I tried letterpress for the first time about a month ago. I’m just now getting around to posting a result of it. I actually made a poster with Obi-won’s famous saying, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” The typography on the poster wasn’t very good, but I like the way the droids turned out. Here is a scan of the droids and a photo of the poorly laid out wood type still in the chase.
Last night we were flipping the channels and landed on 1 vs. 100, the latest NBC prime-time game show. I guess the premise is to beat 100 people in trivia. The first question we saw was the easiest level and it went something like this:
A family walks in to a talent agent’s office and claims they are ‘Aristocrats’. Is the family:
a) High Class
b) Low Class
c) Cats
Immediately, the host of the show… one BOB SAGET made a small smirk. He saw the joke in the question. In fact, so did a lot of people. 22 people in the mob of 100 got the question wrong, probably because they said the family was “low class”. Those reading this and not following me obviously don’t know “The Aristocrats joke” and they definitely haven’t seen Bob Saget’s take on the joke from the movie The Aristocrats.
*Warning* If you have a distaste for vulgar humor, do not under any circumstance watch Bob Saget’s version of the joke. It is some of the most vile, disgusting, and vulgar humor you can find. However, if that’s your sort of thing, then it it won’t get much better than this. *Warning*
Finally, somebody has taken it upon themselves to produce a study diagramming a subtle, yet important difference in our dialects. The question of whether that fizzy flavored drink is called, “Soda”, “Pop”, or “Coke” has now been mapped. I grew up with the word “pop”, but i’ve since migrated to the word “soda”. Obviously, this has been a product of my environment.
Before you post seeking work from an artist, read on
Reply to: job-267155638@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-01-23, 11:38AM CST
Hello business-people please read!
Every day, there are more and more CL posts seeking “artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs.
More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.
But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.
To those who are “seeking artists”, let me ask you;
How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?
More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.
And this is not really a surprise.
In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators.
There are eleven times as many certified mechanics.
There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.
So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free?
Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?
Would you offer a neurosurgeon the “opportunity” to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor?
(Maybe you could offer him “a few bucks” for “materials”. What a deal!)
Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?
If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above, you’re obviously insane.
If you answered “no”, then kudos to you for living in the real world.
But then tell me… why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?
Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen.
As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person.
In short, it makes you look like a twit.
A few things you need to know;
1. It is not a “great opportunity” for an artist to have his work seen on your
car/’zine/website/bedroom wall, etc.
It IS a “great opportunity” for YOU to have their work there.
2. It is not clever to seek a “student” or “beginner” in an attempt to get
work for free. It’s ignorant and insulting.
They may be “students”, but that does not mean they don’t deserve to be paid
for their hard work.
You were a “student” once, too. Would you have taken that job at McDonalds
with no pay, because you were learning essential job skills for the real
world?
Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.
3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by
other people, whether it’s one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement.
Neither is the right to add that work to their “portfolio”.
They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should.
It’s not compensation. It’s their right, and it’s a given.
4. Stop thinking that you’re giving them some great chance to work.
Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for
someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them.
There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people
who possess these skills.
5. Students DO need “experience”. But they do NOT need to get it by giving
their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they
need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or
business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway.
Do you think professional contractors list the “experience” they got
while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother’s house when they were
seventeen?
If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would
be able to pay for the services it received.
The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned
in what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.
6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.)
Some will ask you to “submit work for consideration”. They may even be posing
as some sort of “contest”.
These are almost always scams.
They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the
“contest”, or be “chosen” for the gig, and find what they like most.
They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who
works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of
their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications
to it, and claim it as their own.
You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest.
The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads.
This is speculative, or “spec”, work. It’s risky at best, and a complete
scam at worst.
I urge you to avoid it, completely.
For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com.
So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are “spec” gigs, or just some guy who wants a free mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.
And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free… please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you’re accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.
Please copy and repost daily so that our profession may be respected.
* Location: Chicago
* Compensation: fair
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
Posting ID: 267155638
Twice in my life, I’ve gone to see a movie more than once in a theater. One time it was Rushmore, the other was Amelie. Now, I own both on dvd and have seen both numerous times. After just watching Amelie once again, I’m still amazed at how much I love that movie. It takes such strong tugs at your heart strings, yet it leaves you in such a great mood. I remember the first time I walked out of the theater after seeing that movie. It was at a theater in Brooklyn where a majority of the audience was of the cynical hipster variety. After the film, there was a girl in the lobby literally sobbing on her boyfriend saying “that was the CUTEST movie I’ve ever seen.” Cute was obviously a fitting adjective for this movie, but there was something in there emotionally that just gave it so much more depth. The entire experience left me in a heavenly daze as I walked off in to the Brooklyn night.
That was the last time I’ve been so crazy about a movie experience. I want that to happen to again. I haven’t come close to having that happen again (though I haven’t really been looking that hard the last few years either). If anybody actually reads this and can think of a movie that will do that for me again, please let me know. And please don’t recommend Little Miss Sunshine. That was a good movie, but definitely not a GREAT movie. I’m tired of people trying to say how it was so GREAT.