Bruce Mau and Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects have revealed plans for "The Blue Spots," part of a bus stop redevelopment project in the city of Santa Monica. The reconfigured bus stops will start rolling out in December.
arch daily posted the following renderings and visualized research of the way the current/future bus stops don't/do provide protection from the sun (definitely a must in Southern California).
My friend recently gave me a wonderful gift: A 142 page book containing all our email correspondence from 2002 - 2003. I couldn't put the book down; not only was it fascinating on a personal level, but it also read like a document from a previous era—one that didn't involve texting or Facebook or any of the other ways she and I pass messages to each other now.
The emails were clever, well-paced, thoughtfully constructed and, most importantly, contained not a single emoticon, which made me realize how emoticon-dependent I've become. Peppered throughout my emails, they are now a literary crutch. Could this joke be misinterpreted? I know! insert ;) So for the past few days, every time I have the urge to type an emoticon, I've been forcing myself to either rework the sentence, or just let it go, as clearly there was a time when I managed to get my thoughts (and jokes) across successfully without them. Then I read about the SarcMark, a punctuation mark that denotes sarcasm and retails for $1.99. Judging from the SarcMark website, the entire enterprise is a tongue-in-cheek, money-making novelty item, but it does highlight a cultural soft spot. When our digital communication requires a significant downsizing of the English language, a single communicative mark has a lot of value. Just think how much room that would free up in a Tweet! Ultimately I turned up my nose at the SarcMark, for several reasons:Last month I put together a semi-DIY stationary kit for my 11-year-old sister's Christmas gift. Over the summer, Fiona gave me a sketch of a "logo" she created, based on her nickname, Fifi. It had been tacked to my board for months before I had the idea of cleaning it up in Illustrator and getting it made into a stamp, which I would then package with some blank stationary and ink pads.
When I finally got all the parts of the kit together, I realized the kit itself could/should be something more interesting than a blank cardboard box. I traced the box onto fabric, cut and glued the material, and sewed her initials onto the cover. All in all, it was a satisfying and fun project, and as Fiona's thank-you note reveals, it was also very happily received.
Fiona's original logo sketch.
Sewing initials onto "lid" of box.
Inside...
... which I also covered in fabric.
Paper.
Initials.
Final presentation.
Front of thank-you note Fiona made with her new kit.
I'm not sure how my husband managed to get himself attached to this enterprise, but I begrudgingly share the glory.
(Stella McCartney)
What is it about the fashion world and movies aimed at children? (Or to be specific, DISNEY movies aimed at children?) After the Mouse rolled out last year's untraditional promotional collaborations with Opening Ceremony and Ugg (among others) for Where The Wild Things Are, Disney has enlisted jewelry designer Tom Binns and fashion designers Sue Wong and Stella McCartney to create tie-in products for the March release of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Considering the price point ($395 for the McCartney charm bracelet) this is no tween fare, and even though the film does star Johnny Depp are fashion-savvy women really worth all this attention? I guess only ticket sales will tell. On the flip side, tie-ins with creative types certainly beat a themed Happy Meal.
(Sue Wong)
(Tom Binns)
Inspired by M.C. Escher, 19th Century display type and the Stealth bomber (?), Jonathan Barnbrook and his studio created the newly released Priori Acute, part of Emigre's Priori font family. Initially the letterforms seem peppily, but unexceptionally, rendered in 2d, but then the unsettledness settles in. Each form incorporates multiple perspectives (M. C. Escher, indeed) and it's impossible not to keep staring. I can see why Emigre recommends Priori Acute for "selective situations" as looking at it is akin to that "old lady or young woman" eye trick—definitely not the typeface of choice for road signs.
More here: http://www.emigre.com/EFfeature.php?di=214• Art Vinyl announced the winners of its 2009 Best Art Vinyl competition. First place goes to Muse album "The Resistance," designed by La Boca.
Browse all here: http://www.artvinyl.com/en/nominate/nominations.html
A bit of primary evidence filmed while my laptop was in mid-crash. It's hooked up to the external monitor and I found out later the fact that they are both flickering and flashing indicates a busted video card. (If only one of them had been acting up, it probably would have been a monitor or screen issue.) Once I force-quit, my laptop went straight into a perpetual kernel panic and I didn't see the home screen again.
Apple is aware that this particular generation of MBP's has faulty video cards, and therefore the replacement service is on the house, although it's a week-long job. So if you experience something similar, take it in right away, regardless of whether you have AppleCare. This is my second "Our Bad!" MBP experience (see post on battery bulge) and yet I keep going back, and probably always will...
UPDATE: My MBP is back and working fine (knock wood). Apple replaced the entire logic board, since the video card is soldered to it. I also found this helpful article which provides a good summary of the situation: http://theappleblog.com/2009/06/01/apple-extends-macbook-pro-nvidia-geforce-s...
