Speak Up Archive: Quipsologies<br>~ Vol. 47 ~

Enjoy this snow-induced edition of Quipsologies.

~ ARMIN ~

Good Design with a capital D: When chasing bad guys throughout New York, the NYPD’s new 15-car Dodge Charger fleet will look pretty damn badass — and hopefully instill some fear in evil-doers.

Time waster: Multiuser fridge lettering.

In case you haven’t followed Speak Up commenter Mark Notermann’s link from his comments, I highly encourage anyone (students and beginners alike, heck, even old foggies) to take a stab, on your own, at his CD sleeve project: 100 x 100. Basically: black and white, type, shapes, listen to CD, design, move on. Great exercise.

Following the success of its opening exhibition in Boston, The Graphic Imperative launches a comprehensive web site. Look for a News and Events entry this week with more details on the traveling exhibition.

A blog for/by the TED Conference.

Winners of this year’s Grammy for that stuff we designers care for:
Category 86, Best Recording Package: The Forgotten Arm, Aimee Mann & Gail Marowitz, art directors (Aimee Mann)
Category 87, Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: The Legend, Ian Cuttler, art director (Johnny Cash)

Bad design with a lowercase d: Vice President Cheney shooting some other old white dude while hunting. Okay… maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with design, but it’s still quip-worthy.

~ M. KINGSLEY ~

As found on the website:
When Steven Seagal traveled to Asia searching for the ingredients for “Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt,” he wanted a universal Asian character to summarize it’s energy and power. The character known as “CHI” stands for power, and energy in many Asian languages and cultures.

The name “Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt” was an inevitable afterthought. When Steven Seagal finished creating a drink that holds untold natural power, there was only one equivalent in nature — “The Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt.” Both mysterious and powerful, it is a symbol of the untold energy the earth has to offer — Such is “Steven Seagals Lighting Bolt” energy drink.

The current material of my obsessions is now available commercially. (via Boing Boing)

San Francisco’s Southern Exposure Gallery announces their 6th Annual Monster Drawing Rally, a live drawing and fundraising event featuring over 100 artists, Friday, February 24 from 6-11 pm. Providing the basic necessities of the drawing practice — pencils, charcoal, pens, markers, ink, and paper — Southern Exposure creates the context while the artists create the content of the drawings. The evening will consist of four one-hour shifts with approximately 25 artists drawing simultaneously each hour. As the drawings are completed they will be hung on the walls and made available for purchase for $50 each. Thanks to the wonderful illustrator Leigh Wells, who will be a participant, for the tip.

Attention all teenage boys, past and present. Rejoice and behold: The Jack Kirby Comics Weblog. (via Irregular Orbit)

Do you like the doughnut-shaped medals from the Torino Olympic Games? Well, here’s your chance to come up with your own. Organizers of the Beijing Olympic Games have launched a global campaign to solicit design proposals for the medals of the 2008 Games. The deadline is March 26.

For those francophones in the audience, the invaluable UbuWeb has recently posted over 36 hours of lectures by Roland Barthes — taken from his first two years at the Coll�ge de France.

Experimental Hebrew Typography

There’s a blog about everything, including Pink Chirashi, or Japanese call girl advertisments. NSFW

The PeTA ad that was banned from the Super Bowl: Milk Gone Wild. Also NSFW

The World Web Playing Card Museum

Where Do Muslim Protesters Get Their Danish Flags?

Caucasians everywhere owe us Asians an apology for Steven Seagal. We've shared with you our bubble tea, and you return the favor with this piece of "Lightning Bolt" fake-Asian Chi crap.

And I don't understand the thought behind PETA's MilkGoneWild ad. At first, you think it's about sexual promiscuity, then it turns into some sort of disturbing, beastiality parody, then it finishes as a shock-docu-exposé about the unethical treatment of cows. What does one have to do with the other? The ad agency should be shot...wait, that's for horses...sorry.

Good edition of Quip.

On Feb.13.2006 at 01:27 PM

I'm also totally confused (and disturbed) by the PeTA campaign. Looks like sensationalism (complete with "banned from the Super Bowl" notoriety) just for the sake of a little publicity.

On Feb.13.2006 at 02:22 PM

Are you trying to be funny?

On Feb.13.2006 at 05:26 PM

>Are you trying to be funny?

Are you trying to be sarcastic?

Yes, of course I'm joking. I don't expect a formal apology from all white people to the UN.

Seagal's ludicrous drink prompted the ridicule. Lighten up, Ben.

On Feb.13.2006 at 05:51 PM

The milk gone wild ad is absolutely useless. It seems to encourage drinking milk, if anything. Milk is being made out to be sexy to some degree, despite looking amazingly disgusting. Then again, I already don't like milk so it might just hit me hard. Having it on my face and in my mouth like that, mmmaaaaaahhh I hate that ad with passion.

Anyhow, it's bad. The lack of class that peta uses leaves me confused. Helping less fortunate animals is a very noble cause, why not treat it that way? Damnit, those udders are so creepy. I wonder how much milk they wasted in the filming process, haha. HELP THE COWS, WASTE THEIR MILK! LOOK AT THIS BLEEDING DOG!

Good quip!

On Feb.13.2006 at 11:30 PM

You're right Tan, and I will lighten up. I was not lost on the "Lightning Bolt's" terrible use of asian clichés in the design, and I happen to like bubble tea. I guess the reason it was included in this edition was the bad design. I mean, c'mon, Steven Seagal's face is on the can! We all know that's something you can only learn after years of packaging design experience. And how could you not want to drink the "Asian Experience" flavor of this energy drink?

On Feb.14.2006 at 10:59 AM

>the secret of bubble tea

Have you never had it Mark? It's an Asian dessert tea drink/smoothie with a dollop of tapioca pearls floating in the smoothie. There's about a hundred different flavors, and once they've made the drink, the cup is sealed shut with plastic. To drink, you puncture the top with a giant straw. Yum.

>Damnit, those udders are so creepy.

You know, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how biased that PETA ad was against men. Like men drink all the milk, and women are just the victims in our milk-drinking, udder-objectizing world.

Why is everything men's fault?

>you not want to drink the "Asian Experience" flavor of this energy drink?

It's cool, Ben. But a drink w/ Seagal's flavor experience in it is not something I'd find refreshing.

On Feb.14.2006 at 12:40 PM

Regarding this site's mention of Mark Notermann's CD sleeve project: 100x100. Just want to give a shot out to him for this great idea. It's really useful for me as a beginning graphic design student. I think I will really build my design muscles and get to know better the applications I'm working with. It's a non-threatening idea that I encourage others to try.

On Mar.05.2006 at 01:41 AM