Okay, so this is actually kind of old news, but I figure better late than never. About 7 months ago we submitted the Colorcubic business card to “the best of Business Card Design 8″ competition, published by Rockport publishing. About three weeks ago we received a letter in the mail stating that we were chosen to be featured in the book. I have to say, we were both completely blown away that they considered us at all. If you get a chance, you should definitely pick this up. Honestly, we’re still scratching our heads, trying to comprehend why they chose the design we submitted, but either way, Thank You Rockport!

- m / Colorcubic™

Chris Ware is one of my favorite comic book artists. I was introduced to his work 5 years ago when I came upon a Rusty Brown tin lunchbox. Rusty Brown’s character is an awkward young man that has been outcast by his peers, and the lunchbox features images of Rusty eating in the cafeteria alone, running from bullies throwing trash at him, and other pathetic images that you can’t help but feel bad about and laugh at the same time. Ware’s images and stories are satirical, sad, perverse and often terribly funny in an awkwardly honest way, like you had just walked in on your kid brother in the bathroom with a nudie mag.

A book that I refer back to often for design inspiration (specifically for typography and layout) is Ware’s “The Acme Novelty Library“. From the minute you see the book’s exterior, you’ll be captivated by the intricate ornamentation and book band. Each tabloid-size page is a work of art and features a comic hodgepodge of familiar Ware characters such as the aforementioned Rusty Brown and his buddy Chalky White, Quimby the Mouse, Rocket Sam, a nude superhero, and more.

Ware also recreates a world of fake ads similar to those you’d find in 70’s and 80’s Archie’s digests. Has anyone growing up in the 80’s not been swayed into sending away for those magical Sea Monkeys that could be trained to perform tricks (as advertised)? Or what about those X-Ray glasses that allow you to see the bones in your hands… or underneath Sally’s skirt! Nostalgic.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about the book aside from the overall design are the Acme library construction projects. Sandwiched in the middle of the book are paper book and shelf diagrams meant to be cut out, folded, and glued together to construct your own miniature Acme library. I’ve never actually done this as I wouldn’t dare cut into the actual pages of the book, but you could photocopy the pages as to not ruin the original. It’d make for an interesting rainy Saturday, which unfortunately is much too frequent in Portland, Oregon.

- c / Colorcubic™

Christy and I found this book by David Ogilvy who was one of the most notable advertising executives in the early 1960’s.

The book is titled: “Ogilvy on Advertising.”

It’s honestly one of the most controversial books I’ve read for it’s time when it comes to advertising (next to the United Colors of Benetton).

The Ads he helped produce were definitely the cream of the crop (and in my opinion, still are) when it comes to tangible print media, how informative it is / was to the reader, as well as how influential it is / was to the reader. He also mentions some pretty interesting guidelines to follow when producing an Ad for a large brand that I don’t necessarily agree with.

Although I disagree with his methods today, I believe his methods were appropriate for his time, thus resulting in a really strong foundation for a lot of the brand products we now take for granted.

There are also a lot of really amazing layout references in the book that are beautiful, as well as the brand identities produced in the book.
If you’re a designer then I would definitely encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. Not necessarily for the advice, but more so for the beautiful ads produced in the book. I must say though, some of the advice David Ogilvy provides should not be taken with a grain of salt, but rather a whole mound of salt… This is of course my ¢.02.

peace,

- m / Colorcubic™

I’ve been into the whole circuit bending mess for a little while.

I’ve messed with a few toys here and there, but nothing I’m really happy with. My buddy “Air Fortress” has bent some really dope shit that is really impressive. He bent this one toy guitar and adapted it to emulate a theremin.

Anyway, a really good book that I would refer anyone to read who’s just getting involved with circuit bending is this book by: Reed Ghazala “the Father of circuit-bending.”

The book cover and graphics are a bit to be desired, but the book is really informative, and will help you along your way to building advanced circuit bent hardware.

The main reason I posted this was due to my never ending exploration of new sounds for sound designing and electronic music. I’m sure if you read this book it’ll give you a whole new perspective on producing beats, etc…

Peace,

-m / Colorcubic™