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I received a very kind note from an acquaintance today.

And it reminds me of how much folks who are NOT among our family or close circle of friends, at times, have the most significant opportunity to influence our lives.

The person who sends a kind note.
Who makes a thoughtful suggestion.
Who visits unexpectedly.
Who shows genuine interest.
Who has nothing to gain but contributes anyway.

Those simple acts of acknowledgement by an acquaintance or stranger, can end up being the most material. They provide the life-altering, affirming sense that there is spirit in the world.

If being that person is all we accomplished in life, it would be a life well spent.

Be well, Chuck

The etiquette and the law of taking photographs in public

Cosmic Christian Kevin Kelly posted some photographs he shot in Tibet recently, some of which appeared to be candid shots of people he encountered while moving through the countryside. That got me curious, and I asked him. "When/how do you ask permission to photograph a subject?"

His reply was, "I generally shoot first and ask permission later. This trip I tried handing out Fuji Instant prints to win permission; seemed to work."

That got me thinking about the law and the etiquette regarding the taking of photographs in 2014-here are a few ideas and angles...

From EverydayAperture.com: Street Photography and The Law...
The Photographer's Right, Your Rights and Remedies When Stopped or Confronted for Photography by Bert Krages...
From AndrewKantor.com: Legal Rights of Photographers by Andrew Kantor (344KB PDF)...
That collection of photographs by Kevin Kelly...
Kelly's multi-faceted domain...
What you can and can't photograph for commercial purposes

While we're on the subject of legality and photographic rights (Friday's post). Let's visit a few resources that will help you figure out whether or not you can photograph a specific product, person, building, and so on, for a particular purpose.

For general rules check out the Legal Requirements section of the iStock-Stock Photography Training Manual...
For specific cases, see the Getty Images Intellectual Property Wiki...
An interesting look at intellectual property...
Meet illustrator Sebastien Feraut, aka Niark1

Sebastien Feraut also known as Niark1 is one of those "skull" guys. (There are lots of illustrators that love skulls for some reason-honestly, I don't get it.)

But this guy is the best skull guy I've seen. And a damn fine illustrator otherwise. He seems as comfortable using a computer to produce his work as he is painting it.

Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Feraut's website...
His blog provides some insight into his process...
The Flickr albums are a retrospective..
An interview from ApeOnTheMoon.com...
Support Ideabook.com, Jumpola.com, and Pageplane.com

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Logo trends, logo insights, logo design, logo comedy

I LOVE logo design, always have (a few of my own designs are pictured below). This post features a few odds and ends on the subject that have crossed my path lately.

Bill Gardner's always interesting summary of the year's trends in logo design for LogoLounge.com...
More from Gardner at Lynda.com...
An interesting take on logo design from a printer's angle...
More about branding than logo design: The Psychology And Philosophy Of Branding, Marketing, Needs, And Actions by Susan Gunelius...
When you're starved for some logo insight, you can always stop by Brand New for the latest opinion on corporate and brand identity work...
Michael Bierut suggests that pop icon will.i.am, lost a bet and "was forced to make a preposterous video about logo design."
The Step-by-step logo article has long been one of the most popular on ideabook.com...
The origins of menu design

Henry Voigt collects menus and tracks down the stories behind them on his blog, The American Menu.

As he explains it, "Menus aid our cultural memory. They provide unwitting historical evidence--not only of what people were eating, but what they were doing and with whom they were doing it; who they were trying to be; and what they valued. Deciphering the particular story behind each menu requires great sleuth-work."

As any designer will tell you, menu design in 2014 is a sophisticated marketing and design process. The collections of Voight and the Culinary Institute of America give us a look at the broad field from which modern day menus originated.

The menu collection of the Culinary Institute of America...
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Henry Voigt's fascinating blog, The American Menu...
My earlier post, What graphic designers need to know about restaurant menu design--some preliminary research...
This morning's email...

Dear Editor,

As you are a specialist in design and creation, I would like to share something interesting for you.

hotel.de / hotel.info have announced a design contest on the occasion of their newly launched voucher shop. Our employees in the video (they really are working with us!) completely fail doing the simplest handicrafts.

We are sure that you can do much better than them. Why not show us and upload your voucher design to have the chance to win a hotel voucher valued 500 EUR.
What's more, the winner's design will permanently be integrated as a voucher template in the hotel.de / hotel.info voucher shop with the winner's name on it.
Additionally, the winner will be chosen by a jury. So the winner will of course receive an official certificate (offline and online) about the win, signed by hotel.de and renowned German agencies -LINGNER Marketing GmbH and ag4 medien GmbH.

You could even tell your blog's fans about your participation and the development of your idea.

What do you think of this idea? Please let me know. I look forward to be hearing from you.

Here's the link to the contest: https://voucher.hotel.info/contest/

Regards,
Ed Rex

I'll do this when you give me a one-nights-stay at 100 different hotels then allow me to choose which one to award a one-nights-stay payment to.

These contests demean hard working design professionals in a thinly disguised attempt to assemble a body of free work that can be exploited as the "contest holder" sees fit.

Chuck Green

Wow, "normal" copywriters (as if there were such a thing).

I've been looking for a link like this for a long time. For a site that features "normal" copywriters (as if there were such a thing), versus those who write "killer direct mail" and whose every page ends with an "Add to cart" button.

Modern Copywriter is the home of Jason Siciliano, an ad agency copywriter and creative director who explains, "I started Modern Copywriter as a way to keep track of all the fabulous copywriters out there and, possibly, as a way for us to connect. That's really all there is to it."

Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's gold.

Modern Copywriter...
I especially appreciate the idea of posting links to portfolios of new creative entering the workforce...
Modern Copywriter on Twitter...
About Jason Siciliano and his portfolio...
This is a hoot: What you see when you click the "Awards" link on his website...
If you use InDesign (or QuarkXPress), you might find this useful

The idea is simple. Modifying a well-designed template is far easier than starting from scratch. My InDesign Ideabook includes 315 researched, designed, and meticulously formatted documents in a clean, simple style that it easy to build on.

The Ideabook lets you breeze through time-consuming document setup and get right to the important stuff. Instead of spending 15 minutes to create a simple layout, you'll spend 15 seconds. For complex projects-books, newsletters, catalogs, reports-you'll save HOURS.

"If you need to create winning design and your time is important to you, there is no better investment than Chuck Green's Idea Book. I write copy and create marketing materials for small business, and Chuck's world class layouts have me up and running in minutes instead of hours. I can't recommend this book enough!" Kory Basaraba, Copywriter and Consultant, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

For Adobe InDesign
For QuarkXPress
About this newsletter

I try to remain as objective as possible about the information I share here. Unless I tell you otherwise, I receive no compensation from the organizations and people mentioned except for occasional product samples. I am an affiliate of Lynda.com and MyFonts.com -- that means, if you purchase something from them, I get a small commission. Comments? Suggestions? Write me at [email protected] -- Chuck Green