Black and White

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

What's Your Type?

Typefaces express personality. Would the Orange County Choppers merchandise look nearly as cool if they had used Comic Sans or Times New Roman instead of an old English style typeface? Do you find that you gravitate toward a certain typeface when writing an email or purchasing a type-designed t-shirt? PBS.org has a fun quiz you can take to discover which font best represents your personality.

Art for Poetry

November 15, 2008 - February 8, 2009 Harnett Gallery will be showcasing 54 complex drawings made by artist Elihu Vedder to accompany Omar Khayyám’s classic 12th century Persian poem, the Rubáiyát. This is a very unique exhibit and this is the first time it has been shown in the southwest.

Visual Resolutions

There are a lot of us out there who are visual learners – we learn things best by seeing them and we prefer using images, pictures, colors, and maps to organize information and communicate our ideas. If this describes you, then why not consider applying your visual learning style to your New Year’s resolutions by creating image boards to communicate your goals. You may find that a daily visual reminder of your goals inspires you more than words on a Post-It stuck to the bathroom mirror.

Apache

The Apache Skateboard team out of San Carlos Az. These guys are great and our studio did a feature article on them in Shade magazine in the July 04 issue. Nice to see they are still being recognized for their designs and riding skills. If you'd like to see more of the photography check out Brendan Moore Photography. Brendan has been following these guys and other interesting people.

www.brendanmoorephoto.com

Air cooled People

I ran across these ads from 1963 while touring the Antique Trove. This place is one of my favorites when it comes to finding antiques and collectables. You really have to love Volkswagen.

It's Not Just The Alphabet

Have you ever really taken the time to look at a word? To see it as art? Just think of the impact that is portrayed by the way a letter is curved, stretched, shrunk, and made bigger. It gets a certain point across just by the way it looks. In the book Typography Workbook by Timothy Samara there are endless demonstrations of how to communicate with type. It shows the mechanics, form and function of a letter as well as how type and image can be integrated.

Visual Thinking

If you asked a classroom of elementary school-aged children for a show of hands as to who among them is an artist, you can bet that nearly every hand is raised. As children we love to draw and have not yet developed a fear of our art being critiqued. Somewhere around the time when drawing is no longer part of our daily learning - and instead becomes an "elective" - many people become uncomfortable drawing, especially in front of others. The book "The Back of the Napkin" offers a bit of pen-to-paper therapy for people who have internalized the statement, "I can't draw." The author writes from the perspective that any problem can be made clearer with a picture and that the use of computer-generated graphics (aka clip art) causes us to limit our visualization of creative solutions.

10 really useful iPhone tips

I've noticed lately that, while the iPhone has a very broad appeal, it seems to have been adopted particularly quickly by marketing and advertising professionals.  The iPhone has so many different uses, and if you have one, you know what I mean.  I have quite a few apps on my multiple home screens, so sometimes the 'phone' part of this little device becomes obscured by its other functions.  Part of this is because the phone is controlled almost entirely by 'virtual' buttons - so the tactile feel real buttons has been lost.  Here's a tip to get the tactile feel back to the main function of your iPhone: in Settings > General > Home Button, you can set a preference to make a double-click on your Home Button take you to your Favorites list.  The nice thing about this is that you can this without looking, scrolling, and tapping - like when you're driving :).  For more really useful tips, visit the Taptaptap blog here.

New York Holiday Spirit

If you are looking for one of many spectacular sites to see during the holiday season there is no place like New York. This photo taken by Gerald Brimacombe shows the illumination one will see when they visit Rockefeller Center. There is also a huge ice rink for all to come and skate away on while enjoying classical holiday music. Make sure to add a visit to Radio City Music Hall for a show of a lifetime!