Yesterday we celebrated Jenna's dad's birthday by sending him off on his bike to parks all over town. I made the logo up there to adorn his shirt, and the sheets that each of us handed him at each park to tell him what to do and where to go. Amazingly the rain held off until the end. Good day.

Tomorrow is another event I did some design work for, the Jane Bond disc golf tournament (aka the best party of the year). There's something I hope we get good weather for. If the weather works out real good I'll be heading up there and camping out tonight. Can't wait!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other day I received an invitation to join this facebook group, protesting the new UW logo. I was expecting to click on it and see crap. What I saw was something I actually kind of liked. The other thing I saw was thousands of people up in arms about change.

A quick search for a group supporting the change has yeilded nothing, but, thankfully, one of my favourite blogs has posted some great insight on the matter. This paragraph in particular really summed up what I was thinking about it wayyy better than I ever could have:

"The main complaint throughout is that the new logo is not dignified enough and it does not represent the school. But somehow, a crest, like thousands of other crests — who the majority of people don’t know what they stand for anyway — does. Unfortunately this is antiquated thinking. Universities can not get by with traditional crests in today’s über branded environment and, if you look around, most large universities operate with a “marketing” logo and use a traditional seal for boring things like diplomas or the back covers of their catalogues."

And while he does admit that there are some problems with the logo, he also says this:

"But, in application this logo and its extended identity could be very interesting. However, this post and the controversy around it doesn’t have as much to do with whether the logo is good or bad — it’s neither really — but the propensity of students and faculty to cry foul with any change that has been carried out thoroughly by a range of committees. If they respect their university and its values they need to trust their leadership. Not whine about how 12-year-olds could do a better logo. Because they can’t.

Dear Waterloo-people-in-charge: Stick to your plan. Don’t succumb."

Straight up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a cross merchandising idea for the TCRG: Rise n' Shiner coffee from the Minnesota Roller Girls. Real nice package design there. Makes me really want that coffee!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really hate how much shipping can be. I'd love to buy this print, but the shipping cost is only $1 less than the print itself (actually, you even get two for that price, which is really good for Obey stuff...).

For that matter, this poster, which I would also LOVE to have, combined with shipping puts the price high enough that I just straight up decided not to buy it. So sad.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess that's it for now. Lots of stuff to do. New windows are supposed to go in tomorrow (sadly while I am away, so Jenna has to deal with it), and I've got a bunch of stuff to get ready for that before I leave (whenever that is...)

I believe I've said it before, but I have to say it again, you really should check out the Studio On Fire blog Beast Pieces. They're consistently doing super nice letterpress pieces and sharing them with the world.

Here're two I've been keeping unread in my reader to share with you:
Birds of Sadness poster
Shine flashlight (yet more self promotion that I'm loving...)

And an example of how they're just straight up bad-ass: Vintage beer can wall. The image above comes from this one. That would pretty overwhelming to stand in front of, I think.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So it's been awhile since I've posted. Not much time to relax and compile stuff lately, lots of other things to do...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This one's from a little while back on Deputy Dog: weird church ceiling. Seriously, why would someone do that?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does anybody want to give me $6000(us) so I can buy this? I've been thinking for awhile that at some point I'll want to move up to the MacBook Pro, but the problem is, none of them are black. Good thing these people solved that problem! Matte black, soft touch, limited edition of 10. Ridiculous. Amazing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amazing promotional material for a library. Seriously. Nice stuff. (via draplin)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This clock clock looks pretty amazing. Gonna have to look into how it works a little more, 'cause that second picture just looks nuts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may or may not know that I'm a fan of vintage office supplies, particularly staplers. As a result, this Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies particularly appealed to me. Going to have to keep an eye on this one for gems like this colour wheel, and this lead pointer and lead cleaner. Nice stuff.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watched the movie of the 2003 edition of the Gumball 3000 last night. Envious of those cross country racers, for sure. I kept thinking, there's gotta be people who do this in regular cars and close to the speed limit, don't there? The $44,000 entry fee ($120,000 last year because they flew the cars to numerous locations) would clearly be a hindrance too, but still, a guy can dream, can't he? Here's hoping we'll be able to get another road trip in this fall like last fall. Maybe around Michigan?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The best party of the year is almost here. Disc Golf is on the 27th, and I am so looking forward to two days of not thinking about doing any work at all. Stressful times for sure being a new home owner, and having lots of stuff at work (and getting asked last second to design disc golf materials...).

Funny thing about the new house? I was so excited about getting away from the Erb St. construction, and what happens today? They start ripping up our street. Yay.

almost...

Here are some pics I took of the aforementioned carnival. Such a weird thing. Love the tilt a whirl sign though. Love it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This stuff looks crazy. Seriously. That's some time and commitment. Impressed (via Drawn)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I live in a house where multiple clocks are set to the wrong time to trick their owners into doing things on time, so I totally understand the idea behind this clock. Pretty clever. If you think the whole idea is clever. I just think it seriously improves your ability to do math while tired, but, you know, to each their own.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some people's self promotional stuff is so awesome, like this memory set right here. I would love a set of those!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tiger on the front of this book is just too adorable not to share. (not unlike Tony Jr., whom I had to link to here) Apparently I like images of baby tigers. Who knew?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, a little Beartato. While I have to say that Beartato's goals are extremely honourable and respectable, I can't say that I wouldn't share Reginald's.

So things have been wicked busy since my last post. Busy times at work, and lots to do at the house.

I've got some pictures I'd like to share, but I can't find the usb cord for the camera. Burn. At least one of them was taken at the Westvale community carnival tonight. How weird is it when you walk down your suburban street, and up a path to what is usually a large empty lawn, to find that that lawn is filled with a ferris wheel, go-gator, and tilt a whirl? Weird. But awesome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love the way lights photograph in old pictures. The halo/luminescent effect that they get due to the long exposure times is just amazing. This is quite the example, but it's almost too much.

This one's prettier though, and a nice example of how they can embellish an image.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindz posted about wanting to able to see this, and I couldn't agree more. I barely know anything about Banksy, but there are so many impressive things about him, such as the variety of his output, and the fact that he's a fairly famous artist, and people still do not know who he is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once this video hits about the mid-way point it goes from pretty great, to pretty awesome. Seriously, check it out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, I'm sure I have about 8 million other things to share in my google reader, but I've also got about 8 million things to do, but first I need to relax and sleep before I can do that. Most of this stuff was in a post I started earlier and finally now I'm posting. So that's it for now, but maybe I'll have something else to say soon. I can't even bother to find a picture to use...

(Okay, one last thing. Layer Tennis is almost up to the final match. The road to it has been awesome. Particularly this match. So awesome.)

Today's the big day. Well, tomorrow's the big day, since I haven't gone to sleep yet. Can't wait to get the keys and get in there. Lots of things to do. Paint colours to choose. Appliances large and small to buy. Things to learn. Can't wait.

Pictures to come for sure. Stressed out times to come for sure too...

On to other things for now though...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loving this skateboard. Habitat's always done nice stuff, but putting Charley Harper on a deck? nice work. There's other ones too, check 'em out here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recently I noticed that the building that housed Byma's Tire & Auto in the Bridgeport plaza was being torn down. This got me really worried about the beautiful large Firestone sign that has sat on the outskirts of the parking lot on Bridgeport for as long as I can remember.

Turns out my worries were warranted. Before I even got out to take some photographs to document its existence, the sign has been removed. What a shame. I just looked up Byma's online and it turns out they have simply moved, not folded, so now my only hope is that the sign is moving with them to their new home. I've emailed them to find out if that is the case. Failing that, maybe they can tell me where it has gone so I can go take pictures of it.

This is just one of those things that makes me sad. It's just a damn shame to see the nice things go, while crap keeps going up. Draplin sums this kind of thing all up very nicely here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's some real gorgeous business cards. Not surpisingly made by Studio on Fire, and not surprising made for Space 150.

Amazingly, Space 150 completely redesigns their design identity every 150 days. Completely. Like, letterheads, everything. Every 150 days. That's huge. Major commitment there. Just imagine the expenditure even...

Check out more of the stuff Studio on Fire has done for them here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In movie watching news. DO NOT watch S. Darko. Terrible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel like I had more to say, but I guess not. Too many other things to think about I think.

Loving that image above. I bet the pass the national parks are using right now has nothing on this one. (via Canadian Design Resource)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Friday night, I was riding my bike home down Erb St., and I swear I saw a deer. It was the craziest thing. It came down Roslin from the direction of the rec centre, ran across Erb, and continued on Roslin. Weird. I wish I had thought to take a pic with my phone, but instead I text messaged myself to remember, and for proof. I wonder if anyone else saw it?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an amazing chest of drawers. Great idea, and it looks really well executed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Man Single-handedly Starts Dance Party" It's pretty hilariously amazing just how far this dance party goes. Seriously. (Headline stolen from my lj friend Jen)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Jr. is so cute! I love old cereal packaging design, and this is no exception.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been doing a lot of downloading and movie watching lately. 2 of those movies were The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. Not like I hadn't seen them before, and not like I didn't already know this, but young Diane Lane, who appears in both of them, was really cute. Not to say she isn't still attractive, but damn.

Just finished that poster above earlier tonight. Not sure if it's printing as is, but I felt like sharing. Definitely a show to look forward to as well. I've been itching to see Angus and Brad's new project and Ace Kinkaid is always enjoyable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back on my very Canadian day, when I was at the NFB I was looking around, really hoping they'd have a shirt with the classic NFB logo on it. They didn't then, but it turns out that now they do! Wish it wasn't on white, but I might need one...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bunny garbage bin. Cute.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of cute, at work today I was looking up stuff on upcoming movies and found Paper Heart. SO CUTE. Seriously. There's some other stuff I'm looking forward to coming up (Brothers Bloom, 500 Days of Summer [could be crap, but Zooey Deschanel is a big draw for me. Actually Joey Gordon Levitt is a pretty good draw too...], and of course Away We Go [though Jenna says I just am excited for this because I think John Krasinski looks like me in it]), but none of those trailers have made me smile nearly as much as this one did. Adorable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have come to realize that sometimes the images on the front are old patterns are amazing. This is one of those cases. I have an even better one saved up for potential future use that maybe you'll get to see. Mini Magnum is all I have to say...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I never knew that they made Chuck mids, but now I really want a pair. Nice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sadly pretty excited to buy my Miracle Whip in this new packaging. Really hope that this part of the write up about it becomes more and more true as time goes by: "Apparently all the thrift shopping of vintage stuff by the 18- and 34-year-olds has finally paid off and that oldish look can feel new again." Seriously, all a company really needs to do is just reintroduce their classic packaging and will be so looking forward to buying it. Sad but true.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big things to come next Friday. Can't wait.