Archive Fever

"The web used to look like a phone book. Now much of it looks like a design portfolio. In fact, it..."

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:30:00 +0000

“The web used to look like a phone book. Now much of it looks like a design portfolio. In fact, it looks like the design portfolio of 20 well-known designers, whose style gets copied again and again by young designers who consider themselves disciples. Distinctions between graphic design and communication design are lost on these designers. As is the distinction between true style, which evolves from the nature of the project, and derivative pastiche, which is grafted onto many projects like a third arm.”

- Style versus design

Some oldish but still important and relevant thoughts on web design from J. Zeldman

Unholy row over New Zealand Mary and Joseph billboard

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:41:19 +0000

Unholy row over New Zealand Mary and Joseph billboard

mellow but highly enjoyable piece of instrumental music for hipsters of various subcultures

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:26:00 +0000

“After several years under the more cumbersome brand name the Watery Graves of Portland, this trio fusing post-rock and cool piano jazz shortened their handle to the Watery Graves and left the namecheck of their hometown to the album title. Led by pianist Curtis Knapp, the Watery Graves are the midpoint between the forbidding chamber pop artsiness of the Rachels and the playful modern jazz of EST: there are a handful of moody, son of the son of Erik Satie solos here, such as “What You Thought Was the World,” but the rhythm section of bassist Davis Lee Hooker and drummer Adrian Orange know how to swing and/or groove as the occasion demands, and melody is rarely far from Knapp’s immediately accessible soloing style. It’s hard to get away from the sense that the Watery Graves are indie kids playing at their own approximation of modern jazz more than they are anything close to the real thing, but questions of “authenticity” miss the point: Portland is a mellow but highly enjoyable piece of instrumental music for hipsters of various subcultures.”

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/portland/id264141716

WHAAAAAA? 4 feet wide? Skate and Annoy » Archive » So...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:22:01 +0000

WHAAAAAA? 4 feet wide?

Skate and Annoy » Archive » So close, and yet so far

Awww.David Bowie’s letter to Sandra Adams, 1967 Via...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:44:25 +0000

Awww.
David Bowie’s letter to Sandra Adams, 1967

Via @zeldman

When Bros Sign off their Emails with "Cheers"

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:54:58 +0000

badspelling:

thepublics:

natashavc:

This is something men in their twenties do and it reminds of the cuntish 5th grader who would say ‘present’ instead ‘here’ during roll call. Like, knock it the fuck off and say ‘best’, ‘thanks’ or ‘<3’ like an adult.

Uniquely,

Natasha

While I have my own reservations regarding the use of “cheers”, I believe it to be the best depersonalized sign-off option available as it is the least sincere. Generalized sign-offs are inherently detached, so the more sincere you try to present yourself the more aloof you become. The least emotional option is best in this situation - “sincerely” can be interpreted as “insincerely” because most of the time, it is, and the same goes for “best”. “Best” can mean “fuck you”, but cheers more often than not will mean nothing at all. Cheers is flexible. It’s “fuckin eh” and “no doubt” and “for real” and “Ciao” and “TTYL” all rolled into one pint-clanking colloquial non-entity.

Dear all,

I use “cheers” because I am British and there it has come to mean “thank you”. That is all.

cheers,

me