Thots and observations about design 2009
By Jim Watson
Here is a page from Gallup.com. Please read the list of Office locations by country.
I suspect you read Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, etc. - down the first column. At some point you may have realized that the list is organized in rows, not columns - we are supposed to read across first, then down. Australia, Belgium, Brasil, then Canada, China, etc - in alphabetical order. Oops, bad design. We read down for two reasons:
1. We are conditioned to, its more familiar. When we recognize a list (with bullets and aligned in a column) we read down the list, no matter how many columns there are.
2. The designer of this page gave us visual cues to read down. The countries are aligned in vertical columns with a column of bullets next to the country names. The spacing conveys to read Australia first (again, conditioning to start at the top left) and then read the next closest country. That would be Canada, not Belgium.
This logo is so horrible, i really don't think i have to go into much detail. Not about the illustration style of the square cup, the useless initials (CCS?), the different point size and condensing of type, font selection, colors, wavy river of blue/magenta, alignment of elements, nor Capitalization Of Every Word In The Slogan. Nope, just don't need to go into it.
Reminder: logos are not literal illustrations of what a company does - they are identities that convey qualities appropriate to the company. A coffee break is to relax, energize, socialize, and enjoy the cup of coffee.
Interesting signage in SoHo
Stationary (with an a) means to stand still, not move. Stationery (with an e) means supplies used for correspondence - letterhead, envelope, etc. This sign is even worse because the images of supplies behind the type were moving - they were animated, not stationary.
Providing easy access for people with hardships and disabilities is a good idea, but this execution at Walmart in Edmond is just too excessive. The loss of numerous parking spaces for the rest of us cannot be justified here.
Really? No Parking? Not even in that safely enclosed space? I assume that the railed ramp was added after the asphalt was signed with No Parking, but there could be better ways: a planter in the enclosed space or no ramp at all - it doesn't seem to be a big improvement over the covered sidewalk. Shot at an Edmond Shopping Center.
What do we do with old iPods and how can we sneak alcohol into stadiums and arenas that don't sell beer or allow it to be brought in? Put the two together - the iFlask. I removed all the inner hardware from an old iPod, sealed the holes (except for the earbud input which I use as the opening to the flask) and ended up with a hard-to-detect flask that holds about a jigger (oops, sorry, I mean the j-word).
Have you noticed how many homes have garages with no room for cars? Only recently have architects designed grojs with ample room for junk. Not sure why it took them so long to observe the obvious - that most American families have so much stuff that it overflows the closets and attics and fills up much of the groj. Similarly, architects are only now designing public restrooms with more stalls in ladies rooms than in men's rooms. The rest of us realized years ago that lines were longer to ladies rooms due to the fact that women took longer to complete their business than men. Architects have finally acknowledged this.
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