Good evening, Kibitzers!
Last week, I said that I had a part 2 diary of beautiful storm photography, and I do. I just kind of feel like we’ve maybe seen enough storms just for the moment.
Instead, I will show you something completely different (yet unrelated to Monty Python). I was watching a video by Vox producer Phil Edwards, whose personal YouTube channel I wrote about in May.
This was a video about Pantone, the company that maintains a numbered catalog of over 2000 colors, whereby designers and brands can standardize their intended colors across time and locations. [You can see that video here.] He was discussing how Pantone came to “own” color, and he called upon his friend Linus Boman, a YouTuber on the subject of graphic art and design and their interface with pop culture. I liked Linus Boman, so I looked at his channel.
In the first place, he has a website, and his url is “TimesNewBoman dot com”. I laughed at that, so I felt like I would be rewarded by watching some of his videos. And I was. They’re informative, and he picks some entertaining topics, including ones that might not be entertaining in the hands of someone else — he also used to do standup, we learn.
I haven’t included as many videos as I usually do, because they tend to be longer than the ones I usually feature. But maybe scan through and pick one to watch, and see what you think.
A tongue-in-cheek comparison of the respective coats of arms of Queen, the band, and The Queen, then-monarch of Great Britain. [10:51]
The evolution of clip art, from its pre-computer days to its more-or-less demise, and what drove these changes. [28:00]
Ryanair is the Spirit Airlines equivalent in Europe. Their safety card is a sticker on the seat back so you have to see it every time you look up, and Linus has... some thoughts. [10:25]
This is pretty funny, yet sad — he takes on a character to give branding advice to evil mega-corporations, and he didn’t have to make up examples, just thinly disguise the names. “Evil is not a substitute for personality!” (Ron DeSantis needs to watch this, apparently.) [8:05]
Here’s an interesting discussion about logos of comedy clubs, successful designs and not so much. [16:09]
The “swoosh” is the Nike logo, but it’s also a generic term for that sort of open-ended curve. This is an account of the generic form’s history. [9:53]
I’ve put this at the end because it’s probably most in tune with Daily Kos’s main content (well, surpassed maybe by the evil megacorporations...) It’s a discussion of the “Chop Suey” font, the one you commonly see on Chinese menus and takeout containers. Where did it come from? Is it racist? He speaks with graphic and type designer Raven Mo about the font’s relationship to real Chinese lettering. [19:56]
Okay then, political parody time! Founders Sing are the people who usually have creepy AI animations of the original vocalists singing their parody songs. Here, we see what a tight legal grip the Rolling Stones must keep on their likenesses, as You Can’t Get No Re-election is sung by Some Guy. ;) [3:02]
Rocky Mountain Mike is on quite a roll this week, and no wonder! Here’s his latest, Mug Shot, to The Hollies’ Bus Stop, but there are a couple of others since last Tuesday that you can see here on his channel. [1:15]
Tuesday morning: breaking!!! If you missed zenvegan’s diary for it, here is today’s new Randy Rainbow, a Streisand thing with a dash of Pointer Sisters — Don’t Arraign on His Parade! [3:57]
So everyone’s okay, right? No one got washed away, not even nomandates and Chrislove (hope they got some rain from Tropical Depression Nine Tropical Storm Harold, but it wasn’t looking good last time I checked.) Maybe we can go for a bit without any disasters?