Why I hate scott clum and think pagination is cool

Gap yo

2007-03-08T22:36:00.002-08:00

Okay, so first there was the dancing sillouette of Audrey Hepburn that was highly reminicent of the Ipod commercials and now this new boyfriend pant commercial with the "Whatever you do I can do better...I can do anything better than you" song which someone used for some commercials with Michael Jordan and Mia Haam like 5 years ago. What is with Gap jacking other peoples really old advertising ideas??? I disaprove. Perhaps this is why they are going in the toilet, its their unoriginal advertising. See how important graphic design is!

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Gap yo

2007-03-08T22:36:00.001-08:00

This is SOOOO true.

2007-01-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

How to Seduce a Mac Geek
A Macworld Sex Guide

This article is hilarious. Thanks Beth!

the worst movie since "dude where's my car"

2007-01-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

The Holiday was a horrible movie. Do NOT waste your money if you haven't already. I had heard that it was bad, but never the less, I assumed, hey I like cheesy movies, maybe I'll like it anyway. Well cheesiness was the least of its problems. In the first 15 minutes I found myself wondering, is the dialog just really bad or can cameron diaz really just not act at all? I think it was both.

The story line was blah, and dragged on and on and the characters were not relatable. First there was Kate Winslet, and she actually didn't do a bad job at all given what she had. She played Iris, the self loathing, typical girl in love with a man who treats her like crap. First of all, some of us could possibly relate to that but who would ever want to admit that? And second of all, she is british. None of us can see ourselves in this pathetic mess who also happens to be British.

Then there is Cameron Diaz's character, Amanda. She is the shut off, angry, sex starved career girl from LA. She is devoid of emotion and not really a woman or even human really, making her unrelatable as well.

And one final reason why this movie blew..."meet cute" Hollywood needs to get it into its head that when they refer to hollywood or try to shove how the movie business works into our face, the movie will flop. We just don't care. Take a look at American Sweethearts if you don't believe me. And they kept adding in tiny things like this through the whole movie(well the part before I walked out anyway). And don't get me started on the not so subtle interruptions for Amanda to play the movie trailer of her life in her head every 20 seconds.

I give this movie a baseball game giant foam finger down.

my new 23 in monitor.

2007-01-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

I just got a 23 in. monitor at work. It is BEAUTIFUL!! I heart it. The color is beautiful nd I have enough room for all my crap, but the very best part is its design. And I'm not just talking about the fact that its sleek and silver and thin or that it swivels ever so slightly up or down. No I'm talking about its user friendlyness. When it first got hooked up the screen was a bit bright and I thought it could come down a notch but I didn't see the controls to do so. So I grabbed the right hand side of the monitor and began looking around for the buttons, but as I did that I noticed the brightness logo come up on my screen and I realized that when I had grabbed the side of the monitor I had found the buttons. What wonderful intuitive design. Yay Apple!

Hey beth, is dreamboat one word or two?

2007-01-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

alright, here by popular demand...a new post.

So I'm reading Barack Obama's book right now. There is a lovely dreamboatish picture of him on the front cover(which makes me love it oh so much more) and that photo leads me to wonder will Barack (if he runs and if he is elected) have been elected because he is a "dreamboat" or because of his great ideas. And furthermore those of us who do believe in his ideas, should we care why he gets elected as long as he does?

Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

Starting with Kennedy there seems to be this pattern of ridiculously funny looking republicans and moderately attractive democrats(with the exception of carter...how did that happen?) Middle America obviously has temporary amnesia when it comes to their beliefs when an attractive democratic candidate enters the ring...hmm interesting. I think the funny looking republicans just used mind control.

Which brings me to point out that everything, EVEN PEOPLE are designed.

carson daly sucks

2007-01-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

I cannot stand the carson daly show. Unfortunately I have lost my remote and carson is on my tv. The guy should have stuck to TRL where he said three words and then sent it to a video with someone with talent on it. This show centered on him is just awful. He isn't funny, he has no comedic talent, he isn't even fun to look at. And one time he had Jennifer Love Hewitt on and he made it super duper awkward and obvious that they used to date and he wasn't over it. It was uncomfortable to watch, but I was just glad I wasn't her. Gross. The End.

Oh, p.s. I miss my friend lauren smith, she is super duper awesome and I think she should take over carson's show. She would do a way better job. The End. The End.

The Pursuit of Happyness

2006-12-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

yea, i totally dug this movie. And not just because I love Will Smith, which I do. No, I loved it because it was so real and such an amazing story. It didn't feel contrived and at a time in America where it just seems the rich get richer and then run for office to protect their other rich buddies, it was a much needed rags to riches story. Not to mention Will Smith's son is adorable.

I love beth lemon, because...

2006-12-13T23:11:00.000-08:00

she always contributes to my blogs, even if they are dumb.

she has red hair, thats very original.

she found etsy.com, and threadless(without her none of your gifts this year would have been nearly this awesome)

she artsytastic, an amazing painter and just ridiculously knowledgeable about art history.

she is the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

she is passionate about politics and making the world a better place.

she is patient with me when I try to cook.

and I have zillians of others but you get the idea...

Dear Scott Clum,

2006-12-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

I apologize if I offended you. I do not in fact "hate you." It is actually a sort of inside joke. A friend of mine and I had intro to graphic design together five years ago and we had this project which was to typographically lay out something that had to do with an appearance you were doing. It also just so happened that we were not very fond of our professor and the project dragged on until basically the entire class was a bit unnerved at the mention of the name Scott Clum (of course nothing to do with you personally, it was the project we were annoyed with).

So, a few months ago that same friend of mine encouraged me to write a blog to entertain her while she was at work. I wanted to do a blog that was about design but I didn't want to be boring and call it "graphic design blog" so I thought long and hard and decided she would be amused by the reference to our inside joke. I didn't count on anyone actually reading my blog other than my friends so I figured it wouldn't be an issue. It would appear I was wrong.

And I just think pagination is a great word. It sounds so majestic for what it is.

To shop online or not to shop online? That is the question.

2006-12-04T10:04:00.000-08:00

So I have a new love in my life and it goes by the name Etsy.com. This site is fabulous, its all hand made stuff at mostly reasonable prices. Its perfect for finding holiday gifts for the crafty person in your life, or just the adorer of anything unique.

Then there is of course amazon.com with their cheap books and countless other amusing products. And lets not forget Target.com and Macys.com and all the other wonderful .coms out there. But I have got to wonder is online shopping for holiday gifts on your lunch hour less personal than spending your sataurday rumaging through store shelves while sharing your personal space with some woman named Alma from New Mexico? Something about it just seems too easy. Its like I'm cheating, comparing prices and getting good deals and saving time, not to mention not having to lug bags around all day. They are just delivered right to my house. It just doesn't seem to fit in with my idea of what christmas shopping should be.

Maybe it isn't the gift receivers that I am cheating, maybe in the end I just feel like I am cheating myself as I do so love to shop in stores with the crowding and the people and the holiday music blaring. I'm nearly done with my christmas shopping and yet I have only been shopping once after work and I only went to like three stores.

So, Online shopping. Is it the make-you-do-your-shopping-early, safe-you-time-and-money inovation that it seems to be or is it the death of holiday shopping fun?

Whoo Graphic Design!

2006-11-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Okay my little blog buddies I know I've been a way for a while but I hope you haven't forgot all about me and me blog just yet.

Prior to my restful and lenghthy vacation I and some fellow graphic design enthusiasts attended a graphic design competition entitled Cut and Paste. See the link below for more info or to see the work:

www.cutandpaste.cc/sf.html

Apparently people are calling it the "Iron Chef of graphic design." And I think that is an appropriate description. In terms of the whole event I thought it was basically awesome. To see so many people interested in design huddled together in a room cheering on designers working diligently at their computers was pretty cool. Not to mention the free drink ticket and free tshirt. I now have a tshirt with blue bars that says "monochromatic" on it. I mean, how cool is that?

In terms of the work I felt like it could have been better. That said, they only had 15 minutes and the work that they did in 15 minutes was pretty awesome. My criticism is aimed more at the way the event was structured than at the designers themselves who were clearly all pretty talented. They did 2 elimination rounds with four designers each round, eliminating two each round. Then they did a semi final and then a final. Had they only picked one winner from each round and gone straight to the final where they had maybe 30 minutes instead of 15 I think then perhaps the work would have been of a higher quality without making the event that much longer. But hey thats just my 2 cents. Either way it was still really great to watch and I had an awesome time.

Happy Birthday Mary!

2006-11-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

jetta= car crash

2006-11-16T12:44:00.000-08:00

Basically, the new jetta commercials are terrible for two reasons:

1) From a design standpoint they are not effective. After watching those commercials I associate jetta with car crash NOT with safety.

2) From a personal perspective these commercials bring back very painful memories and I am sure I am not the only one. These commercials are tv shockart and they are irresponsible . Whenever they come on at my house my roommates and I change the channel to avoid watching the ending.

If you've been living under a rock here is one of the commercials below.

i hate star wars.

2006-11-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

okay, lets hear it. do your worst.

green is NOT brown.

2006-11-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, has everyone seen those green is brown, yellow, blue, etc ads at bus stops in the city? What the hell are those for?

Last time I checked green was green and the complete lack of any brand identity on these ads has me wondering what the hell are these for? I'm utterly confused.

Now, that said, they did catch my attention and they do have me wondering what is that, which is a definite plus. They are on my mind, I see them everywhere and I rack my brain trying to figure out what they are saying. Alas the problem being that I am not associating these thoughts with any kind of product or event which is bad. Had these adds had some kind of small tag line explaining what it was about (that you could read after the large "green is brown" text caught your attention) that would have been an excellent ad. It gets you thinking, its weird and it has big type(my personal favorite).

Now, that said, I'm going to google this phrase and see if I come up with any campaign and then see if that changes my mind.

Okay, so lots of stuff came up but I don't think any of it had anything to do with the ads. Double plus bonus to anyone who finds something about the ads online for me!! :)

oh apple, no not the pie...

2006-11-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the mac commercials:
http://www.apple.com/getamac/

They are so clever, they have a clear message and they are memorable.
This dude, however, calls them meanspirited and says they aren't effective:
http://www.slate.com/id/2143810/

"My problem with these ads begins with the casting. As the Mac character, Justin Long (who was in the forgettable movie Dodgeball and the forgettabler TV show Ed) is just the sort of unshaven, hoodie-wearing, hands-in-pockets hipster we've always imagined when picturing a Mac enthusiast. He's perfect. Too perfect. It's like Apple is parodying its own image while also cementing it. If the idea was to reach out to new types of consumers (the kind who aren't already evangelizing for Macs), they ought to have used a different type of actor."

Come on, first of all, we all know that everyone wants to be the cool hoodie-wearing hipster, even if they don't admit it, and second of all the person represents the mac itself not neccessarily the consumers who buy it so to pick a less perfect actor for the part would be misleading and not representative of the product, and third of all, they use the commercials to show that macs can expand their usage, like the one where he is dressed in suit and has just come from a "meeting."

And his second point:

"The final straw, for me, is that the spots make unconvincing claims. The one titled "Network" has a funny bit where "that new digital camera from Japan" is represented by a Japanese woman in a minidress. While Hodgman has trouble talking with the woman, Long speaks Japanese and shares giggles with her because "everything just kind of works with a Mac." Now, I happen to have a digital camera from Japan, and it works just fine with my PC. It did from the moment I connected it. Similarly, the spot titled "Out of the Box" (again, a very funny visual metaphor, with Hodgman and Long crouching in cardboard boxes) suggests that new PCs require tons of attention and alteration when you first fire them up. But I bought a new ThinkPad notebook just a few months ago, and it ran on all cylinders pretty much straight out of the gate. Why insult my intelligence by telling me something that I know isn't true?"

But it is true, I grew up as a PC user and was converted as a senior in high school to Macs. When I went to collge I bought my first Mac and I will never go back. No more installing drivers or oh no i lost the software to that so I can't hook it up. Not to mention that mac interfaces are a lot more intuitive and user friendy. There are fewer cords, it doesn't even all have to be color coded as PC cords are, because its all so damn easy. Basically Macs rule!!

This has nothing to do with anything but...

2006-11-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I was blanking on how to spell the word prayer and I looked to my roommate and said I can't remember how to spell prayer, does that mean I'm going to hell? And she looked at me and said, emphatically, p-r-a-y-e-r, i'm going to heaven!!! It was really one of those you had to be there moments but I started cracking up. Seriously it was the funniest thing ever.

The End.

This guy's stuff makes me want to jump off a bridge its so good...

2006-11-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.00one.com/

Okay, here is someone with a similar amount of experience to myself, a little older, little more schooling, but not much and his work is basically awesome. And I am way jealous. Why am I not this awesome? No fair. I fire myself.

Which bridge is closer to the Wharf? Bay or Golden?

"Whats my girlfriend doing in your five? You don't give another man's girl a foot massage and you definitely don't put her in your five"

2006-11-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

Alrighty peoples, this is my new blog. Get ready for exciting graphic design tidbits and television commercial critiques coupled with the occasional post from a guest blogger about the design of the new mall.

okay, so lets start out on a happy note:

My favorite commercial, the T moble commercial with the fav five and the girlfriend stealing douche bag.

"Whats my girlfriend doing in your five? You don't give another man's girl a foot massage and you definitely don't put her in your five"

This commercial is fabulous, I thought it was brilliant even before I understood the reference to Pulp Fiction (I've never seen the movie, yes I know, i know, i've been living under a rock--don't worry my friend sara filled me in while she was dressed as a pirate waiting for a pizza).

Anyway, back to the commercial...from an advertising standpoint they did a great job. They created this new "thing" but incorporated it into the commercial as if it was already a part of the new cell phone culture and there were already rules to coincide with it. Then they top it off with the hilarious and completely over the top and obvious "Secret Lovers" ring tone.

Most importantly, the entire commercial just cracks me up. Basically it makes my life. Other thoughts?