John Martz

Language is Cheeky

I subscribe to a number of “word-a-day” email lists, including one from Wordsmith.org.  Today’s word is:

dasypygal (da-si-PYE-gul) adjective
Having hairy buttocks.

I love that words like this even exist.

3 Comments

My Kind of Culture Jamming

It’s about time something was done about this.  There’s only one thing worse than the overuse of Arial and Times New Roman—the overuse of Comic Sans.

Ban Comic Sans has initiated urban guerilla tactics to inform the public that typography is an artform and that Comic Sans needs to be Comic Sacked.

From their site:

bq. We believe in the sanctity of typography and that the traditions and established standards of this craft should be upheld throughout all time. From Gutenberg’s letterpress to the digital age, type in all forms is sacred and indispensable. Type is a voice; its very qualities and characteristics communicate to readers a meaning beyond mere syntax.

The site invites all lovers of type to rise up together and aid in the revolution.  While I like to believe that every font has its use I do agree that Comic Sans has long worn out its welcome by its disgusting misuse by countless people with no design sensibilities.

Next can we eradicate Hobo?

3 Comments

What the Heck Font is That?

Y’ever find a sample of type that you love?  Or try to recreate an existing typeset word?  Ever find yourself crippled by asking, “What the heck font is that!??”

Identifont asks you a series of questions to determine the details you do know about the font and narrows its database down to a small number of likely candidates.

Even cooler, though, is What the Font?!”, which takes all the work out of guessing.  Just upload an clean image (or URL) of the mystery font and the system uses its technological magick to identify the name of the font!

1 Comment

Poster Boy

To all you Canadians in major cities, be on the lookout for an illustration of Chris Rock that I did for the MTV Video Music Awards airing here in Canada on MuchMusic and Citytv.

I’ve seen the posters up here in Toronto already, and it’s a real thrill to see a full wall of my work out “in the wild.”

Here’s what it looks like:

6 Comments

Set Phasers on ‘Whiten’

Let me tell you how much I love William Shatner.  Everything he does these days makes me laugh.  It’s the subtle way he seems to be winking at all of us, as if to say, “Yes.  That’s right.  I’m William Shatner.”

Now, I enjoy his latest All Bran commercials.  For those who haven’t seen them, the premise is simple.  A young suburban couple is invited to take the “All Bran Challenge,” which we all know is to eat a bowl of the fibrous cereal every day for two weeks.  Only in this batch of ads, the challenge includes having Shatner live in their house for that period.  Enter the laughs!

But what has me perplexed is the most recent ad I’ve seen.  This one is for Crest Night Effects..

In it, a woman applies the product to her teeth and goes to bed in order to let the “whitening power” do its magic.  While sleeping, the woman has a dream that she is surrounded by dozens of Highland-dancing William Shatners dressed in sparkly outfits.  I am not making this up.

What’s even weirder is that the woman wakes up and is not disturbed in the least.  And there is no hint of irony.  Crest fails to give us a little nod.  They fail to subtly tell us, “Yes.  That’s right.  William Shatner.” Shouldn’t the woman at least look perplexed or shudder a little?

But Shatner himself is far more knowing. Simply by being there he’s giving us that nod, smiling just for us.

“Yes.  That’s right.  I’m William Shatner.  And I’m dancing.”

7 Comments

Lights Out!

The power went out just now at work, and we slowly learned that it wasn’t just us, but the whole block… then the whole city… then the whole region… now I’ve learned it’s all southern Ontario and parts of the eastern U.S. including New York State.

I blame the Second Coming.

*Update:*
Power finally returned to my apartment about 5 minutes ago! (9am on Saturday) So of course, the first thing I do is go online to check email!.  I guess I can expect rolling blackouts for a while though.

And those of you wondering how I posted the above entry during the blackout:  We have an emergency generator at work that kept us up and running while the food in my freezer thawed into a warm gloopy mess.

2 Comments

Nick Shinn-terview

There’s a short interview with Toronto type designer Nick Shinn over at Speak Up.

It isn’t mind-blowingly informative, but it’s always nice to read about someone who obviously cares about what he’s doing.

His closing statement is worth the visit.

Continue reading...

Leave a Comment

The Sketchbook Journal

Continue reading...

Leave a Comment

Film at Eleven! Nyuk! Nyuk!

Mark Dailey just refered to SARS as “catchy.” No wonder no one takes Citytv’s news seriously.

Continue reading...

Leave a Comment

Stock Photography Alternatives?

In need of a texture?  A sky photo?  A simple background image for that small design project that doesn’t warrant paying hundreds of dollars for traditional stock photography?

Check out these sites.  The quality of the photos varies (they appear to be taken with digital cameras), and the resolution isn’t super high, but for a quick fix they might be just what you’re looking for:

ImageAfter

Public Textures

1 Comment

What’s in a Name?

My father has an uncanny ability to get the names of celebrities and movie characters’ names wrong.  For the longest time he called that show about nothing ”Steinfeld.”

He visited this weekend, and Futurama was on the tv.

“I can’t stand the Simpsons,” he said.  When I explained that it was a different show altogether, he said, “But isn’t that Bart and Burly, or whatever his name is?”

Then he went on to tell me how he rented Bringing Down the House starring Steve Martin and Queen Fajita.

1 Comment

At the Beer Store

Man (noticing my iPod): Can I see that?
Me: Uh… sure.
Man: I’ve got one just like that.
Me: Oh?
Man: I didn’t think you could get them in Canada.
Me: Oh sure you can.
Man: No, I don’t think you can.
Me: I bought this one here.
Man: No, they’re only available in the States.
Me: This is 2 years old.  I bought it here in Toronto.
Man: (giving me a funny look) Well, you never know…

4 Comments

The Sketchbook Journal

Continue reading...

Leave a Comment

The Sketchbook Journal

Weeks ago I purchased volumes 1 and 2 of James Kochalka’s daily Sketchbook Diaries.  Like many of his readers I imagine, I not only fell in love with the earnest glimpse into his life’s playful banality, but I decided it was something I’d like to try myself.

At the risk of looking like a good old fashioned copycat I knew I at least had to do something differently than him (aside from not drawing myself as an Elf and having no intent to publish them).  So I decided to limit myself to a single panel.  Limiting myself like this turned out to be a fun little challenge—without multiple panels and the sense of time passing that such a narrative provides I am forced to find one single moment of my day to capture.

On their own, each mini comic isn’t necessarily always interesting and/or humourous, but I’m hoping that the final product is greater than the sum of its parts and that when completed (whenever that may be) the collection as a whole might serve as interesting look at a moment of my life.

If anything this new little project is turning out to be a great experiment in discipline and expedition.  Doing a daily panel forces me to uphold a constant level of creativity—and so far that’s been the most rewarding aspect.

Now and then I’ll share some of them with you.  Like this one:

4 Comments

Seeing Red

I just returned from the laundromat where I discovered that due to a mischievous burgundy sweater, the little rouge rogue that it is, 5 of my favourite shirts are now a nice dull shade of pink.

Take this piece of advice now if you will—don’t be an idiot.  Don’t be like Robot Johnny.  Don’t have your mind on matters other than the cleansing of garments when it’s time to sort that laundry.  Stick to the task at hand for the love of all that’s not naturally pink!

3 Comments