Year: 2004

Aladdin, the Disney animation is finally released on DVD today. A funny piece of trivia from imdb: “In early visual development, Aladdin resembled Michael J. Fox. As the film developed, Jeffrey Katzenberg didn’t think Aladdin had enough appeal to women,…

A couple weeks ago I posted “The top ten reasons for sitting in the corner of a room.” While researching corners online, another form of corner came up… the street corner. A search for corner on the cartoonbank yields alot…

Who were the players on the very first baseball teams like the 1876 Cubs? Not the 2nd season, but the very first season? What are the stories back then? The National League formed in 1876 with the Chicago Cubs (then…

“My sofas are uncomfortable. I design them to be uncomfortable.” You get strong feedback from my couches. To continuously use. It’s like the computer. Without using the computer, it is just a brick. With my couches you continously interface with…

October 2004 is Chicago’s ninth annual Chicago Artists’ Month. Stuff happening all over the city–over 150 events! The City of Chicago’s listings were confusing, so here’s a nice handy compiled list by date: √Ø October 1 – October 4 √Ø…

The AIGA Chicago (American Institute of Graphic Arts) is asking: Can you be a designer and not know it? That’s a tough call. I like to say that I’m not a designer. It gives me a fresh approach to my…

Doing research is a process of discovery. Just as working on an artwork leads to discoveries. As the research unfolds, the researcher is guiding along to new worlds. Letting the work take its own path, but also guiding it. *…

Well, not a REAL cover of Jeep Magazine. They were doing this photo thing outside the Tribune Tower last week where people can get their photo taken by this “dirty” jeep. Actually the dirt was made out of oatmeal, paint,…

The park bench: a place to watch, meet, and greet. Sharing a bench with someone. It’s not your own personal seat. Chairs are so individualized. Sitting on a bench with someone is consoling, like non-starters in a game. Sharing a…

Three years ago on September 28, 2001 the first spudart.org blog post was made using the old Blogger system. The post entitled “Long Live Long Tables” is one of my all-time favorite posts. It touches on the social aspects of…

When outside and looking at windows of tall buildings, you’d think that you would be able to see stuff occuring inside the building. But you rarely ever see see any activity. It seems fairly lifeless. But humans outside the building…

We’ve had a lot of sick people in the office lately. And i’m going to the doctor tomorrow for my toe. break of seasons brings breaks in body we need to make some “Change of Season” soup. maybe it should…

European towns have been built over and over. So-and-so country comes and takes over. They rebuild over part of the town. Such-and-such country comes hundreds years later and they rebuild over the part of the town. And so on. There…

At the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago on thursday, September 23, Piero Lissoni an Italian designer/architect gave a talk “DESIGN MATTERS” on graphic design, product design, and architecture. His english was quite broken, and at first I was starting…

Seeing that baby carrots are too loud to eat at work as a snack, i’m trying shredded carrots. They are great! Only thing is that they are a bit messy if you grab a bunch at once. But eating one…

There are 6,142 congregations in the LCMS (Lutheran Church Missiouri Synod). Here are the twelve most common names: source: lcms.org

What do you think the red stuff in this photo is? ïÝPhoto at regular size ï Photo blown up in one section (photo by Lisa of Mount Prospect, IL)

“for the first time in debate history, a light will flash to alert television viewers when a candidate is obviously grandstanding or filibustering.” from the chicagoist I don’t get it. Who’s in control of this light? What purpose does this…

The last post about Designer conversation questions to ask a design firm reminded me of this list of questions to ask while interviewing: On a typical day in this position, what do you do? What training or education is required…

The AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) has a series of discussions called the Small Talks. Each small talk is held at a different design firm. The design firm gives a half-hour to hour-long presentation about their company. Background information,…

At this very moment 09/22/2004 at 11:30am is the Autumnal Equinox where there is exactly 12 hours of light and 12 hours of night at the equator. (thanks to tom’s blog for reminding me). It’s noteworthy that this equal night/day…

Creative Behavior had an interesting article, “Creativity (unrelated) Edges” here’s some excerpts: [Creativity] is located in the brain supra √´fuzzy√≠ center and we are invited to travel, poke and dwell on its edges. Fuzzy Intangible. Just the name itself makes…

Here’s a list of upcoming chicago events I’m considering attending. Anyone interested in coming with, just lemme know. Wed 9/22, 7pm, Free Establishing yourself as an indepedent artist. Practicing Chicago artists share their experiences and perspectives about professional success in…

Here’s a nice growing/rooting/soil metaphor on the Zun Partners website. (I’m a potato, so I gotta like it) What distinguishes zun partners from other design and communication firms? We work from the inside out. Our work grows directly out of…

A time and a place Capturing a certain feel of a time period Extreme Lots of hand lettered type squeezed into one space Industrial Strength –Dymo (those Dymo stamp machine things) -Stamped in steel (dog chains, phone booth) -Industrial Strength…

1) Take any 3-d object. 2) Look at this object without moving the object or yourself. 3) Pretend that this object is now a 2-d painting. Look at the very edge of the object where it meets the space around…

Here’s what was selected into the 2004 Graphic Design:usa 2004 annual and the Lola folder Background on the awards: Every year the Editors of Graphic Design:usa invite thousands of United States-based advertising agencies, graphic design firms, corporate inhouse creative departments…

Lincolnshire, Lincolnwood, Lincoln Square, Lincoln Park, Lincoln. Surely Illinois is the Land of Lincoln!

Do you use one side of your mouth more often to chew than the other? I use the right side of my mouth much more often. In fact when I use the left side of my mouth, things taste more……

At the time of this folder, Lola the comic strip had been around for five years. It’s in over 100 newspapers and we wanted to bring it up to the next level. So a new sales folder was to be…

Whether you're at work or home, sitting in a corner can have its perks.