I recently took a walk through The Art Institute of Chicago’s Museum.  Using a simple app called ColorViewFinder, I was able to capture a few of the color swatches used in several famous works Dali, Monet and Van Gogh.  Some are quite bold, others incredibly subtle.

These swatches can be helpful in choosing colors for a room, furniture, clothing or even your own artistic project.  Each image lists the color codes at the bottom, so you can re-create them on the computer screen or at the paint store.  Enjoy.

When we heard that National Lemonade Day was fast-approaching my 9-year old daughter and I decided to become business partners.  Now, I can certainly be one of those dads who takes over his child’s project, but in the this case, I really wanted McKenna to have the experience of being a real entrepreneur.

She was responsible for securing a location, creating a budget, pricing materials and even creating a recipe.  Now, my daughter’s little girl mind was far from comprehending the weight of difficulty of doing this right (meaning, over-the-top and unnecessarily elaborate, the way I like it).  So, we had a couple business meetings going over logistics and budget, blah, blah, blah.

Next was my favorite part: the creative briefing.  She was my client, so I went about it professionally by asking McKenna a few simple questions.

“Name me your favorite color.”, I asked

“Purple”, she replied.

“Okay, name me something you really, really like.”

“I don’t know . . . penguins”.

“Really?  How about we call your business Purple Penguin Lemonade?”

“That’s a stupid name”

“That’s a brilliant name!”

She wasn’t sold on the idea until I started Googling illustrated images of penguins.  She was hooked.  We started with a very basic penguin we found on-line, dropped in into Adobe Illustrator and went to work.  We nailed it.  Inspired by our new character, we decided to make our lemonade purple, as well.  This also led to the idea of building an old-fashioned, rustic lemonade stand out of old wood pallet planks.

Once we created the character and logo, we printed the graphic elements at FedEx Office on a giant photocopier, which she later painted and helped me cut and apply to foam board.  Some smart choices about branding were made along the way, such as consistent colors, clear messaging and a pleasant customer experience.  We didn’t skimp on the cost of goods. either.  We created a very specific lemonade recipe (available to you for only $250).

The day arrived, and that morning I approached my daughter, handed her the checklist we had been working on and said, “You’re in charge”.  She immediately sprang into action, as I simply made myself available to help.  She rushed around checking items off, giving orders and running the show (she actually got a little bossy, even snippy with me).

That day McKenna sold over 100 cups of lemonade at $2 a pop, and grossed over $200 with the proceeds going to charity (had to twist her arm pretty hard on that one).  She did get to keep $50 in tips.  When McKenna took charge that morning as I faded into the background, I knew it was all worth it.  Her last remark of the day was, “Maybe in the Fall we could sell Purple Penguin Cider.”  Well played, McKenna.

I remember in the early 2000’s I lived a nomadic professional career, loitering from cafe to cafe for meetings, study and business, all requiring dependable wi-fi.  Mooching off of a coffee shop’s internet seemed a bit shameful back then.  And if that weren’t bad enough, I had the audacity to actually plug my power chord into the establishment’s outlet.  I recall looking both ways before doing so, as if committing a crime.  “Is this moral?”, I would think to myself.  Wi-fi was relatively new (as in non-dial up and non-chorded) back then, and people were just realizing the productivity potential of such a thing.

Twelve years later, it is this sort of cultural phenomenon that most cafes are built around.  There’s no hesitation to bum someone’s wireless, plug in your three-pronged chord, and justifying yourself by paying for a $1.69 cup of coffee for 5 hours of browsing, meetings and reading.  Shops have gone from hiding their outlets to peppering them everywhere.  They’ve gone from limiting your connection time to making it limitless, along with your refills (thanks, Panera!).

As someone who still frequents cafes for free wifi, I want to spotlight a franchise that has come through for me every time.  I remember a recent trip to Indianapolis with the intent of getting a lot of work done.  I found myself in the heart of the city surrounded by a lot of empty promises.  I was teased with endless non-secured signals inviting me to join only to be disappointed with no real connection.  This was especially frustrating after I had already paid for my coffee and bagel.  I wandered the streets of Indianapolis, using my Around Me app in search of gathering places that might have what I’m looking for.

And as I should have known, I was led to the green and white mermaid once again, her siren-voice gently calling to me to enter her realm.  Yes, Starbucks, undisputabely, hands-down, has always had the most reliable and consistent wi-fi of any establishment.

How they do it right:

Starbucks are everywhere

Need an internet connection while on the road?  Just wait a few moments, and she will appear to you in the distance.  For me, Starbucks is a wi-fi provider, not a coffee shop.

Starbucks welcomes you

There was a time you had to pay a $5 fee for they’re wifi.  Fortunately, Starbucks repented of such a sin, caving to numerous other establishments offering it free-of-charge to the satisfaction of may patrons.  Today, it’s open to anyone who walks through their door.  No time limits.

Starbucks uses AT&T as their administrator

Most independent places simple pay for a connection and throw a wireless router on it.  Seems simple, right?  But when there’s a problem you’re to at the mercy of some pimple-faced kid who might reset the router if he can even find it.  And while I’ve been disappointed with the wifi of so many cafes, I’ve never experienced a failed connection at Starbucks.  Their maintenance, I’m sure, is top-notch.

Panera comes at a pretty close second, but they aren’t nearly as numerous, and for months one particular Panera wifi didn’t like my computer.  But, cheers to Panera for the free refills and a wide variety of food offerings.  Poo on Panera for the elevator music targeted toward senior citizens.  I suppose that’s the bread and butter, however.

In conclusion, no matter where you might be plugging in, might I say that there should be an innate duty within all of us to pay for the space, time and signal we take up.  The loitering can be frustrating to shops, especially during the lunch rush.  That’s when cafes make most of their money.  You’re $1.69 coffee doesn’t justify you a seat where a $7.69 lunch patron should be sitting.

Here are some suggestions:

• Buy something as soon as you arrive.  Cheap is okay.
• After two hours, buy something else.  Cheap is still okay.
• Around lunch time, try buying lunch.  You have to eat, anyway.
• Say “thanks” on your way out.

My stomach turned a bit when I heard the news of Facebook’s purchase of Instagram.  One of the most hip tools on my iphone, because a little bit lame.  Here are some thoughtful points about the awkward merger.

Excerpt from “When Did Facebook Become So Uncool” by John D. Sutter,  See full article here. 

First: Money.
Nothing leads to public skepticism quite like a few billion dollars in pocket change. Compare that kind of situation at Facebook to Instagram, which as CNNMoney notes, hadn’t monetized its product. It didn’t support advertisements and apparently didn’t sell its users’ data.

Facebook, on the other hand, is accused of profiting wildly on the backs of the 850 million people who share personal details about their lives on the social network. For more on that, see The Wall Street Journal’s recent feature “Selling You on Facebook,” which analyzes the info that Facebook apps collect.

Second: Size.
As companies get bigger, people tend to question their motives. Google is a good example of this view. The Silicon Valley company once was the darling of the Internet — the search engine that didn’t have ads on its homepage and declared its company ethos was “Don’t Be Evil.” As the tech blog Gizmodo writes, Google “built a very lucrative company on the reputation of user respect.”

That was easy enough when Google was small. As it grew, however, some people started to lose faith in the company — and to question its motives.

Third: Trust.
As the company has grown, some people have come to trust Facebook so little that they’re pulling photos from Instagram in advance of the takeover.

According to Megan Garber at The Atlantic, 25,000 people visited Instaport’s site in six hours on Monday after the news broke, compared with 400 people on a normal day. Instaport is a service that helps people pull photos off Instagram for home storage.

Finally: The cool factor.
Maybe it’s less that people see Facebook as evil and more that the site just isn’t as cool as it used to be — partly because it’s so popular and also because it’s not the new kid on the block anymore. Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004, which is eons ago in Internet time. MySpace and Friendster — all of Facebook’s predecessors — didn’t survive (or didn’t continue to grow) for this long.

Instagram, meanwhile, was founded in late 2010 and was only in recent months becoming part of the zeitgist. iPhone-toting hipster types liked the app for its mobility — you cold post photos easily from your phone — and filters that gave their pics a retro, vintage vibe.

Content provided by logoswish.com

Trends of everything change and logos are no exceptions. Though the trends may change, the importance of logos is not going to change. Every company that has a famous logo wants to print it in every product, every advertisement and even in every bill board they have on display to advertise their products. Some of these logos are kept unchanged for decades and a few for centuries.

Creation of a new logo is a collective effort by the marketing team of a company and a team of graphic designers. They are designed in such a way that they reflect the value of the brand they represent. It is the creativity of the designer that enables a logo to encapsulate all it should represent. One of the most important requirements of a logo is that it should be appealing to the group to which the product is targeted. Though logos are timeless, there could be trends that logos also are subjected to.

When it comes to logo design, the way it was done two years ago may not be suitable for the present time and the favorite designs of today may become out dated in two years. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for designers of logos to have an up to date knowledge on trends. Since a well designed logo could enhance sales this is very important.

It is not long ago Apple created some high quality products that got world famous and anything with apple logo was appealing to people. Thus, Apple logo became a trend setter. Many companies started using fruits in their logos as a result. Ecological themes also have become popular during the recent past. Many companies are still adopting such logos. It is interesting to see what trends are there with logos in 2012. You are given the opportunity to have a look at some of the 2012 logos.

water

Veggies

Text Inspired

Pieces

Lions

Icons within icons

Guitars

Gradients

dynamic

brown

This blog content was taken from a friend of mine named J.P. Stephens of Lumos Studio.  For a more complete version of this post, please visit his site.  And, if you live in the midlands of South Carolina, hire this guy.

But before we hear from J.P. you might want to see this Wall Street Journal story, Is The iPhone the Only Camera You Need?, offering some perspective, and profiling some of the most-useful photo apps out there.

And now, Mr. Stephens . . .

When, as a kid, I wanted to learn about photography, I’d go to the library. (For my younger readers, that’s a big building which, at one time, had books in it rather than dozens of people sitting at computers updating their Facebook statuses.) At that time, photography books fit pretty well into two categories:

1. Books with beautiful photos and no information at all about how to take them
2. Books filled with pages upon pages of information on developing your prints and using equipment that I wouldn’t get my hands on for another 15 years.

There wasn’t much in the way of instruction about how to take a consumer-level camera and just take better pictures. That’s why, when I found it, the work of Nick Kelsh was such a revelation. In his book How to Photograph Your Family, he broke photography down into three simple rules:

1. Get close
2. Take more photos
3. Turn off your flash

This was instruction I could work with. Later on I’ll look at points two and three, but in this post I’d like to explore the effect that getting close will have on your photos.

I have to start by saying that any “rule” of photography has probably been broken at least a thousand times to amazing effect, so when I make a photographic suggestion, just translate that as, “This will probably work well a good bit of the time, except when it doesn’t.”

Getting close allows your viewer to focus on your subject and eliminates distracting elements from your photo.

If you’re taking a photo of your children, what is important to you? Is it the place they’re sitting, the pants they’re wearing, or is it their faces? Some of the most beautiful children’s portraits I’ve ever seen were of nothing but the child’s eyes.

This isn’t just true for portraits, though. By making your subject the star of your photo you help direct your viewer’s attention to what you want them to see.

When Nick Kelsh told his reader to “get close”, he explained that he didn’t actually mean to stand physically close to your subject, but rather to zoom your lens in as tight as you can and fill the frame with your subject. The reason for this is that when you get very close to a subject, it tends to distort it. Try taking a photo of yourself with your camera close enough to your face to fill the frame from edge to edge. Yeah, not exactly flattering, is it?

[I was going to put a photo here of myself that I had taken from about 8 inches away but was afraid I'd scare young children.]

You can get around that problem by zooming in, but unfortunately, there aren’t many camera phones with optical zoom and digital zoom is not something you want to use. As a result, when photographing people with a camera phone, you have to find a balance where you maintain intimacy and keep your subject the dominant element in the photo but also avoid unflattering distortion.

The next time you get your camera phone out to snap a picture, stop to think about what is important in the photo and, if you can, make that the only thing in the photo.

Disclaimer: The following is a nightmare.  And while my critique is forthright and painfully honest, I’ve gotta hand it to all struggling graphic designers out there for giving it a shot and failing miserably.  But now that they’re work is out in public, I simply can’t pass up the opportunity to make a few observations.

These periodic posts are my plea to paying clients everywhere to not use your cousin “on the cheap”.  You get what you pay for.  You even get what you don’t pay for.  And away we go . . .

Okay, let’s unpack this puppy.  Wow, okay, okay.  Give me a moment.  Whew.

COLOR

Does this blue actually exist?  If Home Depot were to name a paint swatch after this color it would be called ”stripper neon blue”. Okay, I’ll admit that purple and yellow are considered complimentary colors.  However, that bright of yellow against white is a big mistake.  You can see,  and even feel, the clash between them along the edge, which isn’t pleasant to the eye.  The color choices are an obvious attempt to get noticed, but I think this is a case of unintended consequences.  It is quite possible that the designer avoided all team colors so as not to create prejudice and unintentionally distance themselves from certain sports fans.

Design

Is that a turtle?  Maybe.  I’m thinking it’s Cazz.  Cazz looks a little sinister.  I don’t know if I want to eat wings with Cazz.  Not the most inviting impression.  And the flag doesn’t seem to be that of a sports team.  It’s a checkered flag.  And, it’s purple and yellow.  How long would this guy last at a Nascar race waving his purple and yellow flag?  But so as not to leave anyone out, clipart of a baseball and a football have been arbitrarily thrown in.

conclusion

There’s much more to be said of the Cazz’s logo, but let’s move on.  If I were meeting with this client, I would have to point out that there’s a lot of identity confusion in this logo.  Also, it’s not pleasant to look at, which I think should be near the top of the list when designing a logo.  Between the colors, the sinister turtle guy and the arbitrary elements, there’s not much to salvage here.  It would be best to start all over and determine what they want to communicate.

I would also encourage the client to change the name of the sports bar.  ”Cazzezz” isn’t a pleasant word to say in it’s possessive form.  I’m assuming it’s the owner’s name.  So, if he insisted on his name, I would have to work with it.  Not to be cute, but I would suggest The Cazz Bar.  As in “casbah” and “rock the casbah”?  There are many meanings behind this word, both historically and culturally.  Maybe a bad idea, but it would at least get the creative juices flowing.

Graphic Designers tend to bend grammatical rules when it comes to typography.  The only reason we can get away with this is because we rely on the mind of the viewer to make sense of things.

An example of this is using numbers in place of letters, such as 7even and 5ive.  This is most useful when the usage of the numb3r is relevant to the word, and most confusing when there is no relevance, such as 5ix or on3.  I’m not a fan of it, because it seems a little too cute.  Regardless, you’ll see this often.

Another bending of the rules is how we tend to space words, or not at all.  I work with a lot of startup companies who need the name of their company or product to read quickly and make sense.  It’s also in the company’s best interest for their name to match their url precisely, even if it means no spaces.  As you know, there are no spaces in website’s URL.  Sure, you could use a hyphen or underscore, but the less keystrokes required to type a URL, the better.  So, why not throw out the spaces all together?

As you consider a name for your organization, business or product, here are some suggestions for simulating space in your logo.

(no space)  Not very exciting and quite difficult to read.

So, I officially became an iphone owner in November of 2011.  And after the delight of opening the silky white box I was placed into an immediate conflict.  To case, or not to case my iphone?  Plenty of friends had their iron-clad Otterboxes and silicon skins. But I wasn’t immediately running to BestBuy to view an endless wall of iphone armor.

If there’s anything that the advancement of technology has taught us it’s “smaller is better”.  With every generation of iphone they have become increasingly thinner, which is touted as a huge selling point.  Far be it from me to reverse that selling point and ignore nano-technological advancement my adding a few millimeters of thickness to my precious little monolith of wonderfulness.  The current iphone 4S is precisely the thickness of a single lego brick (sans teeth).  That’s impressive.

So, I decided to go naked.  Yes, NAKED!  My fellow iphone owners warned me again and again, but I ignored the haters.  It’s now been 4 months and I have not once dropped my iphone to the ground, scratched it with keys, or cracked it against the counter.  Owners are shocked to see its pristine condition as it glows in glory before their eyes.  Here are few simple principals I following to maintain its nakedness, safely.

1. Do without a protective case

The vulnerability will force your vigilance.

2. Handle your iphone as if it were a computer

…because that’s precisely what it is.  Handle it like a phone and it will resemble every other phone you’ve ever owned: scuffed, cracked and crushed.

3. Be intentional when grasping it

Try wrapping all four fingers and thumb around your iPhone while carrying it.  I call it the ideathgrip.  A gorilla can do this.

4. Don’t hold your iphone in the same hand as another object

Examples: your iphone with a cup of coffee, a cigarette, groceries, a paint brush, etc.  One will rise and one will fall.

5. Don’t hold your iphone while doing unrelated tasks.

Example: trying to unlock a door with your arms full of groceries while holding your iphone.  Your iphone is quite useful, but it will never help you complete this task.

6. Only place your iphone on a textured, rigid and level surface.

Its as if Apple designed iphones to fall like slippery bars of soap.  Beat the design flaw, and re-read the title of this point.

7. Devote a pocket to your iphone

I carry my keys on a carabiner hooked to my belt loop.  I keep change in my front left pocket.  My wallet in my right back pocket.  My iphone resides enthroned within the inside pocket of any jacket I may be wearing, but also owns a place in my front right pants pocket.  It lives alone in the bachelor pad of my pants, and does not co-habitate. Tip: Push your iPhone fully into your pocket until it stops before safely releasing.

8. Never place your iphone in your lap

True, I said to treat your iphone like a computer, but I did not mean a laptop.  You will likely forget its on your lap, and will use colorful metaphors when you hear it hit the ground as you get out of your car.  Get a charging jack that mounts on your dashboard.  It will smile at you as you drive.

9. Dont download any games onto your iphone

“Are you crazy?” you may ask.  No, I’m naked.  Do you know why my children do not pick up my iphone?  Because it has no games on it, at least not that they know of.  It gives them no reason to pick it up, which is a top reason for damaged, messy iphones and ipads.  I never intended to bring my children into my iphone experience.

10. Don’t hold your iphone while talking with your hands

You might make an unintended point when complaining about your boyfriend as it shatters against the wall, and then the story of your “iphone freak-out” will spread across the book of faces.

11. Don’t get drunk while holding your iphone

Obvious reasons.

I hope this has been helpful for those who wish to break loose from the bonds of Otterboxes, graphic covers and silicon skins.  I’m sure the day will come when Murphy’s Law will come knocking on my door, and I will see my iphone descending helplessly as it screams my name, and as I yell “noooooo!” in slow motion.  And when that day comes I will be saddened, for its scarred naked body will become hideous to me.  And I will, like so many others ashamed of their naked bodies, turn to silicon.

I had the privilege of recently visiting Guatemala, and while most tourists return with handmade bags and a pound of coffee, I brought back colors and textures.

Resting in a valley between three volcanoes, Antigua is the oldest city in Central America. It was completely destroyed 500 years ago by a volcanic eruption, and destroyed again 350 years ago by a devastating earthquake. It’s also known for its ornate doors, to which there are entire tours devoted. Despite its historical turmoil, Antigua still exists as a window into colonial antiquity.

Aside from photographing the many landmarks and ruins, I photographed several walls; some for their texture, and others for their color. I think a few of the locals thought I was a little odd leaning my camera into blank surfaces. Regardless, I captured some gems that tell a 500 year-old story of ruin, and others that attempt to cover that story with bright colors on stucco, but the original story still pushes through. Enjoy.