SNL on LA

The new season of Saturday Night Live is underway with Steve Carrell and Kanye West in the hosting and musical guest chairs, respectively. Man, they have already touched on today's hot topics. Bush, Jet Blue, and now Katrina. This sketch is admittedly, hilarious, primarily taking aim at celebrities, or as SNL says "rich people helping regular people." Woah. I think it's great that anyone can help in any way possible; but I also expect to laugh at anything possible while watching SNL. I can't wait to read how the rest of the world will react in the papers tomorrow. And that Al Pacino imitation was dead-on!

And now, a Girls Gone Wild spoof on Katrina and Rita....wow, that is insane, and quite funny.

Mike Myers and Kanye West once more...brilliant.

The Audience is Key.

Sure, Borders is primarily a book store, but I am primarily a movie and music person; so working upstairs in the Multimedia department is fine with me. I get to open all the new release boxes, put our security cases on them, and shelve them on the popular New Release wall. The titles are specific to certain areas of the wall, but ultimate placement is up to me. So naturally, I put things I'd like to see sell on optimum eye-level shelves. In the end however, the target audience will seek the album they came for. Take for instance this week's music new releases. Top selling artists in Rock, Pop, Country, R&B, and Classical categories are all represented, and what I thought would sell the most in the first 3 days, didn't sell much. Once again I got the demographics all wrong....but so did corporate. (quantity sold/on-hand inventory.)

5/20 - Ryan Adams - "Jacksonville City Nights"
0/13 - Renee Fleming - "Sacred Songs"
6/8 - Toni Braxton - "Libra"
4/4 - Neil Young - "Prairie Wind"
0/14 - Gretchen Wilson - "All Jacked Up"
2/60 - Sheryl Crow - "Wildflower"

Critical Critique.

SouthwestLogo
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

4th quarter is complete, and I must say that this has been one of two very detailed critiques I've experienced so far. On the whole, my work was received about 50/50 with a couple of items working well and others...not so much. All 4 panelists agreed that my rebranding of Southwest Airlines was the strongest, which I was very happy about. In fact, I should have photographed some of it before I turned it in. Above you'll notice the logo, a new way of looking at SW. I interpreted the Prickly Pear Cactus, the official state cactus of Texas, for the look. A cactus that stores water over long periods of time allowing the flower to bloom even through droughts; not unlike SW's 32 continue years of profitability even post 9/11. That's also where the colors came from. The letterhead suite, luggage tag, ticket sleeve, airplane, and in-flight snack pack I designed followed the same look of safety and service. A couple of my other logos were highlights, as well as a book I did on Alcoholism. Type issues, thoughts on 'see/say' (what you say is what you see), and wrong audience were the weak parts of some of my other pieces. I just got a little too conflicted. Tomorrow, it's moving day.

Pack or No Pack?

As of midnight last night, my 4th quarter projects are complete. The final critique is tomorrow evening so I've got some presentation prep time. Lyndsey and I are also moving into our new duplex on Thursday, so it's not like it's lazy time around the apartment. We still have plenty of item to pack and get ready for when the movers arrive. Moving is such an insane event. What do you pack first? What do you still need to use until moving day? (of course that answer is "everything.") If you pack the kitchen, then you can't eat. If you pack the DVD player, you can't watch movies? If you pack your bathroom, you won't be clean for a few days. These are thoughts that run through my mind; and therefore, even if we have already packed 20 boxes, it still feels like nothing has been packed. Moreover, I forsee attending this same event many more times in the future. It's a show Lyndsey loves to experience. But I still have 2 days with a little Final Critique in the way.

Who Am I Going to Call?

broken cellphone
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

I've promised some of you that I would call you back, or you've probably called me, not left a message and wondered why I haven't called you back. Well the answer is simple...as you can see. The broken inside and outside screen on my cell phone, though a beautiful piece of artwork, does nothing positive for me. Luckily I can still receive calls; but it makes me wonder, how exactly was life before we all carried cell phones?

Did I really get frustrated not being able to call friends and family at the flick of a thought? Did I actually have numbers memorized since there was no digital storage bank? Are we this needy? I think the answer is yes. I've never been much of a phone talker, but if it's in my hands at all times, there's never been an excuse. I could call mom, or my brother anytime I had a question, wherever I was, wherever they were. After just typing that, another question came to mind, since when have we been anxious to be contacted whenever, wherever we are? Seems like quite a nuisance. Anyway, give me a call, we'll talk about it.

Wake Me Up When September Ends.

So I'm smack dab in the middle of Studio week and of my 2-year tenure at Portfolio Center. This time we have one extra studio week and one less week of break because of the AIGA Design Conference in Boston. Many students and instructors would be away from town for a week and therefore disrupting work and critique time. This change is both good and bad. An extra week never hurts, although it also means more time to tweak...and tweak...and tweak some more. This can easily get out of hand. The plan is still to complete the work as if the situation were normal and still take the standard break off; after all, Lyndsey and I have a whole apartment to pack by Sept. 22nd. So far, it shouldn't be tough...but I'm still planning to take my time so the craftmanship stays top-of-the-line. Critique is Wednesday, the 21st. and 7pm. 7 Logos, a Poster Trilogy, a Pop-up Book + Case, and an array of items for Southwest Airlines rebranding model. Wish me luck.

Where the Streets Have No Name.

Canal St. after Katrina
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

A view of Canal Street, 3 blocks from Bourbon St., on August 30th, 2005, after Hurrican Katrina hit the shores.

City of Blinding Lights.

Bourbon Street
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

A view of Bourbon Street, 3 weeks ago, Friday, August 12th, 2005.

Movie Maturity?

It's funny how your tastes change as you get older, more mature. Tap water become Perrier, while others switch from regular coke to Diet. Back seat to front seat; front row to back row in a theater; Dr. Seuss to Socrates. For me one of the most obvious changes has been in my taste in film. It's gone from scenery to story. As much as I love visual effects, production design, and gross out gags, I find myself questioning their validity. How does it help the story? What is the story? I bring this up because of 3 films I saw over the past week for the very first time.

"The Incredibles", from Pixar Animation, had a wildly imaginative story, very clever, and answered all my questions leaving me wanting more. "The Terminal" on the other hand did not. Mind you, I'm not one to ever question Steven Spielberg, until now. (and I haven't seen War of the Worlds) There were too many stories being told in the film, and I only really cared about one: Would Viktor Navorsky get out of the airport and into the U.S.?" I didn't care about the love story, I cared about his friends a little, and I really didn't care why he was visiting. Anyway, it was a beautifully shot movie, but there were too many things going on that didn't matter. Lastly, "The Brothers Grimm" from visionary Terry Gilliam. Bad first half, great second half, tons of great scenery but not enough story. I had too many questions here that made it hard to enjoy until the action really started halfway through....but then I just wanted to see action as the story got lost. 11 years ago, I would have never questioned that sort of thing. 11 years ago I also closed my eyes when John Travolta stabbed Uma Thurman in "Pulp Fiction."

The Swamp Man

The Swamp Man
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

Last weekend in New Orleans turned out to be a blast! The W Hotel was modernly beautiful. Bourbon street was packed, the architecture was detailed, and the swamps were, well, swamps. The coolest swamps I never thought I would ever enjoy. Hungry alligators, huge spiders, and Devil's Horse Grasshoppers. Great tour Captain Derrick! Everyone should do this next time there in New Orleans.

The Big Easy.

In a couple hours I'll be on my to New Orleans to visit some friends and celebrate the end of bachelorhood for one of my high school/college buddies. Should be a blast as it always is when we get together. I haven't seen most of them in a year now since we've moved to Georgia. Got a couple errands to run today before driving to Birmingham for my Southwest flight. Hopefully I can do some research on the airline while I'm in the air for my branding class. Pretty much have my logo nailed down to a couple of choices. I'll try and post them next week for any feedback.

Right now I'm waiting to meet with a prof for my 'official' logos class and for the third time in 5 weeks, he's running 40 minutes behind schedule. Not good on a time tight day like this one. See you in a few days.

Let's Talk about Minimalism.

Minimalism is a rediscovery of the value of empty space. A radical elimination of everything that does not coincide with a program; extreme simplicity. And if I didn't have an emotional attachment to most of my stuff, I would be a complete minimalist. Ask me what kind of shirt I tend to buy, and I'll say a 'solid color.' Favorite kind of architecture? Simple, linear forms. One thing I do most at our apartment? Throw stuff away. Even in design, my heart yearns for simplicity and cleanliness. So how do I get rid of items that I haven't even looked at in a year? How do I toss those posters I haven't put on the wall since college?

Next month Lyndsey and I just might be moving into a new place, a bigger place, with room for me to work and not spill out all over the apartment. Our goal is to really cleanse ourselves of meaningless items. It'll help in our move, and make us feel better about our new place. Why trash up a perfectly clean abode with useless materials. I've already consolidated my CD's and DVD's into Case Logic books, ridding myself of plastic cases and 'most' liner notes. Hopefully Lyndsey and I can work something out with the rest of our junk (treasure?).

The Cost Factor.

Prototype Infill Housing Project
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

Being a full-time design student, part-time Borders lackey, and excited married man doesn't bode well on the pocketbook. Am I the only person who feels like the rest of the world has no concept of money and prices? Why should we have to PAY for good design when it should be inherent in our everday lives? Just for tonight, let's talk about housing; apartments, townhomes, condominiums, lofts, single-family homes, et. al. I'm a renter. A design enthusiast, with a little architectural training, and dreams of a unique, functional, living space for me and my family. I also subscribe to DWELL magazine, a fantastic publication made for someone like me, but with money.

Pictured above is half of a small 4-unit project in Dallas that excited me. A dream concept by an experienced architect who wanted to "bring the single-family home back to the urban infrastructure." He adds, "Homes that are still somewhat affordable." Hopes rose from the grave until he mentioned they were $275,000. Ok, so I guess that is somewhat affordable for a 2/2 townhome, with 1,700 sq. ft. in the city. BUT it's not affordable for me, and that's why I'm writing here tonight. Isn't there anyone out there willing to take a risk for the young couples tired of wasting their low-salary wages on pet deposits, shared water meters, and rent that shows no return?

I know this is just a soapbox rant, but I'm tired of overpriced housing. I'm tired of overpriced good design. Good design should be for everyone.

The Slide House

SlideHouseBrownsville
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

In my previous post about the Top 5 Observations of Brownsville, I mentioned this house. The first house I have ever seen in Brownsville, Texas with a built-in water slide (lower left). This is a huge house with tons of east facing windows along the back. I'm pretty sure it's designed by the owner of this new firm in town. There's a large billboard in the front yard advertising all the features they can provide which also happen to be in this house. Things like a workout room, two-way built-in fish tank, porch water fountain and pond, built-in safe, audio/video system with electric projection screen, 3-dimensional artwork in the children's bedrooms, oh, and the slide. Also note the cubic wonder under construction next door. That may be the first of its kind as well.

Deep Sea Fishing Fun.

BoatTrip
Originally uploaded by jtpuck.

Did I mention that we went Deep Sea Fishing while on vacation over the 4th of July? It was a blast, except that 4 of the 7 of us got sick. I wasn't one of them. This photo is on the trip out to the deep. We were heading 20 miles out, went through some 8 ft swells, and got nailed with water blasts. It was awesome. From left you'l see Lyndsey, my brother Chris, and Danielle's half-brother, Andrew. He puked bigtime.

End of Week One.

School has started back up again this week, now in my 4th Quarter. Here's where things really take a turn for the serious. The lingering thought of graduation, creating my final portfolio, and the lackluster impact my work has had so far (according to me), it's time to delve a little deeper. I've only got 4 classes this time which means one thing: RESEARCH. Arguably the most important aspect to good design is knowing the who, what, where, when, why, and all that stems from research. So even though I have 400 logo sketches to bust out this week and I've only done 30, the important thing to remember is the research. I'm going to take a stab at rebranding Southwest Airlines, which will then include a new look on stationary, ticket sleeves, luggage tags, inflight meals, steward uniforms, and the plane itself. Also have a 4-project class that will include a Pop-Up book (completely by hand), and 7 new logos will be created for my Symbols, Logos and Metaphors class. So enough of this, time to get back to sketching.

Bridge Over Troubled Landings.

Just returned from my 4th of July break in Brownsville and South Padre Island (SPI), TX and heard an interesting story for the very first time. The Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway, a 2.5 mile bridge connecting Port Isabel with SPI, was originally designed to be a long, straight [read boring] structure. When the owner of the land where the bridge was to meet the island discovered this, he was furious. It was going to take up precious commercial space and devalue the property. Somehow he managed to convince the powers that be to move the point of contact further south, off his property, changing the path of the bridge. Now, the causeway is a more sensual, curvilinear road with varying views of the island, adding just the right amount of anticipation to the approach. One of the true design marvels in the Rio Grande Valley.

Top 5 New Brownsville Observations.

5. Houses, Houses, Houses. All the empty fields around town when I was younger are now being filled with residential developments; for better or worse.

4. Amigoland Mall, the older and less developed shopping center is now defunct. The University of Texas at Brownsville has purchased the building and has developed new labs, classrooms, and facilities for existing departments. The tire lube center on the campus is now the Mechanics department. This is also in addition to new buildings around the back of the existing college.

3. Hooter's has arrived and is now accepting applications. Oddly enough, it's located just down the street from Stiletto's, a gentlemen's club.

2. In a new neighborhood under construction, a monstrous custom home is being built on a resaca (oxbow lake). From the other street, looking into the backyard, you'll see the cities first built-in waterslide going from the second floor balcony into the pool, complete with steps back up. This house will probably be at least $350,000.

1. Muchas Taquerias. One new one in particular around town called
"Betty's Taqueria." The sign says their tacos are 'Betty, Betty, good.'
Welcome to Brownsville.

Kong Krazy.

I'm glad there's only about 5 months lefts until Peter Jackson's new movie, instead of almost a year for Ron Howard's "Da Vinci Code." This is about the standard, not-too-ridiculous amount of time to build a buzz about a bigtime, unbelievable, can't-wait-that-long kind of movie like "King Kong." And you can see the eagerly awaited first trailer for the film at www.volkswagen.com. I've never said this before, but I actually adjusted my evening schedule of packing, booted up my laptop, and stared straight at the television until the end of tonights Fear Factor, just to watch the debut trailer. And let me tell you, it was worth it. If Steven Spielberg is the master of the cinematic "push", Peter Jackson is the master of the "pull." When Naomi Watts screams, and we pull back from the cave as Kong screams...absolutely terrifying. Is it too early to promote Jack Black or Naomi Watts for an Oscar? (and she doesn't even 'speak' a word in this trailer) Perhaps. Am I crazy about this trailer? Yes. Kong looks phenomenal. This film will be huge. This film will be great. This film will blow your mind. I will probably try to see it more times in the theater than I did "Jurassic Park" in 1993....and that will not be good on the pocketbook. When you read tomorrow that over 50 million people logged on to watch the trailer again, I hope you think of me. God bless you, Peter Jackson.

Confirmation Affirmation.

I know we had something printed out. I remember seeing it. Lyndsey remembers seeing it. Sometime in mid-April we had made reservations through Travelocity.com for 2 roundtrip tickets from Atlanta to Brownsville, June 28th-July 4th. It wasn't until yesterday that we discovered we had, in our names, nothing of the sort. What we did have was a confirmed cancellation of an existing reservation due to credit card errors. At least this is what the people at Travelocity told us. Also, apparently we were to have received an automated email about such errors, which Lyndsey did not have, and she hasn't deleted a single one since 1998. Needless to say, Travelocity's attempts at retribution were short and hardly worth mentioning. This trip was to be our First Anniversary gift to each other, in celebration of using Travelocity a year ago to purchase our honeymoon. Now we're celebrating by paying 30% more for our trip 2 days away. I could have sworn we printed out a confirmation.