Thursday, September 15, 2011

Charles Parrott Building

I love downtown athens, for obvious reasons (who doesn't need to unwind at the end of the week). And then there's the not so obvious reasons, the hidden gems that are well worth uncovering. The Charles Parrott building, for example. I did a little "google-ing" and found that... it really isn't that interesting of a building, in terms of history and fun stories. But, the architecture is never the less extraordinary. Case-in-point, this is about the only literature that I can find on the building, online:


"This three-story commercial building bears a Richardsonian Romanesque style front facade. A large round-arched entrance frames the deeply recessed doorway, which features the deeply recessed doorway, which features rough hewn stone, a flat lintel, a radiating voussoir segmental arch, and flanking windows. Two string courses divide the second and third stories. Three Italinate stone-arch windows form the bays separated by Doric brickwork pilasters. A double-triangulated, pediment dormer caps the four stone brackets of the projecting cornice. Pyramidal turrets accent the mansard roof. The original interior floor plan, still intactm has two rooms with a side wall stairwell..."



Following this was a short history of how the plot of land changed hands over time. There really wasn't enough worth-while information divulged for my taste. And the description doesn't really do much for me either, I don't speak architecture. Besides, when I think of this building, I don't think about the "pyramidal turrets" or "doric brickwork pilasters". I think about the ad on the side.
I was a graphic design student before I was an ad kid. That intro class made be obsessed with text and layouts. So this ad practically gives me goosebumps! I don't claim to be a master of font identification like my professor but, I do recognize the Victorian fonts. In fact, I wish I knew what they were because I absolutely love them! And I love that this ad is a testament for the enduring nature of advertising, history, graphic design, and art. For this is a lost art. A little piece of history, sitting quietly on the skyline of Athens. Lovely. Simply lovely. 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Best of the Web

This evening, or technically yesterday evening, since its now 1:00 in the morning, ADclub had an interesting "workshop" called "Best of the Web". The guy talked about websites, apps and such that were hot online right now. Not quite what I was expecting but, still worth the time.

This is ADclub's official post about the meeting. I don't see the point of re-hyperlinking all of the pages when they've already done such a wonderful job!

My absolute favorite find: Brand New
I find this topic so interesting. Its one of those "I wish I thought of it first" kind of things, you know if I had the resources to create a blog like that.

Also: folliohd
I tried to make a portfolio off tumblr, simply because I like the high res photo capabilities. But, if a website is going to the trouble of making a templet specifically for portfolios, I might as well use it right? I plan on looking into it more before I make a full scale move from tumblr to folliohd but, it looks clean and simple enough. Brilliant.

Thanks ADclub!

loss for words

This is what I saw when I went to do the "daily" puzzle last week. Normally, I get a laugh out of All Good Lounge's ads; they are fresh with humour relevant to their TA and client. "Shame: the ultimate garnish", for example, was the tag line for the ad the previous week.

This one surprised me though. Last time I checked, STDs were a bad thing; no one wants them, people fear them. So, why do you want your establishment to be associated with them? Furthermore, beyond the negative connotations, the blatant statement that contracting an STD is a success, is a bad move ethically. In essence, they are condoning sexual relations with random strangers. Which I understand is a lifestyle choice and a subject that, when addressed properly, subject can make for hilarious material, mostly in sitcoms and comedies. But it is mostly the fact that they are stating one's night of sexual exploits are not complete until you have contracted a deadly disease.

Now, I might be missing some important double entendre or innuendo because, I don't claim to be the most socially or culturally up-to-date person. On top of that, I've never been to All Good Lounge, so they could have a drink named STD. (I don't know if I would ever try it but...) In which case, I give them props for creativity and edgy humour.

On first glance though, I'm taken aback and slightly disgusted. Although they got me to spend more time with their ad, kudos to them- that's the point, I'm probably not ever going to visit their bar now, despite all their previous ads which I really liked.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Tester Post

This is my first post, just to see what the layout looks like... :)