Cafe Zoetrope

Recently I was riding on a Muni bus marveling at the incredible beauty that lives in every corner of San Francisco and I was thinking that I should have a nice point and shoot camera like a Leica M8 (sliver please) to capture these visual opportunities as they present themselves every 5 seconds in SF. I don't have a Leica, but I do have an iPhone4 and I took a picture of Cafe Zoetrope as we paused for 5 seconds at a stoplight. The interior lights of the bus created these great diagonals that made the shot so graphically interesting. No special effects or Photoshop. Just Apple.

Getting Ugly

Just a few preliminary looks at a Coyote Ugly whiskey label I have currently underway. Fun brand so, it should be a fairly edgy, fun label. Cheers

Once in a great while, you see something that actually kicks your heart into high gear and you get excited about what you do and why you do it - it's like falling in love all over again and I really love this.

At a time when we have an entire generation of brilliant, creative, intelligent post graduates sleeping in their parents basement because of a dismal job market and lack of opportunities, comes a group of young upstarts with a fresh idea. Freakers.

What is Freakers? It's basically a new approach to to a beer cozy and they are raising money on Kickstarter to get the whole thing rolling. Is this something that needed to be rethought? Is this a product I really need? Can't tell you and I don't care. All I know is that this is something that is cleverly promoted by a group in North Carolina and with their kooky ex-coffee barista pitchman, Zack (think of a scruffy Willy Wonka on a Jolt cola and Vente latte high...) delivers with an irreverence that perfectly matches the product and the desired demographic they are speaking to. It's all there.

Was the birth of this the result of some large agency on Madison avenue and a giant bag of money? No, this was simply a creative collective that wanted to start something unique, different and not expected. By utilizing everything within reach: humor, music, great design, a hard work ethic, a "give back" cause mentality, beautifully shot videos, charisma, social networking and a little bit of voodoo, they are creating a tribal following to a product that has yet to even hit the market. If these guys can make a sock with the end cut off desirable and cool, it makes one ponder with regards to what would happen if other companies started telling stories that actually made you pay attention and care. Old Navy? VW? Sony Playstation? Coke? Travelocity? Farmers Insurance? The results are fantastic and I wish them the best of luck.

Old Tyme Typography

Hey Kids! Gather round the fireplace and I'll tell you a story... In a past not too long ago before computers, Typography (with a capital "T") was actually hand crafted by artisans that created a exciting, living, breathing communication that leapt off of the page. Stamps, bank documents, deeds, stock certificates, packaging and advertising were all adorned with beautifully constructed typographical works of art that made that particular document special and something of importance. You dig? Be prepared to be amazed here!