Thursday, July 30, 2009

coney island's fate decided... goodbye, beauty

artist's rendering of the "new" coney island. via the daily news.


i am a big fan of coney island. been going there since i was a kid. now we live only about 10 minutes from the amusement area. we attend the hot dog eating contest every year -- even took little miss anna jae there for her first of our annual tradition.

there's something magical about the area. yes, there are questionable characters. yes, the boardwalk is in dire need of some repair. yes, maybe some of the rides could be safer. and yes, maybe the surrounding area is in need of an economic pick-me-up.

but still, the magic remains. the colors of the rides. the hand-painted signage on the boardwalk storefronts. the mermaid parade. the freak show! these are parts of history. on a weekday afternoon, when the beach is not nearly as crowded, you can really see how much fun coney island was in its hayday, and how much fun it still is, if you really take it in.
photo via la galeria.

boardwalk beauty.

coney island bath house.


and now, it's all about to change. the city council voted yes on the revamping of coney island yesterday, complete with high-rise hotels and an indoor amusement area, so that it can be open year-round. i understand the desire to bring new jobs and a new life to the neighborhood. but the way they are planning it seems as though they are just going to stamp out the life from what already exists. what made it famous in the first place.

maybe this is a larger commentary -- maybe new isn't always better. maybe we can preserve the old while using it to bring in more people, more business. maybe, sometimes, they just don't make 'em like they used to.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

blog love: kirei nest interview!

nicole at kirei nest approached me for an interview about my little nest. and you know how much i love talking interior design! even when it's my own... =) it was a fun little interview. enjoy it here.

sorry for the absence...

hellloooooo out there!

so sorry i've been absent. life has been a little tricky as of late. my little babe is teething and has been nothing but a handful. i've had a few physical issues, including back problems and migraines. and i've been attempting to get work done.

that being said, i'm back and up today. hoping to get some more goodness out there to you!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

i think i like the old one better

from the dieline... FTD has redesigned their mailing boxes. because of competition in the floral delivery business, they decided they needed to revamp their look and up their presence. optima soulsight came up with the black and gold boxes, a big change from the old and colorful polkadot options.


ok, so maybe i'm biased towards polkadots. but really, i like the old boxes so much better. they were upbeat and cheery -- if i saw one delivered to me, i would be excited before i even opened it up. the boxes just looked so festive. now, the black and gold boxes are very morbid. unless you're sending something for a black tie event, a golden anniversary, or a funeral, i wouldn't want to use something so serious and *almost* scary.

FTD has also clearly redesigned their website to match their new box scheme, but i don't think the black and gold works there either. the images of the flowers are so happy, and the black/gold is so serious. FTD, go get happy again.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

creatives alert: contests for spec work becoming common

i had the pleasure of attending a new media bootcamp last monday, hosted by david vinjamuri of thirdway brandtrainers. david is a marketer who now trains others in the trade, as well as hosting a blog on market and branding trends. it was such an eye-opening workshop, providing me with even more information regarding blogging, twitter, and website usage for promotional purposes. david is great at marketing -- he really and truly knows what he's doing, hence why he's so popular these days! -- and was a wonderful source of information on how to improve my own marketing skills.

there was something that caught my attention however, and not necessarily in a good way. as we've seen as creatives, spec work is running rampant these days, moreso since the economy tanked. of course, businesses need to find less expensive ways of meeting their advertising and PR needs. but the idea of doing for work for free doesn't exactly appeal to most creatives. the no spec campaign is growing at a rate that rivals consumer-created campaign generation. and i have personally witnessed (and participated in) the anger of creatives when contests are revealed.

with the successful consumer generated advertising campaigns used by companies such as heinz, the use of contests for commercial or viral campaigns has increased. something i didn't know -- there's a website called zooppa that allows a company to create and promote their own contest for their consumer-generated-advertising needs. but what this amounts to is more and more spec work -- lots of talented creatives doing work for free and not seeing anything for it. in fact, most contests have verbage in their fine print that states that all submissions become property of the company -- so the corporation gets tons of free work and ideas and the creative does not get anything at all.

thankfully, in this room of marketers and business people, i was able to stand up as a creative and remind all of them that we are not happy to participate in contests such as these. i did tell them that it was important for them to change the verbage and allow creatives to maintain copyright to their work until paid for the rights to it. it did reach this group of people who responded thoughtfully and kindly, understanding that we won't continue to stand for the kind of treatment that treats us as though we're in it for the fun and the hobby rather than as our career.

what are your thoughts creatives? do you enjoy participating in contests such as these? would you like to see them eradicated, or rather adjusted to be more fair?

fab new rug from flor!

i'm a big fan of flor carpet tiles. like many other parents before us, we decided that it was the best way to handle the rug in anna's room -- we could get the colors we wanted without the rug being too "kiddie". and it definitely worked.



well, flor has continued to be a go-to company for our household. i love to go on the site and look for new ideas and ways to brighten the space.

today, i received an email from flor touting their new find-a-face rug. using photos from francois robert, this rug features pics of "faces" found in regular objects.


so much fun! it's a great rug for a kid's room, your living space, wherever. nice job, flor. you continue to surprise me. =)

slacking!

so sorry readers. working and baby have been keeping me away. but there's a couple of new blog posts coming up, so stay tuned!