Stencils

I thought I would back-post some things that have caught my eye recently.
Northern stencils are going strong: A sample of the niceties I have seen on the streets of Newcastle recently. There’s some hard work that has gone into these for sure.

Going going gone

Went to my first Auction today. Got caught up and bought a piece of art for R. Last of the big spenders I am not. Quite fun and must do it again.

Branding

Interesting perspective on Brands by Zefrank. Movie here
In summary (if you don't want to watch it, 5 mins or so) The New York Times reports that DNA tests refute claims by creepy-looking football head John Karr that he was involved in the killing of Jon-Benet Ramsey. County district attorney Mary Lacey asked that the arrest warrant be dismissed, saying no evidence has developed, other than his repeated admissions, to place Mr. Karr at the scene of the crime.

What was this man doing? He was trying to leverage popularity by attaching himself to a brand. [the] Jon-Benet brand. It's just not one most people would want to associate themselves with. And it worked! He got a business-class flight out of it, and the overall brand experience now includes his weird head. What do you mean by brand?

A brand is an emotional aftertaste that's conjured up by, but not necessarily dependent on, a series of experiences.

And so he goes on.

To be wanted

Apparently everyone needs design, and therefore everyone needs designers (which, as a designer myself, is comforting to know) or we are in deep sh**. So said the mighty Sir George Cox, Chairman of THE Design Conference at a seminar I went to last night. I am thinking of getting a white van, an 0800 number and a boiler suit for all those design emergencies. He had one or two interesting things to say, but all very non-specific without being too applicable on an individual level, more about large scale business getting out of their ruts and trying new things. Keys in the ashtray perhaps?

True Story

Heard in a cafe up here in the North:
Q: What's the fish?
A: It's battered.
Q: No, what type of fish?
A: I'll just look on the box… No, we don't have any fish.

True story.

The Brand Museum

While I would hesitate to call this bizarre collection of paraphernalia and actual museum I still rate it. The madness that possessed someone to horde and collect items that most of us consider as junk most of the time somehow transforms itself into a spooky glimpse into the pantries of days gone by. For us designers there is a mountain of inspiration, in particular watching how a brand such as Johnson's & Johnson's has stayed up to date without really changing year by year, although it has. For the non-designer it might be a expensive trip down memory lane. I hear Smash Mash is about to make a come-back. Full circle. Some of those old washing powders are a million times better than what litters out supermarket shelves nowadays. I say lets bring 'em back!

Time flies with you

Funny how time flies. Even when you are.
NYC was great. Nice to have such a central base to call home (along with the 5 billion or so cockroaches, rats and other less welcome neighbours). This will have to be a highlights show, I'm afraid. So many little details went un-recorded, but it felt appropriate at the time.
Overall impression of the city: more friendly than last time (10 yrs ago)
Overall impression of the people: loud.
Actually (honk) I'll have to add that (honk) of all the (honkhonk) places I have ever been none (honkcrash) have ever been as noisy (bang) as Manhattan (honk). 24/7. Whether it is the roar of the air conditioners at 3am or the power tools destroying the roads and snarling up the traffic causing everyone within 3ft of a horn to feel an unshakable urge to lean on it, you are constantly being assaulted by noise after noise after noise.
That aside there was time for reflection. Actually what I really want to share is the very cool invention/art piece Ummit and I stumbled across. It is called The Lonely Jacket. Made of Velcro© this hooded jacket is designed to change the way we interact with strangers (or to be more specific, strangers also wearing the same jacket). It was a laugh putting it on and pratting about in the gallery, and as a conceptual piece well worth the entry fee (actually it was free but you catch my drift).
Strolling over the Brooklyn Bridge was more interesting than you might expect too.
Boozing on the roof terrace of a bar with a million dollar view; the Chrysler and the Empire States, lit up with their own colour codes, incomprehensible to me but stunning nonetheless.
A home game at Yankee Stadium in the sun, where the chants have a long way to go before they can compete in the international chanting championships.

This is federal law

Claims that 'this is federal law' are beginning to bug me. It seems like overkill, after all why not just tell people what you are allowed to do, and what you aren't, and leave it at that. If you're one of those disobedient buggers then 'federal law' or not I very much doubt it makes the slightest difference, and just makes them look like officious arses. Admittedly air travel is getting weirder every day (save for San Francisco, where they managed to mix it up a little and have a bit of a comedy routine: "no waters, gels, toothpaste; ladies, you are allowed your lipstick, guys, this is San Francisco, you are also allowed your lipstick…") and one feels less and less welcome, despite ever increasing travel prices.
Still, welcome to New York! Will let you know what it does.

The You-Knighted-States...

It's interesting to be back, even if only for a short while, to have a first hand experience of what is really going on behind all the smoke and mirrors. And what have I found out? Not much. My most significant impression is that although there are more BlackBerrys than in a pot of homemade jam I have a suspicion that the integration of technology with modern life is very superficial. Maybe I've got it wrong and it is so seamlessly integrated that people don't even realise it's there anymore. At least baseball is still baseball, and the chillidogs still smell better than they taste, afterall this is the real undercoat of America, glossed over with their wifi Starbucks and casual internet connecions at $6 a pop. There are 313 Starbucks in Colorado alone (and I've seen 2 more being built this week). "It has 7,950 U.S. stores — plus 3,275 elsewhere — and an average of five opening every day worldwide. Its long-term goal is 15,000 U.S. stores, 30,000 globally. By contrast, McDonald's has 13,700 U.S. stores, 31,000 globally. It's hard to be an American without stepping in one. Some do every day. And 24% of Starbucks' customers visit 16 times per month. No other fast-food chain posts numbers even close." Source:USA TODAY Personally I am a bit sickened by it. I miss the real NZ cafe experience, with it's real food and real coffee and real people, and I don't even drink coffee. Go figure.

Industry Advice

I have been asked to be part of the Industry Advisory Group for the Design & Arts College of New Zealand. How could I refuse such an offer?