hello. i'll be your devil's advocate for the evening.

1) you just publicly admitted that you spend a teeny fraction of your cognitive power on your client's work. while working, no less.

2) you spent 80 hours doing it.

3) for free.

which totally underscores that ever-present stereotype that "designers are a bunch of navel-gazing daydreamers who don't get that they're on the clock, which is ticking on our dime. and THAT's why we're paying so much money for our design."

it's a beautifully crafted piece, and i'm a total sucker for the kitty. but the stereotype is definitely there.

discuss or bitch me out. whichever.

the stereotype is definitely there.

yeah, it's a little self-gratifying, but a very cool piece. I needed a cigarette afterwards.

And if it's on Veer, it's more of a designer audience anyway -- so if Armin had claimed to spend a majority of his cognitive powers on design, we'd all know it was bullshit. Right?

Btw, I like the Saul Bass North by Northwest homage too.

Nice work. I'm jealous you prick.

>the stereotype is definitely there.

>yeah, it's a little self-gratifying

I make absolutely no excuses. Guilty as charged. No bitching back. No regrets. When somebody says "Hey dude, here is our library of images and type, do whatever you want with them" (it didn't go quite like that in reality) I would be crazy to not jump at the opportunity and do something totally self-gratifying. I had absolutely no restrictions, no boundaries, no target audience (well designers, yes) so I did what I wanted. And I enjoyed every minute of those 80 hours.

>Nice work. I'm jealous you prick.

: )

>it's a beautifully crafted piece

: )

>and i'm a total sucker for the kitty.

I know! isn't he, like, the cutest thang! It was mainly inspired by my cat, who can stare the shit out of anything. And I couldn't have done it without the help of Lucifer.

>you just publicly admitted that you spend a teeny fraction of your cognitive power on your client's work.

I forgot to touch on this point. To me, it is impossible to be thinking about the client 100% of the time and create good work. If one is so immersed in what the client is, what the client does, how or why they do it and never look up to see the world that surrounds you, the work one creates will become austere and flavorless.

From our favorite manifesto:

8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

(Isn't it funny that every time we want to make a case for ourselves we end up quoting Mau?)

This free-flow of ideas is what is bound to spark something worth exploring in a client's project.

Plus, men think about sex every 30 seconds, how am I supposed to devote more time to a client's need?

Enough talk. Pizza is here.

You know, I'm a dog guy. You cat guys -- what the hell are you thinking? They don't attract chicks in a park. They can't catch frisbees. They can't protect the house. They can't even follow you on a bicycle.

And if you have a photo of you and your cat in your wallet, then I don't want to know. It's just creepy.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Armin. Awesome.

And finally, I would like to add that the "design" theme was important for Veer. Some of the specifications I got at the beginning was to show what design means to me, what is the process I follow and what kind of things inspire me.

If you can't have enough of the kitty, here is more.

>You cat guys -- what the hell are you thinking?

At least we don't have to pick up huge pieces of shit with only a plastic bag separating it from our hands, nor we need to walk them in 0? temperatures.

So I'm sitting here in Canada doing some work, and I think to myself;

"Hey, let's check out some interesting design related chit-chat... Favourites... Speak Up... What's this?! A self promotion related entry. Fantastique!"

Whilst the piece is bril, please bear in mind your designer friends north of the 49th in rural communities everywhere, most of us are on dial up... SSSlllllooowww download, but still quite tight.

Nice work.

At least we don't have to pick up huge pieces of shit with only a plastic bag separating it from our hands, nor we need to walk them in 0? temperatures.

Ohhh - don't get me on to the dog versus the cat thing. Its almost the same as Mac versus PC.

I just got a cat. And I've slept less in the past month than I deprived myself through my teens. At least with dogs they can be trained. Cats are considered to be exploited captives and though they know what you call them, never care to respond. Especially when they're a: tearing up your furniture, b: dragging their bag of food across the floor at 3am c: eating the orchid d: biting your toes at night when you move e: have to tell us in great detail after every poo she's done. And f: have to sit on the peice of paper you're working on at that moment.

Sure dogs smell and picking up warm poo in the dead of winter isn't much fun. But cats make it their ambition to play with us in ways we don't enjoy being played with. Cute, small and furry blah blah blah. Goldfish are the way to go, them and turtles.

but I greatly enjoyed the cat integration into the piece Armin. I was also glad to hear it took you longer than a week to put that together. Its a great piece. Well done.

cat person. i have a giant brontosaurus of an orange tabby named doug who sits on my desk and watches me work while zoe (who's a black longhair and looks like someone threw some crazy cruella de vil wig on the ground) naps at my feet, chirping occasionally. they bitch at me in the mornings and at night for food, never any other time. they shit where they're supposed to. they're quiet. they sleep by my head and purr me to sleep. they keep me warm while i'm dissolving on the couch watching the style channel or whatever.

fuck dogs, man. they're weird.

I am hypnotized and mesmerized...i have the sudden unexplainable urge to...

purchase veer images...

learn to dance...

feed cat.

Seriously, most excellent work, you have an great understanding of time and motion! What was the music?

"If you can't have enough of the kitty, here is more."

Armin - why not go to the source ;-)

Lucifer Ball, Lucifer Sleep & Lucifer WC.

Oopss, sorry ;) Here are the correct links.

Ball

Sleep

WC

Cool, Armin! Unfortunately, I have ADD, so I only made it about halfway through. ;o)

My little self-pride of the weekend...I saw that BMW now has the pop-out, fold-up mini car ads in major magazines.

It's quite similar in concept and wording to something I did a year or two ago:

http://www.blincpublishing.com/portfolio/geek_squad.html (just the car)

(Ok, yea...the concept isn't that original to begin with, but I like to think I influence BMW in some little way ;o)

Very nice work Armin. I liked the music and the humor behind it! But now, I'm singing "We can't stop the fire" by Billy Joel...is that what's it's called? Well, that's how I'm singing it and that is not making me happy!

Kitty was cool! As I am a kitty/dog person and lucifer looks almost exactly like my #1 kitty Pancho. Pancho is a cat but acts like a dog. He has an identity problem. Comes when I whistle for him, greets me at the door, sleeps on my pillow, pees on the couch. That last part I can do without, but he's a keeper!

self-promotion is OK. As long as you're not a jack-ass about it and you weren't. So....no worries. When you're proud of what you do and you want feedback, what's wrong with that?

He has an identity problem. Comes when I whistle for him, greets me at the door,

...not to perpetuate this argument, but Ginny's point is that her cat is great because he acts like a dog. And peeing on furniture is definitely a cat thing.

Dogs save people too. Bet you'd love a dog if you were buried underneath an avalanche. Wouldn't you?

>most of us are on dial up...

Dial up? Oh that 56K thing... yeah... broadband rocks.

So I'm sitting here in Canada doing some work...

Hey Garret, where the name of the blessed Tim Horton are you anyway? Veer's based in Calgary, you know. It's fortunate that we have broadband... otherwise we wouldn't have been able to upload Armin's masterwork.

Very nice work... And yes, I'm a dog person. Don't understand why female dogs are the bitches.