Byrdhouse

Atlanta Community Food Bank Holiday Card

Armchair invited Atlanta Community Food Bank people to share their meaning of the holidays with one word. Give, receive, enjoy and pass it on. See the card here

 

Rabbit Ears and the Cutting of Our Cable

We turned off our cable last month. The day Comcast came by and got their HD/DVR box, we held a small farewell ceremony. Goodbye recorded TV shows. So long, fast-forwarding-through-the-commercials. We wore black and snacked alot that day.

We noticed over the years, our cable service had grown: first HBO, then On-Demand, then a DVR, then HD, then an HD-DVR. The feature list had evolved into one fat, slightly offish, monthly cable bill.

Our decision to cut came from a glance at our monthly household budget, which in turn made us think more critically about all of our services, and specifically our television watching habits. We kept up with some televisions shows regularly. While at other times it was more like a daily ritual. Television was just on during our mornings.

With an Apple TV we had gotten some time ago, we were more accustomed to downloaded shows & movies. Boxee brought Hulu to our media room. And then there was the modest DVD and Blu-ray collection. But none of these provided our local news.

The following day after the box was taken away, the look on Florrie's face was as if she had jumped in a cold lake. Mine too. It was not like the day we canceled Netflix at all. Instead it was a full-body, shock-to-the-system sort of shiver. Things would never be the same.

Until our saving grace appeared: A twenty dollar digital antenna. It picks up over-the-air channels, in HD mind you, all with no subscription cost. Evidently these "rabbit ears," as they call them, were quite popular back in the day. Atlanta's channel offering is quite great too. World News Tonight and the Today Show in 1080p? Sign us up!

Slapping the Cowboy

We just launched a new site celebrating the yellow-clad hero of pressure treated pine: YellaFella, Yellawood's ambassador of quality building products. Be sure to check out the "Fight the Bad Guy" part if you're having a tough week and need someone to take it out on. YellaFella launched his first series of commercials about his Adventures in Rotwood. We produced the website over a few short months, working with actors, musicians, cowboys, animators and the 3d effects gurus- The Westside Collective. I helped with art direction and the flash. Aaron did the front-end design work. Check out YellaFella.com

Snuggie vs. Slanket: The Ultimate Consumer Products Death Match

Round one of this gift giving season are two marvelous 19.95 products as seen on television: the Snuggie, a monk-red blanket with sleeves (also sold in wizard-blue), and the unfortunately named challenger, the Slanket.

Gladiator, ready? Challenger, ready? *whistle

Who do you think will win?

UPDATE: So as it turns out, the Snuggie is actually a rip-off of the Slanket. The Slanket was created by Gary Clegg in 1998 when he was a freshman in college. VIA

Happy Holidays

Here's some video fun for the holiday season. Have your holiday checklist handy?

The Spectrum Diet*

We are talking about a seven-day eating regime like no other that has marched across America, passed from mother to daughter, and is currently being tested by a large group of mildly overweight people. We are talking about the spectrum diet.

On Monday, we eat in red. Tomatoes, apples, tuna tartar, red peppers, pepperoni and raspberries. Tuesday is orange like cantaloupe and salmon. And well, oranges. Wednesday is yellow. Thursday, green. Friday is nothing but blueberries! Eggplant, plums and grapes are for Saturday. Sunday you fast. But maybe you do pink. (Florrie interjected and said to put in pink.) The real spectrum diet purest fasts though. I mean, come on, pink grapefruit and shrimp? Sheez.

*Working title, results may vary.

HeadOn: Apply Directly To The Forehead

This commercial for Head On is, well, absolutely mesmerizing. Head On is an ointment you evidently apply directly to your forehead. For what, I can't exactly say. Do listen with sound. I guarantee you won't forget how to apply it.

UPDATE:
Read more info on Slate

The Game

I pause and rewind the game.

"You see that, 'Hon? That's how it's played right there. If I could learn that kind of foot work, I'd really be on top of my game."

"But you don't play soccer, Kevin."

I replay it in slo-mo for closer inspection.

"You don't even own a soccer-ball."

One Step Closer To The Top

If you have been following America's Top Model this year (and that's a yes if you are a husband to most any woman), you will have surely noticed that it's been enhanced on all fronts. A stretch Escalade replaces the utility van they had last year; the contestants got more beautiful; the mansion... well, much larger. It's all-around bigger.

Here are some pull quotes from the latest episode in case you missed out:

"Personal style means that you can be fat, forty and bald, and dress like a clown, and still be the most fabulous person in the room. It means you have a look, and it means you have a point-of-view behind your look."

"I don't think there is anyone here that loves fashion as much as I do."

"What's a mod shoe?"

"She can't handle it."

"2 words. Umm, ewww."

"More style! More glamour! Faster! Hurry!"

"Do you think this is mod style?"
"-Umm, no."

"I have better personal style than most of these girls-- actually, all these girls."

"That's not mod! That's eighties!"
(A crushing sustain underlines the humiliation of not knowing what mod is.)

"I've been practicing in the mirror since I was seven!"

"You have had a fashion violation, and that's not good."

"I want to wear that dress too," chimes the fat, forty and bald orange clown (the original club kid).

"I think she's going for Beyonce, and she's getting Rupaul!"

Game on.

Feliz Navidad

Our consumerism is never more apparent than each holiday season when we're hit with a frenzy of advertising dollars. Have you noticed the new Target commercial running this holiday season? It's one of those 30-second spots that is split into two mini-commercials (this is thought to better imprint a brand into a viewer's memory). Target has taken it one step further by creating one of the two 15-second spots entirely in Spanish. Is this unprecedented? Perhaps for a major network it is. Maybe not, depending on the region of the country you're living in. Here in Atlanta though all we see is car and gadget commercials between episodes of America's Top Model. They're always in English despite the large population of hispanics living here. Maybe advertisers have finally figured out that they've been excluding a huge consumer market for all too long. Be on the lookout for bulls-eyed dreidels.

Which Car Are You Giving?

Automobile advertisers seem to think you're purchasing a luxury vehicle for a loved one this season. With the consistency of the commercials, one would begin to think this is as common as giving a scarf or sweater, only it requires a bigger bow. For the love of Christmas, don't forget the oversized bow. Here's a few.

Most Extreme Olympic Challenge

The Olympics began over the weekend. Mostly I was caught squarely between the Chinese gymnastic team and the Japanese contestants on Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. One half-hour was spent hopping between the two channels with the remote's "last channel" function. A little man drunk on country sake clinging to a giant mushroom is absolutely captivating. Pummel horses are likewise strangely compelling.

Tonight At Six

whirlybirds buzz high
over city's breaking news
like flies on caca

-

The Big Reveal

I've been in several conversations this week with people on the subject of makeover television. Make over my car, my style, my house, my lawn, and my face. Give me a new job, a new career, a new relationship and a new dress size. I think it's fair to say that "makeover" is the leading type of reality programming right now. These shows are successful because people are watching them. As a barometer of culture this is quite concerning. Are we all unhappy with the current state of our lives? Of the way we look? Does it stem from a broader dissatisfaction with our economic, political and social states? Okay, perhaps that is too much a stretch. One good eye opener raised by Bill this week was that as designers the reinvention trend has, quite naturally, had an impact on our work. Everyone wants a new self.

Redesign comprises much of the work we do as designers, so if anything, this wave is a great thing. But there is that "all within the hour" residue that lingers from a hollywood version of design that is troubling. We see it everyday.

We Love the Subs

Quizno's new commercial has me captivated each time it airs. Absolutely hilarious. It features the Spongmonkeys- two lovable singing critters so badly photoshopped that it's good. Perhaps you remember their other hit, the moon song? I try so hard to resist singing along when company is over. Looking for a clip, this intro is the closest I could find.

UPDATE: Slate tells us more and links to the clip.

Capturing Design

This weekened I shot Soorikian Furniture's latest designs for their online catalogue. Below are a few images from the five hour shoot.

It's quite a fine furniture collection in my opinion (more not shown). I shot these images at Imagination Brewery's photography facilities. I certainly could not have done it without the help from Heath Patterson, he lit everything.

The Christmas Chillout

So you're throwing a little Christmas shindig and need some holiday tunes to get your guests in the spirit. Why not go with a twist, both for your martini and your stereo? The Reindeer Room Volume II is a collection of seasonal favorites wrapped in the sounds of electronic lounge. No fireplace to get cozy by? Not to fret, the album is accompanied by its own yule log DVD. It's a perfect backdrop for any holiday activity. Now where to hang that mistletoe...

Fair and Balanced

I live in Atlanta. We drink Coke here. Home to the Braves and Turner Networks. Turner to some degree helps elevate Atlanta beyond the recognition of similar cities due to its secure foothold in the television industry. Most designers I know here are employed by Turner either directly or indirectly, as the network giant uses much of the local talent pool for everything from broadcast to web design. This is why I choose CNN as my news channel. I have it in the back of my head I'm supporting the local design community. Atlanta has always been CNN turf. Today I passed Centennial Park where the CNN Center resides and noticed two taunting billboards by Fox News. Fair and Balanced reads across the street where tourists take the CNN studio tour. It's like when Charlton Heston made a trip to Littleton, CO, to speak at an NRA rally after the Columbine incident- blatantly aggressive and plainly in poor taste. I always thought Fox News was the Current Affair of news reporting. Now I just see them as slimy. Here's some images, please draw your own conclusions:

Related Story: More slime

The Kids Watch It

We're talking television. The O.C. might be marking a return to scripted television programming. They have released a lonely ship in a stormy sea of reality what not. Is it braving it well? Hard to say, but it is entertainingly ironic that it appears on a network that has wore the reality show pantyhose quite thin in recent years. And here's a troubling thought: the audience demographic in the commercial reel is definitely not your marketing profile at all. Even more troubling, the claritan commercials have teenagers bouncing on trampolines (obviously in a trance of prescritive glee).