As I promised in the last blog, “Pattern, pattern everywhere”, I went out looking for random patterns in odd places and here are a few of the things that I found. Some are more obvious than others, but can you tell what each of these are?
I love pattern. I love anything that repeats. It is the designer in me, for sure. While I was reading up about the birthday of the bar code, I found a gallery of images that were just really amazing too me. It reminded me that design, and patterns, in particular, are everywhere. In your home, at your office, on the street, in the sky, on the beach – everywhere.
Here is my favorite image from that gallery. It is an aerial photo in New York City showing school buses parked before students begin classes. Photographer: Mark Lennihan
Look around today. Where do you see patterns? You may find them in the most unusual places. Over the next week or so, I am going to look for pattern in odd places, take pictures of it and post on the blog. Check back for my pattern finds.
I always love seeing what the next doodle for Google will be. Whether it be a holiday, someone famous’ birthday, an anniversary of some sort – they are always beautifully designed and show great creativity to me. Today, when I typed “google.com” into my web browser, like I do everyday, a new doodle appeared, but one that I wasn’t sure about. It was a bar code. In fact, it was this bar code:
Today, the usual Google logo was replaced by the ubiquitous black-and-white bar code design to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the first bar code patent. Very cool. Upon further investigation, I learned a little more about the bar code.
On October 7, 1952, inventors Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver were granted the first patent for their invention. The only difference between the bar code we know today and the one Woodland and Silver invented was that it was comprised of a series of concentric circles, not the 59 black-and-white vertical lines synonymous with the current design.
Earlier this year, on June 26, the bar code celebrated its 35th birthday. In 1974, a scanner in a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, met the simple black-and-white striped bar code design tacked onto a 10-piece pack of Juicy fruit gum. Now, more than 10 billion bar codes are scanned in 25 industries and in places including airports, hospitals, and shipping centers, according to Motorola.
I decided, after reading this, that I wanted my own bar code. One for Tarte Advertising – and that is exactly what we now have. Want to make your own? Check out this free online bar code generator.
42 percent of U.S. consumers expected to spend less this holiday season
With the nation seemingly emerging from recession, American consumers remain skittish about spending their money during this upcoming holiday season according to new research from The Nielsen Company. Households continue to focus on “essential gift giving” such as staple consumables, candy, beverage/alcohol and entertaining at home, and 86 percent said that they expect to spend the same or less this year than last — with a 7 percent increase in those indicating they would spend less. Overall, Nielsen is projecting that holiday sales will rise 0.03 percent this year, accounting for $90 billion in dollar sales. Read more…
This is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://mediaconvergence.economist.com and http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com.
Content by XPLANE, The Economist, Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Laura Bestler. Design and development by XPLANE, http://www.xplane.com.
