Steve Jobs at D

Terrific, if for nothing else, the last 15 seconds.

Memorial Day and Prayer

I watched some pretty powerful stories about our soldiers this Memorial Day. Thinking about the families involved and putting it in their perspective really drives home some powerful thoughts. I noticed how much it seems that those in power say that they are praying for the safety of our soldiers and it reminded me of this quote:

"To say 'prayer changes things' is not as close to the truth as saying 'prayer changes me and I change things.'" - Oswald Chambers

Somehow I don't see a lot of changes, despite all the praying.

Caption contest

Okay, so let's have some fun. Gates and Jobs were seated together at some D4 conference thing-a-ma-bob (I'm sure not as cool as TED).

Anyway, let's write some captions for this photo. Whoever writes the best one will be given…a brand new Zune! There's enough leftover, that we're willing to give some away. So, caption away.

*Zune prize to be awarded if and only if Zune sales exceed iPod sales in the next 3 months.

Rob & Big Rule

I haven't watched much of MTV in a long time. I didn't grow up on MTV (although I should have) and I never really understood what it has tried to do in the past 15 years.

So, I was rather surprised when I happened upon a new show called Rob & Big. Okay, it's not so new any more, but it was for me last night when I watch 3 or 4 straight hours of it. I love it!

Is it weird that it's about two guys living in the same house? Not when you consider Entourage. Is it weird that I cannot figure out how they make enough money to live where they do? Not when you consider Paris Hilton.

In fact, the funny part to me, is that these guys are clearly using the show to pay for things they would like to do, but instead of spending their own money, they spend MTV's, film it, and make it an episode.

I love their friendship and their humor. They come across more genuine than any reality show I've ever seen. Once you accept their situation, you really want to hang out with these guys. And essentially that is what you do with the show.

I love it. Season 2 is on the season pass already.

AI: Season 6, Round of 3

I thought that if I took some time before writing about the Round of 3 results that I would be more rational in my response. As it turns out…I'm not.

Melinda got robbed! I'm not sure if I can believe that America really voted more for Blake than Melinda. Melinda is far more interesting, talented, and likable. I joked that she looked like Arthur's mom, but she is genuine and joyous. She owned any song that she sang.

Blake, on the other hand, is a great imitator. His beat-boxing is momentarily interesting. His style is not very unique if you look at modern urban teens. His voice is good, but not in the same world as Melinda.

I'm not sure if the producers couldn't stand to have a female/female final or a black/black final, but I think they had a hand in it. Just the same as how Sanjaya left right before their baby, "Idol Gives Back", I can't believe that this was a result of America's voting alone.

All that said, and Melinda will have the best career of the bunch. She is destined to sell a ton of records. Jordin has a great career ahead of her as well, especially since she is so young. Blake should fade out with the likes of Rueben or Justin.

But here is the real rub: it all doesn't matter. Being American Idol doesn't mean success like it did when Kelly Clarkson became the first. Now, we know that you can get ousted early and be more successful than the winners (cite: Jennifer Hudson). So, does it really matter who wins tomorrow night? Do we really think it's the last we'll see of who's in second place? The contestants aren't interested in winning anymore.

Proof of this could be seen all season as the contestants were less interested in competing with each other as they were in supporting each other. Every week someone was crying like they were putting down their dog…like they didn't know someone would be voted off. As much as Simon may hate it, the contestants aren't hating each other. I think the major reason why is that winning isn't important to making it big anymore.

So, go ahead, Blake. Win American Idol this week. We'll forget you anyway. We'll be listening to Melinda and Jordin for years to come.

12: Sanjaya Malakar (Brandon Rogers)
11: Sanjaya Malakar (Stephanie Edwards)
10: Phil Stacy (Chris Sligh)
9: Phil Stacy (Gina Glocksen)
8: Phil Stacy (Haley Scarnato)
7: Haley Scarnato (Sanjaya Malakar)
6: Chris Richardson (Phil Stacy)
5: Chris Richardson
4: Jordin Sparks (LaKisha Jones)
3: Blake Lewis (Melinda Doolittle)
2: Blake Lewis
1: Jordin Sparks

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

Optional articles?

Random question for the day: Why do Brits always refer to hospitals without the article 'a' or 'the'?

For example, "Princess Diana was taken to hospital this morning."Should it not be, "Princess Diana was taken to a/the hospital this morning?"

Are there other words where this convention applies in British vernacular as compared to American?

Great Idea…Juuuust a Bit Outside

I love the idea behind Major League Baseball's Pink Bat Day. Players will be using pink bats in a show of support for women with breast cancer. Fans can purchase these bats, and make a donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at the same time.

Besides the big idea of supporting breast cancer awareness/cures, I love the fact that a very macho, masculine sport is willing to look past using pink bats to do something meaningful.

So, what could be so wrong about such a great idea? If you look again at the price of these bats, they are $59.99. Okay, you say. It costs a bunch because they're giving money to charity. Wrong! Only $10 of that goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Yep, only 10 bucks.

I imagine the problem here is that it costs way less for Louisville Slugger to make these bats, but they still charge MLB a bunch to buy them. So, Louisville Slugger has to keep their price high, because if they sell them to MLB for $15, then MLB turns around and say, "Hey, why don't we get them priced like that all the time?"

And MLB could sell them for $30 and give their proceeds to charity, but then customers turn around and say, "Hey how come this pink one is so much cheaper than the real deal in the natural Ash color or Black?"

So, instead of keeping the price point within reach for most people, MLB and Louisville Slugger have kept it out of reach, and thus I think they won't sell too many bats. It already costs way too much to go to a game. There's no way I'm going to spend $60 on a pink bat, when I can't afford the beers and hot dogs to get me through the 9 innings.

When it comes to charity, we all should take a page from the Livestrong notebook and keep the price point within reach. It involves a greater number of people, and keeps awareness high.

If you really want to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation, try their much more economical and meaningful pink rings.

A small reminder of why we need to care about design.

I think, as designers, we have moments where we truly feel good about our profession. We contribute to beauty within our culture. We help product and consumer find each other. We create excitement and fun. At times, we can even feel like we've positively contributed to the world in which we live.

Then we run into something awful and grotesque and disheartening. Something that makes us want to bury our heads in the sand or pull a King Lear. For me, that moment came this past weekend while traveling in my car.

Some may say that there isn't much to be caught up about in this photo. Some might not give the back of this truck a second look. But, for me…on this day…this is what made me frustrated with the world of advertising and design.


The first thing that bothered me was the logo. There are probably worse typographic blunders out there, but this one has a number of things to make my blood boil.

First, the dropped 'J.' Drop caps can be beautiful and eye-catching in editorial design, as it gives your eye a place to start reading an article, and very often it can fit in with the layout of an editorial spread.

This is not an editorial spread. This logo has three words and an abbreviation. I know where to start reading. Your typeface is 400 points tall. I also don't find your "tuck the blue bar behind the letter J" trick all that amazing. It certainly isn't reason enough to offset the 'J' with that much weight.

Now let's attack the problem of letter-spacing. It seems that this company would prefer to be known as "Je a d." This is better known in some circles as jihad…not a term with which you want your company confused.

This logo represents your company. I can only assume you don't care too much about your brand, because you used Microsoft Publisher to create your logo.

Lastly, let's just kill this idea of using a company's logo in the middle of a sentence. It's not a word, it's a mark. If you want to say that this truck is on it's way to another satisfied "jihad" customer, then say it. Don't interrupt the sentence with your huge-ass logo, and leave the poor word 'customer' on it's own, fighting to be seen.

Do you remember those children books that use pictures instead of words, so that kids can feel like they are reading? That's what you're doing here. Your interrupting the sentence with an image. I am driving a car. I can read. Don't insult me.

And there's another thing. Why are you distracting my driving with all of this reading? Are you trying to get me in an accident, so that I need your auto parts?

Oh, the humanity!

So, what about you? Share a moment when all the design world seemed ot fall apart before you.