Design

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Although most people are completely unaware that it encompasses anything other than music, South by Southwest is one of the world’s largest interactive conferences. 2006 was the biggest SXSW Interactive ever, or so assumes this second-timer, for whom the scope of “ever” begins in 2005. There were more panels, more parties, and most importantly, more people, many of whom were old friends, and many of whom are now new friends.

Things were looking a bit… See more →

If anyone is still reading, I’ll be leaving for Austin in a little over a week for South by Southwest, where I will be immersed in symposiums, cinema, and suds-soaked socialization for five glorious days. Last year’s SXSW was a big part of what made 2005 the best year I have had in a long time; it was a steel-toed inspirational kick in the pants, and a networking free-for-all whose participants generally inhabited more warmth… See more →

On the Web

• Microsoft Designs the iPod Package: This amusing little video demonstrates perfectly why designers typically prefer Apple.
• Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey: An insider’s anthropological documentary examination of the much-maligned musical subculture.
• Dev2.0: Band-sanctioned, kid-friendly versions of Devo classics on Walt Disney Records. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
• Lotte Klaver: A beautiful watercolor sketch blog from Amsterdam.
• Netdisaster: Wreak harmless havoc on the web site of your choice. A neat idea,… See more →

On the Web

• My Week as a Waiter: A New York food critic tries out the other side of the table.
• “Walker: Texas Ranger” Clips on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”: Almost makes me wish I still watched TV.
• Kung Fu Fuck You: The martial art of flipping the bird.
• Burninating Three Candles: Happy Birthday, Trogdor!
• Speak Up: Recommended Reading: A large collection of quality books on graphic design.
• Buddy Rich, the Person: Expletive-rich (no… See more →

It is a beautiful January morning in Philadelphia. The Pixelworthy office is incandescent, its twentieth story windows unable to find refuge from the sun. Shaded by a pillar, Stan glares at the iMac on his desk.

“Damn Zeldman. Fucking meme shit.”

A few feet away, Rob snickers into his cinnamon roll.

“Keep laughing. You’re getting tagged next.”

“Come now, Stan. I can’t break over three months of editorial silence by participating in some retarded meme.”

“Tough luck.”… See more →

On the Web

• Titles Designed by Saul Bass: Complete list of the films Bass worked on, with lots of information and images.
• Lazy Sunday: SNL rap video extolling the decadent joys of cupcakes and Narnia.
• Art Chantry: Pearls Are a Nuisance: Video from this fall’s massive exhibition at the Philip Slein Gallery in St. Louis.
• Superdickery: Absurd and hilarious comic book covers of yesteryear.
• The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web: Robert Bringhurst’s indispensible… See more →

A recent conversation with Eric Meyer about his history degree got me thinking about the web standards community’s seemingly anomalous lack of formal education in web technology and design. Indeed, some of the most influential people in the web standards world spent their school days and/or early careers scrutinizing subjects that have little or nothing to do with divs, hex values, kerning, or color theory. Jeffrey Zeldman has an MA in Writing, and worked in… See more →

On the Web

• Talking with Jason Santa Maria: An Event Apart, #04: AIGA interrogates Stan.
• Find 74 Bands: And say goodbye to the rest of your day.
• Pixelworthy Is Looking for an Account Executive: Your chance to work with a great team in Philadelphia.
• AT&T Says Bye-Bye to Saul Bass: Another classic logo bites the dust. And how.
• Design Online: Every issue of Design Magazine, from 1965 through 1974, transcribed and scanned for your reading… See more →

While it admittedly still has a long way to go, the web standards adoption rate is growing by leaps and bounds. For those of us that came from non-semantic web design traditions (laying out pages using tables, for example), the contrast between our old, backwards methods and the much more reasonable standards-based way of doing things is profound. This perspective strengthens our understanding of exactly how good of an idea web standards are, and makes… See more →

On the Web

• Weychert Gone Wild: Sometimes, you just need to dance. Well, I do, anyway.
• Stan & Rob: Champions of Multimedia Design: Bandy provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of Stan and me.
• Occupied: A Jeffrey Stockbridge photo series documenting interiors of dilapidated Philadelphia residences. Some of these are right around the corner from me.
• Dawn of the Knitted Dead: George Romero’s classic characters rendered in yarn.
• Fire Destroys Wallace and Gromit Warehouse… See more →

October has arrived once again, and as autumn’s chill makes its graceful entrance, a young man’s fancy turns to... the macabre. I’m something of a Halloween fanatic, which is a great comfort when the transition into fall would otherwise find me irritated by the loss of warm temperatures and extended daylight. So, with nature in its gorgeous death throes all around me, I fill my Octobers with all things horrific, and this year, even my… See more →

On the Web

• Download My Store: Is e-commerce moving backwards?
• Shining: A trailer for The Shining, if it were a warm-hearted family comedy.
• Egg Song: A superbly animated Flash cartoon with a catchy little tune about eggs.
• MST3K Movie Poster Index: A collection of posters from every single movie featured on “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
• A Not-To-Do-List: A big ol’ list of things not to do.
• Pentagram: Hillman Curtis profiles one of the world’s most… See more →

A few weeks ago, Lego made their free Digital Designer software available to the public. It’s a kickass little 3D program that allows you to build virtual Lego models, share them online, and—this is the really cool part—order the physical Lego bricks that your creation would require to build in the real world. It’s a fantastic idea, but it got me thinking. With the tremendous success of the iTunes Music Store, whose wares are accessible… See more →

What’s that, you say? You’re an awesome, standards-based web designer with a bulging skillset and are looking for work in Philadelphia? Look no further than this, our recent Craigslist posting:

Pixelworthy in Philadelphia has a ton of work to do and is seeking very specific types of individuals—individuals who are first and foremost designers—people with a passion for the aesthetic and can execute attractive, user-centered design for business. We are not seeking programmers who dabble… See more →

UK designer/illustrator/animator Brian Taylor (best known for his epic Rustboy) has launched a new site called Candykiller, “a collection of illustrations, design ideas, and assorted visual ramblings.” His mastery of a wide variety of styles is pretty astonishing, and there is abundant influence evident from the toys and illustrations of Gary Baseman, the noir comics of Charles Burns, and plenty of yesteryear’s pulp and kitsch.

The only disappointment here is that Taylor’s incredible talent has… See more →

I have owned a few web sites in my day, and like anyone who makes their work available to the public, I like to know the whos, how manys, from wheres, and so on, of the people checking out my stuff. Luckily for me and my fellow narcissistic publishers, there are plenty of stats packages out there that can inform us how many hits our sites have gotten, where our visitors are coming from, what… See more →

On the Web

• ZombieWalk Vancouver: The undead answer to Critical Mass. What a completely fantastic idea!
• Hollowed-Out Human Head: Frivolous product design ruffles my feathers.
• Remastered: A fellow Rock Snob laments the age of digital music.
• A List Apart 4.0: A great site made even greater.
• “Imagine five of the top voiceover artists in our country all in one car—mine!”: Hilarious trailer for the 26th Annual Key Art Awards.
• P.E.A.R.T.: A drum machine that plays actual… See more →

Last week, the complete sixth season of “The Simpsons” was released on DVD. According to many geeks—myself included—this is possibly the single greatest season of the single greatest television program ever broadcast, so my anticipation for its release was tremendous.

Previous “Simpsons” DVD releases have taught me to expect certain shortcomings (usually dumbfounding interactive menu decisions, including custom animations that delay response time by minutes), but they never fail to deliver superbly in the most… See more →

I currently have the good fortune to be working on a project in the service of Her Royal Majesty Heavy Metal Music, who just happens to have been my first love. I’ve done work for Her before, but most of it—from junior high notebook adornments to silkscreened gig posters—has been essentially pro bono. Now that She is a legitimate client, with a statement of work, a schedule, and a budget, I’m reminded of something I… See more →

On the Web

• Guitar Shred Show: Learn the way of the exploding solo and become the shredder you have always dreamed of being!
• Picnic Mtn. Book 1: Thirty-two pages of perplexingly hilarious comics for $5.00.
• Live: Shellac: I have passed up a few opportunities to see Shellac. I am stupid.
• The Bearskinrug Store: Kevin Cornell is now selling prints and posters. Buy now—this stuff is gonna go fast!
• Glyphs: Dave Shea examines the awesome power… See more →

Lately I’ve been very aware of the fact that the art forms I’d like to participate in vastly outnumber my own creative capabilities. There is just too much stuff I want to do. It’s gotten me thinking about how, in its own way, the digital age compares to the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, it wasn’t enough for an artist to be a master painter or sculptor or architect. Notoriety was reserved for people who managed… See more →

For years now, pseudo-futurist designers have equated the emergence and explosive adoption rate of the web as a communication tool with the death of printed media, ignoring the irony that such a proclamation is very short-sighted. While I’m of the opinion that print’s centuries-old legacy speaks for itself, skeptics may need periodic reminders of print’s continued relevance and untapped potential. Enter Is Not Magazine. In its editors’ own words:

Is Not Magazine is a magazine… See more →

The Unofficial Apple Weblog was gushing itself dry yesterday over The ABkey Revolution, a new computer keyboard which promises to deliver us from the soul-sucking tyranny of the standard “QWERTY” keyboard layout once and for all. As I am apparently a brain-dead boob who didn’t even know he needed to be saved, ABkey has provoked a critique from me.

For my critique to be valid, I must be careful not to confuse my criticism of… See more →

On the Web

• Punk Rock Purity: Video of legendary graphic designer Art Chantry talking about his work for Sub Pop Records. Read plenty more of the story here.
• Le Building: A French animated short with a refreshingly simple concept and breathtaking execution. Also, don’t miss the making-of video!
• Nike Campaign “Borrows” Album Art: This is fucking ridiculous. I hope Dischord manages to put a stop to it.
• The Hills Are Alive: My first post for Noteworthy tackles… See more →

As the spread of web standards reaches exponential levels, there has been much reflection on just how far the web has come, and how much our individual perceptions of it have changed since we were first introduced to it. To look at the first web site I ever made compared with the work I’m doing now makes me wonder if there isn’t something to the notion of “progress” after all. Here is the story of… See more →

Late in 2001, when CDNOW finally succumbed to the dot com crash and unemployment was imminent, I realized that a personal web site would be a necessity if I was to find another job. Self-promotion can be a tricky thing for any designer, especially a borderline-OCD perfectionist like myself. Personal deadlines tend to be meaningless if I feel my work is not up to snuff, and I am, without question, my own worst critic and… See more →

On the Web

• 10 Years of Zeldman: One of the most (deservedly) influential figures in web design celebrates a milestone.
• Even Better Than the Real Thing: Imrov Everywhere opens for U2… as U2.
• Goth, Metalhead Overcome Subcultural Differences to Find Love: “What’s gonna happen at their wedding when Danielle starts playing Sisters of Mercy or some shit like that?”
• Jeff Louella: Relaunches with his personal account of the Browser Wars.
• Week 5: The fifth installment… See more →

On the Web

• Chris Harding Animation Concern: Wonderfully designed cartoons reminiscent of Gene Deitch-era Terrytoons.
• A Whole New Internet?: Jason Kottke assesses the State of the Web Union
• Guess the Google: A fun Flash quiz game using Google Image Search
• 54 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena
• Amusement Park in Decay: Three pages of lovely photos (1, 2, 3)
• Five Simple Steps to Better Typography: Sound advice from Mark Boulton.
• Singles Night at Wal*Mart: I think I… See more →

On the Web

• Writing, Briefly: Excellent writing tips from Paul Graham.
• Typecasting: The Use (and Misuse) of Period Typography in Movies.
• Frusion Breakfast Brawl: Addictive Punch Out-style Flash game.
• “The Most Expensive Album Never Made”: Detailed history of Guns ’N’ Roses’ doomed Chinese Democracy.
• Pimp My Safari: New online hub for Safari browser customization from Jon Hicks.
• Guess the Dictator and/or Television Sit-Com Character: This online game of 20 (or more) questions is actually quite difficult to… See more →

If you told me, in any tone approximating enthusiasm, that you had visited my site in the last year or so (for a reason other than the out-of-left-field hit, Virtual Stan), you would have been met with an incredulous look. This incredulity would have had nothing to do with false modesty or my tendency toward self-deprecation or my inability to believe that you had managed to operate a web-accessible digital device. It would be a… See more →

If there is one thing I can rarely be accused of, it is self-satisfaction. In this site’s three years of existence, I have fully mocked up no fewer than 18 designs for it, only three of which somehow found their way online. Ironically, the last of these was thrown together in less than an hour—a stripped-down, panicked replacement for an expired version I couldn’t stand to look at anymore. This “temporary” solution has now enjoyed… See more →

In the 77 days since I last posted:

I started a new full-time design job at TMX Communications. My face graced television screens nationwide in several episodes of VH1’s ILL-ustrated. I finished the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Kutztown University that I started ten years ago. I saw Andrew W.K. for the ninth time. I had my 28th birthday. My bedroom was swarmed by dozens of winged ants. I got a cellular phone. I… See more →

Spaceboy Music got the new Tortoise album, It’s All Around You, nearly two weeks ahead of its release date, so I did too. I like it, and I expect to like it more as I listen to it more, but there are no great departures from the oft-imitated Tortoise sound to report, and nothing noteworthy about this newest assemblage of ambling, polyrhythmic post-rock that wasn’t already made noteworthy on one of the band’s previous outings.… See more →

I’m not often interested in shows that could conceivably sell out in less than five minutes after tickets have been made available, so imagine my disappointment when that exact thing happened on Friday as I waited in line for Darkness tickets. Now it appears that my only chances at seeing what will probably be the best show of the year are spending upwards of $100 on eBay or winning a radio station contest, neither of… See more →

Philadelphia is in the eye of a winter storm today; the snow and ice already coating the ground will soon be joined by reinforcements. During this temporary absence of airborn aggravation, my inbox is relentlessly pounded by dozens of MyDoom/Novarg messages. I delete them to the tune of Talkie Walkie, Air’s triumphant return to the magical realm of Very Good Music (after vacationing in Mediocre Music with 10,000 Hz Legend).

Meanwhile, Jason Santa Maria has unveiled… See more →

Over the last couple of months, this site has offered its visitors little respite from boredom. I’ll make no apologies for this, since the lack of updates results directly from my own boredom, which is itself respite from my heated, ongoing battle with the coding of the site’s long-overdue web standards-compliant redesign. There have, however, been a few recent occasions that my attention has been occupied by something other than a spot on the wall… See more →

Since Pittsburgh is the other big city in Pennsylvania, and I had never been there, I decided to check it out with Merritt this past weekend. The chosen weekend was timely; The Animation Show (which isn’t scheduled to visit Philadelphia) was screening in Pittsburgh, and since I wasn’t going to Ottawa this year, this was a good excuse to drive several hours to see some animation, and see whatever else Pittsburgh had to offer while… See more →

The sleepless National Film Challenge weekend is behind me and its results have far exceeded both my expectations and my hopes. Our film is called Dial-A-Spy, and there’s not much I could write about it here that I didn’t already write in the Production Notes on the Dial-A-Spy web site, where the film itself can be seen as well. Enjoy!

There has been plenty going on, but I haven’t had much to say about any of it. Lightning Bolt, Hangedup, Battles, and Lost in Translation are all great and were all taken in last week. Over the weekend, I saw a bumper sticker that said “Abortion Causes Breast Cancer,” watched my dear friend Mary get married, and cheered as some friends’ 48-hour film submission took 2nd place in the 2003 CAmm Slamm in Baltimore. At… See more →

Kevin Cornell recently launched Bearskinrug version 4; it is as delicious as might be expected.

Lots of shows lately: The Raveonettes, Luna, Stinking Lizaveta, Mogwai, Andrew W.K. Some scattered moments: Meathead Group A on the TLA floor uses cell phones to call Meathead Group B in the balcony to alert Group B to being given the finger by Group A. “E-A-G-L-E-S!” chants abound. The Troc house lights don’t go up until Luna has played not… See more →

The summer technically ends on September 22 (as anyone eagerly anticipating the redesign of this site should note), but most people pack up their lawn sprinklers and sun dresses after Labor Day, moribundly lumping the whole of September into the Autumn category. Apparently Mother Nature’s embitterment toward this trend compelled her to adjust the calendar herself; it was 65º and raining in Philadelphia this afternoon. The crap weather seems to have followed me back here… See more →

Why am I always the last to know about these things? I have just recently been made aware of Flügtag (“flying day”), a “sport” co-opted by Red Bull in which very silly people launch very silly homemade flying machines off a very high ramp into an unsuspecting body of water. Clearly, this is something I need to participate in; alas, the closest the Flügtag tour is coming to Philadelphia is NYC on October 5, and… See more →

The long-awaited Camp Naked Terror 2 web site is finally up, complete with pictures and video from the event for your viewing pleasure. See for yourself.

I was going to begin this long-overdue post with a verbose description of the difficulties of keeping a weblog like this: the busier a person is, the less time he has to write, and the larger the pile of experiences to write about becomes. I have opted instead for the succinct description you have just read, which still has not prevented this from being my longest post to date. There’s tons to talk about, and… See more →

So a bunch of stuff happened in the last week.

Puppetmania on Monday turned out to be the best of the animated shorts program at this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival, offering such gems as Jesse Rosensweet’s The Stone of Folly and Patrick Bouchard’s Brainwashers, both of which I missed at Ottawa last fall. On Friday night, the ultra-low budget kung-fu musical Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter entertained me far beyond my low expectations. On Saturday night,… See more →

Today I completed my first ever full-page magazine advertisement for a gay pornographic DVD. High five!

Interpol and The Raveonettes played the Troc last night. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the feedback-drenched Raveonettes, who sounded kind of like a garage-y Jesus & Mary Chain. I think I shall purchase their record. Interpol turned in another stoic performance devoid of spectacle, which is not to say I did not enjoy it. I admit my attention wandered at times (I often wondered, for example, how bored the superfluous keyboard player must be… See more →

I have accepted a job in the design department at TLA Video. After nearly fifteen months of unemployment, getting paid to get out of the house will be lovely. And since I got the offer while in the midst of—and will be starting immediately following—a short-notice freelance gig, my excess of free time has vanished very suddenly, forcing me to adjust on the fly. I think this will be a good thing too. Since my… See more →

The newest addition to the Projects section is entitled Snowfall; it’s a series of photos I took in the aftermath of last week’s blizzard.

Also, I have been spending a lot of time on Designologue, which is one of the best graphic design community sites I’ve come across. As stated on the site’s homepage, “A designologue is a conversation between two designers in the medium they understand best—design. Comparisons can be made to Coudal’s Photoshop… See more →

Busy, busy week. We have updated the BREDSTIK site for the first time in almost a year, with Flash goodies and more from Pete Dalkner, Matt Sutter, and the mysterious Stet Villchicko. If that weren’t enough, the collaborative site I have been referring to cryptically for the last few months is finally live. Since we couldn’t agree on what the site should be, we just split the screen four ways and everyone stays on their… See more →