I have a feeling we’re going to see a whole new trend in logo design – and it will likely not live up to this.

Sock it To Me’s Design A Sock Contest is back and it is open to everyone everywhere! This year they have added a note about submissions that don’t win but are still produced, like my key sock design was in the last contest. “If we like your design and want to put it into production we will contact you.  Many times we produce more than just 1st Place.  If this happens, we reward the artist $200 total per design.  If we do not buy the design from you the imagery is still yours. Make sure to include your full name, address, email, and phone number with your submission.”

The voting will be held on Facebook just as it was for the Portland Design a Sock contest so get your submissions in and get your friends to vote!

The contest starts Wednesday, February 23rd and ends March 4, 2011 at 5pm PST.

1st Place winner of this sugar-sweet contest will get a $500 cash prize, 10 pairs of socks, and their design will be produced and sold across the world!

2nd Place receives $100 plus 5 pairs of socks.

3rd Place receives $50 and 3 pairs of socks.

Find templates here. And then submit entries via Email: designcontest@sockittome.com, or Snail Mail: Sock It to Me, 1040 SE Clinton St., Portland, OR 97202, USA

I was honored to come up with a poster concept for the event at the theatre. I pulled some of my ideas from Lance’s personal website, then started hacking away at some cardboard. I picked a few background colors and photographed a few angles.

I made the decision to go with the black background and added the details in Illustrator and Photoshop. Lance provided the copy in his own handwriting (a welcomed surprise!). And voilà, the final product below:

It’s not my usual medium, but it felt good to get away from the computer – something I’ve vowed to do more often this year.

If you’ve ever searched the word crochet in Google Images it’s likely that you have seen the crochet work of the artist Joana Vasconcelos. She was Born in Paris and resides and works in the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. Much of her recent work has included covering recognizable objects with a beautiful weblike mesh of handmade crochet. A few other pieces of work feature different fabrics and everyday objects like sinks, pans and pan lids. Take a look for yourself and visit her website or facebook page for more stunning work.

The Creature, 2006 hand made cotton crochet

Tornado, 2009, hand made cotton crochet

Tornado, 2009, hand made cotton crochet detail

Kinetic, 2007, painted and glazed faience with crochet

Vedette, 2010, stainless steel sink, handmade woolen crochet, fabric, ornaments, polyester

Contamination, 2008-2010, handmade knitting, crochet, industrial made fabrics, adornments

Cinderella, 2007, Daytime, stainless steel pans and lids, cement

Cinderella, 2007, stainless steel pans and lids, cement

Cinderella, 2007, Nighttime, stainless steel pans and lids, cement

The Moo.com staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and did offer a free reprint. After thinking long and hard I decided against it. If the cards are off-center with a border, they’ll be off-center without one, and though it may be less noticeable it’s just not acceptable. I have to represent my business and the design I’m selling in the best way possible; having horribly off-center business cards will not reflect well on the quality of my work. The staff at Moo also offered a refund, however that would require sending the cards back and I like them enough to just cut them myself (which is precisely what I was attempting to avoid in the first place – my home printer could have achieved this alignment…grrrrr).

Below are two examples of the detail-side of the cards and the back of the cards.

Right side is about a half pica smaller than the left.

It’s unfortunate that the company cannot resolve this. The packaging is great, marketing is great, website is great, the Buzzword Bingo and Buzzword Challenge cards are noteworthy additions, great stock, great print, an amazing option of up to 50 different images on one side of the cards, great customer service, reasonable prices…but all of these things do not help me achieve my initial goal of handing out business cards I am proud to share with a colleague or client.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, Google has posted a little sketch featuring Kennedy and key words he used in that address.

I leave you with a few quotes.

“The world is very different now, for man holds in his mortal hands, the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.”

“Divided. . .there is little we can do. . .for we dare not meet a powerful challenge, at odds, and split asunder.”

“We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom. . .and to remember that. . .in the past. . .those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

“So let us begin anew. . .remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.”

“In your hands, my fellow citizens. . .more than mine. . .will rest the final success or failure of our course.”

And of course: “And so, my fellow Americans. . .ask not what your country can do for you. . .ask what you can do for your country.”

I wish I had a screenshot of the old page to share but here’s the new one. It’s much more pleasant to look at and now extremely easy to find the log-in. Maybe they’ll work out the rest of the navigation confusion before I pay-off my loan in 9 years and 7 months!

Yup, that banner ad is by yours truly, Andrea Arbuckle!  I’m so honored!

Want to check out two episodes of PORTLANDIA two weeks before it premieres on IFC? Then you’re in luck, the Hollywood Theatre is showing it on the big screen followed by a Q&A with film critic Aaron Mesh and co-creator and co-star Carrie Brownstein! Below are the details and if you haven’t already seen the promotional music video, scroll down and watch that too.

Tickets are now on sale for Friday, January 14th’s premiere of the new IFC television show PORTLANDIA.

The festivity begins at the Hollywood Theatre at 7:30pm, with emcee Mikey Kampmann and comic Ian Karmel, followed by two episodes of PORTLANDIA’s “dreamy and absurd rendering of Portland, Oregon” a week before it premieres on IFC. The screening will be followed by a Q&A between film critic Aaron Mesh and co-creator and co-star Carrie Brownstein.

Shot entirely on location in Portland and starring Brownstein and SNL’s Fred Armisen, the series guest stars celebrities such as Kyle MacLachlan, Selma Blair and Gus Van Sant and is executive produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by Jonathan Krisel. The event will include an auction featuring items created by local artists inspired by Portlandia’s “Put a Bird on It” sketch and Rogue Brewery’s special Portlandia beer will be for sale.

The 21 and over after party will take place at @Large Films, 807 NE Couch Street, with doors at 9pm. The entertainment includes a solo-set Eric Earley (Blitzen Trapper), the nine-member “roots music machine” Pancake Breakfast, DJ Nightschool and DJ Whitney and a special guest.

Proceeds with benefit Film Action Oregon and the Oregon Humane Society.

Tickets will go fast, so don’t delay! Tickets to the screening are $15. Tickets for the after party are $10. Click the Order Now box in the upper right of this screen to reserve your seat!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2010. That’s about 4 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 42 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 61 posts.

The busiest day of the year was September 22nd with 80 views. The most popular post that day was UPDATE: Sock it to Me Contest, I’m in the running!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, andreaarbuckle.com, en.wordpress.com, Google Reader, and linkedin.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for weird crochet, harpo logo, andrea arbuckle, sock template, and crochet mustache.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

UPDATE: Sock it to Me Contest, I’m in the running! September 2010
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Crochet – weird word, fun arts. August 2010

Sock It To Me $500 Sock Design Contest is Back | PDX residents only! September 2010

Razors & Intuition | A marriage made somewhere December 2009
1 comment

A Design Process | For the Curious February 2010
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Hey, check this out!! These guys are looking for the worst logo ever – super fun! You may recognize some of the judges, Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit of UnderConsideration, Frank Chimero, a creative from our very own PDX, The Heads of State, a design and illustration studio and a few others.

The client is Excellencico – this creative brief sets the tone:

Our logo needs to be simple and yet detailed, complex yet spare. We prefer that the logo convey the forward-thinking nature of our company without looking too futuristic or flashy but we also don’t want anything too conservative or neutral. “Just right” is the vibe we are looking for. We believe that “e” best defines our unique approach and core company culture. We’re very drawn to the colors one finds in a rainbow but color wheels are a significant turn-off. I have attached a picture of our puppy. We don’t want the puppy incorporated into the logo but we do want you to capture her spirit and attitude and expect that to be conveyed through design elements.

The website comes complete with confusing directions, “File Type:All files must be jpgs. (No JPEGs)” and some well placed typos. Anything you’ve ever encountered in the design world seems to be showcased on this site. Below is a screen shot of some entries.

Here are the awesomely bad logos I submitted (we’ll see if they show up on the site). [Update: The cat "logo" is in! - click the photo to see in on the website]