A Question of Jul 17, 09, 3:45 p.m.

my wife and I are friends with a couple whom the husband of (he's a wedding DJ) received this email from my wife:

"...wanna hang out tonight? we can stay in and cook and drink beer and watch family guy reruns or we can ~walk~ to all the bars. lemme know. i dunno what time your wedding gig is on saturday, but you're welcomed to crash here if you want."

The circumstances: We're all friends and free from suspicion. The email is sent as I 'm on a weekend sailing trip and his wife is out state. There have never been any transgressions.

Just as a test of my own objectivity, I ask:
Is this email suggestive,—or is it free from offense?

another embarrassing design contest Mar 3, 11, 9:18 a.m.

spec work anyone?
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/n…

Luba Lukova Ripped Apr 8, 11, 9:19 a.m.

Not like you're thinking... her work was blatantly ripped off:

From Luba's fb page:
"I just received a design catalog from the current Agitators of Conscience show in Spain, curated by Ofelio Serpa. I saw inside this book cover by Spanish designer Pep Carrió. Mr. Carrio has directly copied the idea, the symbols, and whole parts of the composition of my poster. I drew all these icons by hand and they are not clip art images that can be recycled. I wonder where is the "design conscience" of Mr. Carrió?"

For the record, anyone wishing to email the offending designer, and ask him about said similarities, this is his email -

God has a website? Oct 13, 06, 7:25 a.m.

I saw this site not too long ago that allowed the user to carry on a conversation with god. It was quite funny and engaging. Anyone have any ideas what I'm talking about? I can't remember where I saw it...

800 wide Aug 19, 09, 8:19 p.m.

why do this anymore? I'm not a web designer, so I really don't know the answer.

Slaps Forehead Nov 8, 08, 7:35 p.m.

me: In order to get this brochure ready for print I'm going to need the hi-res or vector version of your logo. (after interpreting client's blank expression) Do you know who it came from so I can get in touch them?

client: I'm not sure, I think Tom (the client's other business partner) had some guy from his church make it real quick because we needed it like on the next day for some presentation or something...he charged us something like $40 bucks to do it overnight.

me: (internal voice-over) oye.

Who's Fault Is It? Jan 7, 08, 6:32 p.m.

alright, long story, hear me out. Just got a job back from the press: 20,000 beautiful brochures on Mohawk Najavo uncoated paper. Tri-fold cover opens up to reveal a 4 page saddle stitched book inside, it's really nice and everyone is very pleased. Except after they were delivered to the clients office, someone noticed an error. A word had been deleted from a sentence. Instead of saying, "or email us at xxxx@yyyy.com..." it says, "or us at xxx@yyy.com...".
I was at the press check, and I gave the final sign-off. After I learned about this I checked the last file I had sent to the printer, no typo. Apparently, this deletion occurred on the printer's end between when I send the file and when it made it to press. What I believe happened was after I sent the file, the printer called me and told me my text was 4 color process and asked me to convert it to 100% black. "Yes", I said and thanked them. We then got a proof back, signed it with changes and offered to resend an updated file. The printer said, "no need." They had me go over the changes (which were rather minor) with them over the phone. They then placed the revised pdf's on the web for me to review and approve. I looked over the changes that needed made and didn't bother looking too hard at the pages where there were no changes. This is when the mistake must have happened. Whoever changed the text ink composition must have accidentally deleted the word. I didn't notice, my client didn't notice. At the press check I proofed for color and not type. Now all of us involved are trying to be cool about this and play fair, but my question to you is: who is ultimately responsible for this? Is it me? I signed the proofs. Or is it the printer? They made a mistake on a page that had already been approved without changes. Is it the client? (who also happened to be at the press check.) and signed the proofs as well...
What do you think?

Final Email on Last Day Aug 17, 07, 11:16 a.m.

getting ready to draft a goodbye email to my fellow creatives here in the ad agency. Nice group, typical characters that perpetuate the agency stereotypes, most of all, a group of friends that I'll sorely miss...
So, in lieu of the typical "I'll miss you, here's my contact info, blah blah blah..." I want a smart-ass send off that's somewhere between "fuck all y'all" and "it was pleasure working with all of you on this weird, pointless shit"
Any ideas out here I can bum?

Do You Remember That Website? Apr 26, 07, 1:14 p.m.

I think it was for a photographer (?) where you would click anywhere on the image and it would zoom in and produce a grid of new images that were similar in color to that area of the image. You could keep doing that for a while and it was pretty cool. Does anyone remember the link to that site? Thanks in advance!

Door Kicker Jan 25, 07, 11:24 a.m.

A client in the vegetable industry wants to get his produce onto the menus of national restaurants. He's looking for a way to introduce himself to the CEO's and desicion makers of such said restaurants. He wants something big and impactful that will make these potential customers pick up the phone and call him. Budget is huge. Ideas we've had include sending a mini-fridge full of fresh produce to each of them. Does anyone have any BIG ideas that would just blow them away?

Critique Me Jan 28, 09, 2:15 p.m.

initial impressions to well-thought-out and detailed thrashings are welcome. (appreciated actually)

http://issuu.com/arvizu/docs/que…

WHO? May 2, 08, 3:42 p.m.

who made the poster with the black silhouette of a gun coming into the page from the bottom left and a black bullet flying in from the upper right? It's basically the bullet returning to the gun barrel. I think the bkgd is yellow. Very graphic, very simple, very nice. I can't recall who's responsible for it...any help?

is it old or just me? May 6, 09, 9:33 a.m.

I'm 32. 32 is not that old in the lifespan of things. I don't know how old I was when my point of reference shifted and I started looking at "old" as what happens to a person around lower to mid 60's. I think it was in my twenties... When I was a child (read: pre-pubescent) I thought 20 was old, 30 might as well have been 80. Now, 32 is not that old. I imagine my point of reference will have shifted again by the time I arrive to my late 40's.

My point? I work at a University. I recently had a rare and great time acting in a play with the Theater department. I got to know the cast over the 8 weeks of rehearsal and by the end of it I was among people I like and trust—All of them college age, early 20's mostly.

Now, I'm not saying I'm old. I feel like I'm still a child, but after my experience with this generation—which is a couple of demographics away from my own—I felt like I might be "old" for the first time in my adult life. Until recently, I've never felt even a little out of touch with the culture of youth. And as a graphic designer, I feel like I have an edge on "staying tuned in"; (staying abreast of mass trends being a part of my job description). But here I am. I'm a dad, father of two little kids and working in an office at an institution... I may not be old, but I'm not tragically hip either.

This isn't a complaint, it's just an announcement. And it's not about the whole "you're only as old as you think you are" thing either. It's just that it hit me: I'm not the youngest one in the room anymore—in linear time-years or even in the way I think.

How will this affect my design approach? Have any of you got this feeling before?

Phantom Flex Cam Aug 11, 11, 1:59 p.m.

http://vimeo.com/27260633

2570 fps makes for some killer clips

work work work Mar 2, 07, 9:14 p.m.

I put in 65 hours last week and another 50+ this week, all salary so no compensation after 40...It's almost midnight and I'm at the office working on a presentation due 8 am Saturday...just thought I'd complain to you. thanks, feeling better already.

Math + Type = Vexed Designer Mar 27, 09, 12:56 p.m.

Hi. Here's a bit of a rant (read: cry for help). I'm laying out a new scholarly journal for a client from the university's Mathematics department.
One thing I hadn't counted on was the hideously large amounts of equations in the copy documents. Lots of equations, with math symbols that aren't fonts usually included in your typical typeface. In fact, most of them seem to be pasted into the documents from some other program. When I copy and paste them into inDesign, it works about 50% of the time. The other % is me cursing.
Needless to say, this has become an excruciatingly painful project. I knew there was a reason I went into art: math.

(anyone know how to deal with math type better than this?)

Central Valley, CA Aug 15, 07, 1:48 p.m.

Well, my wife just accepted a lecturer position at CU in Turlock, CA. That means we'll be moving to the area immediately. Anybody around here know the area? Any opportunities to be had for a Graphic Designer / Art Director? Any places to avoid? Any advice would be had! Thanks...

could we be in love? Dec 13, 08, 2:08 a.m.

well, could we?

None of Your Bid-ness? Feb 7, 08, 9:35 a.m.

Is it normal for a print-rep who didn’t win a bid to ask for “a copy of the report of quotes”??? I’m guessing that’s a request to look at her competitor’s bids? Is that ethical? I’m asking myself, “HWQBNR?” (How Would QBNers Respond?)--I ask myself that a lot. Normally the answer is Grey Goose and tonic but that’s not working in this situation.
So, how would you respond to this request?

A little background: this printer-rep has been uncomfortably aggressive in the past--to the point of freaky. She’s been making threats to go to our Boss (we're in-house) because we’re not giving them enough chances to bid, and when we do—they’re not winning enough of them—you know, strangely interesting acts of desperation like that. I dunno...what do you think?

Rejected by MTV Aug 24, 09, 10:37 a.m.