The Blauugh

Chauncey who? What a great Suns game last night shared with some really fungi(s) - The Suns scored 70 on the McNuggets at half and I’m pretty sure everyone on the Suns team had at least one trey. Louis Amundson had a monster dunk as you can see anyone can look good draped in eye candy.

GO SUNS

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I was working with my Father-in-Law (who was a professor of Math at Arizona State University) He needed a couple of slides for a speaking engagement. To me they were pretty simple to create in Illustrator - create a new document - select the rectangle tool - hold down the options key - plug in the dimensions - repeat - Horizontal Align Left - Center on the Page a - Voilà. When he was describing the theory and methodology behind these two simple rectangles and their relevance to time and space and the infinite series of intersecting lines my eyes must have glazed over and rolled back in my head. Now to be fair to this genius of a man this is the guy that tutored me in collage algebra which some how I managed to get thru with a passing grade (D).

When I saw this it made me think of Al. Good luck in Europe big guy and look both ways before you cross the street.

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I’m not a “tv ad guy” and I’ll admit I’m not truly hip to the whole marketing and psychology of tv marketing. But, these Palm Pre ads that are currently ruining my day… I just don’t get them.

Can’t you just imagine that meeting for the creative. A bunch of advertising creatives sitting around in their blue jeans and funny t-shirts around 7 empty boxes of pizza at 9 o’clock at night before the big client presentation.

Boss dude: “So what we need is an ad campaign for this new Palm Pre that is memorable and stands out from our competition”

Ad guy one: “So why don’t we do a commercial about how are product makes your life easier, saves you time and money”

Dumb ad guy: “No dude, that’s stupid. I’ve got the perfect idea for this multi-million dollar campaign! Let’s go find some creepy looking albino chick and pull her hair back so tight she looks like she could be a stand-in for the movie Alien. Then, let’s go get the cheapest, most brutal green screen guy in the world, and place her on a background that is devoid of realism and looks like it was painted by Bob Ross’ grandson. She can talk really softly over some stock music we buy from SterotypicalHorrorMovieMusic.com and incoherently babble about reincarnation, or walking in the park, or chopping up bodies in the bathtub. And at the end for the payoff she can hold up our stupid, worthless phone, and it will look great in comparison to the horrible 20 seconds they just experienced!”

Boss dude: “Gold. How soon can I have it!”

I just can’t imagine it went down any other way. Or at least I refuse to believe it did.

Of course they should have just gone all the way and done it properly…like this:

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Read a very interesting post this morning by way of the design blog Brand New in regards to the new identity of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology which was designed by Pentagram partner (and rockstar designer) Michael Beruit. The design is fine, whatever. The point of contention comes from the fact that the icon is basically copied from the artwork of artist Charley Harper an artist that Beruit admits to admiring.

It’s a very interesting question, exactly at what point is something in the design and art world considered trademark and artwork infringement? Google “logos that look the same” and you’ll come up with 100s of hits but what about logos that look like illustrations? It’s more than anything an interesting philosophical and legal question that, as more and more work gets produced, we may see more and more.

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Just to set the story straight we are R2 Graphic Design & Advertising Inc. dba R Squared. You can call us r2 for short but don’t call us r2 squared - that’s just redundant and wrong. Most people figure the R2 stands for Rick Richardson - but just to complicate things my real name is Barton Deane Richardson, where the Rick come from I will never know, other than to avoid confusion at family gatherings (Grandfather - Uncle and then me - all Barton - Bart or Bartie.) Anyways this has very little to do with anything other than I thought it a good lead in to my next Blaugh.

Heat Index: Today’s sports nicknames stink - by Doug Haller - Jul. 15, 2009 - AZ Republic

You know, with all the new media out there, you’d think the nickname business would be experiencing a renaissance of sorts. Sadly, pitifully, that’s not the case.

How bad is it? Amaré Stoudemire decided not long ago that he wanted a new, fresher nickname. The Suns forward decided on Sun Tzu, and you can bet the Suns are just giddy over the marketing aspects of such a moniker.

Let’s face it: Today’s nicknames stink. Somehow we’ve gone from Magic, Sweetness and Charlie Hustle to Black Mamba, The Big Shaqtus and The Machine. It shows an amazing lack of creativity that should insult fans everywhere.

Seeking answers, The Heat Index contacted Louis Phillips, an essayist from New York City who long ago co-authored “The Complete Book of Sports
Nicknames.” How powerful can a nickname be? Phillips is convinced that former Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd would not have played 10 seasons without such a colorful nickname. In other words, Boyd’s name trumped his game, which probably is true.

Several reasons that have contributed to this dying art. “First, the shift from print media to television,” he wrote. “Nicknames in print have staying power. TV nicknames have a ‘made-up, spur-of-the-moment’ fleeting essence.

“Also the shift away from reading literature affected the quality of sports writing in America. The great sportswriters such as Ring Lardner, Grantland Rice and Red Barber were literary men, and they wrote well. It takes imagination to come up with a nickname such as ‘The Four Horsemen.’ ”

Phillips also mentioned political correctness and free agency. But we’re convinced great nicknames have declined simply because no guidelines exist to help those involved.

In that regard, we’re here to help:

Rule 1: No player is allowed to give himself a nickname or is authorized to change an existing nickname. Henceforth, this shall be known as the Stoudemire Rule.

Rule 2: Initials do not a nickname make. Therefore, TO does not suffice for Terrell Owens, just as LB, as popular as it is in the Valley, doesn’t work for Leandro Barbosa. Come on, do you think Barack Obama answers to BO inside the White House? Not a chance.

Rule 3: Syllables do not a nickname make. This eliminates BoMel, TMac, ManRam, DWade, ARod, CoJack, JRich, JUp, JKidd, JRoll and JWill.

Rule 4: Baseball’s tendency to attach a “y” or “ie” to a surname makes a clubhouse intimate, but it should not be viewed as an acceptable form of nicknaming. This no doubt will send shockwaves throughout the industry. Just look at the Diamondbacks, a team with Byrnsie, Webby, Lopey, Gutie, Schoeney, Quallsy and Gibby.

You’d think Chad Tracy would be thrilled since his surname actually ends in “y,” but no. In Tracy’s case the “y” is inexplicably dropped, and he’s known simply as Trace. Makes no sense.

Rule 5: Nicknames must be memorable; another reason Stoudemire’s Sun Tzu will flop. The Heat Index has been writing these rules for an hour now and has had to look up Sun Tzu every time. Keep it simple, along the lines of Air Jordan, Dr. J and Bear Bryant.

Rule 6: Rhyming is encouraged. Stan the Man, Wilt the Stilt, The Italian Stallion, Mean Joe Greene, The Round Mound of Rebound. These have staying power because they are easily remembered.

Rule 7: On the same note, alliteration is your friend. Pistol Pete, Hammerin’ Hank, Joltin’ Joe and The Splendid Splinter all roll off the tongue.

Rule 8: Nicknames must have little problem fitting into daily conversation. Example: How many times have you heard a co-worker ask, ‘Hey, did anyone see The Machine last night? That guy is awesome!” But once upon a time, it wasn’t uncommon to hear that The Iceman lit up the Knicks or that The Wizard of Oz made an amazing play at short.

By the way, to emphasize our point: Were you even aware that “The Machine” is the nickname for baseball’s best player, Albert Pujols?

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Now this guy is the way to sell to clients. Tell them their stuff is crap, very nice. The best part is that you know this guy totally believes what he’s telling us, and the fact that he’s so proud of his laminated resume/children’s book/business card.

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I thought all of you creatives and non-creatives alike would appreciate this. ‘Someguy,’ the creator of this social experiment, actually came to ASU this past semester to talk about how this came to be. He explains it best, “The 1000 Journals Project is an ongoing collaborative experiment attempting to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels. The goal is to provide a method for interaction and shared creativity among friends and strangers.” Basically, if you find a journal you add to it and pass it on, like an anonymous chain-letter. There’s something about being anonymous that allows people to be honest; the entries are just that. Check it out on www.1000journals.com

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Just a friendly reminder to make sure your company’s twitter account password stays secure. Otherwise you’ll have 200+ porn tweets within a few hours. Oops.

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If your site is scary, it should be because it’s about 30 days of night or Saw. These are really good. Thanks Dan

http://designreviver.com/inspiration/30-blood-curdling-movie-poster-designs/

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I wish I had this kind of time… is it really that funny if you’re not in the advertising business? Probably not, but I don’t care because I like it!

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