The dude loves circles.

So I’m browsing some blogs this morning before heading out for a busy day, and I land on to Justin Fox’s blog at SpamVentDocument.

For the first time, I realise how much the guy loves circles! Just check out the list of logos down the right-hand side of his blog.

They all point to projects that he personally operates. Australian INfront is a design community he co-founded years ago and recently re-launched with an all-new look and approach, and JDMST is his car community that myself and a couple of others help run.

VWGolf is the forum he kicked off for his new-found love (though he’s bound to move to a new car soon, he always does). I designed the logo for this one – I didn’t realise at the time how perfectly it would fit in with his other projects!

Bikes Move Us is his cycling forum (another of his passions), and Sex In Art is a blog he launched a while ago to celebrate, well, sexiness in art. Justin’s never been shy about sharing his love for naked ladies – would that we could all get away with being so open about this side of our personalities!

Jump through to SpamVentDocument if you want to see more photos of his cat, haha.

Photoblogging is back, baby.

I’ve relaunched my old hundredhandslap.com photoblog, so jump over and check it out.

Doshio will continue as my regular blog, and hundredhandslap will be used solely for posting photos I take while out and about.

Right on.

Please, Keep Believing.

Someone asked me once that, if I don’t believe in a god, what is it that stops me murdering, raping, and all that.

I said “man, if the only thing that’s stopping you doing those things is your belief – whether it’s the certainty that your god’s love saves you from those desires, or the fear of an eternity in Hell that keeps you from them – please, keep believing.”

Seriously… if you think we can’t simply be good people without needing the guidance of a god or the fear of punishment to steer us from the wrong choices, you’ve got my pity as much as I’ve presumably got yours.

Just Sayin’

RunKeeper needs to work on its algorithms… when I selected "I’m a runner" in my profile, it didn’t say "hahahahaha, bullshit."

Some Random Illustratocinations

Random shit I’ve been coming and going from for ages now. I wish I could just focus on one piece and finish the damn thing!

I’m thinking about commissioning someone to colour my work. I just don’t have the patience for that part of the process.

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My Phones: A History In Pictures And Life Analogies

Like most folks my age – those who were around when mobile phone technology finally coalesced into a state of affordability, portability and urbanity – I’ve had more than a few phones in my life.

Of course, as a lower-level gadget freak, I’ve also owned maybe a few more than the average punter.

So, in honour of the recent realisation that after more than 15 years of mobile telephony, there is finally a platform and hardware combination that I don’t have any complaints about (those who know me well know that’s a rare situation for me), I thought I’d put tie together a quick history with a stupid analogy.

I went through many phones as a young teen and adult. Learning from each, discovering new worlds, but in so many ways I was simply going around in circles.

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A Little Somethin’ Somethin’

I’ve been working on this piece, on-and-off, for a long time. I’m obsessed with detail, so my illustrations always take way too long.

Discovery: ‘Chevy’ Is A Key Brand In Its Own Right, Separate From The Brand’s Proper Name

There’s been a great little song-and-dance this past week about the Chevrolet identity, with GM bosses circulating a memo internally asking that all staff communicate the brand in conversation specifically as “Chevrolet” – and not “Chevy”.

See the New York Times.

“We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising, or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward,” said the memo, signed by Alan Batey, vice prez for Chev (there’s another one; ‘Chev’), and Jim Campbell, GM’s vice prez for marketing.

“When you look at the most recognised brands throughout the world, such as Coke or Apple for instance, one of the things they all focus on is the consistency of their branding. Why is this consistency so important? The more consistent a brand becomes, the more prominent and recognisable it is with the consumer.”

After the NYT went off on a big whooptydo about it, and with the help of some public backlash (both surprising and not surprising, depending on your perspective), GM has shifted into reverse.

“Today’s emotional debate over a poorly worded memo on our use of the Chevrolet brand is a good reminder of how passionately people feel about Chevrolet. It is a passion we share and one we do not take for granted.”

“We love Chevy. In no way are we discouraging customers or fans from using the name. We deeply appreciate the emotional connections that millions of people have for Chevrolet and its products.”

“In global markets, we are establishing a significant presence for Chevrolet and need to move toward a consistent brand name for advertising and marketing purposes. The memo in question was one step in that process.”

“We hope people around the world will continue to fall in love with Chevrolets and smile when they call their favorite car, truck or crossover “Chevy.”

I love this. Maybe it’s my obsessive personality (which, incidentally, does have a short ceiling), but I’m a nut for seeing branding adhered to.

It all reminds me quite a bit of the Lego brand’s rant about the presentation of its brand in writing, or for that matter, Adobe’s complaints about people saying things like “I photoshopped it!”

I’ll allow that there are exceptions to every rule and that it can sometimes pay dividends to mix things up a little, but I can really see both sides of the argument here.

I mean, I run a private car forum that has a short name, posed entirely in upper case. Even though it’s not a brand in any commercial sense, I still get quietly shitty when my friends write it in lower case, or worse, title case.

By the same token, I hate that some brands feel compelled to run uppercase or otherwise awkward structure across their brands: Mercedes-Benz’ AIRSCARF system, BMW’s MINI brand, the Apple iProduct range, the ‘smart’ car brand and its model range; ‘fortwo’, etc.

The biggest perp, I think, would have to be Yahoo!. Who the fuck is Yahoo! to interrupt my sentence and tone with a fucking exclamation mark? All it does is make me angry, so that the only legitimate way I can serve the name in a sentence is “fuck you, Yahoo!”

Wow… speaking of tirades.

Anyway, the rant above is a separate issue from the matter of separating Chevrolet from Chevy, as that’s really a point of emotional connection and history, rather than annoying word structure.

It’s interesting to note though that Batey singles out Coke. Even though it’s a trademark in its own right, the brand is more rightly known as ‘Coca-Cola’ (when considered in the perspective Batey is approaching it from).

Still, it’s like they say; there’s no such thing as bad PR.

Orchestrated or not, there’ll be more than a few people at GM that are very stoked the brand’s getting free mentions without anything actually bad having happened.

Hmm… that’s a lot of bollocking on. Best get back to work!

Random Shots From My Robot, Part 1

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TO DO!

The To-Do list of the moment.

Design

• Piro’s logo
• Rob’s logo
• Sam’s logo
• TMR stuff
• Handwriting piece
• Talk to David and Sam about a project…

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