Stand Back, Take Stock, Fully Reflect

1) Cardboard

2) White oil-enamel pigment

3) When 2 has become tacky gauze and plaster 

4) Water-colored red-brown as undertone

5) Tempera Neisch zinc white with linseed mixture

6) Delicate drawing and brush-stroked hatching with watercolor

7) Lightly anchored with oil-painting varnish

8) Partly illuminated with zinc white oil paint

9) Covered with oil grey-blue washed with oil madder lake

 

Complicated

Technical

Developed

Natural

Experimental

Fascinating

Better Than A Punch In The Gut By A Drunk Swede

 

Baseball Weathered Fence Of Fame

Traditional & Original

Expression of form

Rapid, sketchy, linear

Contours of shapes

                             Simplified

Opaque substrates

Unsaturated colors

Accented, loaded brushstrokes

                                                Thin flat layers

Detached white highlights

Innovatory

Immediacy of emotional impact

Weniger, Aber Besser*

   Most people have no idea who the Industrial Designer Dieter Rams is, and that is pretty much how he likes it. However, most people have enjoyed his work and his influence, even if they are not consciously aware that they enjoy it.

   Dieter Rams believes that the design of products slated for use by individuals, such as furniture or home electronics, should be as user-friendly as possible, with any knobs, dials, or buttons being self-explanatory regarding their function while remaining aesthetically pleasing.

   To that end in the 1970's Mr. Rams created a set of ten Principles of Good Design. According to Mr. Rams, good design should be:

Innovative - When tasked with creating the design of a product, especially if that product is one featuring new technology, do not fall back on the tried and true. Break new ground with respect to how the product is to be handled when used and how the various functions of the product can be readily accessed.

Useful - ease of use contributes mightily to the success of a product. Flashier, sexier, and sleeker might be eye-catching, but usefulness wins out when it comes to people repeatedly choosing to use a product.

Aesthetically pleasing - the above being said, everyone appreciates having a visually appealing useful item in their home or hand, especially if it is as functional as it is beautiful.

Helpful regarding the use of a product - nobody wants to have to read and reread a manual to understand how a product works. The design of a product should help the user understand the product's function intuitively, without the need for excessive instruction or explanation.

Unobtrusive - leave decorative arts to the artists. While products that are created to serve an everyday function should be aesthetically pleasing, they are not meant to be placed on a mantle or in a showcase. They are meant to be used.

Honest - honest design does not present a product as more than it is. It is not intended to fool the user into believing it is anything other than a useful tool that looks good.

Long-Lasting - good design does not follow and then fall out of current fashion. Good design is timeless, reflecting not only durability but also an effortless freshness.

Thorough down to the last detail - Attention to detail cannot be overstated. Exercising forethought and care when creating a product design results in elegantly precise functionality.

Environmentally friendly - minimize the carbon footprint while maximizing the long-term sustainability of the product. Create a design that ensures the product produces as little harm to the environment as possible.

As simple as you can make it - do not add unnecessary clutter to the design. Allow the user to readily focus on the essential function of the product without having to visually sort through a jungle. 

*Translated from the German = "Less, but better"

Doc Savage & The Disappearing Pure Evil Terror Of Unbelievable Unpleasantness

   The doorbell rang with a chime that lasted a full fifteen seconds, beautifully melodic, which was odd as not only did we not have a doorbell that chimed, we did not have a doorbell at all.

   My mother and middle older sister answered the door and greeted a group of young men on the front porch with loud, cheerful hello's. The group appeared to be a 1950's era gang of hoods greatly influenced by the movie "The Wild One," all of them clad in black leather motorcycle jackets over white T-shirts, and Levi jeans with four inch cuffs at the ankles. However, each and everyone of them sported open-toe huarache sandals, the slip-on style that didn't have a back for the heel.

   They were not a 1950's era gang of hoods though, they were in fact the Backstreet Boys, and my Mother and middle older sister instantly knew adventure with a capital T for trouble  was imminent.

   As one (in 5 part harmony) they asked if I was home and my mother replied in the affirmative and then sent my middle older sister to get me.

   I was in the middle of reading a pop-up edition of "Black and Red: My 44 Years In The Soviet Union" by Robert Nathaniel Robertson and munching on a bowl of deep-fried sauerkraut balls, but had gotten to the part wherein Paul Robeson, during a visit to a factory that Robertson worked in, turned a deaf ear to his pleas for help in getting out of the Soviet Union (difficult read, that), so the interruption was welcome.

   My mother turned to me as I approached the door and mouthed the words "McLean is smoking again, get him off my porch." Mom never could tolerate cigarette smoking.

   "Hey guys, what's up?" I said when I walked out onto the porch. In sync all of them turned to me and stood silently for a few seconds, then Littrell piped up and said "John Sunlight has escaped from the escape-proof Velveteen Island prison, Doc needs our help recapturing him".

   To say I was gasted would be an understatement - I was full-on flabbergasted. Capturing John Sunlight had been Doc's greatest victory but it had come at the cost of Colonel Mayfair's nose for disturbing insinuations, Major Robert's sense of inexpedient propriety, Bill Littlejohn's desire for chocolate eclairs, General Brook's incomparable ability to balance 37 pennies on his tongue, and Colonel Renwick's extraordinary skill at cooking sausages, all of which had the effect of rendering the team useless in future endeavors.

   Which is where we came in. In a weird (some would say grotesque) twist of fate, Doc had stumbled across the boys and I as we were engaged in a charity footbag game against the Legion of Uneasy Cohorts in Skullduggery, our stunning upset win of the championship convincing Savage that we would be the perfect replacements for the trusted fabulous five.

    And thus we became the sensational six.

    Littrell continued. "We need you to get dressed in a hurry - Doc is waiting at the heliport, and every second we delay, our chances of capturing Sunlight dims. Get a move on!"

   Spittle flew from Littrell's mouth as he reflexively sang those words in his two-octave tenor - that's when I realized how serious the situation was.

   Coincidently, that's also when I realised I was standing on the front porch naked as a featherless jaybird.

When You're Tasked With Clearing Snow From Side To Side Along A Wide Path