As a result of all the hullabaloo after the demise of Polaroid instant cameras and films last year, Polaroid has agreed to re-launch the legendary Polaroid One Step Camera and produce a limited edition of Polaroid branded Instant Films in 2010.
All praise analog technology!!
[via Polapremium. Thanks, Maura!]
[Image from Nelson-Atkins.org]
There is currently an opening for a full-time Graphic Designer at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO. Main tasks include creating and maintaining Museum and exhibition-related publications, as well as managing the brand, freelance talent and working directly with vendors. Applicants need a BFA, 5+ years of experience in the field and be adept with digital tools (Mac OS X, Adobe Suite, Microsoft Word). Bonus points for Flash and web design experience. "Photography skills a plus."
Download PDF for more information.
In an 8-page tome, the New York Times detailed the excesses of one of America's most famous photographer's, Annie Leibovitz. With homes, studios, and $800 plane rides for a custom journals, it seems clear that the lifestyle of the rich and famous she photographed had infiltrated her own life, much to her detriment. Her debts are totally over $24 million!
Can she get out of this financial hole? According to the article, without help from Conde Nast or Getty Images, she may go bankrupt.
The Hugo Awards, the prestigious science fiction award given annually since 1955 by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), held a contest to redesign the logo and award for 2009. There were 390 entries from 215 different entrants from 24 different countries. The winning entry was created by Jeremy Kratz of Arkansas. The logo was used to create this year's trophy and distributed to the winners last night including my personal favorite, Neil Gaiman who received the award for best novel.
Congrats to both Jeremy for the logo and Neil (and all the other nominees and winners) for continuing to inspire us with stories full of imagination!
[Image by David Klein. Link via Grain Edit]
Sorry for the recent absence. As always happens when I plan to go on holiday, I get swamped at work and have to double-time it, so my extracurricular activities have had to take a backseat over the past couple of weeks. That said, it seems fitting to post a few holiday-related posts in honor of the end-of-summer travels. Hope you enjoy them and I'll be back soon!
[Image from Engadget]
For all those relentlessly tied to their digital camera, cell phone camera or web-cam, it can come as no surprise that just as Polaroid killed their instant film line, Kodak would inevitably start to pare down its film offerings as fewer and fewer people use it. Even loyal film users had been lured away from Kodachrome by E100SW and E100VS which was faster and easier to process.
[© Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula, Afghan Girl, at Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, 1984.]
Steve McCurry, whose picture of a young Afghan girl captured the hearts of millions of people around the world as she peered hauntingly from the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985, offered these words:[Quote from Kodak's A Thousand Words]
"The early part of my career was dominated by KODACHROME, and I reached for that film to shoot some of my most memorable images," said McCurry. "While KODACHROME Film was very good to me, I have since moved on to other films and digital to create my images. In fact, when I returned to shoot the 'Afghan Girl' 17 years later, I used Kodak's E100VS film to create that image, rather than KODACHROME Film as with the original."
Yesterday, Hallmark Cards, Inc. announced an 8% reduction in its American workforce. This number works out to be about 750 people across its distribution, manufacturing and corporate headquarters. As one of the largest employers of creative talent, and my direct source of income, I will continue to report on this as information is made available. Fingers crossed, people.
Google is featuring an Eric Carle-stylized version of their logo today in honor of the 40th anniversary of the publication of his The Very Hungry Caterpillar. For some other interesting facts about Eric Carle, check out the Book Patrol.
[Image from NPR. Credit: Mannie Garcia/ Shepard Fairey]
Thanks to Michael Surtees over at Design Notes for pulling together a comprehensive list of news and information regarding the on-going legal battle between Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press for his use of an AP photo in creating his legendary poster of Barack Obama.
(Seems we're not the only ones who can't stop talking about Obama. Just teasing you, Michael!)
Hey, all you art school students out there!
Hallmark offers PAID summer internships. It sounds like one of the best internships out there and I speak from a place of authority as my internship consisted of grunt work and subservience.
To apply, you need to get your application in by March 16, 2009. This .pdf file will give you more information or you can go directly to Hallmark's Creative Careers site to apply. For more information about Hallmark and the Kansas City area, check out the Cre-a-tiv-i-ty blog.
[These are examples that show the theoretical original intent of Polyvore but the top example includes text from a rubber stamp sold on a stationery site and the photo of the model on the bottom example was pulled from a model directory site. I'm sure the model and/or the photographer had not intended the photo to be used for an uncredited fashion collage.]
Its come to our attention that the site Polyvore has started to infringe on many artists', photographers' and illustrators' rights. The site was originally designed to allow users to access the online photo editing software to build fashion- or home decor-based collages to create "trend boards." When I initially test drove the software, it was pulling images pretty exclusively from retail web sites like Gap, J.Crew and the like who, according to Polyvore spokespeople provide financial kickbacks for sales generated through these links.
Many of the images are now being pulled from personal Flickr pages via Flickr Hive Mind which does not actually link back to the original artist or photographer (Here's a link to any Polyvore collage with the keyword Flickr in it -- that's a lot of images! ). In other words, people are using artwork without permission and without any notification of use or any image credit. Even Polyvore's original intent seems to break an endless stream or permissions and copyright laws especially as Etsy sellers, small boutiques and other vendors are unknowingly providing images to the Polyvore users.
A petition has been started to shut down Polyvore. If this is an issue that's important to you, please sign it!
In the meantime, if you maintain a Flickr account, double check your settings to make sure your images are listed as "All Rights Reserved". Then go over to Hive Mind and at the bottom of the page you can authenticate your account and then banish yourself so your images will not be available to Hive Mind or Polyvore. While you're at it, send an angry email to Flickr/Yahoo and tell them how angry you are about Polyvore and maybe they'll send in the big gun lawyers if enough people threaten to not renew their accounts.
[This is a prime example of uncredited image use from Polyvore, the pink haired Blythe doll in the corner was pulled from Flickr via Flickr Hive Mind so the photographer received no credit nor is there any way for her/him to track down its use on Polyvore unless s/he happened to stumble across it like I did. The balloons were swiped from a company's site that actually sells latex balloons so I'm sure they hadn't intended their images to be used in someone's collage! Other images were pulled from the graphics directories of other web sites and Photobucket.]
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!
Günter Gerhard Lange, artistic director for Berthold, passed away on December 2, 2008 at the age of 87. Though not widely known in the US, his contributions to the font world cannot be overlooked.
Lange started his career at a young age and trained with Georg Belwe and then spent a half a century at Berthold where he created notable faces like El Greco BQ, Berthold Garamond, Imago BQ, Berthold Walbaum and Berthold Script to name a few. In 1989 her received the Frederic W. Goudy award at R.I.T. for his achievements and in 2000 he received the TDC Medal for his lifetime contributions.
[More info is available on FontFeed which is also where I snagged the photo (please don't be mad, FontFeeders!)]
In honor of Black Friday weekend, from now until November 28th, the HOW bookstore is offering 50% off all full-price books. Sale is good for their entire stock and on any size order. Include coupon code BLACKFRIDAY when ordering to receive savings at checkout.
I promised a picture of Kirsten and Jesse at the wedding, so here it is. Since Kirsten is still in Spain on her honeymoon, her brother came to my rescue (as a bridesmaid, there was nowhere in my dress to hide a camera so I didn't get any photos myself). Hopefully, we can share a few more images of the happy couple and all her friends (and hopefully Pica + Pixel fans) when she returns.
Just an FYI for all our faithful readers, Kirsten and I are packing up and heading to the wilds of Connecticut for her impending nuptials. There will be much laughing and drinking and carousing and almost no talk of design... except maybe "Who made that gorgeous dress?"
I'll be back on job, posting about design-y stuff next week whil Kirsten is enjoying her honeymoon. I promise at least one picture of the fesitivities when I return. In the meantime, have a great week!
[Image from Zoom Images via Flickr]
After a week away, our in-boxes are full and are RSS readers are backed up into the thousands but we're getting caught up and new posts will be coming fast and furious. Hope everyone had a nice week!
[Photo from Anoddeel on Flickr]
We've made it a whole year! We've posted more than 600 posts, had thousands of visitors and dozens of great comments from our readers. Thanks to all our readers for making this a great year!
In honor of the one-year anniversary of Pica + Pixel as a blog entity AND the fact that Kirsten and I are going to see each other in Chicago this week for her bridal shower, we are going to take a wee blog vacation. Have a good week! We'll be back on Monday.
[One panel from the Panda Panda strip featured on Earthquake Strips]
Earthquake Strips is a series of funny, touching comic strips illustrated by Coco Wang about victims, volunteers and rescuers of the May 12th earthquake in China. Check back daily for new stories.
