What's New pages are another website tradition. Who knows what sort of news will find its way here?

If you're curious about the Today Cafe columns that appears on some pages, they have their roots in the popular (and daily) Today Cafe columns I used to write for a web portal known as Tehachapi Central. Some of us need to indulge in Oblique Whimsy from time to time, which is why they're here.

The logo was updated for their new place in Licketyville, the best designed small town in America.

June 25, 2005

Meanwhile, back at the Grammy awards, Best Pop Instrumental Album this year went to Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar. Congratulations to all the artists whose hearts and skills went into that masterful collection of Mancini faves performed on solo acoustic guitar. Special congratulations go to James Jensen, Executive Producter, whose Solid Air Records made it happen. Me, I got to pinkify a Sheppard guitar image and design the CD packaging, which was almost as much fun as listening to great players interpret a one-of-a-kind composer. Thanks all! And thanks to James for getting me that cool Grammy certificate with my name on it.

Of course, I keep remembering stuff to put up, like this Storyloft picturemark. It won the Most Assymetrical Symbol award on the first Identity Design page. Lots of other symbol-based -- and less whimsical -- corporate identities on that page. That's just one of a whole bunch of pages in the Examples section. There are also examples in the edgier Miscellany section.

PANORAMA 2 DESIGN CONFERENCE
Not too long ago I was a guest designer and speaker at the Panorama 2 design conference in Bakersfield, California. Nothing more fun than holding forth and presenting some visual smatterings of the design side of my career thus far. I called my PowerPoint presentation "A Cautionary Tale" for very good (if obscure) reasons. Design can lead one into strange places. Thanx to David Koeth of Bakersfield College for inviting me, which served as a nice kick in the patootie for finally creating a portfolio website.

 

It isn't easy being in Licketyville, which fancies itself the best designed small town in America. Case in point: we're hoping to get the latest Today Cafe sign design (above) approved this week. Cross your fingers, but don't bite the end off your cigar just yet. It took us six months, fifteen meetings and 120 pints of Bittah Blue just to get the logo design past the Aesthetic Satisfaction Board. Problem was the ale, not the logo. We're the only source in Licketyville and only bring it out for special occasions...like ASB meetings. Never should have started that tradition.

Be sure to drop by when you're in Licketyville. Just look for the signless restaurant in the plain brown wrapper.

~ ~  The Proprietor