The Spaces Inbetween

'Spock'



















'The Big Squeeze'















'Gun Crime Illustration'

I almost feel tempted to put on some DMB for this post, however I am really feeling the playlist based off of Duncan Sheik's 'Barely Breathing.' The gods at Apple have once more fully satisfied me with the Genius feature on iTunes. If you don't have it on your iTunes, I implore you, pleeeeeease go on and set it up now. GET TO DA CHOPPA!

Anyway, the other night I had a few moments to myself and I started Stumbling. (I know, I know I just ranted about it, but I really do love StumbleUpon. So 3 hours later, I was left looking at this amazing vector artist who uses negative space to paint a picture within a picture. It was the perfect marriage of literature and design, the ex-English major and current DM major in me felt fully satisfied at this union.

Norma Bar creates minimalist drawings that pack a maximus punch. Hidden with in his drawings are other drawings which tell a different story all together. I believe his work is very important to other designers to look at because it helps them to see that less is not more. It also teaches the lesson that as a designer and a consumer one must always look below the surface and see what else is available or what else you can show your audience. By making his pictures vectorized, Bar gives his drawings a unique aesthetic and also allows for them to be shrunk down and blown up without loosing any of their character.

ABC easy as 123 or simple as Do Re Mi

So I have to create an ABC list website for my Web 2 class. (Hi Jocelyn since I know you are reading this.) I ran through various ideas back and forth and could not settle on anything I was happy with. Until I had a huge explosion in my brain. I don't know if I finally drank enough coffee and the synapses fired or there was some internal combustion but whatever happened I had a brilliant idea. I always loved the Air Toons website (www.airtoons.com) and I've always enjoyed reading things on the Internet that were people's attempt to say what to do in the case of - oh say a zombie attack - or whatever else was on their minds that day.

And I thought to myself: "Self (cause thats how I refer to me) why don't you create this ridiculous list of things do "In Case of an Emergency:" It could be for any emergency at anytime. And you can illustrate it using the air plane safety instruction manual as your muse. Because you know, the illustrations will be simple and affective and you know you found that tutorial thanks to StumbleUpon this summer, so even if you have some issues with the illustrations you know that you can refer back to that. And you also know you live with two people who are very willing to offer their services and can act as props when you take pictures and they'll just laugh at the stuff you came up with and it will be very self satisfying and oh look there goes a giant playdoh rabbit hopping down the street ... lets go chase after it."

Sorry I go off in tangents, especially in my head. But you know what I mean. You get what I'm saying. So there's my list. Here's my inspiration. Call me childish but I had to post this one cause it had the word penis on it. Or maybe its some kind of Freudian signal.

And for you others out there in the vast, amusing, sometimes terrifying land that is the interwebs: Airplane Safety Instructions Tutorial , the tutorial, brought to you by Blog Spoon Graphics. Its one of my favorite sites. And I discovered it via Twitter. How about that?

Ode to the Interwebs

Dear Internet,

Thank you so much for all that you do for me. When I need to find information quickly you are there. When I need to find some kind of image you are there for me. When I need to listen to some music after getting a song stuck in my head you are there for me. When I feel the need to remind myself just how old I am (and how much it freaks me out that I am friends with people born in the 1990s) I can reminisce the 90s and my childhood with you. When I need to burn my eyes out with bleach to get rid of the things that can't be unseen you are there for me.

You have brought me things such as 2 girls 1 cup, The Ultimate Showdown, Phillip DeFranco, The Kitty Kat Dance, Harry Potter Puppet Pals, Lol Cats, Bluhd, countless versions of people getting pwnd whether it be by nut shots, head shots or roommate pranks (The Bird in the Cereal Box and ensuing pranks are definitely epic wins). You have brought me so many videos of cute babies ... Evil Eye Baby, Laughing Baby, Baby's First Laugh. You have brought me "unforgivable," "scarlett takes a tumble" and thousands of Chuck Norris jokes. You have brought me the Helen Keller Simulator.

You Internet - you have made me feel like a horrible person for the stuff I have laughed at. You have entertained me. You have made me cry. You have kept me up all night because I just couldnt stop stumbling. You have made go on countless of related posts and related video trails. i have lost myself for hours on Wikipedia, College Humor, YouTube and Facebook. YOU HAVE TURNED ME INTO A STALKER. I don't want to know how drunk so and so got last night and what they did. Or maybe I do, because it means I can procrastinate doing homework for 5 more minutes.

So fuck you Internet. Fuck you through all your chat rooms and videos and social networking sites. Go Tweet this to your celebrity friends. Or retweet this, because I'm gonna tweet it first. And then I'm gonna actually do the blog posts that I have to do for class and maybe blog some more. Because that is my new internet addiction.

Hi, my name is Lacey. I am an Interholic. I am also a caffieneaholic, workaholic and alcoholic.

Just kidding Interwebs, you know I love you.

Get down with your dirty self

I love advertising, absolutely positively love it. It was my first love and I always like looking up random ads and see what people are doing - the more creative the better. While using my favorite time-sucker, Stumble Upon, I found this awesome ad layout.

This advertisement is out of this world. To come up with a concept that allows someone such a hands-on experience is sure to keep the product in the front of the consumer's mind. And this of course is the main objective of advertising.

http://www.changethethought.com/roland-tiangco/

Does the use of scare tactics in advertising work?

We've all watched the "Truth Against Tobacco" ads. From the one that had body parts strewn everywhere, to the people just collapsing outside of the office of a 'Big Tobacco' company, to the one where the guy sings through a mechanical larynx, these ads were thought provoking and sometimes disturbing. They always seemed like they did a decent job at discouraging people, especially kids and teens, away from nicotine but does that kind of advertisement work anymore?

More and more lately, I'm starting to see a trend that involves using graphic images to portray the advertiser's point. The one that hits me the most is The Montana Meth Project.

"The Meth Project is the largest advertiser in Montana, reaching 70-90% of teens three times a week. This is saturation-level advertising.

The research-based messaging campaign—which graphically portrays the ravages of Meth use through television, radio, billboards, and Internet ads—has gained nationwide attention for its uncompromising approach and demonstrated impact. The campaign's core message, "Not Even Once®," speaks directly to the highly addictive nature of Meth."

-Montana Meth Project (www.montanameth.org)

The Meth Project has advertisements in the print, television and radio industries. They combine graphic images with simple sentences that induce the viewer to think about the situation and how it would affect their lives. The advertisers try to come up with scenarios that would be prevalent to teens such as partying, hooking up, putting on makeup with friends and having a boyfriend/girlfriend. I really believe that these advertisements are so effective because they are so blunt about meth and what happens when you use it.

America isn't the only country using blunt advertising. Britain recently came up with a public service announcement that shows the consequences of teens texting while driving. (Not to say that its safe for adults to text and drive either.) This is a really good example of what could happen when you text and drive and I think its a step in the right direction, however my only issue with the video is that it exemplifies a lot of bad habits for driving. The girls are all laughing and talking and looking around, they aren't just driving and texting and I wish that the advertisers would discuss those issues as well.

Check the PSA out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

The Montana Meth Project: www.montanameth.org