The Credit Crisis:Infographic Video

Check out this cool infographic video by Jonathan Jarvis that clearly illustrates "The Short & Simple Story of the Credit Crisis".

This might be the most educational 10 minutes you have experienced in days. Jonathan Jarvis took a complex situation like the credit crisis and made it into an easy and understandable video.

Watch it below.


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Same S#%t Different Toilet....

These are some photos I took of the Men's Bathroom signs around Cal State Los Angeles...
Can you guess where each Bathrooms signs belong to???
(Hint: Fine Arts Building has the ugliest bathroom sign)
I wanted to take pictures of the Women's Bathroom signs, but I didn't want to look like a "Smut Peddler."

Don't quit your Day Job...

Have you ever wondered what are your chances on becoming a billionaire???

Let's do some quick math, there's roughly close to 6.75 billion people living on earth, and there's only 950 people who are billionaires in the world. If you do the math there's approximately a 1 in 7 million chances of you becoming the next billionaire. If you live in the U.S, your chances are better there's a 1 in 800,000 chance on becoming a billionaire.

Some people have a hard time visualizing how much one billion dollars is (including myself). Here's a poster that illustrates how much one billion dollars is really worth and how it relates to our world.

One way of getting a billion dollars is by gathering 590 of your guy friends lifetime income or 768 of your girlfriends lifetime income.

It's shocking and depressing to see how much money is being unnecessary spent in the War for "Black Gold" (Iraq), no wonder why the economy is going down the toilet.

Don't quit your Day Job...

The Future in Car Display Panels...

2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids, will include an Eco-friendly/smart efficient instrument display panel (pause). As usual, you will be able to see the speedometer in the middle, but on either side, there will be video screens displaying several Eco-friendly animations, to clearly show you charts and graphs on how your cars is destroying the planet.

The system lets you decide how much information you want to see. It can display such data as battery charge status, engine output power, and amount of power applied to the wheel. If you become overwhelmed by the information, you change the display settings to show you basic info such as how many miles until your tank is empty.

Hopefully, this can help spread more Global Warming awareness to commuters around the world. The display panel reminds of Windows Media play skin.

Why I Am A Graphic Designer....

I designed this pie chart to illustrate some of the top reasons "Why I am A Graphic Designer", What are yours????

Marijuana More Potent than Ever....

Some call it, Chronic, Grass, Hash, Herb, Mary Jane, Pot, Reefer, Skunk, or Weed. These leafy green plants, are the most commonly illicit drug used in the United States, according to the U.S Dept. of Justice. The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Of the roughly 400 chemicals found in the cannabis plant, THC affects the brain the most. Marijuana plant growers and breeders try to cultivate the most potent "pot" possible, by any means necessary. Some drug dealers are even spraying several amounts of "Fly Spray" into marijuana plants to increase potency.

According to a study done by the University of Mississippi Potency Monitoring Program, the potency of marijuana has increased nearly tripled since 1987, and as demand continues for the ultimate high that pot can provide, it looks as though that percentage will be increasing further. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette.

About a 6 years ago, I smoked some "Amnesia Haze" from Amsterdam with one of my friends from Venice, his girlfriend happens to be a writer for the "HIGH TIMES" magazine. That was the best marijuana I've ever smoked, I went to sleep for about two hours, it was real strong.

I used to smoke weed back in my days, but nothing comes close to that Amsterdam "Amnesia Haze." I don't smoke weed anymore, for several reasons. People are just smoking chemicals.

A good friend of mine used to smoke weed 3 times a day, since 1999, now he's schizophrenic and living on the streets. These are some the harsh realities of smoking weed, be careful if you smoke weed Jimmy Moss.

The man that gave Obama Hope

Shepard Fairey, is a well known Los Angeles-based, contemporary artist who created the iconic Barack Obama's "Hope" poster. The Obama illustration was seen replicated in thousands of shirts, buttons, and signs for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Shepard Fairey gained notoriety for creating the “Andre the Giant” infamous street art campaign and Obey (clothing company) fame. Shepard Fairey also designed the portrait of President Barack Obama featured on the cover of Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" issue last month and designed the official Inaugural Poster for President Barack Obama, the inaugural posters are selling for $500...

Shepard Fairey, was a guest in "The Colbert Report" which aired on Janurary 15, 2009. Enjoy...

Japan has Flavor

I went to one of my favorite stores in Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles) "SELECTA". Selecta sells exclusive apparel, rare-collectible items (Steve Urkel Doll & R.O.B Nintendo robot) and a good selection of music. As usual, I walked toward the back to talk to my good friend DJ Yoshi, on the latest music releases. As we were talking I couldn't stop staring at the bottle he was drinking. The bottle looked similar to one of those Aloe Vera Juice drinks that my mom loves to drink. The thing that caught me off guard was that it had the Pepsi logo. To my surprise I found out that Yoshi was drinking none other than Ice Cucumber-flavored soda. He told me he got a whole case from Japan...

Apparently, in the summer of 2007, Pepsi not only released the Ice Cucumber flavor, but they also released Pepsi White (Half Pepsi/Half Yogurt drink) to the Japanese market. Even the man himself, Chester Cheetos changed its flavor earlier this year in Japan by going from Flaming Hot to Strawberry and Chocolate... Japan offers a variety of Kit-Kat flavors, the Kiwi Kit-Kats are good.... This shows how different cultures have different tastes.

The packaging on the Ice Cucumber is very modern, refreshing in color and eye catching. It surely worked on me, because I couldn't stop staring at it, maybe because I hadn't seen it before maybe...Pepsi needs to work on the design for the Pepsi White it simply looks nasty.

I'm not sure if the Ice Cucumber-flavored drink would be popular in the U.S. I guess this is how the people in Japan keep cool in the summer....

Rumor has it that Pepsi is going to release Hot Dog flavored Soda exclusively for South Central L.A liquor stores. Are you ready for the Pepsi Challenge?

Time in Color

The Pantime Clock is a student project, designed by James Beattie from Bedford College, UK. The Pantine Clock is an interesting way to replace traditional clock numbers with different colors that correspond to Pantone Matching System numbers, starting with "012 C" (Pantone # for Yellow). Now, Graphic Designers, Printers and Artists can match the colors to its respective number from the Pantone Matching System.

It would be hard for me to tell time just by looking at the Pantime Clock. James Beattie, should make a 365 calendar by using the same system....

LMFAO Album Covers....

Over the weekend I went to my favorite music store Amoeba (Hollywood) located on Sunset Blvd between Ivar and Vine Avenue. As I was digging through some Records in the SOUL section. I came across Millie Jackson's 1989 Album "Back to the S_ _ T!", I seriously thanked graphic designers for coming a long way... The cover has Millie Jackson sitting down on a toilet bowl with her panties hanging down to her ankles, with a facial expression only a toilet can make you do...

Here's a couple of other memorable-funny album covers. These are some of the worst album covers that have ever been designed. Bad design and typography is everywhere, but these album covers have crossed the line!!!

"Zip Zap Rap" by Devastatin Dave was a single released in 1986. The single is an anti-drug song, released during Ronald Reagan crack-cocaine era. Check out the CMYK color scheme.

Knorkator-Hasenchartbreaker is an album by a German heavy metal band, released in 1999. Bad Image and terrible typography used

Ken-By request Only, released in 1976. This record sold for $150 on eBay.

Norberto de Freitas-Trapalhadas do Balbino... All I could say is Woow..

King Obstinate-25th Anniversary, released in 1983.

Eye exam...

This is the new DMV eye exam test. j/k.....
Can you read what it says????















(Hint: Don't look that close)

The Moment of Truth...

We have come to the final day of the political race that will shape our nation's history on same-sex marriages, animal rights, and will determine the next 44th U.S President. Remember the choice is yours, go out and vote like the poster above.....

I found a couple of posters:

"Vote", is a powerful poster it uses sans serif typography to create the shape of a thinking bubble. There's a mix of type styles and sizes. The overlapping and type size change used in this poster is a common technique used in advertising posters.

"Mc Cain I am Bush", was created after October 15th 3rd Presidential debate. When Senator Mc Cain told Obama, " Senator Obama, I am not President Bush". Classic Quote by Mc Cain.

"Nope Sarah Palin", is a parody of Shepard Fairey's Hope poster, notice the filters in this image.

Can you read what it says???? It's a poster by Lance Wyman, reminds me of an optical illusion.

The Gallery Row: Downtown Los Angeles

Two weeks ago I went to the Gallery Row located in Downtown Los Angeles between Main and Spring Streets from 2nd to 9th Streets. The art-walk is dope like heroin, it's an art aficionado's wet dream come true. It's basically, a public self-guided tour that showcases 42 art galleries, museums, and non-profit art venues, every 2nd Thursday of the month from 12:00 p.m to 9:00p.m. The Gallery Row was founded in 2003 and has always showcased a special artist each month.

This month they showcased two internationally known and locally respected Los Angeles Graffiti Artists. "Kofie One", who designed murals for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and "Mear One", he's a living legend. His art can be seen anywhere from the concrete streets, magazines, art galleries, etc.

I really like the environment at the Gallery Row, there's music and plenty of food. There's even a free shuttle service from 6-10 p.m called the "Party Bus". Some of the art pieces are inspirational and some are mind blowing. Keep in mind that the photographs don't do justice for these works of art. The next art walk is on November 13th, hopefully I can see some of you there....

Upcoming Attractions...

Since, I talked about some of my favorite Horror movies and posters, it's only right to discuss about upcoming movie posters...

When I'm not listening to music, eating, hanging out w/ friends or tap dancing, I'm probably watching a movie. I hate it when I buy bootlegs DVD's, because they don't show upcoming attractions. Watching upcoming attractions is one of the reasons I like going to the movie theaters. One thing I hate about going to the movie theaters is looking at those cheesy trivia questions they advertise before a upcoming attractions.

Movie ad's are an important element in the Motion Picture Industry, they spends an average of $15 million to promote each movie. I really like the way movie posters are designed: Image, Tag-line and Title (Sometimes Actors names). It's interesting to see how they advertise and create hype about a film by using these 3 elements, without revealing too much information about the movie.

These are some Teaser Posters for upcoming films in 2009....

For the Horror fans: Friday the Thirteen and The Uninvited

For the Comic fans-Xmen Origins: Wolverine and GI-Joe:Rise of Cobra

For the Munchkins: Dragon Ball, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinasours and Where the wild things are (Remember this Book, I do)

Some other films, I'm looking forward to in the year 2010 are Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Smurfs, Voltron, Gears of War, Bob Marley: Movie and the Unauthorized Bio of Jimmy Moss.

Favorite Horror Movies and Covers...

Candy corn, Pumpkins, Halloween parties and Horror films....Halloween is here. I'm a big fan of Horror films, I like watching B-side , Cult and Shockumentaries movies. Whenever I get a chance I like going to the Grindhouse Theater on Beverly Blvd west of La Brea, sometimes I just pass by just to see the great Horror film posters.

On Friday, I overheard some youngsters talking about how SAW Cinco (Five) is scary and good. I think that High School Musical movie is scarier than Saw 5...

As a kid I had no choice but to watch Horror films with my Uncle. I remember this video store by my house, I would walk on the other side of the street to avoid seeing the Horror Posters. Even though, I was scared I was always attracted to the posters. I think it has always been the creepy images they have used to create fear and mystery.

Here are some of my favorite films and covers check out the typography on these babies...

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Exorcist
Dead Alive
I Drink Your Blood
Cannibal Holocaust (Not for the Squeamish)

Dial Soap vs. Doritos Chips Bag

During the week I went Halloween shopping around town. I went to Rite Aid on Crenshaw and Slauson, as I went through the Shampoo section I stumbled upon a canister of Dial shampoo. I was a bit confused when I saw it, is it me or does it look like a bag of Doritos....You be the judge????

Shocking HIV/AIDS Awareness Ads

As the saying goes, "Sex Sells", I stumbled upon this excellent HIV/AIDS Awareness campaign ad from France. The text reads: "Without a condom you're making love with AIDS. Protect yourself." The ad was designed by French NGO (National-Governmental Organization) called AIDES ("Aide" means "Support" or "help" in French), which was founded in 1984, which is the leading French Aids fighting association in Europe. These ads were created to shock, scare and spread awareness. This is a serious issue ladies and gentlemen, PROTECT YOURSELVES and Practice safe sex, even Superwoman can get it. Test yourselves, there's plenty of free help out there...

Obama Fever....

As the presidential elections get closer and closer, 26 days to be exact. There's a hot new trend among Street Wear Clothing Companies, Barack Obama shirts. Obama's mugshot can be seen everywhere from bumper stickers, coffee mugs, toys and even lingerie. Obama shirts are grossing in sales among Street Wear Clothing Companies, it seems to be the new way to campaign. John Mc Cain and Sarah Palin seem to be getting no love, I've only seen negative shirts for them. If you really want an Obama shirt you can get yours on the corner of Crenshaw and Slauson. Keep in mind that the last day to register to vote is October 20th, 2008, don't let time pass you by...

I wish Bill Clinton could run for president again, I would love to see the shirts...