happy birthday, sam!

i just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to the coolest five-year-old in town.

update: gift card karma

recently, my partner received a gift card to target for his birthday. of all places to receive a gift card to, target is a pretty good choice. most everyone can find some things they need and probably a few things they want – all with varying price tags.

in my previous blog about gift cards (’tis the season, dec. 1, 2007), i expressed a pretty hefty amount of frustration toward those tiny pieces of plastic governing many of our holiday and birthday spending decisions. but basically, my point was this: either consumers end up spending more than the gift card amount, thus somewhat defeating the purpose of a “gift,” or we don’t spend enough, so we end up returning to the store, where inevitably, we’ll end up spending more than the remaining balance of the gift card. it’s a capitalistic double-edged sword – my favorite kind.

so why am i re-blogging about this? well, the gift card gods were in a good mood on this particular trip to target.

it all began with a trip to the snack counter where my partner bought us each a cherry snow flavored icee. the icees totaled $2.80 with tax. icees in hand, we were prepared for our shopping excursion. after much deliberation, my partner decided to spend the remaining balance on seasons 1 and two of it’s always sunny in philadelphia (btw, you should watch it if you don’t/haven’t already), a few pairs of boxer-briefs, a jar of nutella, a package of raspberry chocolate milano cookies and two pairs of socks.

once the decisions had been made, we made our way to the shortest checkout line where we were astonished when the items totaled a little over $60. no way had our calculations been that far off. but wait – the cashier had accidentally scanned the dvd twice! so he removed the extra dvd, and the total rang up to $47.20. yes, that was the EXACT amount of the gift card’s balance – post icees.

i was shocked. my partner grabbed the icee receipt for verification, and sure enough, we had stuck it to the gift card man. so what’s the moral of the story? am i pro gift-card now? no. but if i get one, i’ll do my best to spend exactly what’s on it. not a penny more. not a penny less.

be there, or be macho!

okay, so i won’t accuse you of being a he-man-woman-hater if you don’t make it to this event. but if you’re not busy and seeking some enlightenment à la the 21st century, then you should check this out… (bonus points if you know why i featured a cat’s cradle in the design.)

and the winner is…

…me! some work i did awhile back took home several awards last week from the mid-missouri ad federation, including best of show. so here’s the run-down with a little bit of background information (click on the links to see the work):

best of show (also winner of best of print and the gold addy for print):

hri, trade pub campaign

this campaign was one i joined after the concept and look had been established. fairly new to adobe illustrator at the time, i jumped right in and picked up where the previous designer had left off. she left some big shoes to fill so i used the project as an opportunity to expand my skill-set. it seems to have worked out quite well, and illustrator has been my favorite program in the adobe suite ever since. the illustrations i created were used in conjunction with the existing illustrations and were featured in trade-pub ads, a calendar and other promotional materials that i helped create.

gold addy, elements:

school house bed + breakfast, logo

this client was looking for an updated version of their existing logo. they were running into too many copyright restrictions from the original logo’s designer, so they needed something new. they had already been establishing their brand with the original logo, so they didn’t want to stray too far. under the creative direction of scott shade, i feel i paid homage to the original logo in a way that didn’t seem cliché or trite.

silver addy, print:

lyceum theater, brochure

this project began with the creation of posters for each of the client’s 2007 season shows. the posters were then used in the season’s brochure under the client’s theme of “passport to adventure.” many custom images were created for the brochure in order to convey the theme including (of course) a passport, maps, compasses, travel tickets, etc.

silver addy, interactive:

school house bed + breakfast, website

after developing the logo, i used its clean and simple design to guide the design of the website. again, without being too cliché or trite, the website incorporates visual elements reminiscent of the school house it used to be. the client stressed the importance of sophistication, class (no pun intended) and history, and i think the end result was a successful interpretation of their expectations.

well, that’s it for 2007. to think…2008 has only just begun!

what’s in a name?

personally, i have given a lot of thought to this topic during my lifetime. for the first 18 or so years of my life, i was practically the only one i knew whose name was “different” (read: not ashley, mary, sarah or any of the other fine, but very familiar names out there). consequently, i never liked giving other things names (pets, cars, imaginary friends, etc.). it’s a lot of pressure. what are people going to think of the name? what does this name signal to those who hear it? looking back, having a different name has helped shape who i am, how i look at the world, etc. that might sound like an exaggeration, but it’s true. for example, i’m comfortable talking to all kinds of new people in most situations, and have been since i was young. i had to be. people would (and still do) ask me how to say my name. ask me how to spell it. again. ask me where it came from. is it a family name? i think you get the idea. but while i found it a source of insecurity when i was younger, i now see how it helped me learn how to communicate effectively. nonetheless, i value the significance names can have and the messages they may convey.

we always hear of first impressions being of the utmost importance, and names are like the precursor to the first impression. a “bad” name (of course, what defines this is subjective) can cause a grimace, evoke a bad memory or worse, prevent someone from ever getting to know more. granted, the latter doesn’t always happen with people, but that brings me to the real reason i’m writing this post.

because i take naming so seriously, it means i analyze names a lot when i hear them. the names of movies. new menu items. new colors in the crayola spectrum. and possibly more than anything else, band names.

recently, a friend introduced my partner and i to a really great band, but we almost didn’t give them a chance because of their name. i do consider myself to be an extremely open-minded person, but it really seems like nine times out of ten, a bad name signals a terrible sound. so when i heard the name dr. dog, i was a little hesitant (read: a lot hesitant) to give them a chance. finally, and i honestly don’t remember why, i decided to. then i realized how much their name troubled me. it doesn’t seem to convey a band that sounds like the audio-doppelganger to the beatles white album or perhaps the long, lost cousin of magical mystery tour. i don’t mean that they ripped the beatles off though. not at all. it’s like they are truly reminiscent of the beatles yet completely original. we (william and i) both tried to find the piece of the particular beatles song that we were sure was being copied. but we couldn’t. they capture the essence of the beatles without losing their own sense of “self” as a band. that’s only the beginning. they’re totally worth checking out. but anytime i go to recommend them, i’m a little afraid of what the reaction might be – because i remember my own. and i’m afraid they won’t be given a shot – because i almost didn’t give them one.

admittedly, i don’t know the story behind the name, and i haven’t really tried to find out. i don’t think that’s vital to what i’m saying though. the point is, a lot of people might miss out on their music because of a first impression the band never gets to expound on. this may be purposeful. maybe dr. dog is trying to weed out the superficial types (and that’s a lot of people). maybe there’s a really great inside joke behind the name. i don’t know. but what i do know is that it’s rare i hear a band that strikes me as much as this one. and i think when that happens, i want to share them with as many people as possible. there’s so much out there, it’s hard to listen to everything. we have to base our decisions to listen to new music on something. sometimes – a lot of times, probably – on the name.

can you judge a book by its cover contest?

recently, i was excited to find a book cover design contest online. i was already brainstorming design ideas when i decided to read the terms and conditions. it turns out, because i’m not a resident of the uk or the republic of ireland, i’m not eligible.

i suppose i should provide a little of personal background info before i elaborate on the contest and my issues with their rules. since elementary school, i’ve always been disappointed with the quality of book cover designs. granted, a few good ones come along every once in awhile, but for the most part, they’re lackluster and ill-conceived. this is usually not the author’s fault, and i can only imagine how frustrating it would be to see one’s blood, sweat and tears bound in some publishing exec’s poor decision. let’s face it. first impressions are important, and people really do judge books by their covers. so why skimp on such a major detail?

so anyway, back to the contest. the book is crowdsourcing, by wired editor jeff howe. he’s written about “the new internet revolution driven by the masses.” if this were a contest for any other book, i probably wouldn’t have the same grounds for frustration. crowdsourcing, however, is about how revolutionary things are happening because the internet is bringing together individuals who are sharing ideas and collaborating in a way that may never have been possible in a pre-web world.

something is amiss here.

what’s the deal with restricting the geographical location of the cover’s designer? it seems a little contradictory that a contest for this particular book would only be open to certain individuals. i think the logic is pretty straightforward. it just makes sense to include as many potential ideas and entries as possible because great ideas can come from anywhere – even outside the uk and the republic of ireland.

so will i read the book?  maybe i’ll decide after i see the winning cover.

my apologies

to my legions of readers out there (only kidding, but i do appreciate each and every one of you), i want to apologize for my recent hiatus. despite my resolve this new year (to blog on a more regular basis) things have been a little hectic, and my blog keeps finding itself at the bottom of my hefty to-do list.

that being said, i have lots of projects in the works, on top of my new and exciting full-time job as graphic designer/pr & marketing assistant at the missouri theatre center for the arts, so yet again, i’ll have to leave you in anticipation of something more thought provoking than my apology.

over and out (but not for long!).

’tis the season

you didn’t really think i was going to skip blogging for the entire month of november, did you? truth be told, i haven’t been inspired by anything long enough to devote time to writing about it. but, since that’s pretty much a cop-out, i’ll share a brief rant about something that seems to irritate me a little more with each holiday season.

gift cards.

don’t get me wrong, gift cards aren’t entirely awful. they aren’t entirely necessary though, either. personally, few things frustrate me as much as a gift with strings attached. of course, aunt mabel who gives her nieces and nephews giftcards to their favorite clothing retailers for christmahanakwanzaka has every intention of doing something nice for her relatives. the clothing retailers, however, have something a little less innocent in mind.

hypothetically speaking, let’s suppose my grandmother gives me a gift card to h&m for $40.00. first, how often does a nice, round number like $40.00 appear at the register after taxes, etc.? that means i find a couple of things i like, and they total more or less than $40.00. then i either, a) wind up paying for part of my present and giving the retailer more money than my grandmother originally budgeted for my gift (score one for the retailer), or b) i don’t end up using all of the amount that day. of course, it doesn’t stop there. i either a) forget about the remaining amount on the gift card (score one for the retailer), or b) i wind up using the rest on another visit to the store, where i’ll inevitably spend more than the amount left on the card (score yet another one for the retailer). still, another potential scenario exists. personally, i have found myself searching for that one bargain item that will bring my total somewhere close to the amount of the gift card. usually, i end up picking something i never would have bought otherwise. i’ve only chosen it because if it’s convenient price tag.

of course, the above scenarios all assume that the gift card actually gets used. every year, retailers take in billions of dollars for free. according to consumer reports, 19% (or 8-billion dollars worth) of gift cards given last year went unused. they also project that 27% of gift cards given this year will suffer the same fate. it doesn’t stop there. news reports after the holidays are constantly reminding their viewers to use their gift cards before their values start to depreciate. are you serious? you’re actually going to charge me for hanging onto the gift card until i find the perfect gift (or until i find it buried in the bottom of a drawer)?

this is ridiculous. the last time i checked, no one is giving gifts with the hope that their friends and loved ones will never use them.

granted, i acknowledge that cash has its drawbacks. let’s say aunt mabel’s nephew only spends his cash on ramen, dvd’s and video games, but she really wants him to have some nice, new clothes. in this instance, if the nephew can be trusted to actually use the gift card, it doesn’t seem as unreasonable. if, however, her nephew is responsible enough to spend the equivalent cash from aunt mabel in a way she would find acceptable, cash is the obvious choice. he can spend the cash where he chooses, without spending more, thus, not becoming victim to the retailers’ scheme.

unfortunately, it looks like the gift card is here to say. this probably has a lot to do with retailers and talk show hosts telling us cash just isn’t as good. the person who gives cash clearly doesn’t care as much about us, doesn’t know as much about us, or is just plain lazy.

well, the last time i checked, cash spends wherever i like to do my shopping, and it doesn’t come with any strings attached. i know it’s a little old fashioned, but personally, i always like receiving gifts that don’t fit as conveniently into an envelope, but i acknowledge i can be difficult to shop for, and sometimes it’s not practical to ship oddly shaped gifts.

the bottom line is this: gift cards aren’t evil, but the corporations who tell us we need to buy gift cards to be good family members or friends might be. so maybe we should all think really hard about whether a gift card is such a good idea before we give in to the capitalist machine responsible for its existence.

cnn = contradiction news network.

for months (approximately, seemingly), cnn has been promoting their special feature “planet in peril.” as one might guess, it details the effects of globalization, deforestation and other unnatural “ations” that humankind imposes on earth. i already take global warming very seriously, thus i’m well aware of why it’s happening. so despite the fact that i knew the special would probably be depressing, the masochist inside me was looking forward to it. that was until i watched more closely and realized all of cnn’s efforts seem to clash with their actions.

two nights ago on the colbert report, stephen colbert pointed out the first major discrepancy between cnn’s apparent mission and their promotional efforts. featured in every copy of usa today that day was a two-sided, full color, glossy poster complete with its own calendar (to countdown to the day the earth can’t tolerate us anymore, perhaps?), information about the three hosts (all male), and a pretty graphic on the opposite side. maybe i just think about this sort of thing too much, but doesn’t that seem a wee-bit wasteful? i don’t even want to think about where they got the paper for said posters.

granted, cnn probably did not produce this promotional piece in house. they did, however, choose their marketing agency. and, clearly, someone at that marketing agency lacks some major foresight – or common sense for that matter. just as the “live earth” concert had an ecological footprint contradictory to its mission, this poster serves as a missed opportunity to do something clever, and more importantly, environmentally sound. guerrilla tactics are often more cost-effective and are capable of producing real results. in this case, i think i would have been less turned-off had the poster been printed on 100% recycled paper. is a poster really necessary though? surely something else could have been just as effective.

sadly, my disappointment didn’t end with the poster. i admit that curiosity got the best of me, and i had to see what the hype was all about. the reporting was good, and i think it’s great that cnn is giving attention to something newsworthy. i suppose, however, that hype = advertising revenue. unfortunately, the ad space was dominated by fuel companies, car companies, and the coal industry. yes, the coal industry. most of these commercials featured what each advertiser is supposedly doing to green up their act. we all know that better alternatives are already available. so if these companies were truly doing their part, they wouldn’t exist – at least not with the same business models. i’m not surprised by the advertisers’ motives. they make their disregard for the environment clear on a daily basis. i suppose the sad reality is that real “green” companies don’t have the advertising dollars to buy such primo ad space. but the saddest reality is that cnn let it happen.

personally, i believe the preservation (and hopefully restoration) of the environment is crucial. there’s not any room for error when so many powerful people are capable of denying the effects of global warming. special attention must be given to every detail to leave the opposition without ammunition. otherwise, the real activists will continue facing an uphill battle, and that hill is becoming harder to climb every day.

this blog is 100% sweatshop free

sweatshops are bad. unfortunately, however, they exist. that’s why i don’t mind making some flying sewing machines to promote an upcoming lecture for some friends of mine at the Feminist Student Union. check it out if you’re in town…