The way I see it, when Apple partnered with AT&T for their upcoming iPhone, they had not only chosen the wireless provider with the largest global network and most U.S. subscribers, but also ended up with the provider with the best logo. The logo most like their own Apple logo.

Now obviously, it's my subjective opinion as a designer that the AT&T logo is superior to that of Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile; but I could point to several design reviews, and references to the pedigree of each logo that would emphasize at least the design industry's concensus.
Is their graphic matrimony mere coincidence, or is it further evidence that you can tell a lot about a company – or in this case the relationship of two companies – by their branding?


I've always felt that Verizon's logo looked disjointed, harsh, and clumsy. And when Sprint refreshed their old logo, I was left disappointed with their choice of a traffic-yellow, weird arrow/wing logo. And what is the deal with all the traffic colors? Traffic colors are great for grabbing attention – initially – but how long could someone tolerate even their closest friend constantly yelling and grabbing attention, let alone their wireless provider?

So should it be a surprise that Sprint and Verizon wouldn't see eye-to-eye with Apple when it came time to discuss terms for a joint venture? Well, Apple being a company that almost religiously believes in words such as elegance, simplicity, friendliness, elemental and instinct (all perfectly represented by their round apple logo), it wasn't a surprise to me. The partnership between Apple and AT&T is visually natural and almost seems destined. Especially considering how until recently the AT&T brand was all but erased from the marketplace, only to be surprisingly resurrected on the heels of a SBC–BellSouth-Cingular merger.

Some may consider it oversimplistic to base such conclusions on something as superficial as a logo; but I would ask them not to overlook the fact that high-profile corporations, especially providers of consumer goods, give exhaustive attention to developing their brand and corporate identity. Often the process will involve every level of corporate leadership, even right up to the CEO.

Good designers (again, my subjective opinion) believe that, when done right, logos should capture the essence of a company. But even when done wrong, bad logos still reflect an important side of their company – the dysfunctional side.
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Virgin Mobile, recently launched their "You Rule" outdoor advertising campaign in NYC.
Chelsea, You Rule; Queens, You Rule; Wall Street, You Rule; etc. The ads are skattered throughout different neighborhoods in NYC using a tone of flattery that is sometimes sincere and more often sarcastic about stereotypes attributed to residents and their specific neighborhood. It is easily a cute approach that seems right up Virgin's irreverant, rebellious sleeve. But some of the ads have also prompted quite a number of offended viewers to blog and express their disapproval; Curbed, Gothamist, and Brownstoner to cite a few.

I have a few snapshots of the ads in my NYC photo album – I'll keep tracking down more posters as I come across them, and upload them to my album.
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Those who know me – are not surprised by my admiration for good social commentary; good music; good branding; style and enduring classic sensibility. Those who know me well enough – wouldn't be surprised by my admiration for Michael Jackson as an artist (pop or revolutionary). But even those who know me best may be surprised that I think Michael Jackson (the original MJ – not the #23 version) is almost a flawless combination of all of the above.

Below is a snapshot from the iTunes Store showing the top videos being purchased on iTunes. And solidifying his place in history at #17 is Michael Jackson with his record-breaking, genre-inspiring, industry-reinventing, mini-movie song "Thriller".



When iTunes first launched more than 6 years ago, Thriller quickly rose to the top purchase, as did the music video when videos became available on iTunes. Many friends explained this phenomenon to me by the proximity of the store's launch to Halloween. I was skeptical of this explanation. But I guess no more skeptical than my friends were that Thriller and Michael Jackson could still demand such attention in a popular culture that has supposedly eclipsed the days of synthesizer sound effects, zombie makeup and entourage dance routines.

Well, it's May 2007, Halloween is nowhere in sight; American Idol has just crowned it's 6th Idol in Jordin Sparks (not to mention just as many sometimes more popular runner-ups); music videos are now filmed (oops, I mean recorded) in crystal-clear digital high-definition allowing every body feature, color, backdrop, angle and sound to be manipulated in mind-blowing ways; and...
....Michael Jackson is still outselling Gwen Stefani, The Pussycat Dolls, Nickelback and Bon Jovi.
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I work on 12th Ave., and 54th Street. Here at Pier 94, I have the privilege of an office with a view of the Empire State's glimmering lifeline – the Hudson River.

Interestingly enough on the surface, it's usually behaving quite docilely once it reaches the cramped, shallow, corridor of Manhattan's westside piers. But the crisscrossing currents that are visible seem to allude to a lingering power. A power that is worthy of the Adirondack majesty preceding it; and pays honor to the splendor of the quickly approaching Lady in the harbor.

I'm not exactly sure what the meteorological and geological experts would say. And I'm not thoroughly privy to other regions in the Hudson Valley. However, almost every year during the dead of winter, late January, early February, the ice that I've seen form on the Hudson is quite a sight. I'd even imagine it would shock many city dwellers, who probably spend most of their time in a concrete forest, who barely endure a spray of water from an overhead air conditioner, let alone are aware of the epic waterway just to their west.

The power of Nature's chilly breath staying the might of the Hudson is impressive. And even when the chill doesn't stifle it, the tons of icy chunks that float down river from much harsher, wintery northern shores bring the narrow passage at Pier 94 to a sluggish crawl. Apparently, not even ice can escape NYC's notorious traffic jams.

However, this year, January 2007, February 2007, there was no such sight. No freeze-over. No sheets of frost. Barely a few clumps that probably wondered if they were in the right river, wondered if they'd make it to the Atlantic intact. Here, this year, the Hudson flowed freely all Winter. It's power allowed to linger a little longer.

Perhaps in the quickly approaching future, all of Manhattan will once again know first-hand this river that earned its name – Mighty Hudson.

Photos of ice on the Hudson River from previous years:



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Time for my periodic love letter to Apple...
Experts constantly attach research and statistics and market analysis to the cause of Apple's marketing cult-like success. And while I agree that there are numerous nuances that contribute to their infectious allure, there is also a very simple and primal element at the core (pun intended). An element which indeed harkens back to the company logo – an apple.

People love sweets.
People love to be entertained. People love cute little yummy shiny things that catch their eye.
If given the choice between a dull gray rock and a shiny red apple – not knowing what either item was – you'd likely choose the apple. One is static, rather shapeless, has little or no aroma, and appears dead. The other enjoys curves and symmetry, a subtle sweet aroma, light dances around it's smooth red skin, it almost seems to be plump with the life of the tree it came from.



Now personally, I actually love rocks. But the choice is comparable to how the computer industry actually makes it quite easy for Apple to stand out. All Apple (or any company) needed to do was provide entertainment and showmanship in a "geek" market that had notoriously been void of it. People simply will always love being entertained. Prior to Apple, no one in this country's computer market ever gave them that consistently.

Apple elevated computer products in this country to the level of auto shows and Hollywood premiers.
Walking into an Apple store feels less like buying a tool and more like walking into a car showroom (without all the sneaky salesmen hovering). Watching their product releases feels more like watching a feature film, and less like enduring a company presentation. Who could resist that?

Here's a mix of product, presentation, advertising and retail store images from Apple history as visual proof...





















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“It was the first time in my life that I thought about why my name is Sharpton,” Rev. Al Sharpton said. “I mean this whole thing is as personal as why your name is what it is. You’re named after someone who owned your great-grandparents.”

Wednesday night I went to the movies to see "Amazing Grace"; a film about Great Britain's 19th century slave trade market. At one point in the movie, the protagonist William Wilberforce is faced with the ugly reality of slavery when the Duke of Clarence comes up short in his wallet and attempts to match Sir Wilberforce's bet for their cardgame. "Go fetch my nigger", he calls to his servant. "He's worth at least 20 shillings", (paraphrased).

It was only two days earlier, I had just read in the NY Times about Al Sharpton's family connection to Strom Thurmond through slavery as a form of covering debts. Now that's "Wow".
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My DRM letter response to Fred Amoroso's DRM letter response to Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Music letter:

Dear Fred,
I appreciate your attempt to open the scope of the DRM (Digital Rights Management) matter to encompass all digital entertainment content. And as valiant as your claim to pursue a DRM system that increases value to the consumer may be - there are two elements that your philospohy seems to be blind to. Elements that I think make Steve Jobs' letter more valuable in the grand scheme of the future of the industry...

1) Most of us consumers may not want exactly one-size-fits-all, but we do want as close to that as we can get. It's just easier and "feels" more economical. Plain and simple - no fancy technology roadmaps needed to figure that out. All long-term research proves this. Try to nickel and dime us, we'll look for a way out, legally or otherwise.

2) Music is very different to us consumers than other digital content! Music touches us in a far more fundamental way than moving images do. If you fail to understand this distinction then you already have failed at understanding the value-difference between music and other content.

Apple seems to be the only major company that grasps (or is willing to hint at grasping) that at the end of the day, we consumers see musical content as belonging to only two parties - the artists and the audience they perform it for. Deep down we really don't care about Warner or Universal or Sony or who contractually owns what.

As long as corporations claim to be the true owners of creative content which they don't literally create - we consumers will continue to not fully honor their claim to ownership of that content. We know better.

To us, music is intangible and not equivalent to a Gucci bag that can garner a higher vaue for the genuine article as opposed to a knock-off. To consumers, the value in music, is not the hard-content. And as a result copy-protection of that hard-content will always be organically challenged, legally by the likes of Independent labels and illegally by the likes of illegal downloaders.

There will always be people willing to acquire illegal content (even pay for it), even if it's lower quality. And that content will always somehow be available to the masses. You'll never be able to beat the illegal market because you can't beat human ingenuity. Enter Steve Jobs' suggestion...

Why not use the power of technology and the Internet to replace the black-market rather than trying to outdo it. Removing DRM restrictions, removes the need for illegal downloads and the supply of illegal content. See what happens. Maybe you'll actually have to start making money creating something on your own for a change.
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In prelude to my long-awaited visit to the new M&M store at Times Square, I decided to visit the chocolate covered candy coated chocolate shell's latest promotional website BecomeanMM.com and created an M&M version of myself. I must admit, of the hundreds of interactive teasers and websites that I've visited during my career as a designer, this one is probably the best executed. It worked smoothly – kept me interested the entire time – had a wide variety of user-options – and even had several other playful options just waiting to be explored (which I haven't had sufficient time to play with yet).

So of course I will keep everyone in the loop as to how my Times Square visit goes, but for now, without further ado, introducing Carlo M&M...

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I try to focus my journal entries on design or creativity. But every once in a while I must defer to those things which I find inspirational. Sometimes the faintest spark of inspiration is all the magic you need to cast your next spell...

Today in Melbourne, Australia, Serena Williams reminded the sport of tennis why it should love and fear her. She can follow laxness with intensity; turn elegance into ferocity; pivot from enchanttress to merciless. Her own words during a post-match interview say it best...

“I definitely think I’m in better shape than I get credit for,”

“We are living in a Kate Olsen world... I’m just not built that way.”

“Usually I write, ‘Look at the ball, move forward, do this, do that,’ ”
This time, recalling her slain half-sister, she wrote just one word:
“Yetunde.”

“I just happened to play better today,... And you best believe Maria is going home tomorrow to practice,... and I’m not going to sleep on that. I’m going to go home and train, too.”

But perhaps the most telling thoughts from her interview and maybe what her future competitors should be most scared of...

"There’s nothing like being hungry for the sport of tennis, and I was really eager and famished, and I needed to feed.”

Ah yes, there it is sneaking up again, that dark feeling. You remember that feeling Maria, Justine, Kim, Amelie and Martina – don't you? : )
She's back.
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An interesting piece that I recently came across...
The next thing that comes to mind is, what if an artist did a total role-reversal, by using the larger piece as a name plaque and the smaller plaque to the right as a canvas? Perhaps a graphic metaphor of walking a mile in your neighbor's shoes?


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Below is the response that I received from the MTA regarding the $2 SingleRide Metrocard 2-hour limit. Basically they feel the 2-hour limit protects their revenue and operations against fraud.

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Response (Antonio Ligonde) - 01/19/2007 10:14 AM
This is in response to your e-mail to MTA New York City Transit concerning the two-hour time limit on SingleRide Tickets.

Please note that SingleRide Tickets, as well as the other types of MetroCards we offer, are provided to ensure our customers a wide array of purchasing options. As you may be aware, there is already information regarding the two-hour validity period clearly printed on each Single Ride ticket, and we have informational brochures available at all MetroCard Vending Machine locations informing customers of the two-hour validity period and other conditions of use governing SingleRide Tickets. Please note that our SingleRide Tickets can be used at both the turnstile of a subway or in the farebox of a bus, and are valid for two hours from the time of purchase. As such, a SingleRide Ticket is intended for use at the time of purchase. This policy exists to protect our revenue and to minimize
the opportunity for fraud.

If you have any further MetroCard-related questions or concerns, you may call MetroCard Customer Service at (212) 638-7622, from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, or write to MetroCard Customer Claims at New York City Transit, 2 Broadway, Room B11.59, New York, N 10004. Otherwise, you may contact Customer Services at (718) 330-3322, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or write to Customer Services at 2 Broadway, Room A11.146, New York, NY 10004, regarding any transit-related matter.

We appreciate our customers sharing their concerns and thank you for having taken the time to contact us.

Pedro M. Mojica
Associate Transit Customer Service Specialist II

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Customer (Carlo Blackmore) - 01/17/2007 07:19 PM
I understand the option of refilling a regular MetroCard – but I was hoping you could explain WHY the Single-Ride Metrocard is only valid for 2:18 hours?
Why charge $2 for a paper card and then invalidate it only 2 hours later. If there is any reasonable explanation for this I will gladly accept it. But it seems unreasonable.

Thank you,
Carlo
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I understand the option of refilling a regular MetroCard - but I was hoping someone could explain Why the Single-Ride Metrocard is only valid for 2:18 hours?
Why charge $2 for a paper card and then invalidate it only 2 hours later? If there is any reasonable explanation for this I will gladly accept it. But it seems unreasonable. No? I've put in an email inquiry to the MTA; hopefully I'll get a response.
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With all due respect, I'm not a meteorologist, but I was wondering when will we get a little more educational, and comprehensive reporting about our region's Climate and Weather on television? I rarely see any data on how the weather effects the North Atlantic and Arctic Cap regions – which are just as important to our region (if not more) as rainfall in Seattle.

What happens in the weather here, greatly effects the weather in our ocean, which in turn effects our future weather here, right? Don't you think we should hear about that every morning as well? Not just cute cartoon graphics about day-to-day temperature.

Why is all this warm air lingering? Where is it going, and how will it effect the places it is going to, beyond just "feeling" higher temperatures? Al Roker has a great smile, but I'm sure he has a wealth of intelligence too that I'd appreciate far more.

It seems we are in the midst of a global climate quandry, and on the brink of what most scientists predict to be the hottest winter on record. We have Doppler-a-zillions and some of the most advanced meteorological equipment in history, and yet the lovely meteorologists in the most popular metropolis in the world continue to feed us the same old type of information that we've been getting for years now. What's so news worthy about that?

Just a few quotes from our news networks that show we need all the education we can get...
1) "The Earth is recalibrating itself: Last year, we had a cold winter, and it's balancing itself out now" [NYC Doorman]

2) "I got a half-full parking lot, so we're doing pretty good — because of the weather" [Willie Smith, head pro at Carroll Park Golf Course]

3) "We're enjoying the beautiful weather. There's an eery enjoyment, though. It just doesn't feel right" [Washington, DC tourist]

4) "The weather is prone to short-term fluctuations... the mild winter does not necessarily mean global warming is upon us. In fact, the Plains have been hit by back-to-back blizzards in the past two weeks." [CNN News]

5) "No cause for alarm. Enjoy it while you have it," [Mike Halpert, Head of Forecast Operations, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center]

6) "Despite warmth, blossoming cherry trees no cause for alarm" [USA Today]

7) "Every year when this happens, (people say), 'My God! Global warming!" "It's a specific type of cherry. That is what it does. It's a natural-occurring phenomenon." [Robert DeFeo, Chief Horticulturist, National Park Service]
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Based on a similar research experiment carried out decades ago in the days of the Supreme Court case 'Brown v. The Board of Education',
A Girl Like Me is a high school student's documentary showing NYC children faced with the same experiment. In 2006, what happens when you ask a group of black children to choose between a white baby doll and a black baby doll?


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In the past I have expressed disappointment with some of Google's international business ventures, but I do appreciate their sometimes clever and casual nod to creativity.

Apart from numerous highly-interactive tools such as Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Analytics, and more, Google's creativity maybe connects most warmly during the holidays or special occassions when they present cute cartoon treatments of their logo on the www.google.com homepage.

It's actually a lot of fun scanning through their past logo creations such as St. Patrick's Day 2006 or Halloween 2002. Even though this month's Christmas logo is a little too boring for my tastes – I think the world of an earlier logo this year in January that honored Louis Braille's birthday...

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In resonse to: a MacNN article about the decline of iTunes Store purchases and the comments of readers attached to the article...

I think it's sad when people say ONE dollar is too much for ONE song. But I also think there are reasons behind the stinginess. I think it's part of the same trend that vinyl and cd albums eventually fell prey to... DEEP DOWN PEOPLE HAVE STOPPED BELIEVING THAT THE MUSIC (the art of it) IS EVEN WORTH A BUCK.

I think we've had enough. I think we watch the American Idols and others parade around; then we hear the guy in the subway with enough soul to sing one note that would put an entire Billboard #1 album to shame; and deep down it hits us! What have I been paying for?? Why am I giving any amount of money to Universal for crap, when this guy in the subway is offering me his golden voice for just a quarter?

I don't care if it's 9million bitrate - it won't make Paris Hilton or the majority of mainstream music out there sound any better. Eventually people get tired of tired music; sick of sick music; and start to treat bad music badly. So I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that people find no fault with carelessly downloading and copying music for free.

But even in the case of good music - why the desire to copy music so rampantly people? Why all the crying about DRM? Buy all the real cds you want - you still need to rely on computer software or technology to play it or copy it. You say you don't like a company's DRM rules - but yet you love that same software to import and copy a store-bought cd as many times as you want? Now that seems just plain greedy and ungrateful.

And read the fine print on your cds - even the legality of copying store-bought cds has become an issue (outlined in this Duke Law review). This battle over digital copyright and user-friendly technology is not a new issue. Right now, record labels are fine-tuning ways to put an end to our free-loading ways. To make cds just like dvds. To block us from burning copies of store-bought cds, and they've already done it with various albums. The Register also published an article with an interesting review of the legal issues involved in copying and downloading.

For the most part, I think we've become greedy and ungrateful consumers - and true, the record companies aren't giving us any reason to change. But I fully appreciate Apple's efforts to get us all to Think Differently.
But that's just my song.
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Are black, gray and white colors?
At its most basic, color is our visual response to the world.
Simply put, if you can see it, it’s color.
In the color wheel below, do you see the 3-dimensional cube? Look for it – give it a chance. Imagine yourself inside the cube – what would you see?

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The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today published a revolutionary Apple patent application titled 'mechanical overlay,' which depicts a new touchscreen technology that can serve as a keyboard, audio mixer, iPod clickwheel, and much more. The patent reveals potential plans for Apple to revolutionize its computing and iPod usage experience, replacing traditional keyboards and clickwheels with touchscreens displaying programmable images while also accepting touch-sensitive input. The patent describes, among other details, a 'multipoint touch method' that receives multiple touches on the surface of the touchscreen, including tactile and audio feedback of the touches.



*diagrams courtesy of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

Apple's focus on both hardware and software gives them a unique position to create truly innovative products. Hardware design inspires software design and vice versa. This is the piece of the puzzle that everyone else seemingly has given up on – especially Microsoft.
It seems like such an obvious, simple, no-brainer concept; yet Apple seems to be the only major computer company that chooses to design both sides of technology. Whenever you ask yourself "How?" or "Why?" is Apple so different – this your answer.
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Of course as a designer – I love signs and symbols! Everyday is sort of a field trip for me. I wake up and from the second I open my eyes to the moment they close I see signs that were created by fellow designers, fellow communicators, fellow light-benders. It's like a constant dialogue of what is important to the world all on pretty cartoon-like pieces of art.

The "H" and "C" (or just red and blue if you own Moen faucets) on my shower dial. The Power On circle on my TV. The four dots on my stove dials telling which burner I'm turning on. The logos on my shampoo telling me that the plastic is recycleable. The street signs telling where my bus will pick me up. That's all appetizer stuff – then comes the main course! Living in NYC, thatmain course is usually only a few blocks away and a few feet below – the subway. Alphabet and numerals in giant dots, tiny dots, colors blinking lights, black signs with white stripes, diagrams, maps, cards, digital displays, Braille, advertising, oooohhh, it's all so yummy! Signs everywhere – weeeeee!

Today, I came across a website in my Communication Arts annual. The Ultimate Symbol website is selling a book and cd of all official symbols. It shows little thumbnails of all the symbols, helpfully divided into categories, so you don't have to actually buy anything just to get a taste. We designers are such teasers!
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What is wrong with Universal and Microsoft? Why on Earth would you threaten all non-Zune consumers by calling them thieves? Why would you still provide music content and programming for non-Zune consumers (on iTunes which is for iPods only) to hypocritically enable their so-called theft of music?
Since when do companies that build music-playing devices, owe portions of the product sales to a record company? Did Sony, Panasonic, Sanyo, Technics, Kenwood, etc ever owe money to Universal because their products play 8-tracks, LP's and CD's that belong to Universal. And were we all stealing music back then too?

This strategy setup by Microsoft and Universal is obvious. They are setting up this model in hopes of compelling Apple to offer a similar percentage of iPod sales in order to keep Universal's business. But they seem to be forgetting one thing... no one has bought a Zune player yet! And given the track record of every device that enters the market trying to copy Apple's iPod – there won't be many people buying it. So 1) Universal ends up with very little leverage (if any at all) over Apple; and 2) Microsoft ends up with that much less money to market Zune against iPod, in-turn weakening Universal's leverage against Apple even further.
These people must be geniuses or something!

Thankfully for us, Universal's threat comes in the form of an inferior device and brand. The Zune player follows Microsoft's long legacy of clumsy, forgettable, confusing solutions. Thankfully for us, beauty chases away ugly. Apple has brought truly beautiful design to the masses. And now that we've tasted it – we have no reason to go back to using boring, complicated devices, built by boring complicated companies more interested in copying for profit than creativity.

I think Universal is hoping the other major labels – Sony and Warner – will follow their example. I think the labels are noticing all the Indie labels popping up on iTunes, and worried about ever getting back some of their piece of the pie. Heck, and not just Indie labels, all the private individual musicians uploading their songs to iTunes too. Poor little greedy record companies!

Thanks to Apple, producing and distributing quality music has become almost as easy as taking a picture and using Snapfish to share it. And I think that's what really scares Universal. As it becomes easier for us to create and share on our own – the less we need someone else to do it for us. Especially a greedy, hypocritical someone else.
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