booking a séance with your favourite medium

This trailer, from the New Zealand Book Council, really gets me excited.

I was thinking about books the other day (I often do), and it occurred to me that the reason book sales haven't slumped like magazine sales have or taken the free-fall that newspapers have in the last few years is because the printed book, particularly the novel, is probably the perfect medium for the experience of reading.

A word about reading: it is more than simply consuming text. You're consuming text right now, but are you reading? The practice of reading, especially of reading fiction, has as much to do with imagining as it does with comprehension. That's why literature persists as a cultural touchstone in the Youtube era. Electronic media have specific advantages: immediacy, collaboration, and connectivity. Novels operate on a longer timeline, so they have to be different.

I'd go so far as to say the folks who fear the demise of the novel are anxious about the end of an exceptional period in human history - a minor blip in the intellectual average - we know as literacy. Literacy is a bit of misnomer, since it isn't the ability to comprehend text that's at risk, but rather a widely held fluency in the language of the written word which affects societies in some unexpected ways.

The NZBC ad above emphasizes the connection between the book as a material object and its ability to engage the imagination and produce entire worlds.  It addresses the anatomy of the printed book as a medium in its spectral, ghostly sense. Books perform things for us when we read them. We get inside heads that aren't "real", but are inseparable from the subjective reality of their narrators. The book, so unassuming and invisible as a medium will probably be around a long, long time even with the Kindle clawing at the market-share. I think that because the book has already proven to be a persistent medium while other print media have languished.

But what do you think?

New Venue Downtown Kitchener

Here's a little downtown news for y'all.

Next Wednesday Dec. 2 marks the open house of OPUS. According to the promoters: It is centrally located on top of Pizza Pizza downtown Kitchener on the corner of Gaukel & King St. It overlooks Kitchener City Hall, is bright, spacious, modern & contemporary. (Where Frequency was. Whatever Frequency was...)

I am told to expect a warm, inviting atmosphere, interactive oyster shucking bar, appetizers, treats, complimentary gifts and tons of samplings from our brand new catering menu made fresh by our new Executive Chef, Tim Halley

Pretty excited to check it out I must admit. Will take photes.

All for now!

bear necessities

What a spectacle this ad is.

Is it me, or is the irony of the Polar Bear as the monster mascot of environmentalism passed its expiration date? Animals in advertising reach us on a very basic level, I think. But it's possible that the animals with which we identify the most are the ones that remind of us ourselves... the comic clown of the lesser apes, the moony eyes of baby seals, or the chatty dolphin are easily commercialized symbols because they're non-threatening and there's something primal and appealing about them.

Polar bears, as majestic and vulnerable as they are, are terrifying. Why haven't environmental organization picked up on the fact that if you don't already understand the issues of global climate change, felling a monster in dramatic fashion isn't going to help with the uptake of the real issue? Now, an actual polar bear corpse on a London street might be more jarring and affective, but I wonder if the metaphorical purchase of these bears as victims is culturally specific and, as such, lost on urban Europeans.

Tony Bianco's design for the twonie's 10th anniversary in 2000

depicts the passing on of knowledge from one generation to the next.

This image is familiar and germane to Canadians who are familiar with 

theecological niche of these animals.

I think Canadians (maybe some Russians too) are predisposed to revere the creatures of the far north because our national mythology is tied up with these animals, but do images of polar bears resonate with European or American audiences? How about Chinese or East Indian? Is it enough that the white bear is already the poster-beast for global warming, or should campaigns like these be re-tooled to convey the human cost of greenhouse emissions.

Thoughts?

Telic & Neen: The Internet and/is Art.

“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extend they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages or we remain mute”. JG Ballard

"The Web is nothing more and nothing less than what the World has always been: unvisited and unfriendly territories that are gradually transformed into a domestic landscape. From the Alps to the Japanese garden, this is the scenario: the illusory promise of order and system. But still, the simple rocks and sand in the well-arranged composition of a Japanese garden, for a better-trained intellect, are black holes and chaos.

The Web came from this chaos; in a certain way it came directly out of the Trojan Horse described in Homer’s Iliad and now we are all Ulysses, lost in the ocean all over again. But we are not traveling alone: there is a special spirit that helps us navigate and that is the spirit of Telic.

Telic is our relationship with the tools that help us to design the World and to see things in a perspective. It is in mobile phones and computers, but it’s even in the way our houses and clothes are made. Our times are Telic."

Read this essay this morning by Greek Painter Miltos Manetas. Far out there (or is it?) but definitely an interesting read. I suggest he dive right into the Science Fiction world.

geek chic

In case you thought thought there was a statute of limitations on merchandising (I don't know why anyone would), think again. And then one more time.

I received a transmission from flavorwire not long ago, in a galaxy pretty close to this one that the merch for Star Wars' 30th anniversary is coming to a spaceport near you. Seriously though, check out these turbo-nerd hoodies from Marc Ecko:

Legit.

And it raises a few points about the power of brands and the effectiveness of brand pairing. Even those of you who aren't Star Wars aficionados should be able to appreciate the design of this line; and stardorks who don't care about Ecko's logo appeal (ie.: me) can get behind their amazing limited editions that pick up on marketed-to-men brands like Playboy, KISS, and Halo.

Associating one brand with another, seemingly unrelated brand, can strengthen both and produce some very sexy results - yes, I mean sexy. Star Wars isn't sexy, but Marc Ecko Cut & Sew is. By associating these two brands, Ecko gains credibility with a specific market segment and George Lucas gets the sexiest notch yet on his proverbial bedpost (next to the Princess Leia gold bikini of course). Both these brands were already doing just fine, but a little creative pairing expands their respective corporate image and undoubtedly increases revenue for both parties. And now we can dress like Imperial Stormtroopers without having to endure the derisive laughter of the girl I had a crush on in grade 11.

I'll be in the Commod(or)e

Last night in a fit of nostalgia for my 1980s childhood I downloaded Jumpman. Somewhere between the Smurfs and Beavers I and my older brother became exceptionally good at dodging eight-bit intelligent bullets while sharing the family's first home computer.  I'm still trying to figure out the emulator because I've forgotten how to talk to a Commodore 64.

What struck me was, of course, the design of one of the earliest home electronics solutions to bridge the gap between work and play. The Commodore 64 was one of the most popular early computers, and also one of the first to insert itself into the lives of children. The Commodore paved the way for modern PC gaming, but is firmly rooted in the 1980s.

Take a look:

In terms of product design, the actual unit isn't anything truly remarkable. The logo and Corporate ID, though, are something special. It's kind of a pity the company isn't still producing electronics (are they?), but I really enjoy James White's contemporary take on the Commodore's aesthetic.

When life hands you a pink slip...

The trailer alone is emotional to watch. I've been fortunate enough to hold on to a job in a field where a good deal of my peers have been let go, but I do know what it's like to have to leave something you love because it's not financially sustainable. But, as demonstrated in this film, maybe sometimes moving on is the best possible thing you can do to find happiness. Cheesy? Just the right amount I think.

"Lemonade is a documentary about a few of those 70,000 people in the advertising industry who have been handed a pink slip and gone out to discover who they really are and do what they really should have been doing."

Utilitarian & Recreational Biking by Design

"Recent years have seen the local interest in cycling increase dramatically. The interest comes both from citizens seeking a healthier lifestyle and from planners and analysts seeking solutions to organizational, environmental and transportation issues in a rapidly growing population.

Residents who enjoy cycling for fun or use their bikes for transportation are invited to get more information, share their thoughts on the city’s existing cycling routes, trails and facilities during two public information sessions this Saturday.

The first session will run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Kitchener Market; and the second session will run from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Activa Sportsplex."

Received this little gem in the inbox today.

d-school/b-school

Cassie, Liz, and I are having meeting today. It's confidential; but I can tell you that we're talking about office design. Space is important. It's affective: it can structure how we think and what we do and how we feel. Creative offices aren't anything new but they're still really fun.

So I've been researching creative office spaces on the interweb for inspiration.

Here's one of my favourites:

just look at those bike racks!

I'm totally getting one.

I'm feeling more creative already.

print

Is it, will it, has it ever been relevant?

My (educated) guess is: yes, print will endure. But how?

To back up a little, I think it's important to recognize that print media is intricately connected to literacy; and most of can probably agree that literacy is important to the welfare of individuals for empowerment and essential to society (a democracy at least) for equality.

I don't want to entertain the dystopic fantasy of a culture whose literacy extends only to the level of "functional" and is dominated by the recognition of images - McLuhan described such a thing as a return to a tribal society, which was dominated by myth, homogeneity, and collectivism. Interestingly enough, the "Tribe" is being reclaimed as a social structure which empowers and privileges small-to-medium sized rhizomatic groups affiliated by shared interests rather than geography or heritage/ethnicity. Which is amazing, and laden with possibility and potential for social enterprise and innovation.

Donna Haraway predicted such structures (after McLuhan, of course) in her Cyborg Manifesto to be an empowerment of the miscellaneous and part of the social landscape after the proliferation of new media. Which it is.

There are many proponents of new media and possibilities it presents for societies to reorganize themselves along egalitarian lines; however, I have to ask what are we losing?

Democracy was supposed to be enhanced by the broadcast medium. Glenn Gould was a champion of broadcasting and recording as a democratic medium (think of Andy Warhol's assertion that the great thing about Coca-Cola was that the President could not get a better coke than the bum on the street). Gould, it's rumoured, would even play his live performances with timing and dissonance that privileged the folks deep in the cheap seats.

So, I guess there's a tension between blanket democracy and tribal democracy in which individualism and empowerment are the gambits. Back to literacy: it's important for too many reasons to get into here (maybe you can tell how I feel about literacy by the text-heavy blog posts to which I'm predisposed), but I will say that without it our sense of individuality and interiority (the basis for things like courtesy, compassion, and empathy) will undergo some drastic changes. How we read (and, equally, what we read) has, as many neuroscientists and psychologists will tell you, affects how our brains form thought and perceive people and the world in which we live.

And instead of just griping about the waning of literary fluency (which, culturally speaking, is only about 200 years old) into functional reading skills, here's something for us all to do: read.

Go pick up a magazine, like one of these:
     

Music Videos.

Do people still watch music videos?

I really don't know. I'm genuinely asking. We nixed cable last year and I've actually weened myself off of watching MTV online. Not that they played music videos anyways. (Sidenote: has anyone noticed that mainstream shows are actually playing good music now? Like Metric on Grey's all the time and Midlake on Fringe...I kind of hate it. Why do I hate it?)

Music videos are cool. And I like how bands have gotten away from just shooting themselves 30 000 different ways and are actually commissioning artists and seeking out super creative directors to conceptualize videos that perfectly depict their music. As a viewer we get to experience a song not only sonically, but visually. Double score. That Land of Talk video I posted last week is a good example. Stunning. It's just strange to me that as videos get better (more artistic, creative, innovative, etc etc), there are less mediums to view them. Thank goodness for the Internet.

Anyways, I digress. From my understanding this is what it would be like to take Salvia:

Ready, Able - Grizzly Bear

Directed/Created by Allison Schulnik.

Tweet Tweet Mother Funkies

Wednesday morning at a BIA meeting a young woman came in to tell us about Random Act of Kindness Day (November 13th). We were talking about promotional tools to get the word out (poster, radio, blog, facebook), when I mentioned they should start a hashtag on Twitter to keep the project going year round. Everyone looked at me like I was speaking Klingon (which probably would have been umm... AWESOME. no, I actually hate Star Trek). Needless to say we ended up spending some time talking about social networking in it's entirety and it seems there is still a good deal of debate surrounding Twitter.

It's useful.

It's useless.

It's Facebook Lite.

Why would you need/want to know what I'm doing at every single moment. (It's not all about you. Yes it is.)

I came across these graphs this morning via Canadian Mags.

So, do you tweet? Is it a business tool? Useful in marketing? Personal indulgence? Celebrity Tracking Device?

"Hate Advertising? Make Better Ads." - Doug Pray

Art & Copy

Very Interesting. Special screening tonight @ the Princess.

CONSISTENCY + BRANDING = LOVE

Ohhhhhhhh Design. You coy little thing you. Why do you excite me so with super cool things like this? Why don't the masses understand the importance of communicating a consistent message. Change it up, push the boundaries, but keep it consistent, you know? Of course you know, Branding. You wrote the book. And you made it beautiful.

Please flip through these images of the launch campaign for New Museum, a newly constructed contemporary art museum in downtown, New York. (the bike!!! how cool is that bike!!! and the subway tiles...come on!)

Design can be fun and mysterious and playful and intriguing.

take some chances.

Monday Monday... It's Okay.

WeWereMonkeys: Land of Talk - It's Okay from WeWereMonkeys on Vimeo.

beautiful song & video. love love.