Clarity
Worst Crime Thing
Posted 31 Jul 2008
Daily Life, Places, Signs | 7 Comments
As you may have been able to tell from my earlier post on graffiti , it has been on my mind and I’ve seen a lot, but this piece seemed especially interesting. I found this piece of graffiti in Pittsburgh and I couldn’t help but think about the kid writing it.
To me it says, "You call me a ‘bad kid’. You tell me this is the ‘worst crime thing’. But look around, we’re in the midst of terrible violence and crimes of man destroying man, is my graffiti enough to make me a ‘bad kid’?"
I was impressed as well with the location; I’m not entirely sure how the artist / vandal got up there to paint this highway support beam about 60 feet above the ground.
Graffiti Soul
Posted 30 Jul 2008
Commuting, Daily Life, People, Places, Signs | 2 Comments
I can’t really imagine what it would be like to not have graffiti around Chicago. You take away a city’s graffiti and it’s as if you’ve taken away an expression of soul of the people.
Graffiti is uncontrollable and unpredictable. It can be crass and ugly or, at times, poetic and impressive.
Strange as it might seem, I think I’d like the great city of Chicago less, if it wasn’t adorned with the graffiti of the people who live here.
I think this applies to graffiti in every major city, like the urban poetry I mentioned in this previous post. Ok, I admit it; it is strange that I am attached to criminally defaced property. It’s not that I really think we should encourage graffiti (after all, someone owns the property being defaced), but I do think I’d miss it if it was gone.
*Note: the picture used in this post is actually Pittsburgh graffiti. It was included for effect. And because I haven’t been in Chicago for a while; I’ve been in Pittsburgh.
Freedom or the Strip
Posted 29 Jul 2008
I saw these street signs in Pittsburgh the other day. They reminded me of Patrick Henry’s famous quote, "Give me liberty or give me death." I wonder if he went through any iterations before he came up with the final and famous version …
… give me cheese or give me crackers …
… give me liberty or give me a pocket-watch …
… give me a liberty or, at least give me a reduction on my taxes …
… give me liberty or give me the Strip District …
New keyboard function button
Posted 28 Jul 2008
Daily Life, The Little Things | 2 Comments
When I prepared the notice last week about our server upgrades , I didn’t expect that anyone would comment on it. But, that’s the beauty of blogging – someone did, in a rather insightful way. Mark’s comment got me thinking: what function button would I like to see added to my keyboard? What task or work duty do I loathe the most, such that I would love to have it all completed at the stroke of a single button?
For the answer was immediate: drafting of pitch proposals. No hesitation or second thoughts about it. As a communications designer, the process pitch process is the most cumbersome. If I could just tap a key and have it done, I would be a much happier fellow.
So, what would your new keyboard function key be?
Get to the Point!
Posted 25 Jul 2008
Places, Signs, The Little Things | 2 Comments
In Pittsburgh, where the Monongahela River and Allegheny River meet to form the Ohio River, there is a piece of land that is called "The Point". There’s a nice park and fountain out at the Point, but with rennovative construction going on, one has to find one’s way around numerous fences and obstructions to make it to the Point.
I’d like to salute the clever individual who decided to use these signs to direct pedestrians around the construction. Taken in context, this is one of the best signs I have seen lately. Clever usage of a common phrase to (1) get you where you are trying to go and (2) provide you with some insight on life.
