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I took off Friday afternoon for a lovely (although sometimes a bit sloppy) bicycle ride up the coast to Summerland, just south of Santa Barbara. (I heard rumors that Lance Armstrong was riding from Santa Ynez to Ojai that day but somehow I missed the indignity of having him cruise past my fifty mile slow ride at a vastly faster speed on his much longer trip.) About half way up I passed La Conchita, the weird little wide spot on the 101. Or at least it used to be a wide spot. It’s much narrower since the mudslide a couple of weeks back. Ten people died under a spectacular display of nature’s indifference to people’s real estate choices.

The $400K retaining wall built after a few La Conchita houses were engulfed by mud ten years back was about as effective against the slide as a chain link fence would have been and now there are calls to make the wide spot in the road into a wide spot in the road in the form of a park or something that can take a mudslide without anyone dying. The discussion is a larger post-disaster design version of a standard emergency practice: triage. “Triage” means dividing into three. At a disaster scene you quickly divide victims into three groups—the ones that will do okay without your help, the ones that are going to die no matter what you do, and the ones that require emergency attention.

I’ve been thinking about graphic design and disasters. Nothing as high-minded as Font Aid. (Not that I’m against that. I contributed a character to Font Aid #2 and didn’t have time to do fleuron for #3 or I would have.) No, I’m thinking about disasters of our own making. I’ll let you interpret this as you would but I’ll start out with my votes:

May survives if it gets medical care: Talk balloons.

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: Car hood flames.

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: ???

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ENTRY DETAILS
ARCHIVE ID 2194 FILED UNDER Critique
PUBLISHED ON Jan.26.2005 BY Gunnar Swanson
WITH COMMENTS
Comments
marian’s comment is:

Hmmm. Not sure I have the concept straight, but here goes:

May survive if it gets medical care: scribbles

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: The globe

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: Hearts

On Jan.26.2005 at 12:47 PM
Armin’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: Communication Arts

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: Mrs. Eaves as body text

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: QuarkXPress

On Jan.26.2005 at 02:13 PM
Pesky Illustrator’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: Design Maven's caps lock keyboard

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: Gunnar's bicycle

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: smartass humor

I'm so sorry..... Is it Friday yet?

On Jan.26.2005 at 03:01 PM
Gunnar Swanson’s comment is:

Mark: Gunnar’s bicycle

It needs some care, especially after the recent rougher-than-usual road conditions, but the road bike was custom made for me before most of the readers of Speak Up were born. Campagnolo Super Record and Cinelli components and Columbus tubing may no longer define the high end of racing bikes but short of a truck hitting me, you can figure on several of us dying before the bicycle does. Or are you wishing a landslide on me?

On Jan.26.2005 at 03:20 PM
Pesky Illustrator’s comment is:

I would never wish harm upon you, Gunnar.....jumpin' jehosaphat!

On Jan.26.2005 at 03:47 PM
Tan’s comment is:

May survives if it gets medical care: the NBA

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: travel agencies

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: NBC programming

On Jan.26.2005 at 04:04 PM
Bradley’s comment is:

May survives if it gets medical care: fashion magazines.

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: advertising agencies.

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: Zombie movies and the artwork associated with them.

On Jan.26.2005 at 04:36 PM
agrayspace’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: Rosewood Fill

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined:

Red and Blue States

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: The Hand Drawn Look

On Jan.26.2005 at 04:48 PM
sheepstealer’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: The annual report

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: Movies with former cast of Saturday Night Live

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: Reality TV

Is there a category for "I wish it had died and never made it this far?" If so, I'd say cars that lock the doors automatically. If I wanted them locked, I'D LOCK THEM!.

On Jan.26.2005 at 06:54 PM
marian’s comment is:

Armin, I so agree with you about Communication Arts. But I'd switch Quark Xpress and Mrs. Eaves.

On Jan.26.2005 at 08:42 PM
Armin’s comment is:

I might budge on Mrs. Eaves, but Quark ain't going nowhere. Unless they really, really try really hard to screw up, which they seem to try, but…

On Jan.26.2005 at 09:09 PM
DesignMaven’s comment is:

May survives if it gets medical care:

PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined:

BRANDING, the word.

Remarkably healthy considering the scene:

DESIGN weblogs. May Speak Up and Design Observer Live Forever!!!!!!

On Jan.26.2005 at 09:16 PM
Michael Surtees’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care:

Design publications from Canada

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined:

Spineless kaki dressers

Remarkably healthy considering the scene:

Meeting creatives through e-mail

On Jan.26.2005 at 10:27 PM
Nick’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: curly quote marks

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined: section sign

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: pilcrow

On Jan.27.2005 at 07:38 AM
BlueStreak’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care:

The “fl” and “fi” ligatures

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you’re so inclined:

The “�” diphthong ligature

(good riddance you obstructive bastard)

Remarkably healthy considering the scene:

Grotesque all caps

On Jan.27.2005 at 10:51 AM
Rob’s comment is:

May survive if it get's medical care: My ever so recently former employer.

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you are so inclined: Arial

Remarkably healthy considering the environment:AIGA

On Jan.27.2005 at 04:00 PM
Tan’s comment is:

>but Quark ain't going nowhere

bro, you know what a diehard Quark fanatic I am — but even I can't deny the surge of InD and imminent death of Quark.

I love Quark, and still believe ID is an inferior, shameless copy of the original. But due to bad pricing, bad service, and slow compatibility from Quark, along with questionable practices by Adobe — every medium to large firm I know have switched or will switch. It's a fucking crying shame.

On Jan.28.2005 at 02:28 AM
Armin’s comment is:

> My ever so recently former employer.

But Rob, Deutsche Bank?! No More?

> but even I can't deny the surge of InD and imminent death of Quark.

If they can offer OpenType compatibility and tone down the piracy neurosis I think they should be OK…

> The “fl” and “fi” ligatures

See above answer. InDesign autoligaturizes the fi and fl combo… if Quark can figure that out we could see a resurgence.

On Jan.28.2005 at 08:28 AM
gregor’s comment is:

May survives if it gets medical care: Print's Regional Design Annual

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you are so inclined: virtual pc

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: complete sentences

On Jan.28.2005 at 11:05 AM
Danielle Foushee’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: Most Emigré typefaces...

Bury it and say a quick prayer: Definitely Quark. InDesign Rocks!

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: Rhetorical questions

On Jan.28.2005 at 07:09 PM
JonSel’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care:

Good typography.

Bury it and say a quick prayer:

I'm with Maven. Branding, as a term and possibly as an industry, please!

Remarkably healthy considering the scene:

Home design shows. How many more ways are there to make a scrapbook and faux-paint a mantle?

On Jan.29.2005 at 01:11 PM
Yumanti’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care: The Governator's pronunciation of 'California'.

Bury it then say a quick prayer if you are so inclined: Texas hold'em

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: Hyphy

On Jan.30.2005 at 01:58 AM
MarkL’s comment is:

May survive if it gets medical care:

Freelance.

Bury it and say a quick prayer:

Design egotism.

Remarkably healthy considering the scene:

QuarkExpress, its neither big nor clever.

On Feb.01.2005 at 08:56 AM
Steven’s comment is:

May survives if it gets medical care: SF Bay Area economy

Bury it then say a quick prayer (or exorcism) if you’re so inclined: Die, Quark! Die! (insert sound of wooden stake being driven into heart)

Remarkably healthy considering the scene: my ability to cook reasonably tasty food in a partially demolished kitchen

BTW... Ojai--now there's a great winery!

On Feb.03.2005 at 04:03 PM
Angela’s comment is:

From one cycling design enthusiast to another, we are a rare bunch...I thank you for some good reading!

Trek 5500 Ultegra allround!

On Feb.07.2005 at 03:05 PM
Gunnar Swanson’s comment is:

we are a rare bunch

As opposed to well done?

On Feb.07.2005 at 03:29 PM
CactusJones’s comment is:

May be opposed ta seasoned?

I ben a thankin' sum yuz is fryed..

>May survive if it gets medical care:

At damm rooster waht woke my ass to early.

>Bury it and say a quick prayer:

My Univega VivaSport 12 speed.

Freak slow speed aksident took 'er frum me.

>Remarkably healthy considering the scene:

My Oschner touring ten speed.

On Feb.08.2005 at 08:42 AM
Gunnar Swanson’s comment is:

At damm rooster waht woke my ass to early.

As long as this has turned into a bicycle discussion: In 1982 I was bicycling around northeast Central America. I was somewhere just outside Orangewalk Town in Belize and stayed the night in a cottage with glassless windows. In looked like a tiny house after a war. (The woman had warned me “This is a second-rate hotel” and I was polite—and tired—enough to not point out that it was far from being that good.) Reggae music that shook the walls went on late into the night and then early in the morning a rooster crowed. And another. And another. There must have been at least fifty of them within earshot—maybe hundreds—and they seemed to echo forever. Those chickens formed the weirdest chorus I’ve ever heard.

On Feb.08.2005 at 11:37 AM