DESIGN DESIGN DESIGN

How much attention do marketers or producers or manufacturers or store owners pay to design? A lot. In fact, Apple Computer's guru (Steve Jobs) thinks design is not only one of the most important things in a product but that it's the only thing. Think about that. My blog, I hope, is well-designed. It has music, photos, graphics, and nice colors. The writing does not much matter. Agreed? If you want nice, smart, imaginative designs delivered in record time and at a low price, go here. The lady at left will thank you.

Lame Journalism

I'm dropping a brief note just to give you a sense of how lame journalism has become. This is my example (they say example is the best teacher, though that is highly debatable): NPR (National Public Radio) initially made a tepid and lame announcement regarding the earthquake that hit Japan yesterday (or the day before, depending on where you were on the globe.) From the tone of the announcement, you would never have guessed that the temblor was quite significant, though they did mention that it registered 8.9 on the scale. Their reporting on the event was so low key and innocuous that it rather surprised me. TODAY however, they are falling all over themselves to cover as much detail of the event as possible. This is extremist journalism - from nothing to overkill. And this is NPR, supposedly the least sensationalistic news organization out there.

On The Rocks

Here is another inventive photo - a picture of a drink on the rocks - literally. How many times do we say things that if taken literally seem quite unusual. For instance: Heads up, flying off the handle, off the top of my head, on my shirtsleeve, camera ready, top secret, underground, ballistic, choked up, on the edge, loose canon, pushing the envelope, anti freeze, etc.

Subtlety

You probably agree that the eyes can convey a world of meaning. The face too. But the eyes, as small as they are, are abundantly expressive all by themselves. How many emotions or thoughts can they convey? I don't know. I might ask the Timid Reporter. He has lots of experience in those things. Perhaps this girl is saying "I am in full control." If I ever met her, I certainly would not disagree. Just to be sure, I would question her too.