the insignificant ramblings of a disturbed graphic designer

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Thursday Top 5

Muto
Incredible animated graffiti by blu.



What average families around the world eat in a week
From the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio.
www.everybodygoto.com

Best Skittles ad ever
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_SCrHe5t6w

Vader sessions
"I love all y'all."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A0rwG39Jzk

Where the Hell is Matt?
One guy, dancing all over the world.
www.wherethehellismatt.com

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Thursday Top 5

Black balloons
Awesome spot from We Can Solve It.



HEMA
European retailer HEMA put up this innovative site to announce...er, something. I don't speak Dutch. [thanks Jason]
producten.hema.nl

Instructables: Harry Potter wands
Make your own with painted paper and hot glue.
www.instructables.com/harry-potter-wands

Bill Scott
Former Yahoo Bill Scott (he's now with Netflix) gave this talk at CNET about a year ago, but I was glad to watch this video again for a refresh. If you're a web developer or user experience designer, it’s chock-full o’ really good things for for you to know. His personal website is very, very useful too, and if you're not already aware of and using the YUI Interface Library, it's a must-see.
Video presentation: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1285664

How to Enjoy Sushi
Now that I've watched this awesome instructional video, I'll be prepared to visit Japan!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C5SbdCPmck

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thursday Top 5

Cirque du Soleil: Wheel of Death
A few weeks ago I surprised Velma and my mom by taking them to see Cirque in San Jose. They had the Wheel of Death at this performance, although there was only one of the contraptions (with two wheels and two guys). Still, it made my skin crawl to watch it.



Great beer ad
Nice slogan too: "Carlton Draught — Made from Beer"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYZs7VJaAlQ

The Email Standards Project
Finally.
www.email-standards.org

Know your rights as a photographer
Good legal tips for the next time you're stalking Britney of taking a picture at the airport. I'll have to remember these the next time I'm in Boston and they give me a hard time again about taking pictures in the T.
photojojo.com/content/tips/legal-rights-of-photographers

MP3.com Live: Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche was one of my favorite bands when I was in high school, and they played a live acoustic set at my former workplace recently. Wish I could've been there to catch it, but these four videos are good.
www.mp3.com/news/stories/10972.html

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Tell politicians we need a Do Not Mail Registry

Unless you're a big fan of junk mail (I suppose there's someone out there like that) you may want to sign ForestEthics' petition to create a Do No Mail Registry that would work like the existing Do Not Call Registry.

An astonishing 100 billion pieces of junk mail are delivered in the U.S. each year, accounting for one-third of all the mail delivered in the world (!).

And guess whose forests are being cut down to make all that crap you just throw away?

Learn more...

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thursday Top 5

Penguins Linux ad



Buy n Large
From aerospace to food services, robotics to watermills. Now that's a global corporation. Ten points if you can figure out why this site is humorous.
www.buynlarge.com

Five dangerous things you should let your kids do
I guess I was lucky. I got to do all of these things as a kid. Although it wasn't spears, it was Jarts (later banned), and the I didn't do the driving bit until maybe 13 or 14.
www.ted.com

"Lemme finish"
In an interview with an Irish TV correspondent, Not-My-President Bush shows just how much of an idiot he is. "History will judge what I'm about."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fze2J2Ve9is

English Russia
A blog of Russian interestingness. Apparently written by actual Russians, since the English is a little broken here and there.
www.englishrussia.com

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Thursday, April 03, 2008

Thursday Top 5

We Can Solve the Climate Crisis
Al Gore has launched a $300 million climate change initiative, one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history, according to the Washington Post. When you play this video, notice the W in "we." How much do you want to bet it's going to flip over and become "me" if you go to the site and join in?
www.wecansolveit.org



"Amateur" by Lasse Gjertsen
I'm pretty sure I posted this a couple years ago, but it's such a classic I had to repost it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo



The fierce Humboldt squid
When Jason sent me this description, at first he was playing an April Fool's joke on me. But the Humboldt squid is real. "A mysterious sea creature up to 7 feet long, with 10 arms, a sharp beak and a ravenous appetite, has invaded ocean waters off Northern California. Packs of fierce Humboldt Squid attack nearly everything they see, from fish to scuba divers."
www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/774

Grolsch Gardens
This is a really innovative branded game built with Flash. It's sort of a noir detective story; you have to collect clues and items and the story unfolds. You'll need a lot of time to play it, but it's really engrossing...or would that be engrolsching?
www.grolschgardens.com

Beam me up
ffffound.com

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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

"The Story of Stuff"



"The Story of Stuff" is a 20-minute history lesson and an economics course all in one, but it won't put you to sleep like your professors did. It's a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns and was produced by Free Range Studios, the same folks who did "Store Wars" and "The Meatrix."

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Design firms and ad agencies that work with environmental groups

I have a reputation for working with environmental nonprofits, so I still frequently get requests to do graphic design for green groups or companies. Usually I'm too busy and I just can't do it. Sometimes they ask for referrals.

So I finally compiled this list of other designers and firms that have worked with environmental groups. I'm including a few advertising and PR firms too, since green groups can almost always use some expertise in their publicity campaigns, plus those firms usually have designers on staff too, or work with freelancers.

I can't vouch for all of these. Some of them I've only heard of through the grapevine, but some of them I've met and really been impressed by.

LIST UPDATED 11-28-07: Innosanto from Design Action turned me on to a few more companies that specialize in design for social change, and I found a few others on a site called renourish.



a5 Group Inc.
size: boutique
location: Chicago IL, St. Louis MO, and Grand Rapids MI
clients include: Green By Design, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Environmental Protection Agency



Agami Creative
size: boutique
location: Richmond, VA
clients include: Campaign Earth, 8Jax Communications



Alto
size: boutique
location: Aotearoa, New Zealand
clients include: The Sustainability Trust, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority



Another Limited Rebellion
size: boutique
location: Richmond, VA
clients include: Vegan Action, Richmond Green Party, Center for an Urban Future



Eric Benson
size: boutique
location: Champaign, IL
clients include: Whole Foods, MADD, Toyota



Big Think Studios
size: boutique
location: San Francisco, CA
clients include: Bluewater Network, San Francisco Food Bank, United Nations World Environment Day, Center for Biological Diversity



Celery Design Collective
size: boutique
location: Berkeley, CA
clients include: Elephant Pharmacy, The Natural Step, Alameda County Green Building



The Change
size: boutique
location: Chapel Hill, NC
clients include: Fair Trade Resource Network, Higher Grounds, Sierra Club



Conscious Creative
size: boutique
location: Berkeley, CA
clients include: In Defense of Animals, VegNews magazine, San Francisco Dept. of the Environment, Marin Environmental Film Festival



CSDesign
size: boutique
location: Melbourne, AUS, and London, UK
clients include: Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenbuild Expo, The Fair Trade Company



Design Action Collective
size: boutique
location: Oakland, CA
clients include: United States Social Forum, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Craigslist Foundation, Rainforest Action Network



Design for Social Impact
size: boutique
location: Philadelphia, PA
clients include: Environmental Fund for Pennsylvania, The Nature Conservancy, Recycling Action, ForestEthics



Designarchy
size: boutique
location: San Francisco Bay Area
clients include: Compassionate Cooks, Terrain magazine, American Cancer Society



Digital Hive Ecological Design
size: boutique
location: San Francisco Bay Area
clients include: Institute for Environmental Entrepreneurship, WholeSoy & Co., Canal Alliance, Greener World Media



ecoLingo
size: boutique
location: Phoenix, AZ
clients include: Phoenix Department of Health and Sustainability, Earth Accents, Valley Forward EarthFest



John Emerson
size: boutique
location: New York, NY
clients include: Amnesty International, National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, Human Rights Watch



Fenton Communications
size: large
location: New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
clients include: Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Marine Conservation



Fibu Design
size: boutique
location: San Francisco, CA
clients include: National Conversation on Climate Action, PG&E ClimateSmart, Media Fund, Help America Vote Act



Firebelly Design
size: boutique
location: Chicago, IL
clients include: Sustainable Chicago, Awakening Organics, Midwest Wind Energy



Free Range Studios / Free Range Graphics
size: boutique
location: Washington, D.C.
clients include: Amnesty International, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy



Green Team
size: boutique
location: New York, NY and Tasmania, AUS
clients include: Environmental Defense, World Resources Institute, National Geographic Society



Mark Bult Design
How could I not include myself?
size: boutique
location: San Francisco, CA
clients include: Amnesty International, Anne Frank Center, Bay Area Earth Day, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition



Metropolitan Group
size: boutique
location: Portland, OR
clients include: Charles Darwin Foundation, National Park Foundation, The Wetlands Conservancy



Open
size: boutique
location: New York, NY
clients include: EarthAction Network, Not In Our Name, Good magazine, The Nation



Palatal Collective
size: boutique
location: Kansas City, MO
clients include: Pharos Project, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Girl Scouts of Mid-America Council



Public Media Center
size: large
location: San Francisco, CA
clients include: Earth Island Institute, Greenpeace, Foundation for Deep Ecology, Oceanic Society



Rizco Design & Communications
size: boutique
location: Manasquan, NJ
clients include: Corbis, Huntington's Disease Society of America



Roughstock Studios
size: boutique
location: San Francisco, CA
clients include: East West Herbs USA, Mission Arts Foundation, Search For Common Ground



Studio 7 Designs
size: boutique
location: Victoria, BC
clients include: PESCO Environmental Solutions, Juniper Tree, UN Golden Chapter



Tumis
size: boutique
location: Oakland, CA
clients include: Natural Heritage Institute, Strategic Action for a Just Economy, Urban Strategies Council



Underground Advertising
size: boutique
location: San Francisco, CA
clients include: Environmental Defense, Union of Concerned Scientists, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Greenbelt Alliance



Vivace Design
size: boutique
location: Montreal, Quebec
clients include: Tori Amos, Liberal Party of Canada (Quebec)



Willoughby Design Group
size: boutique
location: Kansas City, MO
clients include: Hallmark, Kansas City Zoo, Women's Political Caucus, Sheridan's

Got one to add? Contact me.

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Thursday, September 06, 2007

Thursday top 5, double dose!

"Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Muppets"


Taking transit advertising to the next level
inventorspot.com/articles/taking_transportation_next_level_6455

'80s video game Joust to be a movie
Two words: Awe. Some.
foywonder.livejournal.com/95738.html

Ron Paul. Hmmm.
This video makes him out to be the kind of conservative I almost like. Notice I said conservative, not Republican (although he's that too). He's also an MD — an OB/GYN no less — but he's against a women's right to choose. Meh.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8

This could be me in a few years
I just need to work on my Proust references a bit.
www.theonion.com/content/node/28694

Extreme funny
It starts off a little slow, but half-way through it does actually get really funny.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMMfgWhm3g

Definitely NSFW (or little kids)
Pulp Fiction Fuckin' Short Version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-rXEQ4twCo

High Tech Noon
www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=22386

Funny cats
Because what's a Top 5 without funny cats?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZAHl5_LTGQ

Iggy Pop's entertaining rider
A rider is a document that spells out what a band requires a venue to provide for the artist. There have been some legendary strange requests over the years, but this one's just plain fun to read.
www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1004061iggypop1.html

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Thursday top 5

15 unfortunately placed ads
www.oddee.com/item_87332.aspx

A man on the street interview turns a little scary
www.cnet.com.au/videos/play/22173699

Chow.com's new Obsessives feature
The first series of videos is a barista from Blue Bottle Coffee telling you all kinds of great stuff about how to make truly great coffee. And he only gets a tad too snarky and holier-than-thou about two-thirds of the way through the videos.
www.chow.com/stories/10625

Zack Kim
The Simpsons theme, and other stuff, played by one guy with two guitars. I think "Prelude No.3 in C# major" is my fave.
youtube.com/watch?v=GFqTd-CEjHM

Painted rooms
Local artists have painted the walls (and sometimes the fixtures and ceilings) of a bunch of rooms in this hotel. It's pretty cool. I wanna go see it.
www.sfhoteldesarts.com/pr201kellytunstall.php

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