Star Wars Adidas Collection

Attention geeks everywhere!

Check the new Adidas Star Wars Collection. Now you can dress up that Darth Vader costume with the real deal – official Adidas Star Wars shoes. You will be the envy of the neighborhood. Imagine the possibilites … Dressing up like Chewbacca and donning a pair of Stormtrooper specials. Pretty slick, indeed.

When I first saw this collection, I almost thought I had been punked. I checked the URL and sure enough it was Adidas.com. Growing up watching the first Star Wars movies, I imagined that in 2010 we would be zooming around in flying machines circling monstrous buildings. Although that didn’t happen, the Official Adidas Star Wars collection did. My questions is, “Why did it take 33 years?”

The top ten Google logos of 2009

So here are the top ten Google logos of 2009 in random order (According to me!)

01 – Mar 02, 2009
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Courtesy of Dr. Seuss Enterprises

02 – Feb 10, 2009
Israeli Election Day – (Israel)

03 – May 22, 2009
Mary Cassatt’s Birthday – (Global)

04 – May 07, 2009
Alexander Popov’s Invention of the Radio – (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus)

05 – Apr 27, 2009
Samuel Morse’s Birthday – (Global)

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Thought provoking UK graffiti artist Banksy

Banksy is a anonymous graffiti artist from the UK. His work is quite extraordinary and has a social commentary angle. According to Wikipedia:

He is believed to be a native of Yate, South Gloucestershire, near Bristol^[2] and to have been born in 1974,^[5] but there is substantial public uncertainty about his identity and personal and biographical details.^[6] According to Tristan Manco, Banksy “was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. The son of a photocopier technician, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.”^[7] His artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His street art, which combines graffiti writing with a distinctive stencilling technique, is similar to Blek le Rat, who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris and members of the anarcho-punk band Crass who maintained a graffiti stencil campaign on the London Tube System in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His art has appeared in cities around the world.^[8] Banksy’s work was born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians.

One of the most impressive things about Banksy is that he doesn’t sell photos or merchandising of his work. Instead, he posts high resolution images on his Web site and encourages people to make their own stuff. He only asks that it is for non-commercial use. Very generous and true to the intention of the art work.

You Suck! Oh, wait a minute …

I attended the National Association of Realtors show this past weekend in San Diego, California. I was shocked when I first saw the billboard at this booth and noticed what appeared to say “You Suck.” I was anxious to find out who would display such an audacious message. After approaching the billboard from a different angle, I noticed that it really said “YOUR SUCCESS.” I was curious if this was intentional or completely accidental.  Unfortunately, the message didn’t turn out to be the insult I had first perceived. Either way, because of the position, it mostly looked like “YOU SUCK.”

The IE6 disclaimer I wish I had written

Saw this on NewToYork.com. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see this little gem:

Hi, if you are coming to this site via Internet Explorer 6, you might not be getting the best experience possible. Honestly, I can’t even begin to think about what your entire experience on the internet must be like? (…probably like riding a bike on the highway while cars blow by you on their way to Costco to get gallons of mayonnaise and 60-inch plasma TV’s). How will you ever be able to use this website?????? You wont. You’re an asshole and your browser is an asshole. So look, I’m going to be honest: I kind of hate you. BUT we c-a-n make this work. Here is what I am going to need you to do: fire up your Toshiba ShitBook© that weighs about 45 pounds, wipe the Cheeto dust off the screen, download Safari ( http://www.apple.com/safari/download/ ), delete Internet Explorer from your computer, punch yourself in the face, and get me a pulled pork sandwich.

Yeah. I like the line punch yourself in the face … That’s why it’s bold … twice!

Don’t be that guy!

I love the “Don’t be that guy” spots created by OLSON for Fifth Third bank. They are clever and funny at the same time without ramming the message down your throat. The problem is that I’ve never actually seen any of the spots on TV even thought Fifth Third has a presence in my town.I believe these videos are intended to be viral. With that said, it’s about time some clever spots got some air time.

The “In the dark” spot with the Snuggies is classic. They never mention the product yet the message ties beautifully back to the Fifth Third tag line at the end. Well done!

Ikea rules!

Ikea is probably one of the best known global brands. Thank god they finally built one in my neck of the woods.

Their top notch design, no nonsense approach is at the heart of their success. It’s hard to walk through, what seems like miles of aisles, and leave empty handed.

Posted from iPhone.

Walmart’s new look

Walmart has changed the look of it’s website and more presumably their logo. Gone is the star that separated the “Wal” and “mart.” They are going for a hipper new look. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re trying a bit too hard to be Target. 

Let’s analyze the logo:
First off, what’s with the new symbol? It looks like a dingbat from Zaph Dingbats. (To be fair, the spacing has been adjusted and color added but come on, do they think it’s clever and nobody will notice?) The symbol looks sadly out of place. Removing the star was a good idea. (I never quite understood why it was there in the first place) Blue.. not a bad choice for the type. I really like the color blue they chose. Yellow for the dingbat just doesn’t work. It’s probably not the color as much as it is the logo.

Now for the tag line:
They ditched the old line “Always Low Prices.” I guess by this point most people know pretty much that Walmart is a deep discount/bargain store. So what do the brain trust over at Walmart come up with? “Save money. Live better. WHAT! Okay, I get the save money part. I think the whole world gets that. LIVE BETTER?? We’re supposed to live better if we shop at Walmart? Is that what they’re getting at? I don’t get it.

It no mystery that Walmart’s market share is declining. It’s not a bad idea to reinvent and reshape the brand. In this case it’s a total miscue. It’s obviously a decision made by a bunch of suits at Walmart.

Target:
Target is an ever evolving brand name. They have great products at reasonable prices. And many cool designers to boot. Also, when a new Target comes to town, the community is actually happy about it. You don’t see anyone protesting or showing up at city board meetings attempting to block a new Target. The same cannot be said of Walmart.

Target has since dropped the “Target” name from the logo. Anyone can easily recognize the brand sans the actual name beside it. Now that’s clever.