The Evil Bean: in the clutches of "demon" coffee.

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As addictions go, it could be worse. In fact, it seems like every year there are studies revealing as many health benefits (lower Parkinsons, diabetes and dimentia rates) to coffee intake as there are negative effects (higher blood pressure, heart rate, and possible irregular heartbeat).

If you are a home barista or, if you're as lucky as I am, a spouse makes your lattes and espressos for you, there are methods to coffee brewing that can seem mysterious to the uninitiated. Timing is important and starting with fresh beans and clean equipment is crucial.

As part of my tireless research for this subject, I ran across this tidbit: The most expensive cup of coffee (about $50 US) is called Kopi Luwak and comes from Indonesia. It's distinguishing characteristic and what makes it so pricey is the fact that every bean is harvested from the droppings of a small mongoose-like animal called a luwak, which ingests the coffee berries and excretes the beans whole. Sounds gross, but because the luwak's digestive system breaks down some of the proteins associated with bitterness and also because the animal only chooses the tastiest coffee berries to begin with, the result is reportedly one smooth and satisfying cup o' joe.

Zen and the Art of Whiteboarding

ZenMaster02

Though it's been around in some form since man's earliest days, whiteboarding has become an important component of corporate brainstorming or "ideation" as it's sometimes known. What started as a simple, ambulance low-tech presentation method has spawned a cottage industry of seminars and consulting businesses and books. Whiteboarding is all about communicating complex ideas or abstract concepts in a simplified manner. And with the growth of international business, communication has become more important than ever, and what better way to bridge a language and cultural divide than with simple pictures? I, and others looking to expand the role of graphics professionals, have noticed this trend, and would love to find a niche market for graphic artists in this new/old medium. With this in mind, I set out to investigate whiteboarding from an illustrator's point of view. Maybe it's making up for the years of alpha-male-dominated climate in the business world, but the whole idea behind "ideation" may seem a bit "new age-y", starting right with the word, "ideation"(?) and continuing with one of it's core principles: "There are no bad ideas." (Really?? I think I've come up with a few stinkers at one time or another that would qualify.) Then there are some brainstorming exercises involving haiku poery or something called "laddering". So in exploring whiteboarding techniques, I find the challenge is to cut through some of the ethereal stuff and actually DRAW something that makes sense. Something that everyone (or nearly everyone) in the room can understand.

There've been several books on the subject, most notably "The Back of the Napkin" by Dan Roam. For a book dealing with how best to convey ideas simply through the use of pictures, I found it to have a lot of...well... words. After wading through all the acronyms (SQVID?) and bullet-point lists, I found the information overload to be somewhere in the realm of Steven Hawking's "Brief History of Time". To be fair, the book's main market is business people who want to bridge the communication gap between other business people, so they be more accustomed to the business-speak in "The Back of the Napkin". The book clearly isn't meant as a "how-to" for illustrator's looking to tap into the whiteboarding market. In fact , one of Roam's main points is that "anyone can do it". While I'm sure that's true to an extent, I can't help but feel there must be SOME advantage to being able to draw when hitting the whiteboard. After all, ANYONE can play Pictionary, but when an illustrator's playing, the smart money is on them. In the end, one comforting point that I got from the book is that people respond and pay attention to hand drawn pictures better than they do to the average Powerpoint slide presentation, even if they present similar graphs and information. In fact, Roan freely ackowledges that many of the standard whiteboarding symbols (arrows, primitive shapes) come directly from Powerpoint and are proven to best convey certain concepts. And since most modern illustrators are used to working with metaphors and translating abstract ideas into clear visual terms, it seems to follow that illustrators would be naturals at whiteboard presentations, provided that they possess a certain degree of "people skills" (not always a given). More information about whiteboarding and examples of it in use can be found at the following links: Way of the Whiteboard (Dan Roam video)Ideation and Design Principles

So now it's time to hone those quick sketch skills. Who's up for a round of Pictionary?

"Sweet by Design" book cover submission

Author and adman Steffan Postaer has found a clever means of introducing his latest novel. He's been posting the entire book, Sweet by Design, chapter by chapter on his website and has invited the public to submit proposed covers which he also posts. The book itself is a great read and many of the cover entries are wonderful. Here's mine. Feedback is welcome, here or on Steffan's site!

Chicago's Eternal Walking Guy

Chicago has no shortage of mythology and folk legends: Mrs. O'Leary's cow, Resurrection Mary,  a northside pennant championship.

But most anyone who has worked in downtown Chicago within the past quarter century or so has seen the modern equivalent.

Gaunt,  a world-weary look in his eyes, the sweeping pompadour, grayer now but still unmistakable. He's known by several names: The Walking Guy, The Walking Dude, The French Guy. He's been captured on a couple of online videos, both old and new. Yes, he's lost a step or two through the years, but still he walks incessantly, destination unknown.

He never speaks and from all accounts, any attempts to communicate with him are met with silence. If he ever did speak, I imagine him sounding like Clint Eastwood in "Unforgiven" rasping out "I'm not LIKE that anymore, kid" as he turns away, minding his own business, whatever that may be.

WalkingGuy_photo2

The closest I ever came to actually speaking with him personally was about two years ago, when I saw him, in an uncharacteristic moment, stop for a few moments to chat up a panhandler on the Michigan Ave. bridge. By the time I caught up to him, he was gone, and, feeling a little like Starsky hitting up Huggy Bear for some information, I gave the guy a couple of bucks to tell me anything he could about the gentleman he was just talking to.

"Oh, you mean Cool?"

"Cool?

Yeah, me and Cool go way back", he said as he showed me a stack of beer cans hidden behind the bridge embankment.

I asked him if either of them was aware of "Cool"'s cult celebrity status. He laughed and said no, he was fairly certain that Cool was pretty oblivious to that and would find it amusing.

All of that may just be the sort of "truth" you get for two dollars, but it just added to the mystique in my mind.

Maybe it's the IDEA of the Walking Guy that is more significant than any one individual: that amid all the changes of the city and the passage of time, there is this one constant, like the Water Tower after the Great Chicago Fire.

Maybe the title is bigger than any one person after all. Could one person really do all that walking for all those years? Could it be that The Walking Guy is like the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride? When one bearer of the title decided it was time to retire, he groomed a replacement who than took over the role, thereby continuing the line of succession.

Maybe, Then, The Walking Guy is the latest in a long line of walkers. Hey, I enjoy strolling along the streets of Chicago. When the time comes, maybe The Walking Guy will hand over his loafers, mustache, and pompadour and I'll be... "THE WALKING GUY"!

Update: Since this story was originally posted, The Walking Guy, whose real name, we now know, is Joseph Kromelis, was brutally and senselessly beaten on Lower Wacker Drive 0n May 24th , 2016 while (what else?) apparently walking and minding his own business. He suffered numerous severe injuries and a GoFundMe page has been established to defray medical costs. Please give what you can. We  wish Joe a swift recovery!

Small dad/daughter collaboration

This image is a small collaboration between my daughter, Karen, who's a third year graphic design major, and myself. Karen did most of the work, creating the umbrella and cloud sculptures. The umbrella is made entirely of corrugated cardboard and cardboard tubing. The cloud was two pieces of  wood which she cut out with a jigsaw and fit together. I added the background elements digitally.