(and hyperinflation)

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

My brother Jim’s latest email update and pics just in…

“We continue to have a great time on our driving trip through Central America. Spent time in Quetzaltanengo, Panajachel and Antigua, all in Guatemala. Awesome. Then headed to Copan ruins in Honduras—what a beautiful place—those Mayans sure were sophisticated in many ways. From Copan, we headed to Tegucigalpa (capital city of Honduras, 1.4 million people) for one night… tonight we’re in San Juan de Sur, a little surfing town at the bottom end of Nicaragua. It was 100F when we got here. Beautiful sunset and ocean breeze this evening. We might stay here one more day, or possibly head into Costa Rica tomorrow… Border crossings continue to be bewildering adventures, but we’ve survived them all (with considerable help of “bribe” money; amazing how that works).”

Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Now I’m a trained professional artist, well-paid, looked up to, and with a real future… and look at my model!”

(flashback, in situ)

In case you may have missed this selection of eminently quotable profundities, bon mots, maxims, aphorisms, and engaging witticisms by the sage rhetoricist Marshall McLuhan when first posted here—well, here we go again…

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Whereas convictions depend on speed-ups, justice requires delay.

Money is the poor man’s credit card.

We look at the present through a rear-view mirror.
We march backwards into the future.

Invention is the mother of necessities.

You mean my whole fallacy’s wrong?

Mud sometimes gives the illusion of depth.

The trouble with a cheap, specialized education
is that you never stop paying for it.

People don’t actually read newspapers.
They step into them every morning like a hot bath.

Today each of us lives several hundred years in a decade.

The price of eternal vigilance is indifference.

News, far more than art, is artifact.

When you are on the phone or on the air, you have no body.

Tomorrow is our permanent address.

All advertising advertises advertising.

The answers are always inside the problem, not outside.

Politics offers yesterday’s answers to today’s questions.

The missing link created far more interest
than all the chains and explanations of being.

When a thing is current, it creates currency.

Food for the mind is like food for the body:
the inputs are never the same as the outputs.

The future of the book is the blurb.

The ignorance of how to use new knowledge stockpiles exponentially.

A road is a flattened-out wheel, rolled up in the belly of an airplane.

I may be wrong, but I’m never in doubt.

This information is top security.
When you have read it, destroy yourself.

More here.

(Image: detail of rear-view McLuhan photograph taken by the late great Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh on 21 January, 1967)

Holyoke, Massachusetts

A cautionary poster of yore (that seemingly fell on deaf ears) by award-winning illustrator Howard Scott (1902-1983), a Pratt Institute graduate…

Winnipeg, Canada

I’ve been asked to present at GDC Manitoba’s PechaKucha Night two weeks from now (Wednesday, 17 February 2010). PechaKucha is an event/format devised in Tokyo in 2003 for designers and creatives to meet, network, and show their work in public (drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat,” PechaKucha is a presentation format based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds each x inspiring, motivated creative speakers). In recent years PechaKucha has ballooned in popularity, with events happening around the world. Learn more about the upcoming gig (free admission, cash bar) at the lovely old Park Theatre in Winnipeg here.

Wednesday, 17 February 2010
The Park Theatre, 698 Osborne Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Doors open at 19:30, first presenter at 20:20 (of course).

Porto, Portugal

Soiled your favourite shirt? No need to fire up that wasteful washing machine… with this lovely molded wash-tub (and a bit of elbow-grease) you can return to the age-old practice of hand-washing in style. Read more about it here—just one of many excellent designs by the talented Emanuel Barbosa, a designer and teacher at Escola Superior de Artes e Design (ESAD) in Matosinhos, Portugal.

Any questions? (original source unknown)

Winnipeg, Manitoba

If you’re in the vicinity of the city this Friday, 5 February, please join my girlfriend (Evelin Richter) and me at the opening reception of the Manitoba Crafts Council 2010 Members’ Showcase, from 7-10pm, at the Cre8ery Gallery in Winnipeg, 2nd floor, 125 Adelaide (in the Exchange District). Ev will be exhibiting three figurative sculptures alongside 29 other MCC members who will be exhibiting works: PJ Anderson, Aliza Amihude, Jan Ashton, Marilyn Folson, Ursula Neufeld, Louise Gardiner, Michael Astill, Linda Glowacki, Jolanta Sokalska, Natasha Halayda, Kathleen Black, Elise Nadeau, Pat Findlay, LeVerne Tucker, LeeAnne Penner, Carol James, Alison Norberg, Karen Schlichting, Tammy Sutherland, Valerie Metcalfe, Kathryne Koop, Rachael Kroeker, Helen Lyons, Jayne Nixon, Evelin Richter, Lily Rosenberg, Zbigniew Sokalski, Susan Styrchak, Gaetanne Sylvester and Karen Taylor.

The show will run until 16 February (gallery hours are 12-5pm Tuesday to Saturday, 6-10pm Monday and Thursday). The opening will offer the chance to meet the showcased artists, with snacks and a cash bar available.

Tapachula, Mexico

My older brother Jim (recently retired from a lifetime teaching career) is on an extended road-trip south to Panama (and back, we’re hoping!) with his brother-in-law Bob Banman. I’ve just received the first travel update by email and am re-posting it here, in Jim’s words, for the benefit of extended family and friends…

“We got stopped by the Mexican army today. They searched through all our stuff, then tried to convince us to sell them Bob’s big GPS. The soldiers sure wanted it, but we managed to leave without selling them the GPS or giving them any money, so that was good.

Tomorrow morning we try to cross the border into Guatemala; then we have only a short drive (140km) to Quetzaltenango.

We’re in Tapachula, Mexico right now. It was 97F here today (36C) and humid. We spent the evening sitting in the city plaza, eating supper and watching the people. They all come to the city plaza for the evening, all dressed up and ready to socialize. Bob and I stand out of the crowd because we’re gringos and so much bigger than everybody else.

Did lots of mountain driving today; good roads in Mexico! Will be in touch again soon…”

Pic is of “Diego and Pako, two little street merchants I paid 5 pesos each to let me take their pictures.”

Midway Atoll (middle of the North Pacific)

Chris Jordan is a remarkable Seattle-based photographer/activist who uses his skills effectively to address challenging social issues and redress problems arising from our modern lifestyles. (I’ve often shown his thoughtful and impeccably crafted photographic interventions in talks I’ve given). Midway: Message from the Gyre is a stunning photographic essay that delivers an important message (about avoiding, reducing, or effectively recycling plastics) with uncommon punch—view the entire image collection here. View a moving six-minute slide-show on YouTube here. Following is the accompanying text by Chris…

These photographs of albatross chicks were made in September, 2009, on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles (3200 kilometers) from the nearest continent.

Keep up the great work, Chris! (thanks to friend Gregor Brandt for the link)

Heartfelt expressions regarding peace and hope and change are powerful—no matter what corner of the earth or in which back alley you may find them.

Thanks to Belgian statistician, philosopher, writer, and human rights blogger extraordinaire Filip Spagnoli for these images/links.

Auschwitz, Poland

It’s 65 years ago today since Soviet troops liberated the last of the living at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp… at which an estimated 1.1 million human beings perished at the hands of the Nazis. This particular day (27 January) is now remembered worldwide as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Image: Starving Romani (aka Gypsy) children at Auschwitz

Duncan, British Columbia

Betty called me yesterday, Louis… to tell me you were gone. She told me that you had passed on suddenly, and without pain. We cried together on the phone, she assured me that Chris and Vincent were there with her… and that they were all going to be OK. This evening I found your obituary online—and I’m still having a tough time believing you’ve actually left us.

I remember you well as one of my first design clients (thanks for your enabling trust!), and then working with you when you turned entrepreneur to launch your own fashion business. I remember going to your rally races (the fact that you drove a clunky Volvo was made up for by your driving prowess), the many years we went hunting together (some more successful and/or eventful than others—but an annual highlight nonetheless), the gourmet meals we shared (the fact you were an oenophile didn’t hurt), and the great times of fellowship and laughter. My most sustaining memory of you, however, will be your profound humanity… and the way you treated every person that you’d encounter with genuine interest and care. This world could use more of your ilk.

I’ll miss you my friend… rest in peace, Louis Denis Spronken.

Milan, Italy

Internationally-known graphic designer Bob Noorda, who helped introduce a Modernist look to advertising and corporate logos in the 1960s (as well as the entire New York City subway system) died on January 11 at the age of 82 due to complications of head trauma suffered in a fall. For his contributions to the city of Milan, he has been given a sepulcher in the city’s historic cemetery, the Famedio del Cimitero Monumentale, where some of Milan’s most famous citizens are buried.

A master of spare, elegant, and logical designs that “caught the eye,” Dutch-born Noorda helped found Unimark International in 1965, teaming up with a group of American and European designers (including Massimo Vignelli), with initial offices in Chicago and Milan. An early proponent of unified branding—the consistent use of distinctive type and imagery to identify a company—Unimark has been credited with awakening the corporate world to Modernist design thinking.

The influence of Bob Noorda carries on…

Read the full Obit by Steven Heller in The New York Times, here.

(thanks for the link, Ronald)

(source)

Winnipeg, Canada

These effective anti-smoking billboards are excellent examples of meme-usage in the design of visual communication. Although there is no direct reference to smoking or to the Marlboro cigarette brand, you understand the context of the message immediately, thanks to your meme-sensitivity; (images of cowboys riding under the open sky, in concert with the familiar typographic “voice” used in the centered headlines), conjure up the context.

What is a meme? A meme is an idea (or a behavior, style, symbol, or practice) that spreads from person to person within a culture—much like a virus does within a body. In this age of information and ideas, we are surrounded and saturated by memes…

Don’t say you weren’t warned! (original image sources unknown)

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Seen on a Swiss restaurant menu:

“Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.”

Recycled cycle… what goes around comes around—I like it.

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Best wishes on this ostentatious day, Jennifer! (Your mother dug up this old photo of you last night while we were talking about your arrival on this planet back in the seventies… you may find it encouraging to know that if the Neurophysiologist gig isn’t working out for you, or becomes boring, you might still have a shot at success being a bunny—the advantage of being both smart and cute).

Smile for the camera…

Cleveland, Ohio (99 years ago)

“The Pyramid of Capitalist System is a provocative illustration of the hierarchical system of capitalist rule in America. In this beautifully colored portrait, the artist depicts the multiple tiers of working class oppression. At the top of the pyramid sits the state, which serves the interests of the ruling class and functions under capitalism as the protector of private wealth and property. Below the state stand the religious leaders, clergymen, and preachers of false consciousness who encourage obedience to and acceptance of the status quo, entreating the working masses to accept their ordained fate and seek their just rewards not on earth but in that glorious hereafter.

If obedience cannot be encouraged it will surely be enforced by the members of the next tier… beneath the military sit the parasite class, the bourgeoisie, who exploit the toilers of the world and profit by their labor power.

Beneath it all, bearing the weight of the entire system, are the workers who produce all things fundamental to the perpetuation of life and the continuation of this system. Thus, in addition to illustrating the multi-layered oppression and exploitation of workers, this image also begs the question, “what would happen to capitalism if the workers simply withdrew their support?”

Poster image: Pyramid of Capitalist System, issued by Nedeljkovich, Brashick and Kuharich, Cleveland: The International Publishing Co., 1911.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Back in the 1960s, my good friend Ronald Shakespear was also something of a photographer—a collection of his images were published in the book Caras y Caritas, and he’s shared some of his reminiscences in a blog posting (from which I’ve paraphrased the following snip)…

One day in 1964, I took a plane to Spain to go see Orson Welles, who lived near Juan Perón in Puerta de Hierro. I knocked on his door, without an appointment, and was surprised that he opened the door to me—it did not matter that I had arrived “just like that.” There he was, the great Orson, washing down an old Buick (which never actually ran). The fact that I had no appointment mattered not at all: “Never ask permission,” he said, “Never.”

That cemented my admiration for him. He invited me to the Plaza de Toros de Madrid, I spent a lovely afternoon and took some pictures that I still love (even though the originals were lost by Atlantis magazine after they were published). We spent an unforgettable afternoon watching the master bullfighter Curro Giron… then we went to the Plaza butchery (to buy meat) and Giron gave the bull’s ears to Orson.

Read more at this blog post (in Spanish).

Above images (all photos by Ronald Shakespear): film director Orson Welles (1915-1985) in Madrid, 1962; Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, (1899-1986), already blind at the time of the photo, in Mexico, 1964; Argentine jazz pianist Enrique “Mono” Villegas (1913-1986) at a friend’s house in BA, 1964. The book cover of Caras y Caritas, design by Rubén Fontana.

(find lots more trivia here)

Saint-Sauveur, Quebec

Kate… you will be missed by many in this land, and beyond.

Anyone that knows me likely also knows that I love (and collect, and occasionally share) wise words and quotations. On the weekend I was rummaging through some paper-stacks that have lain relatively undisturbed for years in my somewhat-organized home library, and I re-encountered an assortment of odd gems—including the following good-uns…

I quote others only the better to express myself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592 )

I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.
—Wilson Mizner (1876-1933)

We are no more than God’s imagination about himself.
—Thomas Mann (1875-1955)

The world is a tragedy to those who feel,
but a comedy to those who think.
—Horace Walpole (1717-1797)

A child of five would understand this.
Send someone to fetch a child of five!
—Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
—Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

To him who is in fear, everything rustles.
—Socrates (469 BC-399 BC)

Education is when you read the fine print.
Experience is what you get if you don’t.
—Pete Seger (1919—  )

He of whom many are afraid ought to fear many.
— Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Everything has been thought of before—
the problem is to think of it again.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

There is no such thing as a pretty good omelette.
—French proverb

Many a scarecrow serves as a roost of the enlightened crow.
—(unknown)

The man who can’t visualize a horse
galloping on a tomato is an idiot.
—André Breton (1896-1966)

Please feel free to share with me the quotations that touch your own soul, tickle your fancy, or blow your mind, OK? You can contact me here.

(tell someone today)

Winnipeg, Canada

This year’s Annual General Meeting of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada/Manitoba Chapter will be held at the Park Theatre, 698 Osborne Street in Winnipeg at 19:00 on Tuesday, 19 January 2009. In addition to the expected conduction of business maters, mingling, door prizes, snacks and drinks, the GDC will be screening director Gary Hustwit’s recently-launched documentary film Objectified—an exploration of our complex relationship with manufactured objects and the people who design them.

Free to all comers, GDC members or not…

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Over the past few months, I have enjoyed the occasional opportunity (perhaps once a week), of driving into the city with Ev’s eldest daughter, Jennifer Kornelsen, Ph.D.  I learn a lot from Jen. She’s a researcher in Neurophysiology with Canada’s National Research Council, where she conducts brain-related studies using cutting-edge fMRI technology. This week, she shared with me the Three Things About Science I Learned from Patrick (Patrick Stroman, Ph.D.), Jen’s Ph.D. supervisor (before she headed off for a stint of postdoctoral work at Stanford)… I found these profundities she shared to apply equally well to design—so I thought I’d share them here:

1)  The simplest explanation is the best. (i.e. the most likely, the most accurate, the most truthful)

2)  The data is what it is. (trust it, let it be…)

3)  If you’re nervous and think you’re going to puke, eat something colourful! (at least then it will be Spectacular!)

Thanks Jen. I look forward to gleaning more from you over time…

Tokyo, Japan

The great graphic sensei Shigeo Fukuda passed into another realm a year ago this week… I still miss you dearly and think of you often, my friend.

Graz, Austria

Actually, it’s both, ideal for a small space (such as an apartment) where you might only occasionally need a dining table. It’s not completely original (Victor Papanek and James Hennesey floated a similar idea in Nomadic Furniture back in the 1970s, as per the sketch above), but clever nonetheless…

(thanks Ev for the link to ivydesign, via makezine)

Paris, France

Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of extraneous accessories such as pillows (less is still mostly more in my world)—but if I was, these lovely typographically-themed cushions would likely make it onto a wanna-have short list… I guess what appeals to me is the re-purposing of one context/medium and its juxtaposition into another milieu entirely.

I can (almost) imagine dozing off with my head propped up by one or two of these beauties, drifting into dreams of that oh-so-long-ago tryst with my pen-pal lover, then walking off hand in hand through the echoing cobble-stoned streets of that quaint Alsatian village… OK, that’s it, I’m off to bed.

(found here, via here)

Ottawa, Canada

The anarchist professor Denis G. Rancourt argues quite compellingly that global warming, rather than being “the greatest potential threat to humankind and the planet,” is in fact a myth and a red herring that contributes conveniently to the hiding of what is the planet’s most destructive force—power-driven financiers and profit-driven corporations and their cartels backed by military might. He suggests that liberal tree-hugging activists (ouch—this stings) who buy into and feed the global warming myth have effectively been co-opted, distracted from more urgent causes, or at best neutralized. Read a piece on this that Denis wrote here. (Though I’m somewhat reluctant to admit it, I’m starting to believe the man might be right).

Rancourt’s real concern is that if/when Carbon Trade has been introduced and established (as a result of the current, wrong-headed, singular focus on global warming), this will continue to misinform and obfuscate—essentially creating a smokescreen for the genuine causal issues: unethical and unsustainable corporate and political practices.

Thanks to new e-friend Laila Rashidie for the heads-up re: Rancourt; thanks to old friend Gregor Brandt for the cartoon above (which makes me feel a bit better, should Rancourt be right).

Winnipeg, Canada

My cousin Tim was laid to rest today…

I hardly knew you, Tim. But I’m very glad I attended your funeral. I learned more about you in an hour than I had known since you married my cousin, Ruth Koop, 36 years ago. I met your two handsome and well-spoken adult sons (for the first time)… and I listened carefully, with tears in my eyes, as one person after another stepped up to the microphone to share their recollections of you.

In case you weren’t listening in, they described you as “one of the most decent people you could ever know,” (that was your boss, by the way); as wise, rational, vital, fair, modest, understated, decent, knowledgeable, ethical, humble, good-natured, energetic, gentle, and loving; and as a brilliant thinker with a quick wit, as someone always on the side of the underdog, as someone perpetually giving and generous with your time, as a lifelong conservationist (choosing walking or cycling over driving, even in our brutal climate), as a peace-maker, as a tireless volunteer and champion of social justice, and as a man of great integrity—and few words.

I really do wish I had known you better, Tim.

Rest in peace…

Source: The New York Times

Today’s Times offers this ‘Op-Chart’ showing a comparison of American and allied deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan during 2009 by means of a map and legend to illustrate details. Accompanying text speaks about the tragedy of the “loss of any American life” and explains that “the colors on the chart show the extent to which the Western allies are sharing the deadly burden,”—invisible and unmentioned are the fatalities among either the “non-Western” Iraqi Army or Afghan Army and security personnel, deaths among what the U.S. considers to be ‘enemy combatants,’ deaths among civilian populations of either arena, or statistics on the massive numbers of serious injuries (physical and psychological) or refugee displacements that these wars have brought with them.

An aspect of this that I find extremely troublesome is the portrayal of an American or Western life (or death) as somehow being more valuable than that of another human being from a different hemisphere. This is consistent with a disturbing trend appearing in mainstream media over the past few years (the de-humanization of “the other”), creating further rifts between “them” and “us.” I choose to continue to believe that each life is worth as much as every other life.

Conservative estimates of total human death-tolls to date resulting from U.S.-led wars on/in Iraq (2003-2010…) and Afghanistan (2001-2010…) are in the hundreds of thousands. Canadian combatants are also engaged in Afghanistan (recent deaths shown in red) much to my chagrin and shame…

(unknown individual, location, and source)*

* Thanks to an e-mail from Rod at www.creativeroots.org I have just learned that the above image is actually of Trolltunga, “troll’s tongue”—given the hundreds of photos that show up in a Google image search for Trolltunga, obviously this horizontal slab of rock that sticks out above Skjeggedal is a very popular trekking destination in Norway. Thanks Rod!

See lots more images such as the one below, here…

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You don’t stop laughing because you grow old.
You grow old because you stop laughing.

(thanks Nicole)

Porto, Portugal

Colour blindness, a vision deficiency, involves the inability to perceive differences between some of the colours that others can distinguish. An estimated 10% of human beings suffer from some degree of colour blindness, an inherited deficiency with no cure.

Miguel Neiva, a Portuguese designer and educator, has conceived and developed a complete coding system for the colourblind, ColorAdd®. Read the full story of this important undertaking (a significant contribution to the world’s visual vocabulary) in an Icograda news story here; visit the project’s official website here. Congratulations, Miguel!

Images above: Codes used on coloured pencils (e.g. at school); b/w icons representing the full colour spectrum; colour coding of hospital bracelets made more universally discernible—the potential range of effective ColorAdd® applications is practically limitless…

Leipzig, Germany

A clever rubber belt design by the young graduate designers at YeaYea… the unique buckle allows for infinite adjustment. (found here)

(source: the talented Frank Chimero)