All the action of a culture is at the edge - where the lunatics and geniuses are. i Unknown
Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? i Frank Scully
Seek the lofty by reading, hearing, and seeing great work at some moment every day. i Thornton Wilder
To be a good designer, you would need to have deep and far-reaching interests outside of the profession. i Stefan Sagmeister
Some people think design means how it looks. But, if you dig deeper, its really how it works. To design something really well, you have to understand what its all about. It takes a passionate commitment to thoroughly understand something - most people don't take the time to do that. i Steve Jobs


Please put the day of the week along with dates m July 24
A website worth checking out m July 14
And another one m July 14
Ways to make the iPhone better m July 7


If you haven't yet read the Two Glasses of Wine story, here it is m July 6
Please use reusable shopping bags m June 25


Proposed new logos for the Oklahoma City Thunder




How would he have pulled the trigger?

This headline was in the OSU student newspaper of Wensday, August 27, 2008.
BTW: If he did drop the gun, who would have picked it up?

Faculty show at OSU A few weeks after I was offered the position to teach at OSU, I got notice about the upcoming faculty art show. I hadn't participated in the past since I was an adjunct teaching only one lecture class. But now, teaching studio classes, I felt I should be in the show. Its important for students to see their professors' work. I prepared printouts of some recent projects, framed them, and included some handout cards listing the various project websites. The gallery show opening is Friday, September 5th at 6pm and the show runs through September 12.

The 6 recent projects highlighted in the show:
m 1. JustOnePiece anti-litter campaign website and process website
m 2. TravelPants information website and process website
m 3. PushPull stickers website and process website
m 4. Wayfinding sign at the OKC airport
m 5. New entryway traffic control at Science Museum Oklahoma
m 6. Lucky Grape website design firm and process


A bad location for a memorial sign On the left is a foto of the ventilation grates for the Battery Park tunnel that connects West Street to the FDR drive (the orange sign details some upcoming construction in the park). The sign on the fence, however, states 'Korean War Veterans Memorial'. If you look real closely in the right foto, off in the distance among the trees, you can just barely make out the Korean Memorial - a cut-out silhouette of a soldier. The sign clearly suggests that the Korean War memorial is a large ventilation grate in the grass. I suspect there is a more appropriate place for the sign that would still grab the attention of tourists walking by but more accurately direct people to the memorial. i July 24


Respectful design Note how the newer buildings on the left respect the older buildings with the alignment of the ornamentation bands.
Across 5th avenue from the Met. Downtown in the Financial District.


A poor design decision The photo on the left is of a signboard in the WinterGarden atrium in the World Financial Center. It publicizes upcoming events on the monitor at the top of the unit. Okay, so far. But look at the sign added to the base - 'Please do not step or sit on base'. Bad design. Instead of a sign telling people what they cannot do, design the unit so there is no tempting seating area. Then, there is no need for a sign. The solution here is not about designing a better sign, its about designing better units - to be more respectful of their environment and more user-friendly. i July 10

Travel Tip To lighten the stuff I carry when I travel, I now email the files on my laptop to myself and then delete the files from the hard drive. That is hundreds, maybe thousands, of pages that add up to several pounds that are now off my computer. I let the files hang around in cyberspace for a while. When I get to my destination I open my email and download all the files. Not sure why I didn't think of this sooner. It has really made lugging around a laptop much easier. Try it the next time you travel. i June 17
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Design m Culture m Politics m Religion m Watson m New York


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