Word Power

ED RUSCHA – FIFTY YEARS OF PAINTING

Ed Rushca is a genius and the grand master of the art of language. Pure and simple, Ruscha’s work speaks volumes but often leaves you speechless as you struggle to describe its impact on your psyche. Part pop, part abstract, part conceptual, Rushca’s work encapsulates everything that is wonderful about the symbolism of words. As recognition of Ruscha’s contribution to the evolution of modern art, the Hayward Gallery in London recently opened Ed’s first major retrospective. View details here.

We’re Snookered! Imagining Life Without TV

IT’S LIKE POOL, BOYS!

‘Pot Black’ was a televised snooker championship broadcast weekly on the BBC during the early 70s and mid 80s. Without any commercial breaks whatsoever, the show’s stars were the likes of Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins, Steve ‘Interesting’ Davis, and Ray Reardon, a Count Dracula look-a-like. Throughout the game all the players (except Davis) would smoke constantly and drink copious amounts of beer continuously. As the match unfolded, the stroke-by-stroke commentary was provided by the consistently calm and reassuring voice of ‘Whispering’ Ted Lowe. At times it was like you were watching paint dry. There was very little drama, if any, your screen was filled with the table’s vivid green velvet cloth for almost the entire length of the show – in fact the full multi-colored experience was somewhat Zen like. Occasionally the endless silence was interrupted by some poor soul who couldn’t stop coughing, but mostly it was relatively meditative stuff.

SEGMENTING RELATIONSHIPS

Now, as I sit in front of my Tweet-Deck watching the various Tweets come and go, I’m struck by the strong similarity that exists between Twitter and Pot Black. In fact I’ve become convinced that Twitter IS the 21^st Century’s Pot Black for the visually illiterate and television deprived. In fact several of my Tweet-Peeps seem to go to extreme lengths to confirm this notion. Often reveling in every detail, Twittering frantically in several droll 140 character observational segments, their Tweets slowly and calmly map out the course of events, for instance …

@showstudio - Nick and Erin are discussing the task at hand before the first model comes on set – Someone just asked if model Hayley Morley’s Mark Fast dress was Alaia! – It’s seriously hotting up – who would’ve guessed it in a white, mirrored room?! – Designer David Koma is here to see his dress on model Jade Parfitt. Koma’s news for S/S 10? No metal! Should make sense soon! – Erin is currently shooting our next – and last – four models – Now Nick and Erin are examining a composite of the two images, spelling out this shoot’s quite literal message – The tireless Erin is still going! – Our shoot is complete! Erin and Nick are looking through the final images as we pull the plug on our live stream

@nylonmag - Everyone’s camped out for Pharrell at the Billionaire Boys Club store in Soho. – And there’s a near riot outside @Intermix to meet Sienna Miller. Our cover girl is that awesome!!! – The Levis PR team made sangria for shoppers in Soho! – Rihanna’s at Intermix!!! Omg so pretty!!!! – Random spotting of the night: Josh Hartnett at Marc Jacobs. And with that, goodnight dear (and fashionable) readers – At Indochine dinner with Daria Werbowy, Lily Donaldson, and Olsens (both). Next table is full of male models, inc. Tyson B. Hey boys!

NO SOUND, NO VISION

But where’s the similarity? Well not so much in the content but in the delivery and the medium ultimately. On occasions it’s actually quite exciting. In some ways it’s like listening to a soccer or football match unfold over the radio, you can’t see what’s going on but you get a very good idea. Sound and vision excluded, the pithy one-liners leave you gasping for more tantalizing morsels. Literally each Tweet is a cliffhanger, because you have no clue what will happen next. You’re also devoid of any nuanced commentary by some babbling talking head so it’s actually quiet refreshing and extremely democratic. On occasion, you even get the chance to discuss the ‘show’ with fellow Tweeters simultaneously, like the time I had a ‘conversation’ with a fellow Tweet Peep who compared Obama (BHO) to George Orwell. Needless to say we don’t Tweet anymore.

YOU LIE!

Yes, in fact, I was struck by this Pot Black/Twitter thunderbolt the night Obama gave his speech to congress. I was busy minding my own Tweets when all of a sudden everyone was Twittering about what Obama was saying. It was as if someone had lit a torch under everyone’s keyboards. Everyone had something to say, either giving a running commentary for Tweeters like me who had no clue, or others who embellished every word with their own subjective point of view. And of course it all came crashing down when the right honorable gentlemen for South Carolina, Republican Joe Wilson, was overtaken emotionally and screamed out ‘You Lie!’ You lie? About what I wondered? But anyway, of course the next day that was all over the Tweets. However, on the night in question, @CNN was thrilled to announce ‘you heard it here first’ and that CNN was THE news authority that you can always trust. Yawn. In reality CNN was the strongest subjective point of view in the room who clearly played the Kayne West attention grabbing card to their advantage, probably spending the next 7 nights discussing the incident in overly dramatic detail, but honestly I had no clue. Thankfully, when it came to knowing what was really going on I had Twitter to refer to with its Zen like, drama free, Pot Black blissfulness.

They think it’s all over? Well it is now.

Dollar ReDe$ign $hop : Now Open!

CA$HING IN

You’ve seen the show now it’s time to buy some merch. This month sees the launch of the Dollar ReDe$ign Project’s online store featuring an exclusive collection of limited edition t-shirts designed by Richard Smith.

Hurry, visit the store today, it’s your chance to own a real work of art.

Brand ‘Me’ : The Right Profile

‘SAY, WHERE DID I SEE THIS GUY?’

Recently my profile photo was flagged by a fellow member of the popular professional networking site Linked-In as being ‘inappropriate’ and ‘unprofessional.’ The portrait was one I’d been using for the last 5 years, in fact it’s the same one I’d been using since I signed up. The photo in question is an image of my son and I – nothing particularly offensive or ‘inappropriate.’ Or at least I thought. At the beginning of September I received notice from Linked-In that my profile photo had been removed because ‘The picture is in violation of the Linked-In Photo Policy.’

My first thoughts were it was a joke, you know like those spam emails you get from North Africa about your bank account? But no, this was a legitimate email from Linked-In Customer Service. They went on to tell me that ‘we consider a photo appropriate as long as it does not contain content that is copyrighted or unauthorized for public distribution and does not contain offensive content. Additionally, if your photo is not an image of yourself or does not contain an actual photograph, it is considered inappropriate. Your photo has been flagged for inappropriate elements and has been removed from your profile.’

Sorry, ‘flagged for inappropriate elements’? Me? My son? My tattoos? My lack of hair? I was puzzled and pissed at the same time. Firstly who is going around flagging member’s profile photos? Secondly nowhere in their photo policy does it state ‘no kids, tattoos or baldness allowed.’ So I put the image back up. Of course it was flagged and taken down again. Good grief someone obviously had a thing about something in my photo that they found offensive. So I wrote to customer service and said ‘you’re crazy,’ perhaps not the best choice of words in hindsight. Regardless, I felt their actions were unreasonable. Of course I got another standard reply in addition to a long list of elements that were considered ‘inappropriate,’ including cartoons, logos, children, animals, landscapes, words and food – food ? Yes food.

So I started a bunch of discussions on Linked-In – the network for professional and appropriate relationships – to my bafflement virtually everyone who took part agreed. The rational went something like this: ‘Linked-In is a professional network so unless the child was part of my business or I was selling something child related then “no” – no kids allowed.’ The vast majority of people also felt that a photo of me with my son would also tell a potential employer that I would be ‘unfocused, put my family first and generally be unable to apply myself properly’ – WT! The more clued in individuals went on about social media: ‘Oh yes kids are for Facebook, tattoos are for MySpace and lack of hair is for Twitter’ (apparently). I thought to myself, wow! what a messed up stereotyped world we live in. I just thought the picture represented me and that I was a human being, but clearly I was wrong.

So, now I have a dilemma. Photo, or no photo? If I do use a photo what should it look like? I hate photos of myself anyway, so to actually find a photo I like that looks ‘professional and appropriate’ would be a challenge. I’ve heard that Annie Leibovitz is in need of some work, although her style is not really my cup of tea, someone like Anton Corbijn might be able to capture the ‘real’ me but I know he’s busy. My son takes great photos and that would at least keep it in the family.

BUT WHAT ABOUT BRAND ‘ME’?

Honestly, I want to use the same photo I’ve been using for all these years. I also don’t want these networks to represent who I am or what I stand for. I am brand ‘me’ not Linked-In or MySpace or Facebook. These networks are just vehicles for what I stand for and who I connect with. Quite simply I want to be ‘me’ in every context you see ‘me,’ just like any other brand does – you don’t see Coke representing itself differently in different contexts, it’s the same in every context, it’s called consistency, it’s called identity, it’s called branding, Coke is Coke not Facebook. Besides if you take a look around Linked-In at all your connections you’ll notice the vast majority of profile photos don’t fit Linked-In’s criteria either. Clearly I’m a victim of Linked-In’s profile photo police getting a little carried away. On the other hand, if someone is willing to take a photo that combines me, a cartoon, some logos, both my kids, our dog, a landscape of some kind, a few words and a big chocolate cake, all in one shot, then I might change my mind.

All images copyright Richard P Smith © 2009

A Chance to Dream

DOLLAR REDE$IGN PROJECT: NEWS ROUNDUP

In addition to all the wonderful bloggers of every size, shape and color, from here to Katmandu, continually talking and blogging about the Dollar ReDe$ign Project, we’ve also had considerable attention from more mainstream media from all over the world.

Most notably the New York Times included our project in a story about a proposed Design Policy for the United States by Allison Arieff. The Canadian ‘Journal of the Mental Environment’ – AdBusters – also included the Dollar ReDe$ign Project in its ‘Thought Control in Economics’ issue #85. Not to be outdone, Italy’s national newspaper Repubblica included a small story about our project in its weekly Sunday magazine called ‘D.’ But perhaps the most serious and continuous interest has come from Germany including a full-page article online, and in print, in the German Financial Times (FTD). N-TV, Germany’s ‘CNN,’ also filmed an indepth segment at our campaign headquarters in New York for their financial news network to be broadcast next month.

English contemporary art magazine, Frieze, ran a story online titled ‘The Buck Stops Here,’ by Jennifer Kabat. And Pentagram partner and American design legend, Michael Bierut, also mentioned us in his Atlantic magazine article about how to fix the world, saying that ‘the time is right for the notion that economic change can start at the grass roots.’ Social media maestro Stowe Boyd also talked with our campaign president, Richard Smith (via Skype), on his blog /Message.

Other mentions include an article online by Camilla Mastellari for TGCOM, plus of course there was our famous Fox News interview. The Wall Street Journal, who were the first ones to ‘support’ our cause, very early on recognized the need to redesign the Dollar bill as a way forward: ‘lets … help kick-start the US economy with a thorough in-depth re-branding scheme starting with the redesign of the US Dollar.’ But perhaps the biggest interest came from Russia’s NewsRu.com, the Russian equivalent of Yahoo, who posted our breaking story on the front page of their site driving over 50,000 visitors in a matter of hours.

It’s interesting too how our story has crossed every industry and every ‘life-stlye,’ including a front page mention on Gay.tv, as well as numerous mentions by various beauty and fashion blogs. We’ve also attracted attention from many hacker ‘community’ sites too. And we’ve also had people in Thailand emailing some of our submissions to friends and co-workers because they had heard the US was redesigning its currency and the images they attached were ‘a few samples of what was being proposed’! It’s fascinating, but obvious at the same time that the idea of saving our economy is of interest to everyone, regardless of politics, social interest, and cultural background.

Money, clearly, makes the world (and more) go round. Clearly, money IS the bottom line for everyone. Clearly we ARE on to something: ‘People of America,’ slowly but surely, ’Change is on its way …’

You Have a Pair of Hands …

A CONVENIENT LAZINESS

I remember the first time I refused a shopping bag the person behind the counter looked at me like I was a lunatic. ‘How the heck are you going to carry that 2 x 2 inch packet in your hands! Are you sure you don’t need a plastic bag?’ Or at least that was the look on their face.

And then I started to count how often I was offered a bag. In one day I think it got to as many as 10 times during the same day! This made me realize if I was refusing on average 5 to 10 bags a day, that meant I was potentially reducing the amount of plastic bags that end up in landfills everywhere by at least 2,000 to 5,000 bags a year. If I then took into account how many my family would save, and if they did the same thing, and how many we would save if all our friends did the same thing too, I then began to realize we’d probably refuse on average around 100,000 bags or more between us, if not many more, a year.

In fact every year hundreds of thousands of plastic bags end up scattered throughout the environment where they remain for hundreds and thousands of years or more. It’s also a fact that 21% of all landfills are littered with plastic bags and when they inevitably fly away and float out into creeks and rivers, they not only pollute the environment and block drains and so on, they also, more significantly, kill thousands of marine animals and wildlife as a consequence.

Yet, the real question remains, why are consumers essentially so negligent and in truth so apathetic towards the inevitable reality of their irresponsible laziness. Although many countries, primarily outside of the US, have enforced such conditions as ‘re-use’ or implemented plastic bag recycling facilities, as well as taking steps such as charging for plastic bags, typically the US is still far behind. Which is not good enough. If the argument is that hundreds and thousand of manufacturing industries will close as a consequence then this is a pathetic excuse really because virtually every industry has seen similar modernization and transformation and people have continued to survive, that’s the nature of business. Besides the same factories could simply switch to making a biodegradable alternative. It’s not that complicated.

PLASTIC BAGS ARE BAD NEWS

The Facts
• An estimated 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.
• Over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed every year in the US alone (Source: EPA).
• The US uses 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion (Source: Wall Street Journal).
• Over 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish every year.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade which means they break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways eventually entering back into the food chain when animals accidentally digest these small pieces of toxic waste.
• Globally we use approximately 12 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags that are used each year worldwide.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

This is a worldwide issue, please, join the Facebook Group, sign the Petition, or simply just say ‘NO THANKS’ the next time you’re offered a plastic bag.

Dollar ReDe$ign Project : July 4th ‘Competition’ Winners

EVERYONE’S A WINNER!
We are happy to announce the winners of our Dollar ReDe$ign ‘competition.’ Follow this link to see all the results …

Fox News says … ‘It’s the Latest Internet Craze’

Watch Richard Smith talk turkey with Fox News about ‘the latest internet craze’, the Dollar ReDe$ign Project.

Dollar ReDe$ign Project

REBRAND, REBUILD, REVIVE …

It seems so obvious to us that the ‘only’ realistic way for a swift economic recovery is through a thorough, in-depth, rebranding scheme – starting with the redesign of the iconic US Dollar – it’s the ‘only’ pragmatic way to add some realistic stimulation into our lives! Therefore, you must take part and we really want to see what YOU would do.

WHY TAKE PART?

The American Dollar has not truly been redesigned since about the 1930s. The Dollar ReDe$ign Project is your opportunity to theoretically ‘change’ that. Yes, technically there are many limitations and complications when it comes to bank note design, but if the Swiss can do it on a regular basis, why can’t we North Americans too. Besides our great ‘rival’, the Euro, looks so spanky in comparison it seems the only clear way to revive this global recession is to rebrand and redesign. Why not ? It seems to work for everyone else …

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Brief: simply redesign the US Dollar bill in any way you think appropriate and submit to us for review. We’ll then post the ones we like online.
Guidelines: clearly this is a hypothetical project so have some fun with it, don’t get bogged down in the rights and wrongs of currency design.
Technical Stuff: all submissions should be jpgs, 72dpi, 600px wide, please.
Where to Submit: email your ideas to info@dollarredesign.com
Rules and Regulations: there are none, other than we have the right to veto any work submitted. All copyright remains the property of those submitting their proposals, ie the ‘author’, and all proposals are submitted at the author’s own risk of being called up by the Feds or being wire tapped. All work must also belong to you, the author.
Legal: NONE of the work submitted can be used as legal tender. Anyone who tries will be sent to Coventry.

READ MORE

Visit the Dollar ReDe$ign Blog to learn more about this project, view recent submissions, and see the July 4th Competition winners. You can also follow the Dollar ReDe$ign Project on Twitter or join the Facebook Group.

Project organized by The Extent or Measure of a Surface Inc.

Hello Dolly

ALEXANDER McQUEEN

New campaign featuring larger than life Blythe dolls. View more …

Sweet Treatment

BEST TREATMENT PRODUCTIONS

As part of Best Treatment Productions ongoing marketing initiative, EMS Inc recently created the very sweet direct-mail piece pictured above. The package, which comes wrapped in beautiful red tissue paper, includes a miniature cowboy hat and a small tin of red, black and white M&Ms branded with the words ‘Whip It’ … BTP director of operations, Diane Treat, said, ‘candy is the perfect ice-breaker, and who doesn’t love M&Ms – so we’re pretty sure this promo definitely wont end up in the trash, like they usually do!’

Master and Servant

DEPECHE MODE

‘I first met Anton Corbijn sometime around 1988, when I was working for Peter Saville (Associates) in London. Anton had asked Saville to design ‘Famouz’, Anton’s first book of photographs. Corbijn, at the time, was already well known for his work with musicians such as U2, Joy Division, Miles Davis and David Bowie, and was quickly becoming a legend. To have the opportunity to work on his book was indeed an honor. Yet, at the time, I had no idea Anton and I would forge a working relationship that would span a whole decade, a relationship that enabled me to work on record covers for Siouxsie Sioux’s side project The Creatures and of course Depeche Mode.’ View more …

Sorry, Can You ReTweet That?

THE BEAUTY OF TWITTER

‘I know it’s probably a little late in the day, but I have to say, I love Twitter. I think I’m even starting to love Twitter more than my morning coffee. I think I even love Twitter more than bagels with cream cheese! I even love Twitter more than ice-cream – and that’s saying something!

But seriously the phenomenon that is Twitter, for me at least, is quite surreal. Who knew I’d be up all night wondering who Tweeted what, and to whom. It’s like a communal conversation that never stops and is so ‘of the moment’ it’s ridiculous. I’m also learning shit about stuff I had no clue even existed. I’m also seeing things even ‘Rutger Hauer’ would ‘never believe’. And, I’m making ‘friends’ with people who I’ve never even met – and some of them are quite famous – allegedly.

The real beauty of Twitter is that it has completely levelled the playing field. It’s given everyone an ‘access-all-areas’ pass to virtually every human being on the planet – and they all feel so close to home, it’s quite touching. What’s also beautiful about Twitter is that you can go on about stuff as if the whole world is listening – even though probably 99% of the people listening couldn’t give a … It’s also an opportunity for everyone to have a voice and be heard, be it in beautiful digital silence. Twitter is also beautfully democratic. In a very unpolitical way. The opinions are ‘genuine’ and the information is media free. There are no banner ads. There are no pop up windows. There are no conglomerates ramming crap down your throat or filtering your thoughts. There is no aesthetic, other than your own, and there is no agenda. You can also switch on (follow) and turn off (block) at your leisure. Anyway, I think you get the idea …

Ultimately, Twitter, I believe, is a beautiful opportunity for us all to take a moment to step away from the norm and have a chance at shaking down the fundamental foundations of mainstream media, corporate governance and even government intervention too – yes, it’s a beautiful opportunity, filled with potential, which I hope never sinks or dies, just keeps on floating by. Float-on Twtter, Float-on. (oh and it’s not Facebook!)’

Image: Flickr

Side Show

SHOW-OFF

Online gallery show titled ‘Apples and Oranges’ featuring a series of word paintings by Richard Smith. View more paintings …

Oh Yoko!

EARTH HOUR IS OVER – IF YOU WANT IT

Imagine Peace Tower, dawn, March 28, 2009, Reykjavik, Iceland.

‘Yesterday evening (March 28), as I sat in my apartment in New York, I waited in anticipation as the clock slowly approached 8.30pm. Earth Hour would soon be upon us – at least for everyone on the east coast of the United States. In my mind I imagined the city rapidly turning black as each and every one of us switched off our lights. It also crossed my mind that once the hour was up and everyone flicked their switches back, the national grid system would come to a grinding halt and the country would be thrown into total chaos – imagine! But alas nothing really happened, the Empire State building went out – party! – maybe a few extra lights were out more than usual, but that could have just been my imagination. And despite the minute by minute count down on Twitter, New York – at least from where I sat (lay) – looked pretty much the same. In principle the idea was worthy, the possibility that hundreds and thousands of Americans might take an hour away from the television also seemed appealing – imagine how many dollars the networks would have lost, that in itself would have been a worthy cause. But judging by the lack-luster morning after Tweets, it seems the foreplay was more rewarding than the climax. Imagine!’

Image: Yoko Ono, Flickr

Yes or N.O.?

PET SHOP BOYS vs NEW ORDER

‘I know Peter Saville was never one for an original idea and that perhaps Mark Farrow was actually looking at something by Elsworth Kelly or Gerhard Richter, but clearly there is a similarity here between Yes, by the PSBs, and New Order’s Confusion, that needs to be mentioned. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for plagerism and making intelligent references to drive home an idea, but not when you’re all playing in the same sand pit – come on! I guess at the end of the day it comes down to the fact that (pet shop) boys will always be (pet shop) boys.’

PSB image: Grafik Cache.

Read All About It!

ONE TO WATCH

• Richard Smith and The Extent or Measure of a Surface Inc get some face time in the February issue of Graphic Design USA (as well as his eldest son Dylan). View articile …

In The Bag

BEST TREATMENT PRODUCTIONS 

New York photo-production house, Best Treatment Productions, recently commissioned Richard Smith at The Extent or Measure of a Surface Inc, to create a series of limited-edition promotional materials including the bright red tote bag pictured above and below. Smith explains, ‘the Best Treatment Productions’ brand is a little old-school-Hollywood meets the-bright-lights-of-Broadway, coupled with a heavy dose of tongue-in-cheek-camp-playfulness – and the promo-materials we created for them tried to capture this spirit as well as be something their customers would want to use and keep.’ BTP director of ‘operations’ Diane Treat says ‘we’ve worked with Richard Smith on many photo-shoots over the years and to have the opportunity to work with him on helping us bring our brand to life in this way was thrilling, to say the least – Smith’s work is ingenious, and beyond imaginative, it’s just incredible! What more can I say …’ 

Blog Blog Blog

RECENT BLOG UPDATES

• Side Work  – a selection of some additional paintings discovered in the archives. Read more …
• Daily Scrap – new rubbish rescued from the doldrums of obscurity. Read more …
• Back Story – the start of something that looks back and considers ‘how did I get here?’ Read more …

Name Check

HOT OFF THE PRESS

• Watch Paul West of Form talk about his design influences including Peter Saville, Vaughan Oliver and Richard Smith! > Watch video … 
• In support of Lincoln School of Art’s Design Auction, Richard Smith has donated two ‘art’ projects to help raise funds for their end of year degree show. > View donations … 
• Dirty Mouse give Smith’s Epos Visa credit card (see post below) a big thumbs up. > View blog …