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Veer Puts on the Gloves

Here is a little distraction. You know Veer, right? You also know Veer and I have history, right? You noticed that I added Veer in my Thanksgiving Thank You list, right? Well, the thing is Veer and I like each other, it’s like a weird, online, creative crush. A very healthy one, I might add.

Anyway, two-three months ago they asked me if I would be interested in a new “thing” they were plotting; they said it would involve images and type and squaring off against fellow blogger (and Chicagoan) Jim Coudal of Coudal Partners fame. I was really confident about the images-and-type part of it, but the going-against-Jim-Coudal part was kind of scary. I did say yes, otherwise I would probably not be writing this.

The result? Lightboxing!

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ENTRY DETAILS
ARCHIVE ID 1678 FILED UNDER Miscellaneous
PUBLISHED ON Dec.04.2003 BY Armin
WITH COMMENTS
Comments
Christopher Johnston’s comment is:

Good stuff Armin. Very Boring. I would have loved to see Comic Sans come into play somehow... but otherwise a triumph of boredom.

*c

On Dec.04.2003 at 11:16 AM
KM’s comment is:

Mohammad Armin

I would have loved to see Comic Sans come into play somehow...

No, no, no - it's Curlz. It's the new black.

On Dec.04.2003 at 11:37 AM
eric’s comment is:

veer never ceases to amaze. plus, they're snappy dressers and drink like fish.

Armin, i'm not sure if i should congratulate you at excelling at "boredom" or not. I will however cross it off the list of Word Its under consideration (shudder.) Does this mean that you're now hard at work on "virtue"?

Anyway, Way to kick Jim Coudal's ass!!!! rematch?

On Dec.04.2003 at 11:47 AM
ps’s comment is:

BORING.. why did this make it in here. or how much did they pay.

On Dec.04.2003 at 01:25 PM
Ginny ’s comment is:

I wish you used giddyup. I've never seen anyone use that typeface and there seemed to have been a possibility there with the cow. Sorry, don't mean to "re-design"

Personally, I think your design is more exciting than Jim's. There's more to look at. I even turned my head to read the copy. To me your design was more interactive. But I guess it depends on what your definition of boring is.

Congrats on being the most boring designer!!!

On Dec.04.2003 at 01:43 PM
Armin’s comment is:

> why did this make it in here. or how much did they pay.

Seriously ps?

> I wish you used giddyup.

Ginny, we could only use the typeface they gave us in the lightbox. It was a weird typeface to work with, very bold.

On Dec.04.2003 at 01:48 PM
ps’s comment is:

seriously.

On Dec.04.2003 at 01:51 PM
Armin’s comment is:

OK.

> why did this make it in here.

It's funny. It's different (by stock agency standards). I did it. I like Veer. It was between two bloggers. It's partly based on Speak Up's Word Its. Did I mention I like Veer and I support them?

> how much did they pay?

One million dollars.

On Dec.04.2003 at 01:57 PM
ps’s comment is:

good you got rich from it.

no seriously, i did not realize your history with them and assumed it was an easy way for them to get free pr in your popular forum. and i thought you fell for it.

so thats where my first comment came from.

ps

On Dec.04.2003 at 02:00 PM
Zoelle’s comment is:

Nice work.

Are you familiar with halfproject's :: DUEL?

On Dec.04.2003 at 02:01 PM
Armin’s comment is:

> i did not realize your history with them and assumed it was an easy way for them to get free pr in your popular forum. and i thought you fell for it.

Oh no, not at all. It's mutual affection.

On Dec.04.2003 at 02:20 PM
Juna’s comment is:

Great Job. That other guy didn't have a chance. Knockout , first round.

But what is the deal with "CowBoy?"

I will never eat a TV Dinner again.

On Dec.04.2003 at 02:20 PM
nancy mazzei’s comment is:

good you got rich from it.

no seriously, i did not realize your history with them and assumed it was an easy way for them to get free pr in your popular forum. and i thought you fell for

exactly..isnt it a "conflict of interest?"

just asking.

Nancy

On Dec.04.2003 at 02:51 PM
Armin’s comment is:

..isnt it a "conflict of interest?"

Um, nope, I don't think so�

Not sure what interests would be conflicting. But maybe I'm not seeing it, since I am, you know, on the inside looking out. So, it's interesting (in a bizarre way) that this is being misinterpreted.

> But what is the deal with "CowBoy?"

I have absolutely no clue. It just came about. The cow and the guy had the exact same expression, I think the cow was actually more joyful. And by seeing the guy looking so damn depressed I assumed he might as well be a cow, chewing grass seven times over. While the cow is kinda bored of being, you know, a cow and would be interested in being human so the cow is a bit pissed at the guy for wasting his time staring at the world.

Plus, they were graphically a perfect match, down to the minutest detail — like the hair.

On Dec.04.2003 at 03:18 PM
ps’s comment is:

not sure what interests would be conflicting. But maybe I'm not seeing it, since I am, you know, on the inside looking out

well, my guess is that some editors of critical publications or forums won't really "promote' or discuss their own projects but concentrate on those of others. now, i'm not saying i'm for or against that. i'm just assuming thats what the statement meant.

On Dec.04.2003 at 03:26 PM
David W’s comment is:

Armin, I think its perfectly fine that you're selling out. ; )

On Dec.04.2003 at 03:27 PM
ps’s comment is:

to follow up: actually, part of what i like in this forum is that people do throw their own stuff out for discussion.

On Dec.04.2003 at 03:27 PM
nancy mazzei’s comment is:

well, my guess is that some editors of critical publications or forums won't really "promote' or discuss their own projects but concentrate on those of others. now, i'm not saying i'm for or against that. i'm just assuming that’s what the statement meant.

Yes, that is was I meant, and I take the answer to that is "no" so ok. And, it doesn’t seem "bizarre" to ask it, just honest in my view.

On Dec.04.2003 at 04:20 PM
Armin’s comment is:

I see what you guys are saying. Point well taken for future reference.

It would be different, and more to that opinion, if I were parading my "professional" work in hopes of getting work from somebody or something weird, with a hidden agenda, like that. This was just for the fun of it. I'll stop, I don't want to get too defensive on this.

And David, if I had wanted to sell out I would have made everything beveled, with tons of shadows and highlights ; )

On Dec.04.2003 at 05:08 PM
David W’s comment is:

Two shots at UPS in one day? 6 months ago called,...nevermind.

On Dec.04.2003 at 05:12 PM
Armin’s comment is:

Hehehe, I'll take that as a compliment.

On Dec.04.2003 at 05:13 PM
Grant Hutchinson’s comment is:

> And David, if I had wanted to sell out I would have made everything beveled, with tons of shadows and highlights...

And rainbow gradients, Armin. Don't forget the gradients. You could just pull out the old copy of CorelDraw you have stashed under your desk... you know, the one next to all the "beverages" to hand out to the "fish".

Heh.

On Dec.04.2003 at 10:42 PM
Grant Hutchinson’s comment is:

Hey Eric,

Sorry I didn't get to meet you in Vancouver, but I appreciate your comments regardless. I'm sure you put our crew to the test at Armin's shindig.

I think we should start using your observation as our new corporate tag line. Veer. They're snappy dressers and drink like fish.

Hmmm. Works quite nicely, doesn't it?

On Dec.04.2003 at 10:46 PM
eric’s comment is:

Grant,

when armin's million dollar check clears, i'll have my agent contact you. btw... was that a million US or Canadian?

On Dec.05.2003 at 09:00 AM
nancy mazzei’s comment is:

It would be different, and more to that opinion, if I were parading my "professional" work in hopes of getting work from somebody or something weird, with a hidden agenda, like that. This was just for the fun of it. I'll stop, I don't want to get too defensive on this.

hmmmmm...

On Dec.05.2003 at 10:21 AM
ps’s comment is:

hmmmmm...

nancy, i'm with you on this one.

On Dec.05.2003 at 10:26 AM
Armin’s comment is:

Good golly people, just get over it. It's fun, it's up, it ain't coming down, you made your point, I get it. Now, if you have something to say about Lightboxing (because that's what this is about) let's hear it, otherwise I'll just put my fingers to my ears and go la la la la la la. Cool?

On Dec.05.2003 at 10:43 AM
ps’s comment is:

lightboxing? unnecessary.

On Dec.05.2003 at 10:47 AM
nancy mazzei’s comment is:

lightboxing? not sure need to see more.

but to me, it's starting out very "tactical"

On Dec.05.2003 at 11:27 AM
Paul’s comment is:

Interesting observation, Nancy. When you say "tactical" I assume you mean Lightboxing seems focused on how Armin/Coudal each used the image set. Style being asked to pass as substance.

It makes me wonder: are stylistic choices defensible? Do designers need to use "strategy" to justify what we already want to do? Sometimes being a designer can feel that way to me: I know what I feel will work here, and now I need to find the language to convince others that my personal decision is good for them

On Dec.05.2003 at 11:59 AM
jonsel’s comment is:

but to me, it's starting out very "tactical"

My impression is that this is a marketing technique of Veer's to draw attention to their stock resources and show ways their different categories of product — fonts, imagery, illustration —�can be combined. I'm not saying that is wrong. I actually think it is a nice tactic, since big glossy stockbooks are pretty much just heavy shelf-filler.

I also don't think Armin was misleading us through his posting of it. I also don't doubt that he completely understands the self-promotional value in this exercise. Again, nothing wrong with that. We'd all have done it if asked.

On Dec.05.2003 at 12:18 PM
nancy mazzei’s comment is:

“My impression is that this is a marketing technique of Veer's to draw attention to their stock resources and show ways their different categories of product.”

yeah..that’s pretty obvious. I get that.

the point I made had nothing to do with:

“Armin was misleading us through his posting of it.”

it was again based from this comment:

no seriously, i did not realize your history with them and assumed it was an easy way for them to get free pr in your popular forum. and i thought you fell for it.

exactly..isn’t it a "conflict of interest?"

I was questioning the “winner aspect” because of a prior

relationship between veer and Armin..

Armin has already spoke to this so, I’m moving on.

anyway, as to Paul, by tactical I meant “straight forward” I’m a fan of Veer I had seen the ad for lightboxing last week I thought it would be more dynamic, but sometimes these things start out slow, it being the first one. As for your other questions I think you need to apply them as you move along it’s not yes or no to them all in every situation, but I think they are good questions, ones that I’m sure we have all been faced with a different junctures.

On Dec.05.2003 at 01:17 PM
marian’s comment is:

Sheesh. I leave own for 2 days and look what happens.

Armin, congrats on the knockout of Coudal ... although it was difficult because his was actually more boring and presumably intentionally so. A tactical risk he had to take which didn't pan out for him in the end.

Ya'll, sometimes people like to have fun, and sometimes fun events are sponsored to promote products or services, and sometimes it's just people in the biz who know each other and hang (even if only electronically) and decide to do something together. Veer has every right to invite their pals to partake in a little something that riffs off of Coudal's Photoshop tennis. Said pals have every right to show their friends. Whatever.

Keep us informed of your conquests, Armin.

On Dec.05.2003 at 08:14 PM
Grant Hutchinson’s comment is:

I’m a fan of Veer I had seen the ad for lightboxing last week I thought it would be more dynamic, but sometimes these things start out slow, it being the first one.

I couldn't agree with you more Nancy. We're new at this whole 'communal interactivity' thang. Yes, the first bout of Lightboxing relied on two contenders that: 1) we were familiar with; and 2) were more than willing to participate because of who we (Veer) were. And that made it appear a bit 'canned' to some folks. The next edition of Lightboxing should be more dymanic, and display much of what we've learned through this first iteration, as well as having a bit of tweakage based on heavy internally-driven aesthetic critique. Of course, we welcome everyone's feedback. Give us a dingle if you've got any suggestions. We really quite a nice bunch to talk to.

On Dec.06.2003 at 02:47 AM
Armin’s comment is:

Grant, vying for 2 sets out of 3 could be a more interesting match.

On Dec.06.2003 at 08:33 PM
Sarah B.’s comment is:

Go Armin, it's ya birthday!

On Dec.12.2003 at 12:56 PM
Armin’s comment is:

Lightboxing #2

Speak Up's delightful Marian Bantjes squares off against Davin Risk� and then proceeds to lose. It's not that hard to bribe the judges Marian, I gave them all Speak Up t-shirts, actually just one of them.

Oh, and Jim Coudal is still bitter about his "loss"

On Jan.15.2004 at 11:46 AM