The need having fortunately not arisen and never noticing these instructions before from my online bank, I was rather intrigued that the three-stacked dots
icon was referred to as the kebab and wondered about the identity of other menu widgets. Apparently there are a whole suite of representations, and the differences are primarily stylistic to distinguish between navigational options, the line variety opening up a whole new screen, more or overflow, whereas the dot subset opens an in-line (closed) scaled for mobile devices. Not certain how often they were employed in the wild, but the Chocolate Box is also known as the Bento Menu and the Strawberry as the Dรถner, a kind of kebab.
Saturday, 15 October 2022
ร la carte (10. 228)
Sunday, 9 October 2022
7x7 (10. 206)
soundscape: calls for submissions for Wikipedia’s sonic logo
parametric design: letting AI run wild to reimagine the future of architecture

solidarity: Marge Simpson cutting her iconic hair graffitied on the Iranian Consulate in Milano
shinkansen: a classic 99% Invisible explores how three very different bird species informed the bullet train’s redesign
kill the wabbit: try to name these escapingly familiar works of classical music—see also
obituaries: the swiftness of Wikipedia’s deaditors is astounding
Thursday, 6 October 2022
show bible (10. 200)
Courtesy of Super Punch, we turn our attention to this 1975 McDonaldland Specification Manual sourcing many of the fast food franchise’s mascots (see also), many like The Professor, French-Fry Thatch and Uncle O’Grimacey long ago retired. A living document apparently, pages near the end have characters from later years including the short-tenured CosMc, circa 1988.
catagories: ๐
Saturday, 18 June 2022
branding identity
Having previously showcased lettering artist Rafael Serra, PRINT magazine was quick to recognise his 1980s-informed logo inspiring another new management’s corporate image. Be sure to check out Serra’s whole nostalgic, bold portfolio recasting iconic labels at the link above or at the graphic designer’s website, particularly the iterations of fast food franchises in corresponding styles.
Friday, 10 June 2022
ัะพั ัะฐะผัะน
After suspending operations due to the invasion of Ukraine and announcing its withdrawal after thirty-two years, the Russian fast food chain that now controls those franchises formerly operated as McDonald’s will reopen some restaurants over the weekend with this logo, which represents two fries and a hamburger bun—or the Bangladeshi flag and still suspiciously like the Golden Arches—on a green field to symbolise “the quality of products and service” guests are accustomed to. The new identity of the chain has not yet been revealed but there are eight contenders, including the above, which translates to “the same one.” The grand opening coincides with Russian Day, commemorating the 1990 adoption of the declaration of state sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic with the intention to establish a democratic state within a liberalised USSR.
Friday, 3 June 2022
doni๐ฉ donnts
Saturday, 19 March 2022
6x6
unit patches: an assortment of mission badges from the US Space Force—see also here and here
redacted: Sunshine Week and the least forthcoming US government agencies
ambassador, the thane of cawdor / dialect so def, it’ll rip up the floor: notes on rap and language

uncle vanya’s: after mass exodus of Western companies, Russia seems poised to appropriate and nationalise franchises
Monday, 31 January 2022
6x6
christian pirates cable access show: a cavalcade of 1980s cult lunacy
the conroy virtus: a novel proposal to transport the Space Shuttle that never got off the ground

h salt esq: the fish and chip fast food franchise empire that never quite materialised
look book: a revival of the conversation pit—see previously
il fait beau dans l’mรฉtro: a 1977 jingle for the Montrรฉal subway
chock-a-block: an omnibus round-up of 159 British children’s television programmes you may have forgotten about—see previously
Tuesday, 25 January 2022
rax—you can eat here
Having previously run the gamut of fast-food mascots from Mac Tonight, the Hamburglar, Sexy Colonel Sanders to the Quiznos’ Spongmonkey, we appreciated learning this truly inexplicable spokesman in Mister Delicious, a conflicted mid-life crisis of a mascot that came off less than palatable and was the ruin of an American franchise that couldn’t quite on its identity. Check out the original commercials and a promotional documentary produced to alleviate franchisees’ fears.
Tuesday, 5 October 2021
8x8
heir apparent: after over a century, Russia hosts a royal wedding for a member of the Romanoff family
9m²:a luxury apartment in Tokyo that makes very efficient use of space—at more than twice the size, my work-week flat feels rather sprawling and and ilunder-utilised
faux mcdoo: a fake McDonald’s in Los Angeles for filming purposes, via Messy Nessy Chic
tx-33: new lows attained in gerrymandering and voter-marginalisation
full circle: a retrospective exhibit of Judy Chicago
deuce court: a demonstration of medieval tennis
ะฒัะทะพะฒ: cast joins crew aboard ISS to film scenes of the first movie shot in microgravity
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ท๐บ, ๐, ๐จ, ๐ฌ, ๐ฑ, ๐ญ, ๐ฅธ, Middle Ages, sport and games
Thursday, 12 August 2021
fava beans and a nice chianti
Our gratitude again to Nag on the Lake for the update on this incredibly, impeccably preserved ancient thermopolium (see previously) excavated on the site of Pompeii is opening to the public. With only the wealthy cooking at home, most Romans would have patronised such snack bars, with more than eighty found in the rubble of this ill-fated city alone. Much more to explore at the links above, including an amazing gallery of frescos advertising the menu.
catagories: ๐ฎ๐น, ๐, ๐, archรฆology
Thursday, 1 July 2021
8x8
banning: a 1967 forgotten film about a sordid tryst at a country club
remains of the day: six relics of once ubiquitous fast-food empires plain chachalaca: more badly named bird friends—see previously here and here, via Super Punchawestruck: short, initial pieces optimised for joy and wonder from NPR
gallery 88: an electronics line for kids from Sony—see also
dhead xlvi: a David Bowie painting (see previously) saved from a landfill fetches over one hundred thousand CA$
grand opening: a brief history of the ribbon-cutting ceremony
britbox: an interactive fiction project for a cult 70s television programme that dabbled in paganism and the paranormal—see also—which never existed
Friday, 25 June 2021
bravo nuvo
Appreciative of the chance to revisit some advertising psychedelia we’ve encountered in the past, like for drive-in cinema concessions, and strange, culturally-informed McDonald’s commercial pitches being in a category of their own, we quite enjoyed sampling this roundup of seemingly drug-addled ad-campaigns. Particularly we enjoyed this mellow trip through McDonaldland and try-hard nature of a decaffeinated coffee substitute that really had to overcompensate to be convincing. It’s strange to witness this unironic appropriation of counter-culture by marketing executives appealing to conservative middle America.
Saturday, 3 April 2021
7x7
treasureland adventures: an arcade game made for McDonald’s that’s a lot better than most licensed vehicles—see also
campfire tales: Haunted Tik-Tok (see also) and the art of the scary narrative in new media
self-defence for cowards: our social skills have atrophied but we still bid our time before we get back to old, awkward habits
die frankfurter kรผche: more on the modern kitchen designed by Margarete Schรผtte-Lihotzky—see previously
cave ร vins: incredible wine collection hidden beneath a chicken coop
look at me: heretofore unseen footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
catch it if you can: a McDonald’s employee training video from 1972
Wednesday, 3 March 2021
6x6
spongmonkey: though not a cultural shibboleth for myself personally, this history of the Quiznos’ submarine sandwich franchise’s mascot was an interesting object lesson in internet culture—via Miss Cellania
backmasking: fun with that portrait animation application, via Super Punch
puce chintz alert: a truly cursed McMansion built in 1978
micro-face: a fascinating, multistage look at the process of acquiring a super hero with the Planet Money podcast
garage mahal: vlogger pays house-calls to the ostentatiously wealthy, asks what they do for a living
previous tenants: buildings that used to be a Blockbuster video rental shop—in the tradition of This Used to be a Pizza Hut—via Things Magazine
Saturday, 13 February 2021
here we come on the run with a burger in a bun
We enjoyed very much this appreciation of the Cabazon dinosaur ensemble, a novelty roadside attraction two decades in the making created by theme park artist and sculptor Claude Bell (of Knox Berry Farm fame) off the freeway near Palm Springs to draw diners to his nearby restaurant, the Wheel Inn (1958 - 2013). The Brontosaurus, Dinny the Dinosaur, and Mister Rex are made of out of salvaged, reclaimed road construction materials and since the restaurant’s closure, have been host, in a surprising turn, to a gift shop and a museum devoted to doctrine of creationism (inside of Dinny—the Tyrannosaur formerly had a slide in his tail but has been since filled with concrete due to safety concerns)—selling dinosaur related souvenirs with the rather shrill caveat that the “fossil record does not support evolution” (see also) and espousing young Earth beliefs, that place Adam and Eve among the dinosaurs about six millennia ago. Exhibits run counter to a frieze that Bell painted along the internal passage way that portray a scientific point of view and timeline that includes Cro-Magnon, Java Man and Neanderthals. More from Pasa Bon! at the link up top.
Saturday, 9 January 2021
monogrammed
The comprehensive rebranding—new uniforms, colour scheme, packaging, signage plus digital assets and merchandising (see also here and here) returning to the fast food franchise’s corporate branding circulated and experimented with from 1969 through 1999. Especially brilliant is the letterform, a double-struck B and K in a bun for Burger King by Jones Knowles Ritchey. The mascot and monarch are not featured in this new roll-out but we are assured that he has not abdicated or been otherwise dethroned.
Monday, 28 December 2020
thermopolium
Tuesday, 22 December 2020
6x6
schrรถder staircase: prize-winning optical illusions
well, the spam, eggs, sausage and spam—that’s not got much spam in it: McDonald’s in China releases a special, limited edition burgerevery day, the same, again: miscellany from the New Shelton wet/dry
black mirror: a Claude glass was a handheld Instagram filter of artists and sightseers in the late 1700s
back contamination: NASA’s efforts to contain a lunar pandemic (see previously) that never came to pass and what lessons it can teach us in this current situation
frame-included position shift: another impressive optical illusion
Thursday, 26 November 2020
6x6
surrogate: Trump issues pardon to former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who pled guilty twice to making false statements to the FBI involving his Russian connections
thermochromic: windows go from transparent to tinted while generating electricity
l’atlas: an intriguing new approach to mapping France’s natural glory—via Things Magazine♚: reimagining the Queen’s Gambit as a MS DOS PC game
fry guys: one intrepid connoisseur revives a long lost recipe
stonks: only pausing to take credit for and praise the teetering high of the Dow Jones, Trump presents a very abbreviated brief