Friday Fun: Chocolate Bar

Whenever I travel, I enjoy looking through the guide books at the hotel to see what sites they recommend. On a recent trip to Buffalo, I was perusing the local guide book and came across this priceless ad:

Looks like an interesting place for adults right? Well, that little brown round circle at the bottom proudly proclaims "A great place for kids too!" Um, right. I didn't get that impression from the rest of the ad!

Secretary of the Arts: Tell Obama How Important Art Is to You!

Quincy Jones has called for President Obama to create a new cabinet level position: Secretary of the Arts (aka Chief Creative Dude, or Dudette). Show the President that you want this to happen: sign the petition here. 

Logo Design Trends 2009

As seen on Logorange: Logo Design Trends for 2009. How there can be a guide to trends for a year that is barely a month old is beyond me, but I also don't know how Pantone can forecast a "hot" color so far in advance either. It will be interesting to see which of these trends pan out and which don't.

nsquaredesign Featured in Oddpodz eNewsletter!

nsquaredesign (that's me!) was featured in the 1/15/2009  Oddpodz enewsletter. (Sorry you might have to scroll down a bit, but if you are like me and you're ADD will kick in before you reach my write up, you can always enjoy these screenshots instead.

Here's the header...

...after a bit of scrolling, there's me in at the bottom!

Friday Fun: UD Players Can Fly!

Or at least that's what I'm led to believe by the program they handed out earlier this season:

Let's take a closer look:

Yep, his feet are clearly at the wrong end of a bad Photoshop job! I guess we should just be glad that they didn't add a lens flare somewhere...

Brand Extentions Gone Wrong...

Not all brand extensions are a good idea, Fast Company takes a look at both the good and the bad. 

Ad Goofs

Over the holidays, I saw my fair share of ads and great deals. I'm very interested in getting an LCD TV this year, one, because I love shiny new gizmos and two, the displays are just gorgeous. So I kept my eyes on all the specials this past holiday season. I saw some great buys (but passed due to budget concerns), however, I'm not sure that this Target buy was such a good deal:

I thought the point of putting stuff in your sale ad was to also take money off? I think somebody goofed. All in all, still looks like a great deal on an LCD TV. Maybe later this year for me...

Ponoko: Make Your Own Products!

As a creative, I make prints of my 2-d illustrations and have my designs printed, which is great. Ponoko takes it to the next level and allows you to turn your creativity loose on making real objects! Whether it's a one-off prototype or special gift, this is just really cool! I don't know what I'm going to make...yet... ;)

Sweet Stamps!

I honestly can't remember how I found this page of Olympic Stamps for the 2010 games. I was going through my morning ritual of reading my RSS feeds. I typically open like 20 windows in my browser. I had forgotten how I got here, but finding these beautiful stamps was a delight to my eyes. Excellent work: clean, crisp and fresh colors while conveying the Olympic brand nicely. Enjoy!

Friday Fun: Amish Ad

I've seen the following ad twice over two issues in National Geographic without giving it much thought. After all, I've trained myself to overlook ads, and this advertorial didn't spark my interest…until I gave it a second look:


Let's take a closer look:


WTH? I've seen some bad Photoshop jobs before, but what on Earth was this person thinking? At least black out the fireplace part! Are we really supposed to believe that a) this guy is putting the finishing touches on a working unit that is plugged in and b) that the Amish have some sort of magical power to turn on electric devices w/o electricity?

Now for the fun part: comment on what object you think the fireplace mantles replaced in the original photo. I don't know the answer, but I'd love to hear people's guesses! :D

Wireless Electricity Takes Another Step Forward!

I'm so stoked about wireless electricity and I know it is a ways off from becoming a reality in my home, it just took a giant leap forward and I just had to share this link from Fast Company. Enjoy!

TinEye: Image Search Tool

Seen on the HOW Blog: TinEye, the visual search engine. This is not Google image search, TinEye actually uses your uploaded image and compares it to other images on the internet, even variants. Perfect for logo and infringement research, a must-have tool for any creative!

Reflecting on Pepsi's Rebranding Refresh

There's been quite a lot of discussion on the new direction Pepsi took with their latest rebranding. Most designers seem to think it is a step backwards and just generally don't care for it. Well, I'm going to respectfully disagree.

Pepsi's former branding was looking very dated, busy, and definitely in need of a refresh:



Pepsi cleaned up their design act for something much more crisp and clean:


And I for one, like it very much. It has a classic art deco feel to it: clean, elegant, timeless. Transforming the ugly globe (which I never liked anyway) into something reminiscent of an art deco icon was great, and then to alter the size of the white stripe depending on the product was brilliant! Combined with the simple solid color and the smooth type treatment, I have a feeling that these cans will become "classics" in due time. I think most folks are just so shocked by the change that they reacted before really taking a moment to truly appreciate the beauty of the new design.

Design for Good: Everyone Deserves A Roof

I'm starting off 2009 with a story from the folks over at Mental Floss on someone who's designed a product for the greater good.

Here's someone who's designing a practical way to help the homeless: EDAR (Everyone Deserves A Roof) it's a military-grade one-person shelter for homeless people who don't want to stay at a shelter. It's portable, fireproof, and water resistant. What a great way to help those who are less fortunate, kudos to Peter Samuelson!

And if you'd like to start off 2009 doing something good for someone, consider donating to your favorite charity. If you don't have one, I suggest one my personal favorites, Manchester Bidwell corporation: "Bill Strickland established Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in 1968 to help combat the effects of economic and social devastation experienced by the youth of his inner-city Pittsburgh neighborhood."