Smile in The Mind

In a recent interview, book designer David Drummond says A Smile in the Mind is his modus operandi. The comment made me curious, so I found myself a copy.

The subtitle reads: witty thinking in graphic design. And in five parts, the authors do a fabulous job of defining, developing and demonstrating the use of wit and witty thinking in design. But I'd venture to say the book is worth the read simply for the fifth part alone, where 26 designers and thinkers (including Saul Bass, Milton Glaser, and Paul Rand) describe, "how I got the idea."

The book has certainly prompted me to risk a little this past week, and take a couple of projects in a whole new direction... ( Insert tentative smile here,) we'll see if I can convince the client.

Thanks David, the book is definitely worth checking out.

I'll keep dreaming

I used to own a Macbook.

At four years old, it barely survived the trauma of our three kids. Dropped. Kicked. Poked with peanut butter fingers...I was more amused than annoyed when it was stolen. To boot-up it had to be coaxed and cajoled, pleaded with, prayed over and held up at weird angles. For awhile I had some sick satisfaction in knowing the little crook would never be able to start the machine.

Still, I was left without a laptop.

I've been a Mac guy as long as I can remember. Dad introduced us kids to the Apple when 512k wasn't something to laugh about. And MacPaint was just the absolute sweetest program for any aspiring artist. I wouldn't see Photoshop for a couple more years. But that year I received the top art student award. It was 1984.

Apple really was, and still is, for die-hard dreamers and I occasionally found myself dreaming. Or drooling. Still do.

So when my better half mentioned this little contest she entered, I thought, why not? What if? Just what if ....I won?

Dream: (insert moving story about solving world hunger here)

Maybe. But probably not.

Still, I would love to win one of these For her...of course.

According to the rules:

I must have at least two links back to the contest. Check.

And I must write at least 250 words. Check.

Wow. Contest entered! What if I really win? Maybe I could win one for the wife. And she could win one for me. Now that's a thought. I'll keep dreaming. Thank you.