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!