I’ve now officially spotted two smart cars roaming the streets of Honolulu. Or maybe it was just the same car twice…
I saw them for the first time in Europe a few years ago and was completely blown away, as they looked so strange. It literally appeared as if someone had sawed a regular car in half. They were so tiny, could they even be safe???
The concept is now maybe 43% less strange to me now, and the fact they are made by Mercedes-Benz helps assuage those safety fears.
But although it makes sense environmentally to drive a smaller car, I’m not sure if I could stand the stares (I know, I was an early MINI owner). Besides they aren’t exactly cheap for a 2-seater, starting at around $28K.
Cute and hip or strange and silly? What do you think?
UPDATE: I discovered the UK smart website through Adverblog. There’s an interesting “test” to gauge your road rage levels. The ultimate message is that driving a smart car will decrease you level of aggressiveness and bring about enlightenment. Not sure I agree with that, but the site is silly and fun nonetheless, and might make you more aware of your driving to boot.
If you’re still wondering what to do tonight, perhaps you should think about donning your finest cosplay costume and heading over to the Honolulu Academy of Art for this month’s Art After Dark party celebrating all things manga.
There’ll will be J-pop, an art scavenger hunt, and a costume contest from 6-9 pm. What more could you ask for?
Alas, I will not be able to attend as I work the evening shift at the Advertiser, leaving my Gothic Lolita costume unworn, again… So if you go, do send me your photos of most outrageous stuff you see that night. I’ll post them here.
Speaking of, did you know that the Best Western’s Hotel Tomo in San Francisco’s Japantown is the first hotel (in the US at least) inspired by Japanese pop culture? Opened last year, the moderately priced hotel features anime murals, Giant Robot merchandise vending machines (so Japanese!) and deluxe gaming suites equipped with Wii and Playstation.
As Illinois senator/Punahou grad, Barack Obama inches closer to snagging the Democratic nom for President, if might be time to step up your support with some hip Obama gear.
Although there seems to be no shortage of Obama stuff out there,r perhaps the coolest is from guerrilla street artist, Shepard Fairey, creator of “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” campaign and former Catalyst Artist in Residence at The Contemporary Museum in 2005. Back in February, he released 350 limited edition propaganda-style prints of Obama for $50, which reportedly sold out within minutes.
However, Fairey has since created a free black and white version which can be downloaded and printed from the Obey Giant website. The “paster” is meant to promote awareness, which in Fairey’s world means plastering on public walls. Stickers are also available from Sticker Robot for a few bucks.
But if vandalism is not your style, you can just wear your support on your sleeve. Obama t-shirts can now be purchased from San Francisco streetwear store Upper Playground for $25.
For all his efforts, Fairey has even received a personal “thank you” from Obama himself.
P.S. If you still insist on getting your hands on the original prints, you can try EBay (although the scalping activity is being heavily frowned upon by the Fairey camp), where I’ve seen the signed and numbered ones selling for as much as $1500. Cheaper (non-authentic?) versions can be had for $5.
5/10/08 UPDATE: A number of Obama shirts from Fairey can now be purchase at Bütigroove in Honolulu.
Aloha and welcome to my blog.
As you may or may not know, I am one of three graphic artists here at the Advertiser. Unfortunately when I tell this to people, most just scratch their heads, wondering, “The paper has art?” Then they go, “Oh, you mean you lay out the pages and stuff!”
No, no, no. We have a team of talented page designers for that. Neither do we design ads – advertising has their own graphics department. Instead we handle infographics, i.e. the maps, charts, schematic diagrams, and illustrations that go with the stories. I’ll go into this in more detail some other time.
We mostly use vector-drawing programs for their speed and ease. However, sometimes if time permits, we may return to traditional drawing and painting methods for variety. We are also trying to expand into 3-D modeling with Lightwave (see what we did with the Superferry here). In addition, multimedia has taken a front seat, and as the resident Flash specialist, I am constantly encouraged to come up with interactive presentations. It’s fun and, dare I say, exciting as to what the collaborative possibilities are. Kind of like art class… without the rubber cement.
So in the spirit of innovation, I am starting this blog to go beyond the printed page and screen, to create a forum for celebrating, brainstorming, and exploring design from a local perspective – in an accessible and practical way, meaning there will be lots of info you can use.
As a parting gift for my first post, check out this link to what one guy considers the best “print” ads he’s seen. Advertisers often comes up with the cleverest ideas in their pursuit to extract those dollars from your pocket. And I find that great for inspiration. Maybe you will too.
I have a lot of fun ideas waiting, so get ready.
(The title of this post is my geeky tribute to the “Hello world” program, the common introductory or test script computer programmers are well familiar with.)
