A question I was asked during my visit at the Marc Usa agency in Chicago this Friday, I had voted Apple and Coca-Cola during a conference discussion with the Purdue University Marketing Association and the members of Marc Usa. To little surprise, mostly everyone in the conference room had written down Apple. Rest in peace Steve Jobs.

When considering a product or service that you trust, is reliable, and ceases to disappoint, what would your favorite brand be and why?

 

Call for Art

Studio 659 in historic Whiting IN (20 minutes from Chicago) wants War art from any period of war throughout U.S. history.   We are looking for art, particularly paintings,  that depicts  the horrors of war, the zeal and valor of its participants,  the consequences of battle, or those left behind. The show opens on November 4, 2011 and runs through November 30, 2011.  The show will also include WWII artifacts and authentic WWI propaganda posters.

Artists are invited to submit up to 3 JPG images to: gaylekosalko@aol.com.  2-D and 3-D submissions in all media and styles are welcomed. Please include an image list in your email with title, media, size, year completed, and price.  Paintings need to be wired.  Also please denote any special installation needs in your email. There is no entry fee.

The Studio retains a 20% commission, please factor this into your retail pricing.  An artist reception will be held on Friday, November 4 and all regional artists are strongly encouraged to attend. The gallery reserves the right to decline any accepted artwork upon delivery if the condition or quality is other than represented in the submission. www.studio659.org

Calendar

Submissions due                               Thursday, October 13th

Artists notified by email               Monday, October 17th

Work delivered                                 October  27-28, during regular Studio hours*

Opening Reception                         Friday, November 4th, from 6:59p.m.  until 9:00p.m.

Show closes                                       Wednesday,  November 29th

Artwork pick up                              Thursday, December 1, Friday, December 2nd,  and Saturday,  December 3 during regular Studio hours*

*Studio 659 hours are Thursdays and Fridays from noon until 7p.m. and Saturdays from 10a.m. until 2p.m.

 

Well, OK not exactly. Parts of your logo can be made by them. The rest you have to assemble using a spiffy “logo-generator”. LogoGarden.com is “the fastest growing logo site in the world” according to their wesbsite. They sell “DIY logos for Entreprenuers”.  Yay. Just what a designer loves to see.

Sometime this weekend I started to see multiple Twitter and Facebook posts from designers commenting about www.LogoGarden.com. They were pissed. You see, these designers said they never allowed their work to be on this site. On Sunday Jeff Fisher posted this on his Facebook page: “Buyers beware – and designers may want to take a look for their work in the logo design archive of LogoGarden.com I’ve found at least 20 of my original logo designs being offered for sale on the site. These are logos for my retail, restaurant, service, nonprofit and event clients. Numerous internationally recognized logos are unethically being offered as potential logo designs for unsuspecting business owners.”

What unsuspecting clients may not know is that they take on the liability of using their “generated” logo. If they read the Terms of Use on the site they would know…

From their website/Terms of Use:
(2) Trademarks and Copyrights.  User acknowledges that no trademark, copyright or service marks are being conveyed under this Agreement. User acknowledges that LogoGarden has no obligation or duty to perform copyright, trademark or service mark searches to validate the symbol database is not infringing on any trademark, copyright or service marks. Accordingly, LogoGarden encourages Users to perform their own independent searches. User acknowledges that LogoGarden shall have no responsibility to assist User in seeking state or federal intellectual property protection (i.e., trademark registration).  LogoGarden shall not be responsible to assist User to perfect the Users rights.

What’s really perplexing is, that according to their website…”LogoGarden.com founder and president John Williams, a leading logo design expert, literally wrote the book on brand standards for companies like Hewlett-Packard and Mitsubishi. An entrepreneur and former owner of award-winning studio Logic Design, John served as Entrepreneur.com’s branding columnist for over 5 years…” I just don’t get it.

I am really hoping that designers will share this story with everyone. Not just each other. I think the only way to compete with these online DIY design sites is to make their pitfalls common knowledge. If someone knows they may be opening themselves up to a lawsuit, they may think twice. Sure we believe these sites are an inferior solution to hiring a professional designer, but how are budget-strapped business owners supposed to resist a $79 price tag? C’mon that’s a steal.

MORE INFO: Want to see the making of a logo that looks suspiciously like the WWF Panda logo? Check out the Logo Factory article: The perils of do-it-yourself logo makers

 

Image courtesy of theaucitron on Flickr.

Whether you are a designer, developer, illustrator, artist, photographer, or creative, there is something that is special about you that that makes you stand out from the crowd. Whatever that special thing may be, here is your chance for your voice to be heard.

Why do you do what you do? No one else can paint your picture, no one else can build your presence, and no one else can set you apart. You’re what makes you different. Tell your story.

 

There is something about that case… it has presence. The size, shape and color makes it a mysterious object. It begs for questions. I recently posted this photo on my facebook wall:

The comments were funny and witty. I think the photo triggers a lot of questions, like what’s in the case? Then, who left the case? Is it money, a bomb, body parts, the cure for cancer…I love the idea that these photos make the viewer think beyond what is there and how a simple object can cause so many questions. What started off as a photo that I snapped in the parking lot of St. Mary Medical Center, turned into a two day photo exploration.

I used this subject matter to work on my visual story telling, composition and color. It was a great to frame a story in a simple and fun way. Looking for spots that were interesting was exciting, I thought about, “what does this background say” and “what kind of story would be attached to this photo?” This was a great way to get out of a creative slump. Getting out from behind the computer and stretching those legs is never a bad thing. It doesn’t take much, these were all taken with my phone, just get up and do it. Pick a subject matter and start shooting you never know what you’ll come up with. It would be cool to see another photo journal posted that was inspired by this one.

Here are few shots that were taken.

 

Artists are invited to submit up to 3 JPG images to Studio659@ymail.com. 2-D and 3-D submissions in all media and styles welcomed. Please include an image list in your email with title, media, size, year completed, and price. Also please denote any special installation needs in your email. There is no entry fee. The Studio retains a 20% commission, please factor this into your retail pricing. An artist reception will be held on Friday, August 15 and all regional artists are strongly encouraged to attend. The gallery reserves the right to decline any accepted artwork upon delivery if the condition or quality is other than represented in the submission.  More details here. www.studio659.org

 

The area of upstate New York I grew up in still sports many old examples of hand-painted signs. Though some would make most contemporary designers cringe, there’s something about them that makes me feel like I’m home. Miracle21′s recent blog post highlighting interesting typographic artifacts in the Region reminded me of this kind of thing, hiding all around us, so maybe that contributed to my little walk down memory lane. In any case, a cursory internet search showed me that hand-lettered signage is not completely a thing of the past. I found this artist, who is still going strong not far from where I grew up. And my own family still uses a reproduction of an original hand-lettered logo on their trucks, sign, and packaging (please excuse the website…)

I’m really intrigued by the resurgence of hand-drawn lettering, whether it’s tattoo calligraphy, hand-drawn typefaces, custom logos, or even writing incorporated into fine art. It’s one of those areas where the whole idea of craftsmanship, as opposed to just computer literacy or even design savvy really shines. Maybe if I get brave I’ll post some of my own work. In the meantime, I’d love to see sites other people recommend to look at great hand-drawn lettering.

 

Long before special effects became special, this film takes the viewer on a journey traveling at the power of ten out, beyond the Milky Way, and in, to a single carbon molecule, all in 9 minutes. It makes me wonder about the production it took to make this film. I read that they colorized black and white drawings from a book about the cosmos for the imagery. I found it engaging visually despite the lack of computer effects. I think it’s because it takes such an overwhelming amount of information and gives it clarity just by organizing it with a simple mathematical equation. As a designer I can appreciate that.

I first saw this film at a design event in Chicago and forgot about it until it got some buzz on 10/10/10. It is a great piece of design history. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. Give it a look, it’s a quiet little film, so give it a chance before you bail.

Watch the entire film. There is also a whole website dedicated to the film.

And if you aren’t familiar with all of the wonderful designs created by this power couple, take a look at some of their iconic work.

 

Submit up to three images in .JPG format to Studio659Whiting@aol.com. Submissions need to be in by May 13. The show will run during June 2011.

Artists accepted for the exhibition will be notified via email. The gallery reserves the right to decline any accepted artwork upon delivery if the condition or quality is other than represented in the submission. http://www.studio659.org/

 

A few months ago I saw “American Movie”. How had I never heard of this film before? It came out in 1999. (Now, I assume it never actually “came out” in Northwest Indiana, but that’s another conversation.) I have been recommending it to anyone since that loves film or is an artist. It is a film about making an independent film, and the people in it are true characters.

This movie is worth watching for Mark’s mullet alone. Mark Borchardt is a screenwriter, filmmaker, director, etc. from Milwaukee or roundabout there. He talks a lot. He loves to talk about film, and life, and society, and himself. This is his story. A story of a 35 minute horror film that took 3 years to make. It’s a slice of life with cheddar cheese melted on top. It’s teen angst in a 30 year old. It’s the loyalty of a friend who is unaware most of the time because drugs turned his brain into swiss cheese. (Yes, I know that’s 2 cheese references, but this movie is set in Wisconsin after all.) I mention Mike, Mark’s sidekick, because he is an essential figure in this movie, and in Mark’s movie. He’s like a teddy bear, so sweet and happy, but sad too. I have read some comparisons of him to Silent Bob, but I think he has much more warmth. You can’t NOT like Mike. He’s just Mike.

As someone who has put together a few short films in college, I can relate somewhat to Mark’s struggle with working with no budget, untalented talent, dealing with scheduling unreliable people. But I cannot imagine myself attempting to make a feature length or even a 35 minute film. I believe that every artist has things that get in the way of creating fantastic work. Making a living is one major distraction. Unfortunately art is not a lucrative field for most. It can be, but most artists I know have second jobs. For this reason I think many artists can relate to Mark’s story.

At the start of the film I was not sure if Mark was  being ridiculed by the filmmakers. His life had the appearance of a Jerry Springer guest. Alcohol, crappy jobs, fights with girlfriends, fights with ex-girlfriends, kids caught in the middle. At times watching this film (about making a film) I was amazed at Mark’s drive and passion for film-making, but then in the next moment I would wonder—is he all talk? Was he fooling himself…and me? Was he like those singers on American Idol auditions that have no clue they are tone deaf? As soon as the movie was over I HAD to see Coven, the short film that Mark spent all that time making. Lucky for me it was included on the DVD extras. So…do I think he’s the next Quentin Tarantino?

No, I’m not going to spoil it for you. Watch and decide for yourself.

American Movie
Starring Mark Borchardt & Mike Shank

Watch the Trailer: American Movie Trailer
Find out more about the movie: The American Movie Website
Or go to YouTube and search for Mark Borchardt. There are several clips from the movie there.
The DVD is available on Netflix.