unchartered

Inspired by a transcontinental bicycle trip, we discover via Kottke, covering the US and Canada in a big loop, artist Peter Gorman has created a series of what he describes as barely maps, remixing memories of intersections, boundaries, city layouts, empty spaces and other inventions and interventions of civil engineering. While these minimalist maps may have relinquished some of their value as a guide, they certainly still convey the iconic quirks of the familiar—like the patterns one conjures out of stellar constellations, as Gorman depicts state metropolises relative to each other in the stars. More to explore at the links above.

common-parlance

As Slashdot reports, misinformation was chosen as Dictionary.com’s word of the year, as a nuanced term hybridised by the times and distinct from disinformation by dint of the intent to mislead.
More reprehensible than the propaganda of latter variety, to be misinformed can mean one is an unwitting participant in forwarding an unscrupulous agenda and demands that we examine more thoroughly and responsibly what and how we share. Honourable mentions include backlash, self-made and representation for growing trends of inclusiveness in media and entertainment and is aligned with Oxford’s choice of toxic. Past emblematic words picked by this organisation were complicit and xenophobia.

trump dump

Writing for Vanity Fair, Bess Levin serves up a predictably unpalatable digest of Carnival Barker in Chief’s antics that you might have missed—including his intensifying anger over a domestic automotive manufacturer reality-based (that is moored to economic factors as opposed to being reality television-based) announcing that it will discontinue more operations in North America, reneging on a campaign promise it was not his to make or keep. We believe he is under the impression that if the campaign can be stretched out in perpetuity, supporters won’t expect delivery.  Trump’s boasts of bullying the car company into submission (Trump’s tariff wars and the lack of government support for green technologies are making the brand less competitive and driving this work force reduction) are bound to backfire magnificently.

the art of the title

Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals directs us to a retrospective appreciation of the recently departed self-taught graphic designer and erstwhile collaborator of Stan Lee, Pablo Ferro (*1935 - †2018).
The brilliantly produced three part multimedia masterclass and interview (part two, part three) on Ferro’s career, influences and contributions reminds that his work goes beyond credit sequences and his visual montages and direction imparts a distinctive for the film, television and advertising campaigns he was part of—creating in a sense a mascot, like he did for NBC in 1957, for each project. His filmography includes the custom typeface for the title sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s Doctor Strangelove, the pioneering use of split-screens in The Thomas Crown Affair and visual consulting for over a hundred more including Woman of Straw, Bullitt, Philadelphia, Beetlejuice, Jesus Christ Superstar and A Clockwork Orange—curated clips from his expansive portfolio to be found at the links up top.

care package

I had used the term and have been the recipient and sometimes (striving to be better) sender of said “care” packages my entire life not realising that it referred to a specific charitable offensive, relief operation, founded on this day in 1945 and in full implementation six months later. Originally the initialism was short for Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, for donation of $10, one could sponsor an individual and help stave off starvation in the war-torn continent. The couriers that delivered the CARE packages had the addressee confirm receipt and often this acknowledgment was the first confirmation that the individual had survived the war, lines of communication ravaged by the fighting.
The first batch of food aid were US army surplus rations used until exhausted that were prepared for the contingent invasion of Japan. By 1948, the board of directors dropped the requirement that donations be directed to a named individual due to an overwhelming number of requests to send the package “to a teacher” or “a hungry person in Europe” and donated items supplemented the Berlin Air Lift during the Soviet Blockade. By the mid-1950s, operations transitioned out of Europe and the relief agency took on a global role, not only fighting hunger but also promoting environmental stewardship, educational opportunities and micro-finance. The acronym presently stands for Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere.