Things Drunk People Say is a great book that features a bunch of overheard drunk quotes that have been collected and separated into 4 categories: Getting There; Going...Going; Gone; and Morning After.  Each quote is interpreted as an illustration making this colorful and humorous book a great coffee table item or just simple a good read.  This book was published by my friends girlfriend, Kathleen Go and is distributed by Skyhorse Publishing.  I’m glad I got to participate in this project as I was asked to help create a couple of illustrations for this book along with a couple of other people.  The book is now on sale at places such as Urban Outfitters, Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Pick one up today!

Typedia is a very helpful site that educates users on type faces. As they stated “think of it like a mix between IMDB and Wikipedia, but just for type”, that is pretty much exactly what it is.  Typedia allows users to explore the current content, learn about typeface and if anyone is insightful enough they can add or share what they know.

This past weekend I finally had some time to take a trip upstate and out of New York to the Poconos in Pennsylvania.  I’ve been wanting to do some outdoorish activities for a while now just to get out of the city for a little bit so I was glad I got to make the trip.  For those who live nearby I would definitely recommend this place if you like the outdoors. It’s a pretty small town but there is quiet a bit of stuff to do such as hiking, fishing, white water rafting, shooting guns, archery, canoeing, go karts (I know, doesn’t match the other activities but still fun) and more.  The photos above were taken at the hiking trail we took at Bushkill Falls, the hike was about 2.5 hours and the scenery was amazing.  More photos on my flickr. 

Heathrow’s Airport Terminal 5 recently completed construction for their new form of transportation via Personal Rapid Transit (PRT).  These sleek and futuristic vehicles operate with no driver and are also environmentally friendly outputting fewer emissions than other forms of personal transportation. The best part is these PRT’s provide quick and effective transportation that wait time is only about 12 seconds for them to show up, so really they are pretty much on demand.  While these are currently being tested at the Heathrow Airport this could be the way of future for getting around places. I wish they were testing these in New York as well but for now I guess I can settle on waiting for the crowded, unpredictable MTA system.
via (WetJetSet)

I first came across a great blog post the other day on David Airey’s site that highlighted the recent interview Debbie Millman, president of AIGA, did for No! Spec.  After seeing the post on David’s site I decided to read the whole interview of Debbie and her take on spec work “speculative work”. Like many other top talents in this industry she is strongly against it.  The interview is really informative and she states the obvious reasons and her personal take on why people should not do spec work.  Some of the reasoing is other professions such as doctors would never even consider spec work but in the design indusry somone is always willing to work for less or for free in hopes of winning a pitch or bid and in doing so it’s harming the industry standards.

The next day I just happened to come across another topic on spec work and this one was by Eric Karjaluoto and his disgust at Tim Ferriss for his recent book cover contest.  For those who do not have time to read the whole post, in a quick summary Tim who is known mainly for having a well publicized book through his social media efforts recently held a design competition in search of someone to design his next book cover, awarding the winner a holy lump sum of $250.00 for their efforts.  This did not come across well for Eric and in his post he does a great job of breaking down his reasons behind his shredding of Tim. 

After reading these couple of posts on spec work it got me thinking from all point of views on this subject.  For one, I am against spec work as well, it takes most designers a good amount of time and effort when preparing for a project or commissioned proposal or pitch.  Like with any other craft it takes years of practice and experience for a good designer to get where they are and to do something for free in hopes of winning the project makes designers seem pretty disposable and possibly desperate for work. I can see how this not only brings down industry standards but also harms the whole industry.  I have to admit while I am guilty of doing spec work in the past (only 1, in my younger days) I have entered a few competitions or created something for submissions. In the past I never really considered this as spec work, since most of the contest there is no money involved from the beginning and is mainly for exposure.  Also with some of these submissions you can enter work you already created so you are not necessarily spending a great amount of time particularly for the contest. Thinking back on it now, could this possible be another way of spec work just reworded or phrased differently? I’m not sure but I have a feeling it’s leaning in that direction. 

The other day I found out that MoMA will be having an exhibition starting in November 22, 2009 running until April 26, 2010 (My Birthday) featuring the works of visionary master Tim Burton.  This will be a must see exhibit for me and I’m sure many others as well.  The works will include pieces from his early childhood to present and will be conveyed through a variety of mediums including drawings, paintings, storyboards, digital formats, props, costumes and the list goes on.  Many unseen works will be shown as well as non-movie art work that he has done throughout his career.  Be sure to save the date as this will be one show that you will not want to miss.

One of my daily visited sites Design Taxi has revamped their website after six years.  Although the new site is just in beta release I can tell it’s going to be very promising.  The new clean look and well laid out content should be well received by many people and is a huge upgrade from their old look.  Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be featured on their site along with a couple other designers from New York as part of their Travel Album. 

White Lies - Death

White Lies - To Lose My Life

London based band, the White Lies recently released their new album titled “To Lose My Life”.  When I first heard this album I knew it was going to be good, the lead off song “Death” sets the tone with dark mysterious sounds topped with the vocals of a somewhat 80’s sounding band although at times reminiscing The Editors. The whole album flows almost together flawlessly except there is one live song that was recorded with low sound quality and every time I get to that part I have to turn the volume a few notches up and then back down for the next songs. I wish they would have put that song at the end of the album but nonetheless it does not really effect the well put together songs of the White Lies.