their phenomenal customer service rocks--while my color was setting, I got a fantastic Aveda hand scrub massage that left my hands feeling brand new (who needs People magazine when you get that!). When I left, they even gave me a parting gift, a sample size of the yummy smelling hand massage lotion (in a bag with their business card--smart). I love it!

Up for a challenge

Whew! It's been a whirlwind week, to say the least. I've been crazy busy (which is a good thing!), and even a printing debacle (seriously, the worst. printer. ever. But more on that in a sec) couldn't hold me down.

Last week I got new clients that challenged me to get creative--fast (alright, they didn't challenge me, that was my own doing on accepting the project). They needed a logo, brochure (simple trifold) and business card in 6 days--could I do it? Challenge accepted.

Here's the logo I came up for their "Facial Enhancement" (Botox/Restylane) biz:

I'd show you the logo, but Blogger's sucking right now.

Clean, simple and elegant; exactly what they asked for. I was pretty happy with the brochure and card design, as well--however, due to the time constraints, I wasn't able to go to one of the printers I usually work with. Instead, I had to go with a less reliable (and less expensive--for a reason) storefront shop. On such a tight deadline, we had little room for mistakes, especially one that required printing the whole project over, like this one. Oh, the nightmare! They originally printed from the pdf files I provided, even after I specifically told them that the pdfs were for placement only. Then they accused me of not having the artwork to back up the original files (ummm, mister? Why don't you open that disc up and show me which file isn't on there? Yeah, that's what I though...) Long story short, the whole mess could have been avoided had they provided me with a proof--which they never did. I hope they learned a lesson, I know I sure did.

Fortunately, the printer covered their butt and made good on printing newer, cleaner versions of most of the materials. But man, what a headache!

Link Lovin'

I have to reciprocate a little link love to my new pal Marcy, also known as zoesmom (as well as my fellow kate spade cheerleader--she's agrees that it's perfectly rational to expense a new purse every once in a while). She gave me some love a couple of days ago (actually, it was a "You Make My Day!" Award, from another blog that she reads). It totally made my day (thanks, Marcy)! So, I'm spreading the love... Here's my version of "You Make My Day!" Awards:

zoesmom: Because our daughters are a just about year apart and going through what seems like the same phases. I always enjoy her Manic Monday Q and A; and her great personality definitely shines through in every entry. And yeah... our 2 hour lunch last week--which totally made my day!

justin + mary montage: Because Justin and Mary not only have a keen business sense, but their photography is awesome as well (and they're really fun people, as well as awesome clients). They're always on the go, and sometimes I like to travel vicariously through them.

pink is the new blog: Because at the end of the day, it's completely mindless reading. I could do without a lot of the Britney drama (it's a little overkill), but I like how Trent ends all his posts with a little update on what he's doing (At times, he really makes you feel like a friend along for the ride). Plus, he recaps his favorite shows, including Heroes and Project Runway, so it's a great way to catch up when I can't watch.

There's other blogs that I read here and there, but unfortunately, my day is not long enough to read more blogs more religiously. So thanks everyone, for making my day!

Supah Bowl

Unfortunately, due to circumstance, I did not get to watch most of last nights game (circumstance being work, and 3 kids :) When I was working (during the fourth quarter), I did have it on in the background--along with explicit instructions from Mattio just to keep doing what I was doing, don't get up from that position (as the Giants were pulling off some amazing plays, and we're the superstitious sort)!

I have to admit, I'm pretty dumb when it comes to football. There's so much to remember--and it's only on once a week, for something like 16 weeks--I drive Mattio nuts asking all kinds of questions. And, being the ad chick that I am, my interest in the big game was geared less towards the actual game and more towards the advertisements--which, the few I saw, were not 3.2 million dollars outstanding. There were some chucklers, but nothing truly groundbreaking (although I missed what Mattio described as some pretty funny e-trade commercials).

And I'm super bummed I missed Tom Petty, as I'm a huge fan. I love love love that the NFL (or whoever makes the halftime entertainment decisions) has been going a little more old school with entertainment the past few years: no Diddy, Beyoncé, Miley Cirus, etc... which is just fine by me (although I think we all have Janet Jackson to thank for that--I think Tom Petty's breast is a little less offensive--maybe :)

So anyway, yay! Giants!

Greenwich

Yesterday I met with new clients in Greenwich. To get home, I had to take a ride down Greenwich Avenue (no really, I had to!), which may as well be Mecca to me. All I really have to say is the street is home to kate spade, and that should speak volumes.

Anyway, I'm riding down Greenwich Avenue, at a relatively slow pace (which I don't mind) because of the traffic. Long story shot, out of the corner of my eye I see a car pulling out of a spot just to my left--I was next to him, so it wasn't like there was room for me to stop and let him out. But the car didn't see it that way and kept pulling out, narrowly missing my car. The car, btw, was a Rolls Royce. Only in Greenwich, people.

Also, I'm starting to get quite a few clients down from the Greenwich area... I thought about it on the way home, and it really makes sense to look the part. Designer clothes, purses, shoes... I mean, you wouldn't hire an overweight personal trainer, would you (roll with me, in my mind, this all makes sense)? So I guess the real question is: Can I expense kate spade?

Billy Mays vs. Shamwow

So you know your advertising is effective if your 4 year old child gets it. I can't tell you how many times my 4 year old, Madeline, has told me that if you want to get a stain out, you have to use OxiClean. No joke. The kid is constantly asking me if I bought OxiClean (btw, they advertise during Spongebob--what a way to eat at a parent. Not only do I have to listen to this stuff when I watch TV, but now I have it coming at me from my kid).

So, if you've seen the OxiClean commercial, you're familiar with Billy Mays. The guy with the bad haircut and impossibly neat beard screaming at you to "GET YOUR STAINS OUT WITH OXICLEAN!!! Spilled wine is NO PROBLEM!!!" Billy Mays hocks several products on TV (his wikipedia entry states: "His high-energy approach to pitching an array of products has gained Mays a substantial amount of recognition." Yeah huh.) But one of the newer products he's out there selling is Zorbeez, the "MOST AMAZING MATERIAL I'VE EVER USED!!!"

However, if you're up and up on your super absorbent microfiber cloths, than you may be aware that Zorbeez has a competitor: Shamwow (God, I wish I could make stuff like this up!). BUT, Shamwow does not have Billy Mays--Shamwow has some cheesy guy--Vince--in a headset. The commercials are so eerily similar, Mattio though Shamwow was a spoof commercial; actually, he said he kept waiting for the Geico logo to come up at the end.

Quite frankly, I didn't think the world was big enough for 2 super absorbent products--but who knew? Oh, and if you're wondering... Zorbeez looks like the better deal.

eeeewwww

I had a potential new client call me up the last week, and, as I do right after (or before, if they leave me a message) I speak with a potential new client (PNC), I checked out their web presence. A lot of PNCs don't have anything (hence the phone call to me), but some do, and are looking to upgrade/update what they have.

Now, on a lot of sites I design, my clients, as a courtesy to me, allow me a small link at the bottom advertising that I indeed designed that site. This is not uncommon. I'm a sucker for these links--I'm always curious to see what the competition is.

So this particular PNC had a website, and there was one of those "designed by" links at the bottom. I click, and--oh, eew. I'm taken to this run of the mill, website "factory." I say factory, because the designs, well, they look like they came out of one. And when I checked out their pricing page (oh come on, you would too), it seems they charge for every. little. thing.

Sure, smaller sites start cheap. But guess what? Custom graphics cost extra (and sorry, but this really confused me. Why would custom graphics--such as oh, I don't know, a menu bar--cost extra??! When you "design" a site, don't you kind of create those when you're designing?). Need some animation? Sure, that'll cost you too--and 1 hour's minimum, by the way (which is a little obscene. What kind of animators do they have there that can do their work in under an hour?).

So you're really not getting the great price you thought you were. At the end of the day, you may be way over what you had budgeted. And then what? Cut the custom graphics? Why, so your site could look like every other bad site this place has designed?

Sneaky sneaky, bad web design factory. Sneaky, sneaky.

Random Tuesday

So last week I finished up a little collaboration with ImageMark--we worked together on a site called AtmosAir. It was a quick project, about 15 days to design and develop a small site. Which, as pressing as it was, I loved; there was not time for idling, no time to change one's mind for the umpteenth time... this site HAD to be up by last week, and we made it work.

Don't get me wrong, I don't not love projects that go on for a while... this was just a refreshing (quick) change of pace.

Oh, one more thing... would somebody, anybody, please, please please go to Gibbs College? I don't care what you major in--just go. Their ads seem to be taking over the TV...

Hello, Lovah

Not because I need it, but because it's pretty freakin' cool. The smaller screen size is a bit impractical for me--but hello? It's pretty awesome.

Also on the "OMG-I-have-to-have-this" list: Time Capsule (automatic backup for all your macs!). Oh, and I ain't foolin around with gigs--I'll take the 1 terabyte version, thankyouverymuch.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

I love magazines like Real Simple, Martha Stewart and Blueprint: they give me such inspiration (and only inspiration, never much follow through) to be a little more organized. Not that I'm completely disorganized--don't forget one of my new year's resolutions was to get more organized--but I always aim to aspire to their organizational levels (of course, Martha doesn't have 3 kids running around her house--which is probably why it looks the way it does).

This month, in Real Simple, they devote most the issue to products that don't disappoint: 218 of the "smartest, most useful products for home, fashion, cooking, beauty [and] health" (to quote the cover line). But in the editor's letter, the editor goes on to describe her list of "people and things that don't ever disappoint." It's really inspiring, so much so that I've come up with a list of my own (in no particular order):

--My KitchenAid mixer: Cookie dough, mashed potatoes, you name it: if it needs to be mixed, I gladly lug this heavyweight out of the pantry. It is my favorite kitchen appliance, and it always, always does me well.

--My leopard-print boots: They are my smart, sexy, go-with-anything boots, and I always get complimented on them.

--My husband: He's attentive, caring, and a great sounding board to bounce ideas off of. While I don't always listen to it, I value his opinion. We're very opposite, but the kind of opposite that compliments each other, which I think is what makes our relationship so great.

--My PowerBook: This baby is 3 years old, and (knock wood) I've never had a problem. Every project that I've worked on has come from this computer, and it will be a sad, sad day when I have to replace it (which hopefully won't be for a very long time!)

--Bliss Plum Plum Body Butter: This is the world's best lotion. And it's discontinued (the scent, anyway). I tried for months and months to find another lotion that smelled just as good, with no luck whatsoever. And then, lo and behold, I found some Plum Plum at a Saks outlet in Clinton. I bought every tube they had, and I hope by the day I use the last tube, Bliss will come to their senses and reintroduce it.

--Antonia's Flowers perfume: The best. perfume. ever. My friend turned me on to it years ago; and while I've bought and used other perfumes, I always come back to this one. It's classic.

That's just my partial list... I could go on and on and on. I encourage you all to come up with some sort of list of your own... it makes you feel good, and appreciate the items on your list that much more.

I love this ad

(for American Express) because there are many, many days where I feel like this. Oh, and I totally heart Tina Fey (not in a girl-crush way, but because she's actually really funny).

Coincidence?

For those who know me, know that I worship at the altar of kate spade. Handbags, shoes, sunglasses... it's quite an addiction (a rather expensive one, if you ask Mattio). So I consider myself very familiar with the kate spade symbol, as they refer to it, the noel mark:



As a designer, I actually love it--the pattern; well, and the purse. It's an awesome graphic pattern that--right off the bat--one wouldn't associate with the preppy chic that is kate spade; however, I think it's so complimentary to that brand. And, hello? It's kate spade.

So today, I'm at the gym, flipping through Blueprint magazine, when I came across an article on snowboarding. And in true Martha Stewart fashion, the article goes on to coordinate an outfit for a day on the slopes. And in coordinating that outfit, they also pick out a snowboard. This snowboard, as a matter of fact:



So, of course, my first thought is, "OMG! kate spade makes snowboards (of course Martha Stewart would uncover that)!" But then I take a closer look at the pattern. Wait a minute... that's not the classic noel mark... that's a knockoff!

Check it out, the 2 patterns are awfully similar. The slight difference in the K (kate's is more rounded) and the fact that only the K's repeat in the K2 pattern are what separates the two.

Actually, it looks like it could be a kate spode--that's what Mattio and I refer to as a kate spade knockoff. Hmmm... I might just have to head on down to Chinatown to investigate :)

The vicious circle

There is SO MUCH I want to do lately... now it's just a matter of trying to fit it all in! I really have to update my website--I think my portfolio page could function better--and I really want to make an effort to update the home page more often (which was my intent when I redesigned the site!). I also have an awesome idea for marketing myself--which is going to take some time to put together. And then--oh yeah--there's actual, paying work. Which, in order to get more, I need to market myself and drive people to my website, where they can see recent work. But I don't have a ton of time, because of the actual, paying work. What a vicious, vicious circle.

And we're off!

In my somewhat limited reading today (consisting of a small handful of blogs and the Arts section of the Times--and I haven't yet made it to the puzzle), I came across this gem of a book: Taking Things Seriously: 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance. The premise of the book can be found here, but to sum it up, it basically takes a look at 75 objects, tacky as they may be, "that hadn't been over-designed and focus-grouped to death."

I am so putting this on my reading list--as a matter of fact, I may just have to go out and get it tomorrow. Mattio has a glass clown that falls into this category--it's pretty ugly, and has been on his desk since I have known him. We tried putting it in Madeline's room, but she was scared of it, so back onto Mattio's desk it went. I'm not sure what the significance of it is, but there's got to be something there for him to hang on to it for so long. We also have a Dwight Schrutte bobblehead, it's standing right next to the clown. I love Dwight; Mattio gave it to me as an early birthday gift last year, when I was really bumming.

Also, I think all of our TV room furniture falls into this category :)

Happy New Year!

Well, here it is, the last day of 2007. I can't complain, I had an awesome year--from the growth of my business, to the birth of my third daughter, to all the great people I got to know and work with this past year.

And here's to a great 2008! I am already planning for a bigger and better year: more great clients and projects, a marketing plan I'm really excited about, more blog entries... no more kids, though (we've got our hands full with 3 :)

So to all out there: Happy new year! Have fun, be safe, and I'll see you next year!

Cheers!

6 Degrees of Separation

So, I'm sitting at my computer tonight, reading a couple blogs, and lo and behold, I come across this picture:



Whoop de do... Brad and Angelina shopping. But the pink scarf with the embroidered flowers caught my eye. That looks like--wait a minute, it is!--one of my client's products! And--OMG--there's the tag I designed hanging from the purple scarf! The client is One Kid--they make the most adorable kids clothes--and I've done a decent amount of work for them, including their catalogs, website and clothing tags--which Brad Pitt may or may not be looking at in this picture (He could be saying, "Hey Ang, get this scarf. Not only is it cute and well made, but the tag design is really cool!" OK, a girl can dream).



Of course, this is probably the closest I'll ever get to Brad Pitt...

(Brad and Angelina photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Fresh Air Ideas

So I've had this marketing idea kind of lingering in my head for the past couple of weeks... and unfortunately, I haven't had a moment to myself to really concentrate on turning it into the fantastic idea that it has the potential to be. Until today.

It was a balmy 50 degrees here in Connecticut, so I decided to take a late afternoon walk. All by myself, for one hour. I walked my usual route, which includes a swing through Fairfield U; which was really nice, because the campus is completely empty. And that's when the ideas started to pour in. I couldn't get home fast enough to write it all down.

It was nice to get outside and get some fresh air for an extended period of time, but even nicer to come home with a page's worth of great ideas. If this is what happens when I get fresh air, I definitely have to get out more often!!

I'm back!

Yesterday I got my first new "design" job since having Eleanor. And you know what? After a 2 month design hiatus (I've been working, but it's been on the development side), I am so excited to get back to creatively thinking!

Best Gadgets of 2007

So yesterday I was nytimes.com, trying to find the electronic version of an article I read so I could post it to the blog (it was all about how the gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars--and really, what on earth would anyone do with partridges, calling birds, maids a milking, etc? Give me a pear tree, and --of course--the golden rings, and I'm good); but I found something much more interesting instead: The Pogies.

I don't read David Pogue's column on a regular basis, but I do enjoy it once in a while. And I'm a sucker for all things "best of 2007" so this column was a natural read. So here's what I think is cool, based on Pogue's list:

VISUAL VOICE MAIL, from the iPhone. Well, duh. I don't know who came up with the current voice mail system now (that Pogue argues--and I agree--is meant to eat up your minutes), but it seems awfully archaic to listen to your messages in the order they were received, compared to listening to whatever message you want, in whatever order you want.

T-MOBILE HOTSPOT@HOME. This is the freakin' BOMB. The Hotspot @ Home is just that, except instead of wireless internet access, it's mobile phone access. Which roughly translates into this: all calls made from a T-Mobile Hotspot are free, and don't count against your monthly minutes. Which means that if you have the Hotspot @ Home, all calls you make from home are free. And anywhere else there's a T-Mobile Hotspot (Starbucks, Borders, Kinkos...). Brilliant.

AUDIO-LIMITING EARBUDS. Earbuds for kids that only allow the volume to reach 80 decibals, as opposed to 120 for a standard ipod. Awesome if you've ever been in the position of hearing your child's backseat music--via earbuds--from the front.

MAPPING BREAKTHROUGHS. I love love love google maps. The technology just gets better and better. Over the summer, mapping out a route to Ridgefield, I found that you can take their directions, and modify them by dragging the route line onto another road. If that's not cool enough, there's the live traffic data.

CELLULAR FLASH DRIVE. You know those cell phone modems you can get, so you can have internet access anywhere there's phone service? Well, Novatel's gone one better: they've made a USB antenna that doubles as a flash drive. Awesome.

Merry Christmas!!

Well, it's 9 at night, and Christmas is just about over. The presents have all been opened (and my! How many presents there were!), we ate dinner (and then some!), the kiddies are just about all in bed (no doubt with big plans for tomorrow and all their new toys), and Mattio is at his computer, anticipating the uninstall of Windows Vista.

Wait--huh?

Yes, Mattio's big gift this year was Windows XP, to replace the version of Vista he is tired of fighting with (he got some other stuff too, but that was the one thing he asked for).

What cracks me up, is the fact that Mattio's PC keeps proving those Apple commercials right, time and time again. Cancel or Allow? We've been there, done that. Now he's actually downgrading to the previous operating system...



Thank goodness he has his Macs to fall back on.

Hope Santa was good to all out there... Merry Christmas!

PS. How freakin AWESOME is this t shirt Mattio got me??! I am SO an original design gangsta, cause I totally rock the white space!!

A Festivus miracle!

Tomorrow is Festivus, and what better way to pay tribute than through a clip of all the festivus scenes in that classic Seinfeld episode (unless you have an aluminum pole).

By the way, do you ever watch an episode of Seinfeld, and forget just how great it really is? I always forget about all the subplots... Watching this particular episode tonight, I completely forgot about the "two face" girl, the H & H bagel strike, and the Human Fund ("money for people"). Classic!

I confess...

OK, so in my last post I proclaimed that I was not a geek (sort of--by the end of the post I 'fessed up). Truth be told, I guess I am a bit of a geek. But not a computer nerd... I'd like to say I'm more of a design geek.

I was sort of laughed at last week, when I was talking with a little too much enthusiasm about an article in the latest HOW Magazine, about Helvetica alternatives (I found the article quite fascinating... I mean, as great as it is, you can't use Helvetica for everything!); and just today--to prove my design geekdom--I got a little giddy over the mail: the biggest issue of Graphic Design: USA came: The Annual Awards issue.

I love this, and other annual awards issues (Comm Arts, Print, etc.) because it's nice to see what else is out there, and what else is judged as "the best." It's also completely inspirational--I keep these issues out in the open, as they have sparked a couple of great ideas. Oh yeah, and I, ahem, won 6 of these awards myself this past year :D

I'm only halfway through the issue, and there's some really great stuff in there. A ton of beautiful designs in the announcements/cards category. I can't wait to get to IDs and stationery!

So there you have it: Confessions of a real life design geek.

No. Freakin. Way.

I am not a geek, I swear. OK, I have been known to get a little over-excited over fonts (and this month's issue of HOW Magazine is the typography issue!! But I digress). But I am a bit of a Mac enthusiast (I don't think I'll ever be able to properly express just how thrilled I was when my PC using, Mac-hating husband asked for a Mac for his birthday a couple of years ago).

Years, years, years ago, one of my first jobs was laying out the MicroWarehouse catalog (God, that is so embarrassing!); and vendors used to send us stupid promotional stuff all the time: Computer Associates magnets, Linksys notepads, Cisco keychains... stupid tchotke garbage that was wasted on me. However, every once in a while the folks over at MacWarehouse--one cubicle row over--would share their promotional booty; I still have T shirts advertising System 7 (now with Sherlock!) and a great "Think Different" baseball cap that I still wear to this day.

So when I just came across RedLightRunner.com, I got a little giddy. It's actually an online reseller of Apple... stuff, I guess would be the right word for it.



A G4 Cube (remember those? Remember how hot they got? You could seriously fry an egg on those things!) T shirt. The original Bondi iMac Mouse yo yo (It glows in the dark!). Nano refrigerator magnets. They even have rainbow Apple Computer stickers (old school, as Apple dropped the "Computer" part of it's name with the launch of the iPhone). And they get new inventory in all the time!! And yes, I totally signed up to be notified. Which I guess makes me a geek.

Blue New Year?

So according to Pantone, not only is 2008 the year of the Rat, but it is also the year of blue... Blue Iris, that is.



I don't know how I missed this, but apparently Pantone has been assigning colors to years for quite some time now. I mean, I know every year there are some colors that are hotter than others (2007 was Chili Pepper Red... interesting it wasn't some form of Green--lord knows that's all anyone talked about), but I was completely unaware that there was a specific color picked for each year.

The Times article goes on to talk about fashion, and how blue has been popping up on the runways of late. Which lead me to think of the great speech Meryl Streep (as Miranda Priestly) gives to a dumbfounded Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wear Prada:

"This... 'stuff'? Oh... ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff."

Interesting... she's talking about the color blue.

Office Space

I am lucky enough to work in the comfort of my own home; but unfortunately, a lot of people out there can't say that. I have worked in many an office, and sadly, many a cubicle. And they're every bit as drab and depressing as you can imagine. I think the only thing worse than spending the better part of a day in a cold, grey cubicle, is sharing that cold, grey space with someone you dislike (trust me, I've done that before, too).

But with makeovers--especially home makeovers--being all the rage right now, why not makeover your work space to fit your personality? And I don't mean a couple of pictures of your boyfriend/girlfriend/kids/family/pets; I'm talking extremes. Cube Chic: Taking your Office Space from Drab to Fab is a new book by interior designer Kelly Moore, and wow, does she have some great ideas!



I love the cover cube (Zen Cube), but I'm also partial--and who wouldn't be?-- to the Costanza-esque Nap cube (complete with cereal dispenser!). You can view a slideshow of a couple of other great cubes here.

By the way, according to Amazon, customers who bought this book also bought the brilliantly titled Pimp My Cubicle: Take Your Workspace from Boring to Bling! Oh, and the author, in case you're wondering, is Reverend Smoothello G. Debaclous. Sadly, this book is in the bargain bin, but maybe with Kelly's book there'll be a renewed interest.

Merry Xmas (War is Over)

I met with my pal Cyndy, of art + interiors, today, to go over her monthly favorites email. Every month she sends out an email to all of her contacts with a couple of her artists, and a quote to go with it. The December quote she picked is simply amazing, and I really want to share:

“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
— John Lennon

How appropriate, especially at this time of the year. I love Christmas, and I love shopping, and I love giving gifts; but I would happily trade it all in for peace.

Schweaty Balls

As I've posted before, I am in full-on holiday mode: we've had Christmas music on for the past month now (I just wondered what on earth I would listen to come December 26th), the stockings hung and the tree decorated, cards sent, gifts bought and wrapped, and cookies baked. Well, there is one thing I haven't done this Christmas... I haven't purchased any Schweaty Balls:



I just about lose it when Molly Shannon says, "I just can't wait to get my mouth around this ball!" Seriously, I don't know how they can keep a straight face.

I'm away from my desk...

There was an interesting article in the Styles section of today's Times. It was all about how people find inspiration and work better when they're not at their desk. Some companies (beyond Google) have taken the traditional desk/cubical away and replaced it with work areas, lounges, conference rooms, and/or rotating desks.

I don't know about the rotating desk idea (never sitting at the same desk 2 days in a row), but I find that I do tend to get inspired away from my "office". Starbucks is my home away from home (only before school lets out though--then it's only good for making me feel old). The change of scenery is nice, but I think I get more done due to the fact that I won't pony up for internet access, therefore forcing me to complete the task at hand.

The Times refers to the place where work actually gets done as "White Space." I refer to my white space as writing off my $10 coffee :)

I heart Tim Gunn

So Mattio and I are not the biggest TV watchers in the world... We watch the Thursday night NBC line up (except ER, or errrr, as Mattio says), and I'm a big Heroes fan. Other than that (and sports), Mattio will turn on SportCenter at night, or I'll flip on the Today Show in the AM just for background noise; or we'll happen to catch our new favorite: How It's Made (fascinating show, by the way--guarantee you'll be hooked. I have no idea when it's on, but I know it's on the Discovery Channel and Discovery Times). But except for Mondays and Thursdays, we don't make time to watch TV.

But with Eleanor, I've been up at some strange hours and let me tell you, if you think there's nothing on during prime time, you haven't watched TV at 3 AM. Along with a steady stream of Gibbs commercials (seriously, who are these people marketing to airing commercials non-stop at all hours of the night/morning??), there's a whole lot of nothing on.

But sometimes I'm lucky enough to catch a rerun of Project Runway. It holds my interest, but not enough for me to look up when it's actually on (besides, if I did that, what would I watch at 3 AM?). And if I'm truly lucky, I'll catch Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. I ain't gonna lie, there's been times where Eleanor's done eating and back in bed, and I'm still watching Tim and Veronica's latest transformation.

Tim Gunn is fascinating. He makes the worst news a bit more bearable. Seriously, when a contestant gets outed on PR, and he has to tell them to pack their things, he makes it sound not quite as bad as it really is (sometimes he makes himself out to feel just as bad as the recently cut). And as much as he hates some of the clothes on Guide to Style, he tells each makeover-ee with a little more panache than anyone else can muster.

I seriously want Tim Gunn to break bad news to me; I think I would hug him, just to make him feel better about the whole thing.

resolutions

Wow--it's been a while, huh? Well, I'm back! Since I can't imagine it's very entertaining to keep up with a blog that hasn't been updated in quite some time, I'm making that one of my almost-new-year's resolutions (almost-new-years, because I plan on starting now, rather than on January 1).

Actually, updating the blog more often falls under my biggest almost-new-year's resolution: getting organized. This past year has been a great one, business-wise; however at times I could have been more organized and found myself with a bit more time.

So starting today, I am planning on getting organized: creating task lists and deadlines, so I can keep myself, as well as my clients happy. Of course, my early Christmas present has much to do with that: I got the new Treo, from Palm, so I can check my calendar, task lists, and email on the go.

So now I can check off blog entry off my list--however, I have a ton of other things to do... so I am off to check them off, as well. But let me know some of your resolutions for the new year (or almost new year, if you're like me and want to get a jump on things) in the comments. Maybe I'll be inspired to add to my resolution list!