MY MIND ON PAPER

OK so I am absolutely psyched! I got my computer back and I can do anything...well to say anything may be a bit extreme but blogger works again. I can add photos, change colors, edit and all that nonsense.
On a sad note that means I have no excuse anymore and now must change my background from fluorescent green...
So without further ado proceed to my latest in deep thoughts via my ever inspirational blob.
So what I wanted to talk about here are notes...more specifically my notes and how they relate to information graphics. Though they may not jump off the page to all as information graphics it is my belief that since they are graphics that inform they relate to the topic. The point I wanted to bring up and discuss or prattle on endlessly about is how though they are informative graphics they are very unique to whoever created them. Since when writing notes there is no need for anybody to understand them but yourself so people often write in a way which helps them remember or record the information for future use. For graphics designed for public use or any sort of assignment meant to be viewed by others one needs to make sure that your information is legible and conveys the intended message but for notes for yourself the only person you need to worry about is yourself. Therefore I always find it interesting to try and read somebody notes they took for class to see how other people's brains work. So ladies and gentlemen here for your enjoyment are my bio notes...









As you may have noticed color-coding and pictures help me and my handwriting often leaves much to be desired.

YIPES STRIPES!

This is just a little blog to update a couple important things,
1. Blogger will not let me change any of my colors from the computers at school so for the time being y'all are stuck reading it in florescent green, I'm not to be held responsible for any blindness that ensues.
2. The word "blog" isn't my favorite word so therefor I will often refer to it as "blob" (ex. I blob in my free time. or For one of my classes I am required to blob. or Blobbing can be quite time consuming.
3. Thank you for reading my blob, hopefully one day it will morph into something fascinating and spectacular and you'll be there to see it, until then keep reading and I'll keep blobbing!
4. IT WON'T LET ME ADD PICTURES!
5. I use too many exclamation marks.
6. Lastly on a closing note, I like the color of my blog.

AHOY!

OK it seems as though I may have gotten off to a bad start, I was just informed that my blog needed to be about "Information Design" not just "Design." Bleh. So here is my first blog on the correct subject...no no no not pirates! But instead maps and graphs and all things informational.
What fun, right?
Now onto the subject of this particular posting. When browsing the internet for things I could blog about I came across this gem
The October 7th, 2008 Piracy Map good right?This was the information under it:
The International Chamber of Commerce brings us the live piracy map. The red markers are actual attacks as reported to the Maritime Security Hotline.

Points of Critique:
1. I have no clue what the difference between the red and yellow markers are. I could come up with many guesses that would be quite entertaining and probably not accurate.
2. None of the cities, countries, ports etc. are named, though I guess if you are a maritime guy/gal you are very familiar with geography and don't need to know these things especially if you are th variety that needs to look up pirate info.

BOOKS IN THE TRUE CRIME SECTION VERY RARELY HAVE COOL COVERS

...and this is no exception.

I WANT MINE WITH RACING STRIPES AND THE SPEED TO MATCH

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. That being said half the books I read I originally choose based on their cover art.
Now here is something a little different, I want to read the book Gomorrah. I haven't gone and bought it yet but have looked it up online to see what it looks like. Here are some examples of what my search came up with.








Now I'm curious to see which one my local bookstore sells since there are only two of them I like and they are both the Italian versions.
I can't wait...

HE WAS ACTING A MAGGOT AS USUAL AND MADE A TERRIBLE HAMES OF IT

On my trip to Ireland I was quite smitten with the dish soap.
I think that the colors, concept and graphics are quite cool.
Next time I'm bringing some back with me despite what my fellow travelers say!

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING AND I WANT TO GO TO THE ZOO

Ok so this is my profile pic that I wish I could make big on my profile but I can't so instead I chose to blob about it.
Long, poorly punctuated sentence. Deal with it.

BABY+CIGARETTES=ADVERTISING AT ITS FINEST

FOR DEEP THOUGHTS JUST ADD WATER

This morning as I showered I sucked on a Tootsie Pop, and as stood there I got to thinking about Tootsie Pops.
1. They are really quite good.
2. They keep me awake on long car rides.
3. Way back in the day there was a rumor you won free candy if your wrapper had an Indian shooting a star on it.
4. I have no clue why I believed it or religiously looked for said mark, being as I knew nobody who had actually done it with success much less at all.
5. Their packaging has not changed in eons.
Which leads me to my main point. Their packaging really hasn't changed in a looooong time. Which made me think of candy packaging in general. I noticed that many of the main candy brands have not changed much over the course of my life. In contrast soda packaging has changed a lot over the course of my life.
That's it.
Quite a deep thought, I know.
I will leave it to be pondered.