Hairy Faces

I ran across something this week that made me smile. A lot. The 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships. I had no idea what an extreme sport facial hair was! There are categories and everything. They should make a travel bingo game out of this. Or maybe a reality show.


The categories. Where do you fit?


Eric Brown, Sideburns Category (yes, really.)


Willi Chevalier, Freestylin' Category


Xavier Lozano Carreras, Musketeer Category (ya think?)


Elmar Weisser, Full Beard Freestyle Category


Aaron Suring, Alaskan Whaler Category

I wonder what their secrets are. Do they have strict diets and a vitamin regimen? Do they use special shampoos? Have they hired a stylist or is that a job for the wifey? Are you allowed to dye your facial hair? Does anyone cheat and use extensions? Perm? Ohhh the questions I would ask!

The Results Are In

This past week, Good 50x70 (the contest I entered on the late end) posted their decision of "shortlisted posters," mine not included. Oh well, c'est la vie.

As it ends up, it was not an easy choice. The contest had 4,210 entries this year! It's so exciting to see so many designers across the world contribute to these causes. There are a lot of great concepts in the shortlist, and a lot of posters that would really stop you in your tracks. This type of propaganda will make a difference.


Climate Change: "Don't let it go up in smoke!" Caflisch Notta, Switzerland


Healthcare Deprivation: "Just Another Number" Dawn Houser, United States


Nuclear Emergency: "Russian Roulette 2" Ahmet Erdogan, Turkey

To learn more about the different causes Good 50x70 artists stand for, see even more inspiring posters, and keep up with progress and events, visit the Good 50x70 website. Bookmark it, while you're there. And spread the word.

P.S. I realized that I never did post my entry. For those of you that have been curious, here it is.


My thought was that implementing nuclear energy as a solution to our energy problem would make it way too accessible to terrorists. At a time when so many people are trying to do harm and the threat levels are always at orange, I do not see experimenting with such deadly substances as a wise decision. I have since added a paragraph of text to better explain the cause. What is shown is the copy that was sent to Good.

Me and Myself

Alright, so I know that my work doesn't belong on here with the greats of the art and design community, but I was kind of proud of my little post-it self portrait I drew tonight. It's my first attempt at life drawing since Drawing I & II. What do ya think, any resemblance?


I joke now, but I was once not too shabby in the portrait arena. Back in the day. In fact, one of my self-portraits ended up being my first piece to win a spot in a juried show. I'm not gonna lie, I was extremely excited! Freshman didn't get into this show. Ever. I really didn't think I had a chance. For this reason, I highly recommend entering anything and everything, even if you are doubting yourself. Don't let your second-guessing get in the way. Just go for it!


Temptation, by Stefanie Pepping The image shown has been very roughly pieced together from photographs of the original, but I actually kind of like it this way. Actual drawing is much, much bigger than a post-it.

Smashed Pennies

Tonight my random string of clicking on links has been type-based. Which, of course, led me to Marian Bantjes. I can not get enough of her work! This recent project of hers seems like it might be worth the flight cost to Toronto, plus two dollars and a penny. Isn't it the most beautiful smashed penny you've ever seen? (Evidently that's the technical term.)


"So I thought about what one might conceivably want to have on a copper thing that might mingle with your change in your pocket. Ultimately I decided on 'Empathy,' because really that’s all the world needs is a whole lotta empathy, and I imagined that you might look at that Empathy penny from time to time and it might actually influence how you viewed a situation." - Marian Bantjes, via her site

This penny is part of a series of four that were commissioned by Motherbrand (Motherboy? Anyone?) in Toronto. You can check out the others at Penny Smash. Of course, Marian Bantjes' design is by far my favorite. I love her thoughts about it, and the image itself is absolutely beautiful.

Thank you, Toronto. Finally, someone is putting something besides historic scenes and zoo animals on smashed pennies! Those types of images do make for a nice souvenir every now and then, but it's great to have the option of smashing a penny with substance.

Moving Pictures

This weekend I took my first vacation in about a year. Where did I go? Lubbock, Texas. You may snicker, but you really don't know what you're missing. Flat can be fabulous!

Anyway, I brought a gift for a friend's baby, a book called Gallop! This book is ingenious! It's been out for a while, but none of my friends in Lubbock had seen it before. I realized that a normal person wouldn't really pick this book up. Unless you have kids. What can I say, I like picture books.

Why is Gallop! so special that I made my friend stop the car to look at it? The pictures move! I know, moving pictures, what a concept. How does this work, you say? It's called scanimation, and it's really hard to wrap your head around. You see, as you open each page, the image is pulled behind a series of black bars. The bars block parts of the image, so you only see certain lines at a time. This is what a naked image looks like.


But what you actually see as you open and close the page is a cat running. Your eye connects the image shown between the bars and recognizes a cat, and as different lines show through the bars, the cat moves. Here to better explain his creation is Rufus Butler Seder, himself.



When you understand it, this technology (is that the word?) is actually so simple! I just want to use it on something! Alas, there is a patent. I'm telling you, children's books is where it's at. The next time you see Gallop! or Swing!, pick them up! They do things!