Lost Season 6

Mattson Creative designed several posters to commemorate the start of Lost Season 6. See all the designs here. Wow!

Conan O'Brien – The Smartest Kid on Earth

[Image via USA Today]

Last week, I watched a bunch of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to stock up on my fill of Mr. O'Brien before he left. And I was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday night to see a bumper that looked strangely like a Chris Ware comic. My husband and I stopped the DVR and stared at it for a while trying to figure out if Ware had really made it or if it was a really good homage. We didn't have to wonder long. The USA Today confirmed on Thursday that it was just a homage.

To see more of Conan's Tonight Show bumpers, check out this treasure trove on flickr. Conan, we'll miss you!

BBC unveils new Dr. Who logo

Okay, I'll admit it. I am a Dr. Who fan. I remember watching the intro the show as a child and being so freaked out by it that I couldn't watch it again until I was much older. But as a sixteen year old, I became an addict staying up to 4am watching old episodes. So I was happy earlier this week when the BBC unveiled the new Dr. Who logo and it didn't suck. The logo isn't mind-blowing, but type is simple and I think the initials forming an icon of the Tardis is kinda clever.

Also they compiled a montage of the 10 logos that branded the show during the past 46 years.

Outrage over Tween Dora

Mattel and Nickelodeon have attempted to update the look of Dora the Explorer, a staple for the preschool and elementary school crowd. The new Dora is targeted for the tween market, recreating her as a 10-year-old girl. The preliminary sketches were released to overwhelming outrage from parents. Lylah Alphonse at Boston.com made a good point about it being okay for kids to "graduate" to new toys and interests.

Outside of the outrage, I don't think the tween Dora looks all sexy and slutty like the media is painting her. She doesn't look like a Bratz girl, that's for sure. Opinions?

Its OK, you can "Trust Me"

[Because nothing says advertising professional like yelling and untucked shirts.]

TNT just launched their new drama Trust Me about two buddies, an art director and a copywriter in a prestigious Chicago ad firm, who value their friendship and a good tagline. I can't say the first episode was Emmy award-winning but for anyone who works in the business of selling, there are certainly moments that ring true -- right down to the bookshelf covered with vinyl advertising spokes-characters.

As someone who has watched too many police procedurals, crime-fighters and lawyer shows, a peek into a Hollywood-ized version of the ad world is pretty darned entertaining. C'mon people! The main characters are an AD and a writer! I finally know how real CSIs feel when they see DNA analysis done in a commercial break (That never happens in real life!). If you're on a photo shoot, you're on a photo shoot; you don't get to blow it off and hang out by the hotel pool in the middle of the day!!! So its worth watching, if only to nitpick the details.

The occasional shot of the Chicago skyline is nice too.

Cartoon Network Rebrand

While catching up on my cartoon intake this weekend, I noticed that Cartoon Network rolled out eye-catching and smart interstitials and network bumps. Capacity, a design studio out of California, turns out to the be the creative force behind the new branding. Capacity partnered with Kidrobot to create cute, blank figures called Noods which then take on the colors, personalities and characteristics of various Cartoon Network stars. Check out their homepage for a great montage of all the branded bits.

Hey, KC People! Watch Helvetica on KCPT

Just thought I'd let everyone in the Kansas City area know, KCPT will be airing the film Helvetica on the Independent Lens series on Tuesday, Jan 6 at 10PM. It will also be simulcast on the HD channel. Set your DVR now!

Typecasting with Mark Simonson

With just a little less than a week left on my turn in the lettering department at work, my onslaught of all things typography will probably ebb a bit and more illustration, photography and design will surface again. I have to get a couple more posts up before then though.


[In Ed Wood the font Chicago is set in 3D letters on a sign!]

Mark Simonson published a series of typographic anachronisms, Typecasting: The Use and (Mis)Use of Period Typography in Movies. It is filled with the kind of typographic minutia only a designer could love. He includes stills from the films and a rating system for the level of attention paid to typographic detail. The post was so popular, he has created a follow-up, Son of Typecasting, where he goes into detail about the good (and bad) use of type in film and television. What fun!

TV: Hustle

In keeping with yesterday's title sequences, this ismy favorite TV credits sequence from last year:

TV: Chuck

My absolute favorite opening credit sequence this season: