Last night, my mom and I were discussing the relative merits of Louis L’Amour; somewhat fortuitously, today I came across a letter from Edgar Rice Burroughs to a 14-year-old kid whose teacher had some rather unkind things to say about Mr. Burroughs’s oeuvre. Here’s the money paragraph:

My stories will do you no harm. If they have helped to inculcate in you a love of books, they have done you much good. No fiction is worth reading except for entertainment. If it entertains and is clean, it is good literature, or its kind. If it forms the habit of reading, in people who might not read otherwise, it is the best literature.

Hard to disagree with that.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Because it’s Friday—and because I can—I bring you: Ilha de Queimada Grande!

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  comments(1)

Speaking of writing habits that chafe me, I’d like to say a word or two about the comma. As many of you know, one of its many glorious uses is to separate items in a series: “lions, tigers, and bears.” The second comma in this example is what’s called a “serial comma,” and the only thing you need to know about it is that anyone who tells you it’s unnecessary (like, say, The Associated Press Stylebook) is both a scoundrel and a villain. To wit:

Strunk & White: “In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.”

Fowler: “The only rule that will obviate uncertainties is that after every item…the comma should be used.”

Chicago Manual of Style: “Chicago strongly recommends this widely practiced usage…since it prevents ambiguity.”

And finally, Paul Brians: “Follow the style recommended by your teacher, editor, or boss when you have to please them; but if you are on your own, I suggest you use the final comma.”

Why, you might ask, does the AP eschew the serial comma? To save space. Get rid of a couple thousand commas throughout a newspaper, and that frees up ad space—at the expense, however, of clarity.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: the writing life  |  make a comment

The grandson of Richard Wagner died Sunday at the age of 90. Alex Ross points to something almost beyond belief: that the grandson of a man born in 1813 should survive well into the 21st century.

So what’s that got to do with design? Nothing, really—unless you subscribe to the notion, as many do, that Grandpa’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is the greatest work of art ever created. High praise, to be sure. Not to mention controversial. But I’m inclined to agree.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

There’s a $10 bill here at AMD corporate headquarters for the first person who can name one—just one—advantage of Daylight Savings Time. I’m not talking about how much everyone enjoys the extra light at the end of the workday; I’m talking about a tested, proven, and verifiable benefit to humanity.

Stumped? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  comments(5)

That’s pretty much what I told the suits here at AMD when I was asked to contribute to our official blog. (“Contribute,” of course, means “become the chief architect of,” “manage,” and “do all the heavy lifting.”)

Turns out it’s not as bad as it sounds. I get to write about stuff that interests me and, I hope, whoever accidentally stumbles upon the site. Plus, I get to keep my job—a “win-win,” according to the suits.

So. Welcome to our blog. We hope it’s everything you imagined and more.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Anderson Mraz Design, formed in 1988 in Spokane, Washington, is a communications design group operating in local, regional, and national markets. Our expertise includes brand strategy, corporate identity, print, collateral, packaging, website development, and environmental graphic design across a diverse and wide-ranging client base.

The embodiment of everything a company stands for, a brand is the sum of our perceptions of product, service, experience, and organization. The art – and science – of branding is about creating positive associations and expectations; about making an emotional connection between consumer and product while providing clarity through differentiation.

Embracing a host of disciplines that includes graphic, architectural, interior, and landscape design, environmental graphic design is the arrangement of three-dimensional space to communicate emotions and ideas. It’s the combination of words, images, and sound to stimulate or soothe; to inform, educate, and inspire.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: staff  |  make a comment