April | 2008 | Blog Piece

Monthly Archives: April 2008

Bloody Shirts

Does anyone know my blood type so I can get a shirt? (great bloody photos while it loads) rhesus

14. You know keyboard shortcuts that require 4 fingers.

225 MORE Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer

Designed by Harmann Zapf in the mid 1950’s in Germany. Optima is classified as a “Sans-Serif” but it has a slight smelling near thr terminals of easch character giving it a slight serif feel. The italic form is more an oblique then an italic. The capital letters seem based on traditional Roman models, just like many serif faces.

McCain’s Optimum Look

Can a typeface truly represent a presidential candidate? It depends on the typeface and the candidate. John McCain’s printed material relies on Optima, a modernistic sans serif designed by the German type designer Hermann Zapf in 1958 that was popular among book and magazine designers during the 1970s.

“Optima is one of the worst pre-computer typefaces ever designed. It was created to satisfy everybody’s needs. A straightforward, no-nonsense, no-embellishment face, it comes in regular and bold but little character can be found in either weight.

Optima is not inappropriate for use by Senator McCain.” -Seymour Chwast

“The moment of typographic truth will come when Senator McCain picks a vice presidential running mate and two names have to be combined on banners and bumper stickers. By choosing Optima, a rather distinctive typeface, he may have seriously limited his options.

I set the possible names in a bold weight of Optima caps and certain things became clear. HUCKABEE looks awkward in Optima, and ROMNEY is afflicted with the same difficult ‘EY’ combination that has plagued the current vice presidency. Perhaps because Optima is a German typeface, the word SCHWARZENEGGER looks predictably good.

Although it’s German, Optima took its inspiration from Quattrocento inscriptional lettering in the cathedrals of Florence and Siena, which may explain why GIULIANI looks so simpatico. In the end, however, my research suggests that the optimal running mate — so long as you don’t have to typeset her first name — is RICE.” Matthew Carter

Proof i actually ran

Anyone who doesnt believe I actually ran a 5k

Weekend in the Windy City

Dawn and I flew out to Chicago on friday. Here is what we did:
Friday: arrival | Taxi to Hotel | taxi/train to downtown | ate at Millers pub, had a “hellovaburger” | wandered to Millennium park | played with cameras and saw Lake Michigan | took the redline train to Sox 35th ave | Bought a White Sox hat and chatted with salesman about baseball | took photos in and around the stadium (link coming soon) | enjoyed a Chicago style Hot dog | dodged the rain by luckily buying seats just underneath the overhang | laughed at the D-Train when he fell | headed home for the night | felt bad we laughed at D-Train after seeing he hurt himself on sportscenter

Saturday: Taxi to train/argued with cabbie about museums me:”Where are the good museums at?” cabbie:”soldier field” me:”isn’t that where the bears play?” cabbie:”no they play at Wrigley Field” me:”no thats where the Cubs play… so, Which museum do you recommend?” cabbie:”soldier field” | taxi/train Runners edge to pick up our “Race to Wrigley” shirt and stuffs | took taxi/train to Threadless | bought 3 new shirts including the in-store exclusive shirt | traveled to the loop for Pizano’s Pizza had a deep dish veggie and tomato garlic bread | Went to the Field Museum by soldier field (apparently cabbie wasn’t screwing with me) saw Evolution (“how to become a fossil. step one, die”-actual museum quote) and Egypt | walked through Millennium park to N Michigan Ave for the Magnificent Mile | shopping/Banana mocha latte and chocolates/Lego store/Niketown/more walking | eventually dinner at Berghoff | train/bus home

Sunday: 530 wake up | 600 pick up came 20 min late and tried bringing us to the wrong place | took orange train to red train to addison stop for the “Race to Wrigley” 5K | dropped of our coats at the gear check | got safety pins for our numbers | lost Dawn | found Dawn | National anthem | Start race | walk to starting line | start running | weaving in and out of people | finish the first 3 miles and entered the last bit through the Wrigley stadium concourse, this really ruined any sort of record time for me in that I’m slowing down to look around the place | exit stadium and FINISH | clock reads 33 min, but based on the time it took from start to us actually moving I’m saying it took us 30 min | got water, banana and gatorade | went shopping for cubs stuff | Dawn got a soriano jersey, I got an cubs logo shirt and a shot glass | heading back to hotel for shower and packing | Giordano’s for lunch | zucchini stick and stuffed Veggie deep dish | airport/crossword puzzles/waiting for long time | Home.