FRE PARKING!!!

Hmm.... I'm somewhat sceptical of their attention to detail.

Agency Night at Urban Grind

One of the many events taking place within the Atlanta Creative Community is an event called Agency Night at Urban Grind. Located at 962 Marietta St., Urban Grind not only provides an intimate meeting environment, but it’s also roughly a quarter of a mile from my apartment!

Aside from combining coffee and creativity, my two main vices, Agency Night, which took place on August 25th, provided a look at some of the best interactive sites on the web today. Chris Allen of Hawthorne Visual Communication, served as the guest presenter, while the attendance included professionals from both the account and creative side of the advertising industry.

Just a few of the innovative sites discussed were:

www.booneoakley.com

www.nike.com

www.thefwa.com

www.agencynet.com

www.mono-1.com/monoface/main.html

Agency Night takes place every 4th Tuesday of the month and more information can be found by searching “Agency Nights at Urban Grind” on facebook.

AllModern.com Giveaway!

A very exciting contest is taking place over at Vintage Goodness. AllModern.com is offering up any item from their store under $100 to the winner!

Metal Starburst Wall Clock by Glenna Jean

All you have to do to enter is exactly what you're already doing. 

• Post about the contest on your own blog

• Send out a tweet about the contest on Twitter

• Post about the contest on Facebook, MySpace, or any other network

• Send out an email about the contest to all your vintage geek friends

(Leave a link to this post so people can get all the details)

Once you've exhausted your resources, head back to Vintage Goodness and leave a comment and your e-mail telling them what you did and you are entered! 

Contest ends Thursday, August 13, 2009

Up Close With Barkley

Back in December of 2008, I attended an AIGA event hosted by the Kansas City Chapter. This particular event was named “Up Close With Barkley” and gave members of the creative community the opportunity peek inside the nationally recognized advertising agency currently housed in the old TWA building of downtown Kansas City, MO. 

One of my best AIGA experiences to date. The Kansas City Chapter is definitely on the right track and they are doing some amazing things. I happened across one of the pictures from the event while checking in with their site a few days ago. I’m wearing the green sweater and carrying the brown bag.

Grrr! I'm a PC!!!

Hours upon hours are spent in front of the computer each day, why don't they have more personality? In order to liven up my wife's laptop, I started by dismantling an Incredible Hulk toy then I designed a system for mounting the arms and legs to each side. These appendages can be switched easily and the arms even lend a hand when it comes to keeping your desk organized.

Supplies:
• 1 Incredible Hulk toy
• 4 Suction cups
• 4 Strips of Velcro
• 1 X-ACTO knife
• 1 Patient and loving wife

Just Plain Cruel

You know, it's bad enough when someone is handicapped, but to make them drive backward is just plain cruel.

Kansas City, MO

On Wednesday, Dec. 10th, I left my house in Stillwater, OK, at 6:00AM destined for Kansas City, MO, by noon. After navigating some trademark Oklahoma winter roads, I was able to reach the Hallmark parking lot just in time for my lunch meeting with one of Hallmark’s Creative Directors. Up until then, I can honestly say that I had no idea the scope of the Hallmark Company. That building is virtually exploding with creativity and I had a great time walking the halls and discussing the industry.

Since my wife and I are hoping to move to the Kansas City area in May, it was nice to experience how welcoming the industry was and to see just how artistic Kansas City was in general. I had no idea the downtown area was so littered with unique galleries and shops.


HAMMERPRESS is an amazing little design shop that specializes in off-set printing. I had completely forgotten that it was located in Kansas City and should probably apologize to the desk clerk for bombarding him with my 20 questions, but I would recommend visiting this shop to anyone who finds themselves in the area. They have a great little retail section in the front of their store where you can pick up great posters, stationary, books, etc.


The Art of Pizza isn’t the trendiest spot in downtown Kansas City, but what fun are those places really? About 5 minutes in the door I was locked into a full on conversation with the owner, Vic, who was a huge photographer at one point. Over a great piece of cheese pizza and a Red Strip, I got to hear about his time shooting cheerleader calendars for most of the major NFL teams and even got to see some of the work that he had stashed behind the bar. It’s always hard to tell exactly how much of a story like that is true, but either way, it was a great time. If you stop in, tell Vic I said “Hey”.


After eating my pizza it was time to feed my love of old signs. If you look, you can actually see The Art of Pizza and Barkley in the background.

Found On Foot

Most of the time when I'm walking to and from work, I cut down streets that I normally wouldn't go down. If safe, I recommend it. It's normally just a way to explore your city and see things that you normally wouldn't, but a couple of days ago, it was a little more rewarding. While walking through an ally just off Main Street, I happened to glance over and see this old suitcase just sitting on top of a dumpster. Now, for those of you who don't know me personally, I'm a huge supporter of the recycle/reuse/repurpose movement. All of the hinges and latches worked just fine and the obvious wear just added to the personality. I still haven't exactly figured out if I'll be leaving it the way it is or if I'll be refurbishing it.

This is an example of what is becoming known as a "ghost sign." Ghost signs are fading history. If I remember correctly, this particular ghost sign was painted behind what is now a drug store around Main and 6th in downtown Stillwater, OK.

I've probably walked down this particular alley a dozen times on my way to work and until yesterday, I had never realized what it actually was. Now it's probably one of the best pieces of "graffiti/artwork" art I've seen in Stillwater, OK, so far.

Found on Foot

It's my personal belief that, whenever possible, people should be walking. Walking is the most natural form of getting around and not only promotes environmental and physical health, it also promotes your growth as a person. Each day you'll see something new, meet someone new, and if you allow it, experience something new.

When the weather permits, I thoroughly enjoy my 2-3 mile walk to work in the morning and the return trip home in the evening. Here are just a couple of the things I experienced this week. 

Click here to find out more about the meditative qualities of walking.