it's hot.
I've arrived at the pinicle of complete designer geek.
This morning I ordered a 2GB flash drive off the Pantone website in 497C. I salivate just looking at it on screen. Can't imagine what I'm going to do when I see it in person.
back to my roots
Music has always been a large part of my life. As a child, I started taking piano lessons at the ripe age of 6, and most of my favorite childhood memories include singing around an object, whether is was a piano, bonfire, banjo or guitar. My parents primarily listened to religious choral music, with a little Franks Mills (The Music Box Dancer specifically), classical, and bluegrass in between. So until I hit middle school, that's what I listened to as well.
In 4th grade I couldn't wait to join band and by the time 5th grade rolled around, I was the proud owner of a beautifully used alto saxophone. In high school spent my time between the alto and bari sax and was a member of concert band, pep band, marching band, and jazz band. I continued taking piano lessons through high school and stopped, only because my piano teacher told my mom that she was basically paying her to assign me songs to play.
Ironically, the variety of music I enjoyed dwindled as I got older. The year I graduated from high school, I was listening only to hair bands and classic rock. Since then, I've slowly began to appreciate almost all genres of music (excluding pop-country, hardcore rap, and death metal).
This morning in the car, we were listening to Liane Hansen on NPR interview Charlie Haden (a jazz composer/bassist) and his family about their new album called Rambling Boys. The music was beautiful and it was then that I realized that I'm no longer slightly embarrassed that my dad and brother used to play Dueling Banjos together, or that I grew up listening to acapella hymns and choral music. I'm proud of it.
...just like I'm sure Charlie Haden is proud that his son-in-law Jack Black sings Old Joe Clark like a rockstar on his new family album.
officially loser.
I just spent an entire Friday evening working on a new website. No promises as of yet on the release date.
oh so sweet.
Yesterday I had the privledge of taking engagement pictures for my brother and his gorgeous fiance.
final year.
I've been at somewhat of a loss for things to post lately. I've been keeping fairly busy with freelance work in my two weeks of no class, but none of it is quite to the posting stage at this point. And so it begins, my final year of school. Very exciting, but at the same time horribly daunting. Not daunting in the sense of "I have to find a job", but daunting in the sense of "What am I going to do without school?" By the time I finish with a BA I will have gone to school for seven years. Four and a half of those years I was a full-time student taking summer classes. The other two and a half have been as a three-quarter time student taking summer classes.
I've tossed around the idea of getting my MFA but at this point I'm not completely for sure why an MFA is something I want. Is it because I want the recognition of having the highest degree you can obtain in the graphic design field? Or is it because I would use it? Does it matter?
And if I decide to go back to school, the biggest question is where? Your alma mater doesn't matter so much for a bachelor degree, but a masters...an entirely different story.
So many questions. Not so many answers.
...huh?
So, Walmart has a new logo. I stumbed across this piece of news today when I received my July edition of the Graphic Design USA newsletter. According to the press release:
"Walmart has revamped its logo as part of an “ongoing evolution” of the company. A terse official announcement states: “This update to the logo is simply a reflection of the refresh taking place inside our stores and our renewed sense of purpose to help people save money so they can live better.”
Ha. I disagree with all of the above.
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Walmart. My husband and I stopped shopping there a little over a year ago and have yet to regret it. I searched Google to find out more about this "updated" logo, and here are a few of the things I found on Brand New.
The design community is not shy. Release a brand new logo and you'll find out what they think faster than you can ...er.... snap.
"IT'S SO HUGE!!!
What is up with that giant asterisk?
But really, this is not Wal-Mart. This is K-mart, Apple, and Sprint churned through a meat grinder. This would be nice for a competitor of Foto-Mat (I guess they're not around anymore). The breezy blue and sunny spurt would look nice on little huts sitting in the middle of a parking lot... at Wal-Mart!
This makes me aware of how appropriate the former "big box" logo was: "We're Wal-Mart, we're big, and we're gonna sell you everything." And with the 'MADE-IN-USA' star-as-hyphen.... "Oh yeah, and *BAM*, we're patriotic, too."
So the new one is kinder, gentler, but very inappropriate."
"It's like a ring of golden cannons, all aimed at small-town America. The blue, of course, represents the depression Wal-Mart employees cannot afford to medicate."
"Loading... Loading... Loading..."
"At least they are sort of practicing what they preach.
save money = logo for $59.95 live better= Director of Marketing uses extra $100K left over from branding update to go to Aruba."
"Don't block the big box.
This Walmart "thang"... oh dear, wishing it was April 1st…clicking my heels together...there's no place like home, there's no place like home...it's still there...the best part is the way it was "unveiled" like a cheap floozy in a "made in china" polyester track suit wrapped up in a cheesy, bad, rendering...very fitting actually. Actually launching this thang properly would have called even more attention to the complete and utter unoriginality of it all."
And my personal favorite:
Now when I look at the new Walmart logo, the only thing I see is Mmmmm. Candy Corn.