These striking images come from the DesegreGAYtion Initiative which "aims to point out the absurd discrimination that presently exists against Gay and Lesbian couples". The artist behind the project wants people to print out "Gays" and "Straights" stickers and place them in public places to elicit a conversation about the state of equal rights in the US. More pictures and info, as well as the sticker template, on their MySpace page HERE.
The Quick Picks list, presented annually at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting suggests books that teens, ages 12-18, will pick up on their own and read for pleasure; it is geared to the teenager who, for whatever reason, does not like to read.
’ÄúThe list is overflowing with diverse titles; we have everything from stunning portraits, tattoo revelations to fallen stars and skulls made of soap suds,’Äù said Joy Millam, committee chair. ’ÄúThis list is a true reflection of the teens we serve. Our goal was to put out a list that gives every reluctant reader a book to connect with personally.’Äù
A recent article in the local free newspaper Style Weekly tipped me off to a curious underground campaign focused at young people in Virginia. It's for a new energy drink called Syke (which is not currently available in stores), but is being hyped as an extreme beverage that is "a secret blend of awesomeness and chemically engineered ingredients to help you live life faster." But all is not right in the land of Syke, and Style reveals that the campaign is actually a creation of the Rescue Change Social Group, "which develops programs to get young people involved in healthier lifestyles". Indeed over the coming months Syke, which is sponsoring actual music concerts, will get revealed as a dangerous product and eventually the "company" that makes it will be publicly shamed as part of what is a multi-phase anti-smoking campaign aimed to get under teens radars by having Syke be a metaphorical stand-in for cigarettes. Will it work? Style is skeptical. I'm intrigued to see where it goes, but the challenge of connecting the dots for their audience does seem massive. What do you think, is Syke the future of social marketing to teens?
Obama's inclusion of "nonbelievers" in his inaugural address reminded me of a project I worked on a few years ago. My friend Andy Deemer asked me if I would help him out with My God a documentary he was making about starting a new religion. One of the two people whom he had chosen to follow in the film was Josh Boden, who had created The Church of Now (also know as Nowism), which featured such tenants as "Laughter is a MUST!" and "Everything is contextual". This punk rock styled anti-religion, which had meetings in bars, needed a graphic identity so I was hired to do some branding concepts. Playing off of the irreverance of the concept, the aesthetic of punk rock show flyers, and the language Josh was using to describe his "church" I developed a series of initial concepts (shown). They went over quite well with Josh, though sadly the church never really caught on and I don't think the designs were ever used. The film is currently in limbo as Andy works on other projects, including promoting Poultrygeist, which he produced for Troma recently, though he has plans to return to My God eventually.
With the tagline "Solving everyday problems with African ingenuity" the AfriGadget blog is a refreshing change from the typical images we see of "poor" Africans. The site is edited by a diverse group of people, many of whom grew up in Kenya. Not only do they post items they found themselves, but they have even started their own Grassroots Reporting Project.
My sister recently turned me on to the excellent Current TV segment Target Women in which Sarah Haskins comments on advertising that focuses on women in her own special way...
Kevin Yuen-Kit Lo at LOKi design shared a recent poster he designed for Tadamon!'s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. The current situation in Gaza is undeniably tragic, but like most of what happens in Israel/Palestine the response by progressives in the US is a mixed bag. The typical left/right dividing lines seem to shift when it comes to that region and I find it hard to talk with people about it since emotions run so high. I'm interested to know where readers of this blog fall. Feel free to comment below, though please be respectful of others here, I'm not looking for diatraibes and will delete personal attacks.
If you are interested you can download a PDF of Kevin's poster HERE.
Bypass the toy manufacturers and let you and your kids build some fun toys together out of trash. Toys from Trash has a great set of projects for all parents and kids with an educational bent.
I thought you might appreciate getting a glimpse of my newest project: League of Space Pirates...
If you're intrigued and would like to be kept up to date on the latest developments be sure to get your own Space Pirate name and sign up for the mailing list HERE.
French font studio SMeltery is offering several free fonts including this alphabet made up entirely of international corporate logos: COnsume More. It's reminiscent of artist Heidi Cody's classic American Alphabet.
Do Good Design, my friend David Berman's fantastic new book on socially conscious design, has recently been released. I'll post a full review soon, but in the meantime he asks that you consider signing his "Do Good Pledge" which reads:
1.I will be true to my profession.
2.I will be true to myself.
3.I will spend at least 10% of my professional time helping repair the world.
If you agree you can sign on HERE and read a sample chapter while you're at it as well.
Well, I got woefully behind in posting here last year and ended up with a ridiculous backlog of stuff I wanted to share. To that end I've resolved to do two things in 2009: 1. Make more of an effort to immediately blog about items I want to share (rather than bookmarking for later) 2. Save most reposts for a regular roundup (I'll aim for weekly, but no promises there).
To start the year off with a clean slate, here's a jumbo post of last year's missing links...
I'm always delighted to encounter things that encourage bicycling in cities, so I had to take a couple of shots of this lovely row of old school bicycles for rent in front of the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum.
A quick review of the Smart Bike DC website paints an interesting picture. The self service bike rental program, which has been successful in Europe, is a product of a partnership between Clear Channel Outdoor and the DC Department of Transportation. Clear Channel is the much reviled media giant that has put a stranglehold on American radio, and their Outdoor division controls a great deal of the nightmarish public advertising we have to wade through daily. Happily, there's no advertising on the bikes or the station right now, though who knows how long that will last.
Anyone in the DC area know the story behind the partnership?
And do you think is it better to have bikes with potential ads, or no bikes at all?
Even though I'm generally disgusted by the increasing intrusion of large scale commercial advertising onto every imaginable surface, I was pleasently surprised on my brief trip to Washington DC yesterday to discover some in the tunnels between the stations that was actually quite delightful. A series of lighted stills move by at just the right pace to create a short animation. The ghostly images appear with no warning and are rather eerie in their silence (perhaps not the best effect for every product), but also brought on a childlike sense of glee in seeing the classic zoetrope effect at that scale. I'd love to see what an NGO or artist could do with this medium.
I found this video of it on YouTube, though it's really much more dramatic in person...
