Our evolving relationship with technology

My friend Michelle, a Louisville, KY-based blogger, was recently on a panel on an NPR show discussing, well... our evolving relationship with technology:

With every new gadget, website, social networking interface, and smart phone, the older things they're replacing fall further from favor. Who keeps up with these tech changes, and who is sticking with the programs they used when they first started computing? Does the difference between Luddites and early adopters fall along age lines, or is it personality? Tune in this Tuesday for a conversation about our evolving relationship with all things digital - and call to tell us how you use technology.

I found it interesting, because one of the other panelists said that his grandmother, of all people, had embraced Twitter as a way to stay in touch with her family. Meanwhile my mother can barely transfer music to her ipod without 12 phone calls to me.

One of the best parts was the 70+ year old caller at the end talking about how he just doesn't understand text messaging. "Why can't people just pick up the phone and call?" Hee hee. He should talk to Ashlee and her friends about that.

Listen to the show here.

OK, I'm off to watch the debates, now... actually, I'll be watching from bed, with my laptop on my lap, and watching twitter at the same time. Right next to my husband with his laptop, doing the same (except he usually tweets along with the debate, I just like to see what others are saying). Talk about embracing technology... I once knew a couple who banned laptops from their bed. We haven't gotten to that point yet, thank goodness!

Cool stuff

Last week in my travels, I came across these funky little Pantone Nesting dolls (seriously, can we appeal to my inner design geek any more?):



Over the weekend, I had a chance to explore Yar Rassadin's site a little further... and wow. The pendulum bookcase? The honeycomb lamp? Angel/devil salt/pepper shakers? Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

Mmmmm, tasty...

I confess: I completely got lost in the internet tonight (I *was* planning on working. I started to, then--I'm not quite sure how--I got completely sidetracked. Completely). The bad thing about getting lost in the internet is that it uses up time that is oh-so-precious to me. The good thing? I find cool stuff like this:





These are actually wall decals, courtesy of Tasty Suite. I am completely in love with Big and Curvy Alphabet--that one will definitely be going up in my office (once I get a real one--stay tuned). I'm also loving the faux lamps, I might have to find a spot for some of those, as well.

So I think the lesson that I've learned is that every time I get lost on the internet, I find yet another way to spend money. I tell ya, if there was no such thing as online shopping, I might be a rich woman!

Speaking of posters...

My pal Amy from Elements emailed me this morning with a link to her latest blog entry, citing AIGA's Get Out the Vote; an invitation "to create nonpartisan posters—and YouTube submissions—that inspire the American public to participate in the electoral process and vote for a presidential candidate in the 2008 general election."

You can see some of the posters here, but there's a 6-odd minute slideshow of about 50 posters that is amazing. While the designs are diverse, the message is the same: get your butt out there and vote on November 4th!

Cool type, cool posters

I was doing some research for a cookie website today... and I came across these most awesome posters:






OK, first of all... I know. These have nothing to do with cookies. But listen, the internet is a big place, and sometimes a girl gets sidetracked. Especially when she comes across a creative use of type and maps, such as this.

According to the website, fellow graphic designer Jenny Beorkrem was searching for a poster of Chicago, and came up empty. So she did what any other poster-loving graphic designer would do: she designed her own. Thus, Ork Posters was born.

Brilliant, just brilliant.

I won! I won!

As recently as a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to receive an email from a Nigerian fellow looking to free an extraodinarily large sum of money up; as a result of my help, he was willing to share the wealth and pay me millions of dollars! (I know, I can't believe this scam is still going around either.)

Today, I received an email from the WebEx Corporation, actually rewarding me for being an internet user! Go on, then:

So much money is generated from people like you all over the World for using the Information Superhighway (the Internet) without your being aware the enormous sum that go to the stake holders (WWITC). Without your patronage, this would not have been possible. After we conducted a research on the issue, we concluded that Internet users should be compensated (Ed. note: What kind of research, exactly, did they do to come to this conclusion?). As a result, we embarked on a worldwide lottery promotion with a sophisticated automated database to randomly select E-mail accounts that frequently surf the Internet. Consequent upon this, your E-mail address was picked for Category "A" Winners.

The best part about this whole thing--aside from the fact that the Internet is being referred to as the Information Superhighway (Really? This email hasn't been updated at all since 1995?)--is that it was sent to the email address I never give out.

Oh, and it was signed "Congratulations!!! And thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web." No, I'm really not making this up.

Current addictions

RULES:

* Post at least five current addictions (with some details, please).
* Mention the person who started this meme (Being Brazen) and also the person who just tagged you - Marcy.
* Type your post with the heading “Current addictions”.
* Tag at least two people and pass on the above rules.

OK, here we go... my current addictions:

1. Shopping. I have to side with Marcy on this one... if there's one thing I'm obsessed with, it's shopping. Having just come off a major spree, it'll probably be a while before I spend again (well, that, and other reasons), but I'm happy just browsing, putting a list together for the next time. I like to shop for just about anything, although, like Marcy, I'm not big on the groceries. I love, love, love shopping for gifts for people, and of course, clothes and shoes--which brings me to my next obsession...

2. Shoes.If you've never met me, never read this blog, never talked to my husband and/or kids and mentioned shoes... than this is new to you. But anyone who's basically ever crossed my path knows that I adore shoes. I don't discriminate (too much), I love a sexy heel just as much as sneakers. I own a ton of shoes, they are stashed all over my house, and it definitely one thing I am definitely proud to be obsessed with (although my kids may think otherwise come time for college).

3. kate spade. I am such a girly girl, aren't I? Shopping, shoes, and now this. I am obsessed with kate because I think her designs are timeless. I have ks purses that are embarrassingly old, that I still happily carry around, and are still very much in style. A 10 year old ks purse, in my opinion, does not show it's age. She completely shrugs off trendy and goes for class, and that is why I'm obsessed.

4. Cape Cod potato chips and veggie dip. I can't. stop. eating this. I always keep some form of veggie dip in the house, as well as at least one bag of CC chips. One day, I was snacking on actual vegetables with my dip, and Mattio came out with the chips and tried it. My life hasn't been the same since, and I don't know whether to thank Mattio for that or not.

5. My new iMac. It's fast, it's big, and I love it. Coming from a 15" PowerBook, it'll take quite a while for the novelty of this new beast to wear off, which is just fine by me.

6. Loathing bananas. I am obsessed with bananas in the most negative way you can be. Hate isn't a strong enough word, that's how I feel about bananas. I can't stand the smell, seeing someone peel a banana makes me gag, and the thought of eating one makes me vomit. I am incredibly passionate in my hatred of this fruit. So maybe I'm a little weird, but I'm obsessed with loathing bananas.

Yum

I got an email from Coach today (fancy that!), introducing their new Op Art collection:



Hello, beautiful!

I really, really love the black/grey/orange pattern the best. The monochrome patterns aren't really doing it for me as much; but something like this scarf really stands out to me as gorgeous:



Yum, yum, indeed.

Thanks again, Marcy!

Ugh, I've been so neglectful, and I'm so sorry! I've got lots of little things going on, a couple of big things, and major wireless issues (I actually had to--gasp!--connect my laptop to the printer/scanner WITH A CABLE. What on earth is up with that??!) that have been keeping me busy. Then I just happened to stop by Marcy's, and saw this--with my name on it, mind you--and thought... what better way to jump right back into blogging? As usual, Marcy to the rescue!

The Aging Meme
all you have to do is fill in the blanks...

At a certain age women should try not to remember that they are women of a certain age!

At a certain age men should stop combing their hair over--you're not fooling anyone, mister!

When I was a kid I thought I would rule the universe.

Now that I am older I wish I hadn't always wished to be older.

You know you are too old to rock out to Fall Out Boy when your teenager makes fun of you (What? Their songs are catchy!)

You know you are too young to have grey hairs when people look at you like you have five heads when you talk about it

When I was in high school I listened to the music of Alternative: the Cure, the Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc...

Nowadays I find I like the music of "Adult" Alternative. What's up with that name? Geez, nothing like making you feel old...

On my last birthday I was 9 months preggers.

On my next birthday I want to have the cocktail I didn't have last year!

The best birthday present I ever got was my husband--we got married a week after my birthday, so I think of it as a belated gift.

The first time I felt grown up was registering Ashlee for preschool.

The last time I felt like a kid was the last time I jumped on the trampoline.

When I read _________ it changed my life. I don't really have an answer to this one... there are many books I like, many more that I love, but I can't ever say that one of them changed my life. If it did, it couldn't have changed it that much, as I don't remember it!

Last year was a great year.

Next year I hope life continues to get better.

Weekly wrap up

So... This is my second post today, and the second from the rather large computer set up that has taken over our bedroom (I love it. I know, I know, all this computer talk gets old... but humor me. I went from a 15" screen to a 24 in a matter of hours!).

Not much went on this week, to tell you the truth. I have a couple of small things going on:

--The Orthopedic logo sketches I'm working on for the Hospital for Special Surgery got approved. Yay! This means I can move onto implementing them in Illustrator. Once we get close to a finalized design, my logo is going to make it's debut in Zurich (yes, Switzerland!), at some big Orthopedic meeting. Exciting!

--Met with One Kid to discuss future catalog needs. Stay tuned on that...

--worked on some web updates for Tim Coffey

--worked on some new artist updates for art + interiors

--worked on some new scans for Marcy

--oh yeah, I got a bitchin' new computer!

This weekend I am beyond excited: Saturday is field trip day! Marcy, Becky and I have been planning a trip to outlets in NY for about a month now. We have a game plan, and are going to shop until we drop. Sunday is the last game EVER at Yankee Stadium. Mattio is actually lucky enough to be going (I'm trying to convince him to bring my camera--I know it's big and bulky, but for the love! Last game ever! Walking from Monument Park out to home plate! This is huge!!); I will be watching from home.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Hello, handsome

This is what my desk is looking like these days... Pretty hot, no?

(I think Dwight is going to get an inferiority complex. It really does dwarf him.)

Before

So I cleaned off my desk this weekend (it was pretty scary... a little like Al Gore's, but much less organization. Or space to put things, for that matter. Or the sweet 3 monitor set up. OK, my desk was just a mess). In doing so, I came across a folder I had created for inspiration. Of course, the folder was buried under so much other stuff, that the last time I was inspired was about 6 months ago.

Getting into artist mode, I realized that I need to be inspired more, find more creativity and beauty everyday. Surely I can't find one thing every day to be inspired by?

So I did it. I challenged myself to find one thing every day that inspires me. And then yesterday I went out and bought this notebook to put together my diary of inspiration:



So I will keep you posted on how it's filling up. I'm sure the "After" picture will be quite different.

Pretty type

Yummmm... I saw this ad in yesterday's Sunday Styles. I love the swirlies in the type--so pretty.

An oldie but goodie

This might be so 5 years ago, but...

The other day I was researching something (I don't even remember what it was! It had to be type-related, though), and came across John Langdon's website. His ambigram work never ceases to amaze me; check out the gallery here. I can't imagine just how long it takes him to craft each letter. For those who aren't in the know, ambigrams are words written so they can be read forwards, and turned upside down to be read backwards the exact same way.

John's work also enjoyed some time in the spotlight many years ago, when the DaVinci Code was the hot book to read. He had worked on some ambigrams for one of Dan Brown's previous books, Angels and Demons. I remember finding his website back then, and being utterly amazed. As I said above, I still think his handiwork is incredible--so cool, in fact, I think it warrants a little more time in the spotlight.

In celebration of Fashion Week...

Walking along Mulberry Street on Saturday, I came across the Malia Mills store. Two things came to mind: remember how ground-breaking Malia Mills was when she first came out? For those that don't know, in the early 90's, Malia Mills pioneered selling bikini pieces separately (a small top doesn't always mean a small bottom). The second thing I thought, was Oh my gosh, I totally love her logo!



That M is so decorative, so pretty, so fun!

This, of course, led me to think of just how much I love the Tory Burch logo as well:



It is honestly, one of my favorite logos out there. It's so graphic, and so striking; and the designer brilliantly made patterns out of it to use for bags, wallpaper, etc. And, thanks to the success of the Riva ballet flat, with the double T medallion on the toes, it's instantly recognizable.

I tried to find other graphic fashion logos, but I couldn't. I resisted putting up classic fashions symbols such as Louis Vuitton, and the Chanel double C's; only because, while I think those logos are certainly iconic (and widely recognized), I feel that the above logos are very distinct in their design.

So... anyone out there want to share? What's your favorite fashion icon (in logo terms, not Marc Jacobs)?

Can I get a Woot! Woot!

Just the other day, I thought to myself, hmmmm... it's early September, the American Graphic Design Awards should be coming out soon...

Well, cut to today, and the bulky white envelope in my mailbox...

(drumroll, please!)

I am very happy to announce that I was the recipient of 4 awards! I don't believe I've shared these on the blog yet (and actually, I wanted to save the Glow logo until the packaging printed--because I'm so WAY excited about it!--but I'm even more excited about winning the awards). Ladies and gentlemen, I present:

art + interiors, monthly favorites:



This is the monthly "e-newsletter" (for lack of better term) from my pal Cyndy. Each month, she sends out an email featuring a couple of her artists, and a quote. It's so simple, yet so graphically powerful. I enjoy sitting down with Cyndy each month as we select artwork (and a quote) for Favorites (and, of course, dish the dirt!).



Glow Gluten Free, logo:



My pal Jill was so much fun to work with. She has such a passion for her product (delicious gluten-free cookies--you'd think that was an oxymoron or something, but so not the case with her cookies). I'm even more excited to feature the packaging, once it prints!


Lush Floral Designs, website:



Zoe's flower arrangements are so breathtaking, it wasn't hard to design her site at all! You can see the site in it's entirety, here.


The Portrait House, pro bono website:



K, so Justin and Mary keep giving me these awesome projects, and I keep winning awards for them. Seriously, this is the third site of theirs that's won (so what's on tap for this year, guys? :) All kidding aside, I was so happy to help out and design the site for this charity they've started, benefitting Habitat for Humanity. Check out the site here, or the blog here.

And as Mary and Justin would say, PHantastic!

Stop! And shop...

When I was a child, the Stop and Shop logo made so. much. sense to me. You stopped, and you shopped. Red light, green light. The 5 year old me thought it was brilliant--just brilliant!--to use a stop light to convey stopping and shopping (Thank God I've moved on).



Well, Stop and Shop has recently rebranded itself (with a logo designed by Interbrand), and I can't decide if I like it or not.



The designer me hates the type--the ampersand and S in shop need to stop flirting and just hook up already. The icon itself has grown on me; at first I was not a fan (looks a lot like TBS, and I'm not an incredible fan of their logo either), but seeing it animated in their new commercials, I'm starting to like it. I really like that it can be interpreted as many different things: food, fruit, a basket...

However, the logo needs to look good and be appealing as a static entity, as well as animated. Had I not seen the animation, I'm not sure I would feel the same way about it.

Brand New has a good post, as well as some interesting comments on it here. You can also see some screenshots of the animation, and see how--in my opinion anyway--it makes the icon more appealing.

Introducing...

Christy Murray's new logo!



Christy is a wedding/baby/family/life photographer (whew! She wears a lot of hats!), and found me through the Portrait House website. Just about her only request for her new logo was that she liked the thought of adding something natural to it; she included the Papyrus logo as an example.

Some butterflies, birds, flowers and dragonflies later, she decided she was leaning towards the lotus. But then she had an "AHA!" moment when she went to look for the meaning behind the lotus:

"...lotus is symbolic of the true soul of an individual."

...which, as she explained, was exactly what she was looking for when photographing her subjects.

Christy is an absolute doll to work with, and her photography is amazing (check out her blog here for some examples of her work)! She was very easygoing throughout her logo design process, and I can't wait to collaborate on more projects with her!

Weekly wrap up

Wow--I can't believe it's Labor Day weekend already. Wasn't it just June? This summer really flew by (for me, anyway), part because of how busy I was, and part was due to lack of vacation (major home renovations put the kebosh on that; and added to my stress--causing me to, you guessed it, need a vacation even more).

Anyway, this week I kind of laid low... not much going on, but I have lots of exciting stuff on the horizon:

--This week I received proof approval on the One Kid catalog. This is usually very, very stressful as the color has to be 100% dead-on, and usually takes several rounds of back and forth to achieve color perfection. Oh, and they usually need the catalog yesterday. This time we only had one back and forth, and the folks over at One Kid are very happy with where we're at. Now, on to printing!

--Worked on One Kid hangtags and advertisements.

--Got some new work from Marcy.

--Received design approval from Kate over at Greenwich Dance Studio. I am so excited about this site; it's not quite a departure from my normal "look", but it's definitely a little different for me.

--Put up a temp site for HB Home; it's not much, but it's keeping in tune with the site design I'm working on. Check it out here: hbhomedesign.com

--Met with my pal Tim Coffey, regarding some website changes and direct mail work.

--Finalized some business card designs for a pal who's opening up her own shop (I can't get into specifics now, but I will brag on and on about her once said shop opens). We were actually supposed to meet this week to go over the designs; however the printer at Kinkos had other ideas; we're meeting next week, instead.

--Sent my middle child, Madeline, to kindergarten. This was probably the hardest thing I did all week (although, she thought it was pretty simple. When it was time to go into the classroom--without me--for the first time, she just grabbed her friend's hand, and walked in). While it breaks my heart just a little to see my baby grow up like that, it is nice having the kids back in school. The house--during the day, at least--is much, much quieter.

This weekend we don't have a lot going on: we laid low today, picnic tomorrow, and no real plans Monday. I'm hoping to get ahead on some projects, so next week I'm not completely overwhelmed.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Eleanor's conquest

Our baby, Eleanor, is 10 months old. As mobile 10 month old babies are wont to do, she gets into EVERYTHING. Her latest thing is trying to get into the refrigerator to grab at the wine housed in a Pellegrino bottle on the bottom shelf of the door. Mind you, there's also a jar of mayonnaise, as well as a tub of maple syrup on that shelf.

But she just heads for the wine. Every time.

Each time she hears the fridge door open, she tears into the kitchen to try and worm her way in before we shut the door. The other day, I just left the door open and caught her on camera:

The wine! She left the door open, and now it's mine! I can't believe my luck!


I'll just grab it and go...

Hmmm, maybe it'll work better if I stand up and take it.

Man, this stuff is heavy!

If I could just bring it to my lips...

Wait--what's that clicking sound? Oh snap! I got caught!

Let me act all innocent and cute--this works every time!