Hand-lettered yard signs

Happy to see a local sign painter is getting some business. Usually this kinda stuff is just scrawled in marker on posterboard or laserprinted and stuck to posterboard. This way an actual artisan is getting some money. Good for the economy -- good for small businesses.



(Notes: The signs are referencing the following people, all, coincidentally, are Democrats. Betty McCollum -- the current U.S. Rep in this neighborhood -- is up for reelection. Her lawn signs read "Vote Betty!" The exclamation point seems to lather people up. Mark Dayton is running for governor of Minnesota. He's wealthy -- and he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy (and apparently kill jobs, too). The last sign is about Mark Richie, who is running for reelection as Minnesota's Secretary of State. Richie presided over the Coleman/Franken recount from the 2008 election. And because Coleman lost, the Coleman backers believe the recount was rigged by Richie.)

Charty charts

Charts -- like photos -- can lie. Not that this chart is lying -- but I think the secondary point it's making is a little misleading.

To me, this chart is saying the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending a lot of money for Republicans in this year's election. But the secondary point is: But look how much money the Democrats are spending on their side -- more than the Chamber by far!

I think the secondary point of the chart is Republican party supporters are spending more than Democratic party supporters. And that is obscured by the NY Times' chart.



So, I spent some time with Adobe Illustrator to remake the charts.

First, remaking the original chart, but using a straight bar chart. I occured to me that the Times was doing some kind of area chart/ bar chart combo where the bars are different widths. So the height of the bar is not representative of the amount. Odd.


Next, I grouped the bars by party, giving you something of a sense of the different amounts being spent by each side.


Next, the classic pie chart.


And finally, a stacked bar chart which puts an emphasis on the amount spent by both. Just under 110 million for the Republicans and just under 60 million for the Democrats.

The same data. A fairer chart? Maybe. A different secondary point? Absolutely.

Lawn signs -- stars

It's lawn sign season. Stars are a theme. Here the signs I've found in my neighborhood -- in the order of star count.

One star.





(I haven't found any two star signs.) Three stars.



Four stars. (Kinda like two thumbs up.)



Five stars.

Machete Machete

In the late 1970s, type wizard Mark Simonson designed a monthly broadside newspaper named Machete. Machete's slogan was "Never dull." It was black and white and fantastic all over. And the logo was unlike anything I had seen. Sharp, dangerous and very cool. After all these years it still looks great.


Anyway, I saw the movie "Machete" on Thursday and I just had to do this. As always, click for bigger.

Bike safety tips

Some instructional pictures from a bicycle safety brochure posted online at floridabicycle.org

I wish bike riding wasn't like this. I wish there were separate bike paths -- away from cars.

Anyway, these instructional drawings are taken completely out of context and are posted here strictly for amusement value. To see what they are really about, please refer to the original brochure.

Nice bumper sticker

Saw a great sticker on the back of a truck. I like the sentiment (Bikes have responsibilities). And I like the graphic.

But the average bike is a lot smaller than the average car. As I was thinking about that, I happened by this parked car. I parked my bike and took a picture.

Like watching paint dry. But it's glue.

Working on my crop art. The deadline is next Monday, Aug. 23. Coming up quick! Anyway, if you wonder what making crop art is really like, I'm blogging my very slow progress at another Blogspot site.

Lance Ward video

South St. Paul painter and cartoonist Lance Ward talks about his near-death experience and the effect it has had on his artwork. The video is illustrated with Lance's drawings and paintings.

[Please note: Lance uses strong language near the end of this video.]

My pal Ken Avidor had the idea to videotape Lance telling this story. I tagged along to run the camera -- and I then edited the final piece. Incidentally, the Wrapped Watertower video was recorded on the way home from Lance's house, so it was a very productive trip. Thanks for inviting me along, Ken!

All I wanted

Nice to know that you will get "all you wanted" when you sign up at a particular hospital group or insurance company. Bring on the higher expectations.

Another watertower

This one wasn't moving.

Video: Watertower vertical waves

Driving around on Saturday, this wrapped watertower caught my eye. To me it looked like waves in a vertical pool. Big, scary, weird. The wrap is on the tower for sandblasting -- to keep the sand from flying all over the place.

(And I guess the covering can be raised and lowered like a theater curtain. That may be the subject for some other another video.)

Wrapped Watertower from David Steinlicht on Vimeo.

Nice sign

I like this sign. The typeface used (mostly Franklin Gothic, I think), the colors, the slightly worn look, the three-over-three name, the design of the sign. It's just nice.

The corner of my eye

Out of the corner of my eye I read this sign "2 Dogs & Snake."



Using the magic of Photoshop, I move a few pixels around and here it is.



Guess I'd better go re-watch "Escape From New York."

Big plans

Something is going to happen on this corner.

C.J.! I've got just the guy for that "Animal House" remake!

Bluto and Hurley.

La Crosse sign

I'm puzzled by this sign. I spotted it in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It can be read three ways. "Olympic," "Oly-Mpic" or "Ly-O-Mpic." Okay, I know it's just supposed to be Olympic, and it hints at the Olympic games' five-ring logo. I guess the designer felt a need to fill in the "O."



How's the Olympic Builders logo stack up against some other Olympic logos? Not too bad. [Click for bigger.]



This nifty post by Daughter Number Three inspired me to post my own La Crosse signage photo. Thanks for shaming me into action, D#3!

Cancellations

The Postal Service has been changing its cancellation marks. As you might expect, I'm a fan of the old way. This cancellation is much like letterpress printing. The printed image is raised and it actually touches the surface it prints on. The cancellation looks good, and the date and city information is easy to read.




The new inkjet cancellation keeps the wavy line of the original, but doesn't retain the circle with the date/city info. The dot pattern isn't tight enough to make small, readable lettering. So the letters are quite large. I'm guessing it's faster to run mail through the inkjet cancel machine because the printer doesn't actually have to touch the piece of mail -- it just sprays the surface as it goes by.




Probably the major advantage of the inkjet cancellation is it that it's programmable. Someone decides to promote Arbor Day or something? It's just an easy computer change. Still looks bad with the sloppy dot pattern, but it's quicker and easier than making a new, physical, cancel marker.




The biggest disadvantage of the inkjet cancellation is keeping the thing in focus. Yikes!

Zoom in on "Foot In The Door 4"

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts' Foot In The Door 4 exhibit is all about quantity. And context.

Delores's piece is on display as you enter the exhibit. We were worried it would be on the sculpture area, but fortunately it was hung on the wall.

As with all these pictures, click for a closer view.



Sandra's piece also has a pretty good position -- you can get a good look if you bend over a little bit.



Roz got the very bottom of the display. Actually, it's kinda nice -- she has one side completely to herself.



Linda wasn't real lucky with her placement -- she's in a corner. And the glass on her frame adds sharp reflections of her neighbors art to her piece.



Kirk snared a very good spot in the sculpture forest. I think his display here on the table is equally as good as if he had been on the wall -- except he got an extremely rare and valuable corner spot! Two sides free from other art! Excellent work, Kirk!



Jil also snared a window seat for her entry. Very nice!



Steve was not so lucky with his 3-dimensional piece. It's positively buried in a thicket of other sculptural pieces. Bummer!



The photo below and at the left is of a regular Minneapolis Institute of Arts gallery sign -- jumbled in with the "Foot In The Door" artwork. Amusing.

And finally, I have a complaint about the "Foot's" artist catalog, available online and in kiosks and on computers in the exhibit itself. For some reason, the art is displayed in groups that are nine rows across. A normal computer screen will only display four or five rows at a time.

This nine-row configuration means in order to see everything on each screen, you have to scroll up and down AND scroll left and right. A major pain -- and a major usability blunder.

Why didn't they just put four rows per screen? Then you would be able to click and scroll your way through a large amount of entries without undue mouse futzing. (I've Photoshopped together a nine-rows-wide screen below.)

The "Artworks" viewer is labeled "beta," so I hold out hope that something will eventually be done to make it easier to view the artist information.



Complaining aside -- what an amazing show! Five thousand pieces! Overwhelming!

Note: And here is some crop art that made it into the "Foot" show.