If you haven’t seen this video of Aaron Draplin talking about why ‘America is F-cked’ then by all means, do so now. He is clearly on the side of ‘good’ design and a sane person can’t really argue with the example he uses as proof of the downward spiral of ‘professional’ design. It ends up posing a rather interesting question: is there a moral code by which designers and design professionals should practice? Read the rest of this entry »
So, there’s a fashion show coming up, and I’m doing some design for it. Not fashion design, but designs for t-shirts and various other media (perhaps thongs, hats, cups, who knows). It should be a good time. Check out the sweet card artwork above. It’s on November 14th at the USF Tampa Marshall Center. Be there or be square.
And, randomly on the treadmill, I started thinking about really REALLY old stuff from 6th and 7th grade. I think it might be a sign as I start brainstorming my new site. But it was really random stuff, like Bilbo the Rabid Walrus and Newbus: the Dumbest Slug on Earth. I’m not even sure how they would play into my site. Yet.
Revisiting childhood sounds like a pretty good idea for a theme.
So, both movies were pretty GD awesome. Zombieland was kind of like an American attempt at zombedy much like Shaun of the Dead put a uniquely British spin on the genre. It’s not subtle. At all. But it was definitely a fun movie, even for those who may not generally go for the Zed word. Read the rest of this entry »
I suck.
I don’t mean to leave you just kind of hanging out, forlorn and lonely on the internets. We’ve had a tumultuous time together: I’ll get excited about you and write steadily for a couple days, and then I’ll get busy and will forsake you for months. Then I’ll come back and write feverishly before losing interest/drive.
Again.
So, how about we make a deal? Once a week? Fridays sound good? Awesome. Now that I have a research direction, you and I may be spending more quality time together.
XOXO
Phil
HOLY CRAP—THERE’S A FREAKING SPROUT!
That’s right, loyal reader, Rick Astley has totally started sprouting. The first picture is from Day 06 (yesterday) and the second picture is from today. Somehow the little bugger mustered enough courage to finally break free from the soil and spread his joy to the rest of the world. Of course, Xena’s probably getting ready to bloom, but that doesn’t matter because Astley’s totally in the game.
Whoa! And I just watered him and there are now THREE sprouts. I have bore triplets!
Wow, I definitely need a better hobby.
So, I’m not sure if Florida is just overly behind the times or what, but I noticed yesterday that one of the local Holiday Inns that I passed on the way home from work had a new sign, printed on a vinyl banner, wrapped around the old sign. To me, that said “New and in-progress” but after doing a little searching, it looks like this re-branding has been going on for quite some time. So, for some of you, this may be old news. For me, though, it was quite a shock. Read the rest of this entry »
So, the first thing I did this morning was water Astley in the hopes of nursing the seeds back to health. There are no sprouts yet, even though Xena is sprouting like the freaky Amazonian she is. I think it’s because Astley is just a late bloomer. He’ll totally be that small kid that winds up being huge in high school and goes on to be a professional wrestler or body guard. I’m so proud thinking of it right now.
I also aerated the soil, because I may have packed his soil too tightly. And then I think I drowned him shortly afterwards. Perhaps he’s a swamp sunflower. I sure hope so.
Okay, technically it’s Day 03, but since it’s the weekend it doesn’t count. And, as you can already probably tell by the ominous tone of the title, I am pretty sure that I’ve already killed Astley with a heaping dose of neglect. Things got hectic at the end of the day on Friday and I forgot to water him before I left. His soil was moist all day, but I doubt it’ll last over the weekend.
Oh well.
I’ll continue to water him and hope for the best. However, in the end, I’ll probably end up like the guy from Psycho, but instead of the remains of my mother in the attic, I’ll have a tiny flower pot filled with dirt on my sill.
So, my co-worker was kind enough to pick up a couple kits for growing flowers in tiny pots today. Why? I’m not sure. What I do know, though, is that she’s growing a Zinnia named Xena: Warrior Princess and I am growing the more manly-looking of the two, a sunflower named Astley. I had originally planned on calling him Rick, but realized that the CEO’s name is also Rick, and decided to use my better judgement. Check out day 01 after the jump.
So, after watching a discussion between a Democratic senator (or congresswoman) and a Republican senator (or—again—congressman) discuss their trip to Guantanamo Bay, I came to this conclusion: Gitmo is like the New Coke of the United States. It may be all fine and dandy, and in practice it might be a solid product, but externally, the consumers hate everything about it and it ends up tarnishing the brand. (In Coke’s case, that meant eventually going back to the original formula and branding the hell out of it as Coca Cola Classic to alleviate any concerns.)
Both of the politicians who spent time at Guantanamo Bay extolled the facilities and the treatment of the detainees. Both even said that the prison is successful and is fulfilling its duties with flying colors. However, the differing of opinions occurred when asked whether the base should be shut down or not. The Republican explained that since the base is doing its job and is not the human rights black hole that people think it is. The Democrat, on the other hand, countered that even though the prison is well-kept and the prisoners are taken care of, it is a spot on America’s global presence and thus its closing would help improve our standing in the world.
I have to admit, she’s got it right. But why? Why is image so important?
Let’s jump back to Coke as an example. If Coke were to go belly-up for some un-Godly reason, the worth of its tangible assets in April 2007 was roughly $25 billion. However, the estimated worth of the company at the same time? $117 billion. Holy crap.
Coke, as a brand, was worth roughly FIVE TIMES that of its tangible assets. That means that if every Coke plant were to mysteriously explode and every little bit of Coke paraphernalia currently on store shelves, billboards, product placements, etc. were to mysteriously disappear, it could be replaced for LESS than what the company is worth.
That brand leverage is currently being applied to the U.S. during this economic down turn. We’re in the crapper financially but we’re able to borrow from outside sources (not just tax payers) to (hopefully) pull ourselves out of this recession. For the most part, the sources lending money to the government are saying “Hey, you know what? You guys are in trouble, but we know your track record and we think you’ll be able to make us money in the long run.”
But how does Gitmo fit into this picture? Well, the prison is generally seen as tarnish on America’s reputation of fairness and opportunity, and as such, it sullies the brand. Although it might be doing its job and look good on paper, it’s also undermining the intangible brand value of the United States of America. If our “consumers” are not confident in our reputation, we’re worth even less financially; they stop giving us money and we spiral out of control financially.
A brand is not what the creator/owner says it is. A brand is what the consumer says it is.
In this situation, the people of the U.S. are the creators/owners of the brand; regardless of how we define American life the U.S. and its reputation and worth can only be defined by the rest of the world.