Good Infographic

And here is the good one.

Well it is somewhat depressing to see four years of hard earned money split up in such a manner, but the information comes across quite well.  Plenty of different facts, each portion of the pie graph breaks off into other sections.

The graphics are nice and the colors are a good choice.

Overall, nice infographic.

Bad Infographic

So here is my bad infographic. It is pretty informational, but it only shares one fact over the whole page.

Vegetables and Fruits receive such a small amount of subsidies that they cost more to produce than meat and dairy would.  The whole purpose of this infographic is to demonstrate this one fact.  While the information is shocking - they could have added costs of one versus the other, or something related to the topic.

Cool Book Cover

So I happened upon this book cover today and wanted to share it.

It is for what I can only imagine is a very boring book, but the cover is well done, colorful but mostly white. The paint style texture is a nice addition, it appears to be an old book but I am fairly sure it was just released, I can't find the article I found it from, but the design is nice nonetheless

My First Train Ride!

This previous weekend I went on my first train ride, and soon following was my second train ride.  What was the reason behind this trip and why is it worth blogging about?

Well first off, it was a momentous occasion for myself riding the train for the first time. And also because I went to see Rain, the Broadway show tribute to the Beatles.

This is worth blogging about because while there I noticed some great designs from the Beatles Era and wanted to post some psychedelic 60s designs.

I know the drug fueled music age may have died out and the design style along with it, but I'm sure a resurgence of overly colorful images is just around the corner.

Wawa runs a Hoagie Fest commercial with a similar feel to these posters, and maybe that is all we will see any time soon.

OMG Its A Poster!

So my brother turned me on to this website OMGPosters.com, and if I weren't already broke I would have to invest in some awesome artwork.  Most of the posters are collaborative works by an artist and a designer with amazing end results. Here are some pieces.

 

 I hate centered text and for some reason it will not let me switch to left align so I will keep this short and sweet.

These are only a few of the many examples they have on the site, all available for sale.  I chose the Rosie the Riveter card because we have been talking about her a lot in my other class.  Circa Survive has a bunch of cool posters on the site for their upcoming tour, which isn't surprising considering how art heavy their cd covers normally are.

The styles vary but almost all of the posters are extremely cool and I would love one for my room. 

Packaging With a Story

I try not to draw from the same well too much, so this is only the second and hopefully last time I use beer this semester.

This beer bottle label is fun and interesting to read.  Some of the phrases used on the bottle include:
"What is this rancid shit?"
"Sweet Jesus!"
"Where the hell are my pants?"
"12 Fl. Oz. Of Fuck Yeah"
"Extra Alcohol!"

A new story is told in every line.
How many times have you had a "rancid" beer? Seldomly.
How many times have people lost their pants drunk? Too Many.
How many times have you wished for extra alcohol in your beer? Every Time.

It tells the story of what can happen when you drink it in a light and playful manner.

Packaging, Probably No Story

Canned Cider! I need to get in on this, how much more exciting can you get than a can of cider?  The packaging here is pretty brilliant.  Starting with the use of color to denote individual flavors, the choice in typeface, and most importantly, the emoticon that is winking.

The story may not be told here, but the packaging is excellent.

Definitely No Good At Kinko's... And After.

I decided to add upon my previous message of not being any good at kinkos (or not kinko-ing well).

Earlier I spoke of a phone call in which they said they could not mount my poster on black foam board, I was fine with this and carried on my day merrily.  This is the rising action of my story... keep reading for more!

I decided on the Kinkos in Columbia because my girlfriend lives there and it just so happened to be our 5 year anniversary.  So my aforementioned yet unnamed girlfriend and I  finished dinner and arrived at Kinkos around 6:30 (and if you read my last post, you will know that they promised to finish my project by 6. So I should be fine.)  After around fifteen minutes listening to the broken English of the Kinkos employee arguing with the broken English of an angry employee, another employee decided that she should help me.

I let her know that I submitted my project the night before and she goes back and finds it, my poster, magazine, postcard, all of it.  End of story right? Wrong.  She decided that somehow in my specific instructions of not wanting my project mounted on white board that she would do exactly that.  Here is the conversation.

Me - "Oh great! Thank you for my... wait, why is this mounted on white poster board?"

Her - "The instructions say that you wanted it mounted"

"Well, I said I can't have it mounted on white board"

"The instructions are right here and they say you asked for this"

She pulls out a piece of paper that they typed up.  Indeed someone had written that it was to be mounted, but it was not my orders

"I can't turn that in mounted on white board, is there any way that you can print me up another one?"

"I can print up another one but it will cost you extra" (She says this in a way that lets me know that my request is completely detrimental to the important work that she is doing)

"Whatever. That's fine."

"Okay, have a seat it'll be right out."

At this point I take a seat at a table they have set up to the side with my girlfriend, and watch as the aforementioned angry customer argues over the shade of red on his papers.  All the while the customers two young children run rampant in the store.

Around ten minutes later I see that my project is sitting freshly printed out.  Sitting is not the accurate term I guess. Laying?  Either way, it is not getting any closer to being in my possession.  I look over, the lady is sitting at her computer clicking away.  The sitting and clicking and laying all continue for another twenty minutes or so before she notices my anxious pacing back and forth throughout the store and decides it is time to let me have my project, I had been punished enough.

I receive my project, drop my girlfriend off around 8 and head home.  The end yet again?  Possibly, but mounting projects is an adventure in and of itself.



So I arrive home around 8:30 to the post-pregame apocalypse that is my apartment.  Roommates are nowhere to be seen, but our house is strewn with whiskey bottles, empty glasses, etc.

I mount my projects in the kitchen because the granite counter tops are much easier to cut large stuff on than my measly desk.  I cut out my magazine ad, my postcards and I am working on the black mounting board when I notice that my magazine and postcards are sitting in some liquid left behind on the counters.  On a normal occasion, I print up multiple copies of each piece, but today of course I only had the one copy of each.

I make a mad dash for the soaking wet pieces of work, and upon grabbing them begin waving around frantically trying to dry them out.

Luckily, card stock is extremely resilient and after a few minutes of waving, the pieces settle back to almost their original shape.

Yet another adventure in the world of Graphic Design.  Stay tuned for the next installment.

Twilight, Eat Your Heart Out

  

So here it is, the greatest story ever told.  I was just contacted by Dreamworks for the rights to the movie, but I think that I'll hold out for Pixar.  Maybe it will work better as a novel though.

Narrative in Art

Almost all artwork has a story to tell, and some stories are told through one intimate scene right at the climax of the story.  For example, Caravaggio told a whole story in his painting The Conversion of Saint Paul.

This painting is shown right at the moment Saint Paul finds his faith in God.  I may be a little rusty on my art history, but I believe that Saint Paul was a tax collector at this point in his life.  He was on his way to Damascus when he was kicked off of his horse and saw a blinding light where he changed his ways and became an apostle.  Enough elements of that story are shown, the blinding light, Paul falling off his horse, the look of peace on his face.  The narrative has been shown through one scene.

A Narrative Brought To You By College Humor

So I was looking through all my favorite magazines, and decided a narrative works  much better in this form.  So here is Elephant Larry Presents:  Minesweeper - The Movie.  I gave up on embedding after my last awful attempt, so click the link to see the movie.

This is the movie trailer for an imaginary movie, but the trailer is pretty great nonetheless.

The best part has to be the yellow smiley faced guy. Creepy? Yes. Jaundiced? Yes. Hilarious? Heck Yes.
I assume this is a narrative because it follows a story line specifically, the only reason I would say it isn't is because there is no narrator, just the individual characters engaged in dialogue which tell the story.

So in conclusion, watch the movie for a laugh.  Possible Narrative.

I'm beginning to think I'm not good at kinko's

So to clarify, by saying I'm not good at Kinko's I do not mean that I become evil there, I just mean I am not good at the act of Kinko's - or Kinko-ing as it should be called.  Every time I go there it becomes an ordeal trying to get a project finished in time. So here is this weeks story. 

After work yesterday I frantically tried to finish my project so that I could email it in before closing hours at FedEx Office.  That did not happen.

Around 10 I finished and sent my project in, specifically requesting to be called as soon as they know when it will be done.  Since FedEx Office opens at either 7 or 9 I expected a call by eleven letting me know when I could get my project.

The reason I ask to be reached is because last week they did not finish until 9 o'clock.  Closing time.  They told me to pick up my project at the exact moment the freaking store closes.  At least on the phone I can barter with them for a better time, like 8:55, 6:00.  

So around one o'clock friday afternoon I still had not received a phone call from FedEx and I decided to take matters into my own hands and call them.  The store locator couldn't have the phone number, that would be too easy.  So I googled around until I found a website with their number that appeared legit, and I called the store.

"Hello"

"Hi, my name is Rich and I placed an order last night and I was wondering.."

"One minute"

Approximately 10 minutes pass

"Hello how can I help you?"

"Hi there, my name is Rich and I placed an order last night.  When will that order be finished?"

"We wanted to reach you but your email said you could not be reached by phone."

I ponder this, since I left my phone number in the email twice with specific instructions to call me for any and all problems, and they had not emailed me back either.

"Oh, okay... so whats up with my project?"

"We just received it a little while ago, we cannot mount your project on black foam board even if you bring the board in, everything else you sent is fine." 

 "That's cool, when do you think it will be done?"

"One moment."

After what was definitely longer than the normal length of a moment, someone picked up

"FedEx Office how may I help you?"

"I, um... we talked?  My order?" (I was taken by surprise by this nonchalant introduction halfway through our conversation, normally I am a much better conversationalist) 

"Oh right, I saw the blinking dot and decided to pick up.  That other lady is not here right now."

"Oh, when do you think my order will be ready?" 

"Well you asked for it to be ready by six, so we will have it ready by six."

"Thanks, bye"

I share this because it took half an hour to hear what I could have been told immediately.  This is not the reason I am bad at Kinko-ing, just by this point I should be better at it.

I don't know why  I felt the need to share this story, maybe because we all have our own printing disaster story to tell.  This honestly isn't even the worst I have had it, but I need a blog post so maybe I will regale you with the horror stories from Kinko's later on.

For Movie Project

So this blog that Marie showed us called HyperboleandaHalf showed a video that seems exactly like what we are supposed to do in class, so here it is.
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EYM-B9jAflM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EYM-B9jAflM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
And Just in case I have no idea how to embed videos, and I'm pretty sure I do not. Here is the link
Its a video that just uses still images with no words narrated over the top, just subtext. Hilarity ensues, and the viewer can relate to every time they tried to pet a cat.  The main message this video leaves us with is this - Cats are Evil, always.