fivefeettall: January 2015

Thursday, January 29, 2015

You know you're a designer if....

Designers speak their own language. And they seem to have their own breed of funny bones. So you know you're in the club if you understand their jokes.

Check out these cards and more from Sara Heffernen on adweek.com.

Now that's my type of humor...

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Burger of the Week #197

Christmas gift from a Secret Santa who knows what I like... Burgers AND biking....

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Burger of the Week #196

On of the worst books I've read in a long time. Dare I say ever. About as good as the burger on the cover looks.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Ireland: Done and Done!

It's a big day at my house. My Ireland book has arrived! Which means I'm currently up to date on my travel books. I know that sounds silly, but it really is a big deal and a huge item crossed off!

Putting travel books together is almost as big of a deal as the trip itself! It's a chance to reflect and remember the enormity of the places we'd been, and the things we'd seen.

The process becomes obsessive and all encompassing, swallowing up a week or two of my life (at minimum!). There's usually 1000+ pictures to sort through. I know the stress, anxiety and effort is self-inflicted and unnecessary, but it's part of my travel process. I end up learning more about the places I'm visiting, after I've been there and returned home.

I design my books in Adobe InDesign and use blurb.com's Pdf to Book feature to have them printed. The results, and customer service, are consistent and satisfactory, plus wonderfully priced.

With no international trips planned this year, and it being the 10th anniversary of my graduation from college, I'm toying with the idea of undertaking an even bigger photo project... sorting all four years of photos and putting them into one book. This being a mix of digital and film, it shall be an interesting endeavor... we'll see what actually comes of it.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

The P Word

This morning I went to GR Detectives Day at the GR Public Library, which included six speakers delving into specific and unusual aspects of GR architecture and history. Tom Dilley, a very popular local historian, talked specifically of Egyptian Revival Art in GR's Oak Hill Cemetery. In his discussion, Dilley repeatedly referenced symbols and icons of Papyrus, and every time he said it, I flinched.

For a graphic designer, "Papyrus" is the dirtiest of all the dirty words. It's one step past "Clip Art". But I knew Dilley wasn't saying it to torture me, clearly there was another form of Papyrus out there....

Ancient Egypt was perhaps the first country to recognize national plants. These were the Lotus (water lily) and Papyrus, which symbolized Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively.

The lotus and papyrus plants both symbolized the waters of Nun, from which the Egyptians believed life began. The papyrus, which grew in thickets along the Nile, became the symbol of fertility and life itself. As such, fresh papyrus stalks became a part of the offerings that the deceased took to the grave, and stylized papyrus stalks, with their sweeping flower umbels, were commonly used in architecture design.

The plant itself is much less offensive than the font, and given the proper climate, I'd consider adding it to my yard - though in the US the plant has proven to be somewhat invasive... how odd... that kinda sounds like the other Papyrus we know and hate...

You can read much much more indepth descirption of the flowers role in Eygptian art and sybolism at touregypt.net