Time Lapse from our recent trip to Chicago

Chicago 2009 - Time Lapse from Jeremy Mitchell on Vimeo.

Don't Fire Jenny Slate website

Saturday Night Live - New comer, Jenny Slate, slipped up and said something she wasn’t supposed to say on live television on her SNL debut. I took it upon myself to create DontFireJennySlate.com to try and help her keep her job. The site was an online petition for people that wanted to support Jenny Slate to participate and share their opinion. The site had a little over 1,500 unique visitors in less than 36 hours! And was mentioned by Comedy Central on their website.

BIG Thank you

As most of you may already know… I quit my job on Monday and came home to continue / pursue working for myself. I opened up my very own web company. After spending a little over four years working for large and small agencies, I decided it was time. It’s been an awesome week! I think I’m really going to love being my own boss.

Thank you to all of you who supported my decision even before the final decision was made. And thank you to all of those who are supporting me now by your prayers, your thoughts, your overwhelming love, and (your referrals—LOL).

I am amazed by the power of prayer and what God can do with the deepest desires of your heart. All this week, I have received so many phone calls, iChats, and emails from friends, family, and former co-workers giving me tons of love and support. THANK YOU so much everybody.

Continue to keep Kathy and me in your thoughts and prayers.

Much Love,

Jeremy

20 Famous Skyscrapers Reproduced in Lego

I’ve been a fan of Legos since I was a kid. Even as an “adult”, I am still amazed by what is possible with Legos. If money were no object I would love to be an official Lego Creator.

1. Burj Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Lego Burj Dubai height: 18 feet (more info here)
Burj Dubai height: 2,684 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Tot Lug

2. Space Needle, Seattle, USA

Lego Space Needle height: 7 feet (more info here)
Space Needle height: 605 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Wunztwice and TracyO

3. Burj Al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Lego Burj Al Arab height: 3 feet (more info here)
Burj Al Arab height: 1,053 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Jared

4. Freedom Tower, New York, USA

Lego Freedom Tower height: 28 feet (more info here)
Freedom Tower height (planned): 1,776 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Toner Mishap

5. Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan

Lego Taipei 101 height: 5 feet 6 inches (more info here)
Taipei 101 height: 1,670 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Daweidranke

6. 30 St Mary Axe (aka The Gherkin), London, England

Lego 30 St Mary Axe height: 14 feet (more info here)
30 St Mary Axe height: 591 feet (more info here)

Thanks to J1A3L5 and Eztd

7. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Lego Petronas Towers height: 5 feet (more info here)
Petronas Towers height: 1,483 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Arthur Gugick

8. Sears Tower, Chicago, USA

Lego Sears Tower height: 8 feet (more info here)
Sears Tower height: 1,730 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

9. World Trade Center, New York, USA

Lego World Trade Center height: 3 feet (more info here)
World Trade Center height (when it was standing): 1,730 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

10. Fisher Building, Detroit, USA

Lego Fisher Building height: 7.5 feet (more info here)
Fisher Building height: 444 feet (more info here)

Thanks to DecoJim

11. CN Tower, Toronto, Canada

Lego CN Tower height: 10 feet (more info here)
CN Tower height: 1,815 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Apotome

12. John Hancock Center, Chicago, USA

Lego John Hancock Center height: 3 feet (more info here)
John Hancock Center height: 1,500 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

13. Terminal Tower, Cleveland, USA

Lego Terminal Tower height: 4 feet (more info here)
Terminal Tower height: 708 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Torgugick

14. Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, USA

Lego Transamerica Pyramid height: 12 feet (more info here)
Transamerica Pyramid height: 853 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Arthur Gugick

15. Chrysler Building, New York, USA

Lego Chrysler Building height: 3.5 feet (more info here)
Chrysler Building height: 1,046 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

16. United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA

Lego United Nations Headquarters height: 1 foot (more info here)
United Nations Headquarters height: 505 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Arthur Gugick

17. Citigroup Center, New York, USA

Lego Citigroup Center height: 10 feet (more info here)
Citigroup Center height: 915 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Creator

18. Stuttgart Television Tower, Stuttgart, Germany

Lego Stuttgart Television Tower height: 9 feet (more info here)
Stuttgart Television Tower height: 711 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Holger Matthes

19. Trump International Hotel & Tower Dubai, Dubai, UAE

Lego Trump International Hotel and Tower Dubai height: 22 feet (more info here)
Trump International Hotel and Tower Dubai height: 1,181 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Jamd

20. Empire State Building, New York, USA

Lego Empire State Building height: 4 feet (more info here)
Empire State Building height: 1,453 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Sean Kenney

Source:http://www.beethamtower.org/blog/20-famous-skyscrapers-reproduced-in-lego.html

The Helvetica Man

Long before modern icon libraries like Helveticons, designers and sign-makers were forced to use a mismatch of symbols. Until the Helvetica man came along…

By 1974, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) realized the problem of using inconsistent symbols and commissioned the AIGA to produce a standard set for the Interstate Highway System, resulting in Symbol Signs. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Helvetica’ of pictograms (or specifically the Helvetica Man as coined by Ellen Lupton, and interviewed by Designer Observer), the project gave us the most common pictograms we see today.

Prior to this effort, numerous international, national and local organizations had devised symbols to guide passengers and pedestrians through transportation facilities and other sites of international exchange. While effective individual symbols had been designed, there was no system of signs that communicated the required range of complex messages, addressed people of different ages and cultures and were clearly legible at a distance.

-AIGA

The AIGA team (which consisted of Thomas Geismar, Seymour Chwast, Rudolph de Harak, John Lees, and Massimo Vignelli) worked with designers Roger Cook and Don Shanosky to study the various pictogram systems in use around the world at the time, drawing inspiration from airports, train stations, and the Olympic Games.

A set of 34 symbols was published in 1974, receiving one of the first Presidential Design Awards. In 1979, 16 more symbols were added, creating a total of 50. Over the years, the symbols have become a standard in wayfinding, resulting in a set of icons we see and recognize on a daily basis (like the popular restroom and no smoking signs).

The copyright-free symbols, available for download from AIGA’s website, were released in the public domain and can be used by anyone without license.

Related: Airport is a short film by Iain Anderson created using the AIGA pictograms (which made it to the 2005 Sydney Film Festival). The U.S. National Park Service currently uses an expanded set of symbols based on the AIGA pictograms, designed by New York-based graphic and environmental design firm Meeker & Associates.

Source: http://www.idsgn.org/posts/the-helvetica-man/

Sound Flower - Motion Test

Sound Flower - Motion Test from Rival Schools on Vimeo.

Gym Scene - Sound Test from Rival Schools on Vimeo.

Redesigning Craigslist

Launched in 1995, Craigslist remains one of the world’s most popular websites… but why does it still feel like the ’90s?

Craigslist has built a cult-like following, changing the way people find jobs, apartments, and romance. But unlike most websites, its design has gone mostly unchanged over the years. In a recent article called “Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess”, Wired magazine exposes why (and tries to help).

Besides offering nearly all of its features for free, it scorns advertising, refuses investment, ignores design, and does not innovate. Ordinarily, a company that showed such complete disdain for the normal rules of business would be vulnerable to competition, but craigslist has no serious rivals. The glory of the site is its size and its price. But seen from another angle, craigslist is one of the strangest monopolies in history, where customers are locked in by fees set at zero…

- Gary Wolf, Wired Magazine

Despite Craigslist’s lack of interest in change, Wired asked some leading interface designers to give the site an extreme makeover—with some hopeful results.

Before

The current site, while familiar to existing users, is a mess of confusing hyperlinks with very little consideration for user experience:

After, by Khoi Vinh/NYTimes.com

The NYTimes.com team retained Craigslist’s basic look and feel while making the site work more like an app. Since search is the most important feature, design director Khoi Vinh and his colleagues gave this function more real estate and placed it at the top of the page.

After, by SimpleScott

‘Craigslist is working,’ says SimpleScott, former design director of BarackObama.com—why fix what isn’t broken? Instead, he focused on making the site easier on the eyes.

After, by Studio8

‘Craigslist is frustrating and claustrophobic,’ Matt Willey says. His layout has a contemporary look, a Web 2.0 feel, and plenty of breathing room.

Personally, I like the direction of Vinh’s design. It’s not too drastic of a change—echoing the minimalist approach of the original site—but the clear typography and clean interface go a long way in improving readability. Best of all, it saves my head from exploding. How could Craigslist go wrong with that?

For more designs (including an interesting one by Pentagram), check out the article at Wired and even submit your own makeover.

Source: http://www.idsgn.org/posts/redesigning-craigslist/

Top Photo by Tim Dorr

Art & Copy

Street Buzz Marketing - Mona Lisa style

Spotted in Sydney, Australia - the Mona Lisa created with 3500 coffee cups containing varying degrees and levels of milk and caffeine. Because it’s Australian nobody really knows if it’s for a coffee shop or an art gallery or just Aussies being bored.

Source: http://blog.guerrillacomm.com/2009/07/coffee-marketing.html