Field Trips

This multi-screen interpretive display by Staples and Charles in the fabulous visitor’s center at Monticello knocked my socks off. Elegant letters, evoking fluttering, falling snow, gently cascade through the cohesive group of backlit windows. Without warning, like a whipped-up Nor’ Easter: W H O O O S H ! the letters rise, flip and fly in a tremendous typographic dance, transposing the theme in the boxes. An homage to Tom and type—a delightful example of digital design at its best.

There's nothing like a trip to New York City to recharge the creative muse. Walking the streets, riding the subway, visiting the museums—all are pulsing with energy, humanity and creativity. I am always amazed at the street art: pasted, plastered, stenciled, for free, and vulnerable to the elements of time and other graffiti artists.

A delightful enigma, bold street art and an urban collage.

The skull phone.

Why can't we have surprises like this in our Metro system?

In front of Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt Museum on the upper east side.

By Andy Warhol, when he was a darn good graphic designer, or "commercial artist".

Medical marijuana is legal in California, but I never stopped to think
about how it would play out in print. The "clinic" ads in the San Diego Reader (their City Paper) are relegated to the back, sandwiched between used cars and "escort" services. Many rely on bad stock images of cross-armed doctors and nurses with de rigueur stethoscopes draped around their shoulders. Did we mention "medical"? Others get right to the point: leather-clad dominatrixes hoist hukkas to their pursed lips. And for the hippy set, "Green Hope Collective" is set against a rainforest backdrop, smiling faces and a green leaf logo. Go Green! The above ad was the best design-wise, although I am unsure about the headline. Maybe it should have said "Smell Cheese". For anyone (myself included) who thinks our pot policies are Draconian, these awful advertising spreads made me smile. Say "CHEESE!"

Puppies, pie and polka dots. Who doesn't love 'em? I don't sew much, but browsing around a fabric store always makes me happy. I was especially drawn to these spotted bolts of cotton.