Looks like my parents got at least one thing right: “A new large-scale study, featuring data from 31 countries…finds the advantages of growing up in a book-filled home can be measured well into adulthood.”

Increased rates of literacy (defined as “the ability to read effectively to participate in society and achieve personal goals”) and numeracy (“the ability to use mathematical concepts in everyday life”) are just some of the advantages conferred when there are as few as 80 books on your home shelves.

So why not do your kids a favor? Build ’em a library.

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

Have you heard? Another Helveticahaus scholarship winner was just announced.

This is kind of a big deal. Since they opened the retail shop/philanthropic organization back in 2015, founders CK and Linda Anderson have handed out $4,000 to second-year graphic design students at Spokane Falls Community College, their alma mater.

Why? Simple: They wanted “to give back – in a creative and meaningful way – to the design profession that has given so much to us.”

If you’re interested in helping the cause, it’s pretty easy. Just buy something. All profits go right into the scholarship fund, so you’d be directly helping the next generation of designers. (And getting some pretty sweet Helvetica-themed and -inspired swag out of the deal, too.)

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

Not that anyone cares, but here are three somewhat-related things I was stewing about on my walk today:

First, an app I dearly loved (no, really) updated recently. It’s called Dark Sky, and I actually paid money for it—because it’s a weather app that gives you the information you need in a beautiful layout. Or, rather, it used to give you the information you need in a beautiful layout. Now, after the “update,” it’s glitchy and looks terrible.

Second, I took my third and final ride on a Lime scooter the other day. No, I didn’t wreck it or anything. It’s just that, for some reason now, the company no longer charges your credit card per ride. Instead, you have to put money into an account, from which Lime withdraws funds whenever you use the service.

Third, I noticed I wasn’t seeing photos from some accounts I follow on Instagram. Skooch informed me that its updated algorithm only shows you feeds from accounts you actively engage with—liking an image, say, or (even better, apparently) commenting. So even though I chose to follow certain accounts, this mysterious algorithm is choosing the content it believes I want to see.

This is progress? Sorry, but no. I know I’m old, but this is all very dumb.

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

Over at the New Yorker, Ian Crouch writes about the “slight profundity” of the latest corporate name change: “[Dunkin’] joins a list of brands with global reach whose names have been whittled down to complete meaninglessness. Weight Watchers just rebranded itself as WW. Jo-Ann Fabrics is now Joann.”

While his sort of thing nearly always comes across as a bizarre combination of desperation and condescension to me, Crouch notes that, by simplifying its name, the company “may just be trying to market more easily a vaguely defined universe of products, or to better compete globally, but it also feels like a nod to colloquialism, and to the familiar. We recognize a Dunkin’ when we see one, no matter what the sign says.”

Maybe. Still seems dumb, though.

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

We’re always grateful when CK returns from a trip bearing gifts. This time, however, some of us might be feeling a little…

Do your best to match the correct chocolate bar with Linda, Steven, Courtney, Aaron, Michelle, and Shirlee. We promise, no hurt feelings! 🙂

posted by: Shirlee Roberts-Downey  |  category: staff  |  make a comment

This story picks up where last week’s post left off.

Though I hadn’t seen Bernard Perlin since 1995—when he visited Spokane to give a presentation in conjunction with our MAC exhibit Behind the Red, White & Blue: Posters, Propaganda & Pride—I thought of him often. In 2012, my wife Linda and I were planning a visit with our two daughters to Connecticut, and I realized we wouldn’t be far from where Bernard lived. Not knowing whether he would remember me (or even if he was still alive), I called. Turns out he remembered his trip out west fondly, and encouraged us to visit. So we drove through the picturesque New England landscape to his country home in Ridgefield, where he had lived since 1959.

At 93, Bernard was still painting. We talked, toured his home and studio, and reminisced about his life’s work. The day before, we had toured Philip Johnson’s Glass House in nearby New Canaan. Bernard mentioned that he had not only known the architect, but also stayed at his home—one of the most famous houses on the planet.

Over lunch, we expressed an interest in purchasing one of Bernard’s paintings. So he took us back to his studio, where, one by one, he placed some of his works on an easel, sharing a bit of history about each. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

There was one in particular that Bernard hesitated to show us. We asked to see it—and it quickly became our favorite. When I asked how much he wanted for it, he said, “Take it home, think it over, and send me a check.”

It was the last thing I wanted to hear. For the rest of our trip, I wondered what a fair price would be. Linda and I discussed it over and over. On the one hand, it was a painting produced in 1966 but never sold; on the other, Bernard’s work is held in private collections (including the Rockefellers’) and by the likes of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London’s Tate Modern. I eventually sent him a check and held my breath. The plan was that if he felt we were undervaluing his work, we’d just call it a first-half installment. A few days later, he called, delighted by our generosity. I’ve never felt so relieved.

That was the last time I spoke to Bernard Perlin. Less than two years later, on January 14, 2014, he passed away.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: the design life  |  make a comment

It’s amazing how quickly an exhibit can be dismantled. In just one day, CX30: Creative Experiences, Thirty Collaborators—our recent exhibit celebrating helveticka’s 30th anniversary—completely disappeared.

Poof! It’s…gone.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: the design life  |  make a comment

Fancy a quick look at what’s happening around the world? According to Mother Nature Network, it appears that the end of the world is on track, which might explain this giant rogue iceberg, the addition of 2.2% artificial light every year (“threatening the 30% of vertebrates and more than 60% of invertebrates that are nocturnal”), and the banning of cats in Omaui, New Zealand. Oh—and if you find this highly venomous six-eyed sand spider lurking in your bathroom, be sure to alert the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion. She’s gone missing.

I’m done now.

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