The owner of IA Collaborative gave a talk for the AIGA on July 20, 2004. It's a designer firm that strongly emphasizes designers doing research. Their designer go rock climbing when designing a new watch, visit Wrigley Field when doing their collateral.

Someone asked if they do research on every project, and how they can afford such luxuries. He explained that doing research up front actually saves time during the design time at the computer, because the designer is actually doing their design while on the field researching.



He drew a diagram on the board showing how the process works. As you do experience design (on the field work with the product), you get evaluative research (being able to discern what works and what doesn't work). As you do these two forms of research, you are actually designing, because you are taking in elements, thinking and feeling. So when you site down to work and design, you already have that base evaluative experience.

Having someone else do the research and just hand it off to the designer, doesn't give the designer the investment in the research and what you are trying to achieve.

The amazing thing is that he just whipped this diagram out. It all makes sense to experience the project first before designing, but to put it in this triangle form took some good visualization skills.

About once every month, the Ravenswood for Peace stands outside the Western Brown Line stop in the morning giving handouts concerning current political situations.

The women are nice older ladies with gray hair that are always so happy to spreading their political views--of which I mostly agree on. Although today's handout entitled "The Federal Budget affects everybody" seems very... tried. You can always argue that not enough is spent on Children's Heathcare/Education, etc. Which are indeed good issues, but I want more reasons why we need to spend that money rather than just saying we should spend it. (sidenote: there's a link to the True Majority Oreo cookie animation on the federal budget on this flyer.)

Usually there is only one handout, but today there was double the bang with a second flyer. (Starting to feel like a protest where there are too many messages clouding the issues at hand, but...) This one is for the Collaborative Voter Project. August 14, 2004 3pm - 11pm by the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative.

It would be nice if there was a website for the 2004 Olympics where you can search exactly what events a specific country is participating in. You'd think in our information age, there would be some kind of sortable database website where one can easily follow all the events for one country, like Estonia.

A thought that has been sticking to me for some time has been why do we have three flavors of spearmint, peppermint and wintergreen? Standing in the gum section of the store leaves me in a bind as to which flavor to choose. Surely there must be some difference or preference among consumers to warrant ten different product lines to carry these three flavors.

Of Spearmint, Peppermint, and Wintergreen...
Why are there three flavors?
Which do you usually buy?

While at the Chicago Cubs game in Milwaukee yesterday, anyone with a fluorescent colored shirt in the stands really stood out.

There should be a professional team with fluorescent green as one of their team colors. Then their fans can populate the stands with bright green shirts.

what? wait? where am i? not in the office for monday, july 26 and tuesday, july 27 of 2004. But feel free to come by my desk and talk to my plant.

(away message for work email)

That's a fun phrase: Careful toes. Sounds like the name of a children's book.

I recently bought a bunch of clothespins for laundry. There's way more than I need. Here's some thoughts on what to do with them:

Hang laundry in public places.
- On the stop cable on the bus (would make for a funny photo)
- Police "do not cross" line
- electricity / phone lines
- tree branches
It could just be a simple white tshirt. Or just a sock.

The clothing could have a message printed on it.
--Hang in there
--Let it all hang out
--How is that clouds still hang on you? --shakespeare
--Future hangs in the balance
--"Necessity's sharp pinch" --shakespeare
--Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. --Judges 6:40

So far all these messages seem too trite, maybe there's a better phrase.

Or maybe it's just the simplicity of having laundry hanging out of context. The combination of clothing could have a meaning-- a black sock hanging next to a white sock.

There just seems like there would be some good potential with the clothespins, because they have such a powerful down-home feel. Haven't quite nailed this idea yet, although photos of laundry hanging on the stop cable on the bus would be fun.

I'll paypal $5.00 to the first person that can tell me where I can legitimately purchase prune soda pop.

Rules: The answer cannot be the recipe for prune soda. It cannot be some website that just merely mentions prude soda. It must be bottled or canned and sold as a real product. And it must either:
A) Be a real company or store in Chicago
B) A website that produces prune soda and can ship it to me

Photoshop CS would not allow me to open up the scans of the 20-dollar bills from the previous post about Thoughts on money. This was the error message:

This application does not support the unauthorized processing of banknote images.

For more information, select the information button below for Internet-based information on restrictions for copying and distributing banknote images or go to www.rulesforuse.org

Creepy. Is there some sort of man inside photoshop that is looking at my images? They probably sent an email to the feds getting me in trouble! What. What's that at the door?

The previous post on quantifying actions was written on a twenty-dollar bill, because I didn't have any other paper on me.

It's fun to write your to-do notes and ideas on money. This very post was written on some money. Dollar bills are very handy when you don't have paper on hand to write down an interesting thought. We should have sketch books that have money for the pages.

Write your thoughts in the notebook with the "money pages." Then once you are done, rip the page out and use it as currency. So now only did you not forget your idea, but you can share it with the rest of the world! Only thing is that the images on the bills get in the way. Ugh.

But, what is worth more? The money itself or the ideas that are written on the money?

It's interesting how the Chicago Cycling Club quantifies speed into categories.
* Social: 12 to 14 mph
* Touring: 14 to 18 mph
* Training: 18 to 25 mph

How about when you are watching a baseball game at the park? How can you quantify your level of attention? Or maybe level of rowdiness. For some it may be the number of beers.
* Slight yelling: x to x number of beers
* Falling over rows to retrieve ball: x to x number of beers
* Streaking across field: x to x number of beers

But I don't drink at ballgames. Hmmm, is there other ways to quantify the watching of baseball? Or how about level of baseball fan.
* Fan: 1 to 2 articles of clothing related to team
* Nut: 2 to 3 articles of clothing, plus baseball mitt
* Psycho: 3 to 4 articles of clothing, plus mitt, plus facepaint.

Scholars and artists thrown together are often annoyed at the puzzle of where they differ. Both work from knowledge; but I suspect they differ most importantly in the way their knowledge is come by. Scholars get theirs with conscientious thoroughness along projected lines of logic; poets theirs cavalierly and as it happens in and out of books. They stick to nothing deliberately, but let what will stick to them like burrs where they walk in the fields.
--Robert Frost

Is that really how a scholar works? They just really dig deep into existing logic and push it along further? Couldn't the scholars work kinda be the same where they walk the fields of logic and have their knowledge come in a similiar cavalier nature?

The State of Illinois building is where I get my hair cut. To me the entire building is just simply known as the barber shop. One really big building just to get your hair cut.

Similiar semantic construction with the inkjet printer at my apartment. I only use it to make tshirts. It's not an inkjet printer. It's a tshirt maker.

Once the Art Insitute of Chicago closes every night, the artwork hanging on the walls talk to each other. They like to discuss their histories and how they relate to one another. Sometimes they'll brag about how long certain people looked at them that day.

It's always fun when the curators mix the standard permanent artwork around. It gives the artwork a chance to compare and contrast themselves among new peers.

The Art Institute of Chicago is currently intermixing 20-30 photos of water within their permanent modern art collection. In every room alongside the paintings is one or two tightly cropped photographs of a water's surface.



Now the modern art has a completely new set of buddies to yield a wide range of conversation and interpretation.

But who are these new photos? A gang of thugs? Or maybe a group of schoolchildren.

To read more, click on the comments below.

Planets in our sky make a loop pattern. For the most part this pattern is like how we have our own daily trail. The morning and evening commute, over time, our trail is pretty fixed in the same path. But every now and then we make a little side detour. Like going to a store or look at something interesting. This detour is like a little loop off the normal path--much like the planet making a loop off its path. But then we eventually regain our original path.

Throughout history our number five used to look like a 4. Here's a history of our numerals from Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. It wasn't until the 16th century that the 5 finally stuck as five.

Which is better?
The bicycle bell or the bicycle horn?
The *ring ring* on your left!
or
the *toot toot* on your left!

or... OR... BOTH!
*ring toot*
*toot ring*
Imagine the combinations!
You could be a traveling symphony!
A Ravinia on wheels!

So which do you prefer? Bell, horn, both, or something else?

I'm thinking about taking one of my blog posts a week and making it into a comic strip. There are some really nice comic strips out there that are inspiring...

Daily comic strips:
ï American Elf by James Kochalka: Cute diary sketches
ï Mutts by Patrick McDonnell: Adorable insights on life, drawn great
ï Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard: Parody of space in pop culture (not yet online)
ï Mister Boffo by Joe Martin: Quirky
ï Cats with Hands by Joe Martin: Even though I'm not a cat person, what he makes cats do are quite funny

No longer published daily comic strips:
ï Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson: classic insights on life & creatively drawn / designed
ï Far Side: fun juxtapositions (can't find an archive online)

Non-daily comic strips:
ï Ben Katchor in Metropolis Magazine: Urban observations.
ï Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer by Ben Katchor: More urban observations.
ï Spy vs. Spy: Violent humor at its best (can't find an archive online)

Graphic Novelists:
ï James Kochalka

Editorial Cartoons:
ï Ted Rall: Liberal cartoonist with a true edge (but sometimes goes too far). Nicely drawn.

Nicely drawn comics that aren't good for anything else:
ï Captain Ribman by John Sprengelmeyer and Rich Davis
ï La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz
ï Pooch CafÈ by Paul Gilligan
ï Big Top by Rob Harrell

Most daily cartoonists fall into the trap of making every single comic strip into a gag. Comics like American Elf, Mutts, and Ben Katchor's work escape this trap by capturing life without trying to use stupid jokes all the time.

Does anyone know of any good comic strips, editorial cartoonists, graphic novelists? Hungry for inspiration!

Can a regular freezer--like the one that's a part of your refrigerator--create a solid block of ice that is one foot cubed?

Obviously we can make little 2-inch regular ice cubes. But something seems like it would go wrong if you tried to make one that was a foot all around. Do they even make ice cube trays that big?

What do Germans say for: lol ?
laugh out loud = Lachen Sie aus laut
Maybe they say: lal

Here's a little napkin sculpture doodle. It's like he's saying, "I give up! I give up!"

I'm joining a football fantasy league this year and I need to come up with a great team name. My brother's team name is Fighting Tokugawas.

Oh this is like the bowling team names.

Anyone have some good suggestions?

After measuring the 1450 feet distance with this measuring wheel, it was suprising how far it was. (for explanation of this project, see this previous post). The distance was far enough away that it seemed odd to be taking photos of the Sears Tower. People were looking at me curiously with the measuring wheel at the end distance... To read the rest of this post, click on the comments.

Libraries are great places to explore books, but it would so fantastic if there was a Netflix for books. Oh wow, to have your own list of books that you are interested in and you get three books at once in the mail. Then when yer done with a book you mail it back and get another book on your list.

That's what convinced me to get Netflix. It was the convenience of having all your wanted movies in one list. I have a blockbuster just half a block away from my apartment, and it's even on my way to work and home. But having to search for your movies that you want to watch. ugh.

It's like with the library. I have a list of books that would be nice to take out. But then half the time they aren't on the shelf. BUT i do have to hand it to library. It is a great place to explore.

Why is Sammy Sosa so popular? Yes, he's a homerun machine, but he's also got personality. And lots of things that give him a story. Players become fan favorites when they have something to hang their hat on--something unique about the player.

Here's a list of what makes the 2004 Chicago Cubs players unique

Sammy Sosa
* Homerun record chase with Mark McGwire
* Funny loving guy
* Coined the phrase "You da man."
* Hop after hitting a homerun
* Blowing kisses to the camera after homerun
* Sprinting to his position at the start of the game
* Tapping his chest to the outfield fans
* Elastic sleeved uniforms
* Big ball knob at end of his bat
* Annual boombox antics in lockerroom
* 500+ homeruns
* 1998 MVP
* 7-time All Star
* Corked bat incident 2003
* Toenail removed in 2003
* Hurt his back by sneezing in 2004
* Only player in MLB history to have three 60+ HR seasons
* is the M.L. recordholder for most homers over a five-year (292), six-year (328), seven-year (368), eight-year (404) and nine-year (429) period
* setting the M.L. single-month homer record by going deep 20 times in June 1998
* Shattered helmet with hit by pitch in head in 2003
* All-time strikeout leader

Moises Alou
* Involved in Steve Bartman incident
* Pees on his hands
* is a member of one of baseball's most well-known families.

Matt Clement
* The weird beard

Carlos Zambrano
* Very emotional on the mound

Kyle Farnsworth
* Punk kid with greasy long hair
* Did a football tackle to Paul Wilson of the Reds
* Throws 100mph

Greg Maddux
* One of the best pitchers ever
* Will have 300 wins
* Came back to the cubs after long stint with Braves (old school cub player)

Mark Prior
* One of four current MLB players to graduate college
* was the first Cubs hurler to win the N.L. pitcher of the month since Mike Morgan in May 1992. (Prior won both Augst and September award in 2003)

Kerry Wood
* 20-strikeout game, 1998
* Rookie of the Year 1998
* Lead NL in strikeout, 2003 (first cub since Fergie Jenksins
* Mr. Tough and burly
* In 2003 was the first Cub to lead the N.L. in strikeouts since Fergie Jenkins in 1969 (273).
* the first Cub to record back-to-back 200-strikeout campaigns since Fergie Jenkins' five-year run from 1967-1971.
* lead the league in hit batesman in 2002 (16) and 2003 (21)

Derek Lee
* The guy is huge. 6'5" 245lbs

Aramis Ramirez
* In 2003 led MLB 3B in errors with 33, a full 50% more than anyone else at the position

Mark Gudzielanek
* Long funny last name

Tom Goodwin
* Founder of the lemons

Corey Patterson
* GQ
* Youngest player in MLB in 2000

Jon Leicester
* Has red hair

The robots: Beltran, Hawkins, Mercker, Rusch, Wuertz, Bako, Barrett, Harris, Macias, Martinez, Ordonez, Walker.

If you can come up with anything for these players, or anything for the other ones listed, leave a comment here.

A recent comments on a post here and here about throwing sparked more interest on this topic. Why do we enjoy throwing things? Even young babies enjoy throwing whatever is placed in their hands. My web search have only yielded in topics like:

The International Hurling Society founded in 1993. With a circulation of about 500, HEAVE features articles on physics and medieval history alongside gag tips on "hurling armadillos." (found in the 1995 issue of Outside Magazine)

Normally I love the big contraptions that people build in their backyards. It's great inspiration and shows us how to love life. But these blokes of Punkin Chunkin are really kinda scary. Is this our America? I can see them sayin' "GET OFF MY LAND ER I'LL SHOOT!"

Balls: The Book With Bounce This book features all things "ballsy," such as Ball State University, Newton's First, Second, and Third Laws of Motion, the International Hurling Society, Beach Bowling, the Pendulum of Fear, a favorite Matzo Ball recipe, the Bernouli Principle, Roger Angell on baseball, and more. Includes three dexterized super balls and one ping pong ball.

Car Bowling. Whoa.

But seriously, if anyone can find source material on the history of throwing, origins of throwing, or the psychology behind throwing; please share.

My brother was telling about this personality test that tells you what job you should be in. Each of the 71 questions presents three options. You have to pick what you most want to do and least want to do of the three choices. One of these questions was interesting/baffling:

* Work with theory, concepts, options, strategy
* Work with ideas, values, ethics, principles
* Work with plans, design, systems, procedures

What's the difference between these items? Aren't these basically the same thing? And why is ethics grouped with ideas? "beliefs" would be a better word there.

Also, "theory" doesn't really jive with "options." Theory is more like coming up with a singular idea to explain something.

Here's an example of what the free results look like (161k, pdf file) You have to pay to get the full results.

Not having dumped my junk mail folder since February 9th, there are 69,528 pieces of spam in there... 473 a day. Here is the face behind 850 million pieces of junk mail.

Vote for the final player on the All-star team. The Chicago Cubs Aramis Ramirez is on the list. Vote for him!

Every time someone says, "Did you know that Chipotle is owned by McDonalds," this offender owes $1.00 to the person that they told. This will be a nation-wide trend on par of the slugbug/punchbug and "pinch poke owe me a coke!" Now it just needs a fun phrase and action.
"Chipotle Noway--Buck you pay" Ok, it doesn't really roll off the tongue.

This record has GOTTA be an easy one to break:
The longest time a coin has been spun until coming to a complete rest is 19.37 seconds by Britain's Scott Day.

WANNA BREAK THIS RECORD?
Here's what you need to know if you want to have a spin at the record:
1. The coin should be spun on a smooth, flat surface measuring a maximum of 1 x 1 m (3 x 3 ft) which should be dry.
2. The coins to be used are 10p coins in Great Britain, 25¢ coins in the United States and, in other countries, coins weighing at least 0.21 oz or 6 g and having a maximum diameter of 2.5 cm or 1 in.
3. Any coin used must have a grooved edge and be offered for inspection to make sure it has not been tampered with.
4. The time starts when the coin starts spinning and stops when the coin comes to a complete rest.
5. An official timekeeper should be present thoughout the attempt.
6. Each participant is only allowed three attempts.
From: Guinness World Records

This will be the featured item today for New Toy Friday at work. I can't wait!

ìFaith was a recognizable dimension of everything he did in public and
private life. It was never a badge or an ornament to make others
uncomfortable, but always a star he checked to set his own course.î
--a statement given at the funeral of Thomas (Tip) OíNeill, former
Speaker of the House of Representatives

The idea of faith being a star as a guide is interesting. I've always
thought of faith as something internal. Like through the Holy Spirit
working within me, I have faith. And some parts of religion that defy
human logic, we rely on faith to believe.

Some phrases imply faith is something that we have. "I have faith
that..." Or for some... something we don't have. "I lost my faith
in..." Phrases like these imply that faith is something internal.

Hebrews 11:1 says, ìNow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.î
"Substance" is a Greek word meaning "a standing under". This word
"substance" was used in terms of a title deed, like you stand under a
the claim to a property to support its validity. Under this light, the
star metaphor makes sense. It's something you look at to guide your
course.

Seeing that faith is a gift from God, it makes sense that it can be
seen as both an external and internal entity (what's the right word
there? entity? concept? principle?... anyways) External, because it
comes from God. Internal, because God gave it to us.

The Mayans had two calendars:
Solar Calendar: 18 months of 20 days each, totally 360 days (with five days tacked on at the end of each year to get 365)
Ritual Calendar: 20 weeks of 13 days each.

Both calendars together form the calendar round that had a different name for every day in a 52-year cycle.

Back then life expectancy was probably less than 52. So every day of your life would have a unique name. That's a nice way to approach each day of your life--as something unique.

Maybe the Mayans had certain ceremonies for particular days that would happen once in a person's lifetime, thereby connecting generations together.

The quotes on the transformers tech spec cards tend to over-intellectualize the transformer being depicted. None better at representing this polarization is Swoop the Dinobot. His tech spec quote is:
"Fear can hit targets unreachable to bullets."

And then in the cartoon he leaves us with these great nuggets of wisdom:
"Me glad me not have stomach to leave!"
"Me Swoop do fancy flying now."
"Me Swoop no see nothing!"