Favorite Architects May 31, 08, 11:31 a.m.

Who are some of your favorite architects?

Rem Koolhaas

Zaha Hadid

Santiago Calatrava

Norman Foster

R.I.P. Design Jun 9, 08, 9:44 p.m.

I am beginning to believe that good design is dead!

Everything from Web 2.0, $1 clip art & photos, $10 web templates, $5 Flash components, etc... Why bother designing, the proof is in the pudding, take a closer look around us. Design is becoming a thing of the past, everything is becoming homogenized.

"In future there will be no more designers. The designers of the future will be the personal coach, the gym trainer, the diet consultant.” - Philippe Starck

Is there any hope left for design?

$1.7 Trillion Poorer Jun 5, 08, 6:09 p.m.

Americans $1.7 trillion poorer

Americans' net worth falls for the second straight quarter as home and stock prices decline, but it may not hurt consumer spending, experts say.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Americans saw their net worth decline by $1.7 trillion in the first quarter - the biggest drop since 2002 - as declines in home values and the stock market ravaged their holdings.

Meanwhile, the amount of equity people have in their homes fell to 46.2%, the lowest level on record.

The net worth of U.S. households fell 3% to $56 trillion at the end of March, according to the Federal Reserve's flow of funds report, which was released Thursday.

The value of real estate assets owned by households and non-profits declined by $305 billion, while financial assets fell by $1.3 trillion, led mainly by a $556 billion drop in stocks and a $400 billion decline in mutual funds.

The first quarter's decline follows a $530 billion drop in wealth in the fourth quarter of 2007. Until then, net worth had been rising steadily since 2003, climbing nearly 31% over those five years. During the bear market of 2000 through 2002, household's net worth dropped 6.2%.

Spending more
The recent declines, however, may not affect consumer spending, said Michael Englund, senior economist with Action Economics. Americans have actually spent more in recent months, particularly at the gas pump as fuel prices soared.

Americans "are spending everything in their wallet and borrowing more," Englund said. "But because the pump takes so much more of their dollars, they are buying fewer T-shirts."

Still, as people feel begin to feel poorer, the growth in consumer spending may slow, said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com.

"When wealth goes down, consumers will cut back some," he said. "There will be a drag on spending."

Household debt grew by 3.5% in the first quarter, down from 6.1% in the fourth quarter. The growth of home mortgage debt, including home equity loans, cooled to an annual rate of 3%, less than half the pace of 2007. Consumer credit, which includes credit cards, rose at an annual rate of 5.75%, the same as the 2007 pace.

The fact that consumers continue to borrow against their homes, even as they decline in value, shows how troubled Americans are.

"It signals how consumers are struggling to get cash," Hoyt said.

The Fed's report comes at a time of growing anxiety about the nation's economic health. Many economists believe the country is already in a recession, if not headed toward one.

In the first four months of the year, employers cut 260,000 jobs, and on Friday the government is expected to report an additional 60,000 losses in May. Gross domestic product rose at a sluggish annual rate of 0.9% in the first three months of the year, when adjusted for inflation.

Whether household wealth will be up or down at the close of 2008 depends more heavily on the stock market's performance than on housing values, since financial assets account for about two-thirds of net worth. Because the stock market has been rising in recent months, Englund is expecting a 6% gain in net worth for the second quarter.

2008 Logo Trends May 23, 08, 1:10 p.m.

What follows are 15 trends that have indeed popped up all over the world. Overcasting them all are prevailing winds that are worth noting first:

We saw less emphasis on sustainability or general "greenness" in logo design. There's plenty of natural imagery, but being "green" doesn't seem all that unique anymore. Colors are becoming more vivid. Desaturation has drained away, and the chroma factor pumped up. There's an overall move toward cleanliness - in type, in line, in color - as if ideas are getting more and more succinct. It may be an indication of the degree of seriousness with which branding is now regarded.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.logolounge.com/logotr…

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life May 13, 08, 9 a.m.

Rachael Ray Pulled May 29, 08, 1 p.m.

Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachael Ray ad

The coffee and donut chain says it yanked online spot to avoid 'misperception'; professor says links to extremism are narrow-minded and even racist.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/29/…

Flashloaded 3D Wall May 20, 08, 10:09 p.m.

isplays images on an engaging interactive 3D wall using the Papervision3D engine. The wall can be flat or set at any curvature to create a truly unique look. The viewer can also scroll, tilt and zoom the wall freely. Includes a built-in preloader for seamless transitions between thumbs and large images. Over 60 parameters to customize your wall ensures unlimited number of looks and an enticing viewer experience. Available for ActionScript 3.0 (Flash CS3) only.

Funny Gringo May 16, 08, 11:34 a.m.

http://www.gringo.nu/v3

Yves Saint-Laurent Jun 1, 08, 6:43 p.m.

Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent, who reworked the rules of fashion by putting women into elegant pantsuits that came to define how modern women dressed, died Sunday evening, a longtime friend and associate said. He was 71.

Nothin' but Love on QBN Jun 8, 08, 12:41 a.m.

Presidental Handwriting May 20, 08, 11:14 a.m.

Just the signatures of the candidates are revelatory -- at least to the eye of an expert.

Republican John McCain's signature shows a proud, idealistic but impulsive, if not uncontrollable man, according to the experts.

Lowe saw impulsiveness and a "short fuse" in McCain's variable writing style.

New York graphologist Roger Rubin agreed, and also saw a powerful ego at play in the senator from Arizona.

"The unevenness of the rhythm reflects the unevenness of his temperament," Rubin said.

"The capital J is the largest letter, which shows his strong belief in his own ego. The size of 'John' overwhelms the size of 'McCain' -- this shows how distant he is from his family roots."

Obama's signature reveals similar traits.

The vertical straight line of the B in Obama cuts through the large O -- which is nonetheless smaller than the B in Barack.

"The very large B shows he also has a very strong sense of his own ego," Rubin said.

"And he is crossing out his family name," he added, recalling that Obama's father left the family when the front-runner for the Democratic nomination was just a young boy.

Another graphologist had a different interpretation of the bisected O.

"He draws that circle and a line through it, and it's really like he has two different worlds," said Paula Sassi, who has been interpreting handwriting for 28 years.

"I think it shows his black and white heritage."

The fluidity of Obama's signature is a sign of high intelligence, while its illegibility shows he is protecting his privacy.

"He doesn't want you to know him too well," said Arlyn Imberman, author of "Signatures for Success."

"He shows a part of himself to the world but not everything," said Lowe.

The large letters in Obama's signature show that he is ambitious, self-confident and views himself as a leader, said Imberman.

"The fluid letter forms reveal that he can form a coalition, be diplomatic and get along with both sides of the aisle," she added. "He's the type of guy who could tell you to go to hell and you'd enjoy the trip."

Clinton's legible, balanced signature shows a woman of great intelligence.

It's simplicity portrays a "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" personality, said Lowe.

Her straight-up-and-down writing indicates that she "thinks with her head, not with her heart," said Sassi.

"But there is enough roundness in her writing to show that she cares about people," said Imberman.

The fact that the second leg of the H and the second L in Hillary are higher than the first show ambition.

And she's a perfectionist: "Every thing is written carefully, legibly," said Imberman.

It is difficult, the experts say, to tell the sex of a person from their handwriting, or to discern if they are left- or right-handed.

But, interestingly enough, Obama and McCain are lefties -- just like four out of five US presidents immediately before them: Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2008…

Flash in Your PDF Jun 2, 08, 12:40 p.m.

Adobe Updates Acrobat, Launches Hosted Services

Adobe Systems on Monday announced a major upgrade to its Acrobat software for creating and sharing documents. Adobe Acrobat 9 includes native support for Flash and other rich media plus new features for collaboration and sharing. Concurrent with the new software, Adobe has launched Acrobat.com, a Web site offering a suite of hosted services centered around the software.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20080…