We dare you… no, we double-dare you to enjoy this edition of Quipsologies.
The Paulagiarisms™ continue: This time in Italy. [Thanks to Paula for the link, and Julia and Lenny for the journalistic report].
A couple of events that were meant to be posted in the News & Events section but will probably not:
Alphabet: An Exhibition of Hand-Drawn Lettering and Experimental Typography is currently showing, until March 31, at the Workhorse Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.
London-based Don’t Panic will be holding an exhibition of their famed posters —�by the likes of Banksy, Pentagram, Neville Brody and Shepard Fairey — from March 30 to April 29, at the Aram Gallery in London. For more information, download this PDF.
Intermittent Speak Up contributor, David Stairs, has taken blogging into his own hands with Design Altruism Project
And Debbie sends a quick quip: Suprematism.org.
Attack of the fake Starbucks
Londoners… wake me up stickers, anyone?
Website for a current exposition at the Biblioth�que nationale de France — Torah, Bible, Coran. Even if you don’t read French, there are many wonderful images from the history of writing; including the above example of late 15th century marginalia and collaged Koranic commentary from central Asia.
Maybe the problem between designers and clients is that we always forget the happy ending.
As a follow-up to Debbie Millman’s post on Intelligent Design: Dr. Barbara Forrest, a member of the reality-based community; interviewed at Daily Kos.
Ralph Steadman, an appreciation.
A composer’s take on “If everybody’s a designer, what separates us from the pack?”
“…if you strive to teach yourself the lost art of storytelling, you are going to suffer, and, as you work and age, you may look around you and say, “Why bother?” And the answer is you must bother if you are selected to bother, and if not, then not.”
Kyle Gann has posted an excerpt from David Mamet’s Writing in Restaurants — which should be considered when one complains about “those damn suits.”
I finally saw these the other day, and they’re quite striking: MoMA’s dynamic signage observed.
Oh well, we might as well join in the clusterlink to yet another collection of bad album covers.
In the spirit of Speak Up’s patented logo dogpiles, we direct you to web pages that suck.
My college art history text has been revised. Congratulations to Beth Tondreau Design for their future influence of tomorrow’s visual artists.
As an update to a previous post on the black power salute, the University of California Berkeley Library hosts Lincoln Cushing’s A brief history of the “clenched fist” image.
In 1987 the great literary critic Harold Bloom shortlisted Charlie Parker’s “I Remember You” and “Parker’s Mood” in his canon of the 20th-century American Sublime. Yesterday marked the 51st anniversary of Parker’s death in Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter’s room at the Stanhope Hotel, across the street from the Metropolitan Museum. I suspect one of the few times New York hipsters can be counted on to say a silent prayer is as they descend the Met’s staircase and glance across Fifth Avenue. And yes, I know this quip seems as if it has nothing to do with design; but in my heart, it has everything to do with design. Because without knowledge of the sublime, or it’s experience of exstasis, we appeal to our audience in vain.
Fine, I'll bite first.
The Starbucks thing is interesting. But to be fair, Starbucks ain't exactly the first to use a circle emblem. Beer and other beverage labels have used similar emblems and crests for decades. It can be argued that Starbucks leveraged the look in the first place, and now it's trying to own the appropriation.
Sounds like a CSA flim-flam to me.
But if we're going to talk about fake Starbucks, I think the most blatant culprit is actually the Barnes & Noble Cafes. Their stores look like Starbucks down to the menu boards and uniforms. They even put a Starbucks emblem on the wall, but you have to read the small type that says "Served here" underneath. You don't know you've been duped until the cashier rings your order, and it's a buck more than you're used to paying at the real thing. You meekishly ask if the order was rung correctly, but then realize the deception that's taken place.
I know that some Barnes and Noble really do have legit Starbucks, but most don't. It surprises me that Starbucks allows B&N to be so deceptive in their own stores.
On Mar.14.2006 at 01:02 PM