This week at .org The LA art scene, fancy tea, museum visitors, a crazy mixed-up carrot and faerie doors! ~ digitally picked for you by Hello-Friend.
Everyone needs to read this article. Michael Bierut’s insights on the critical nature of context in the life and death of logos is priceless… and i am starting to think i need to put together a pamphlet for prospective logo clients, because there is so much in that article which combined with some quotes and images of great logos (recontextualized of course) would be far more efficient, than any client discussion.
That said, i feel rambly tonight - and want to put a little potential call for help out to all of you. NOTCOT.org as well as linking the MySpace page to the public - has more than opened my eyes to how many incredibly talented creatives are reading this site - your finds are brilliant, and NOTCOT.com has become that much better from the contributions you all send in. The consulting/design studio side of NOTCOT is picking up, and that’s been taking some of my time/energy away from here… and the problem with the internet really is that the more you read, the more you find. The more you find, the more you need to read, and then its 6am again. I can’t find it all, and i know you find a lot that i miss - so anyone have the guts to step up and contribute to NOTCOT? Be it little articles, an editorial, a designer’s rant/insight? I’m practical, i’d rather have many writers giving us the piece of a lifetime, than two forcing something out every day. Bottomline, our niche is inspiration for creativity (yes, i know, “can she be more vague?”, but regular readers should know what i mean)… Drop me an email! We love trying new things, so don’t be shy! jaw-at-notcot-dotcom
Zoomorphic Calligraphy, Dodos, Strap On Milk Stools, Hidden Toilets, and Cards to fight Urban Spam!… just another normal week over at .org
This week curated by me/notcot/jean! Checked out Devil Wear Prada last night at the GenArt event, and it was better than expected - very survival of the fittest - Meryl Streep made it worth watching… that and the shoes… and the purses… and paris.
I’m sitting here blushing. Just got a phone call from some friends flying out to DC, “we saw NOTCOT in a magazine!”. And then in came a pdf of the article… So back in January, Jenna Schnuer, called wanting to do a quick phone interview about NOTCOT, for American Way (the American Airlines in-flight mag)… that doesn’t seem like that long ago, but reading this little blurb and seeing how far we came SINCE, is pretty incredible, and to have something in real print (not this internet print) is just exciting. Lets see, a quick recap - since this interview, we now have well over twice as many readers, had the big redesign and launched the gallery in the tags, launched NOTCOT.org, started our own consulting/freelance studio (website in the making, email for involvement/info), launched NOTed, and have had an incredible time doing it all. So thanks, and click the pic to read the article! [American Way, June 15th, 2006]… so, since January, has our “addiction factor” grown stronger?
Ok so Sunday was a bit nuts for us over here at NOTCOT… we launched NOTed (which i am a bit eager about, and am loving the feedback i’ve been getting so far - but would love to hear from the rest of you too! Do you love/hate it? want more? help us spread it around, we want to know what people think!)
… as also sent out our first test email to the list (and seeing as i have minimal PHPlist and html email experience this was a big nervous step for me) - so everyone on the list, if you didn’t get it - EMAIL ME. And if you aren’t on the list yet - well go here and get on it. We won’t spam you, we’ll keep it to things that would make us smile when we open our inbox.
Announcing NOTed, NOTcot EDitorials - Everything from Vampire Rings + Bullet Zipper Pulls + Elephants + Flowered Skateboards to Gnomes. In NOTed, instead of recycling what we find on the internet, we’ve taken some of the best of NOTCOT mixed with the photography of Jackson Stakeman and the illustrations of Shade Elaine. We do more than just scour the world for inspiration constantly - all our posts inspire us too, so I figured it was about time we showed you a little bit of our “real” passion! Enjoy, spread the word, and I’d love the feedback.
Hey kids, its that crazy kind of friday, where i swear yesterday was monday. Yes, it really has been that busy! So many new adventures beginning, and so many loose ends being tied up… and in between it all, that pesky Google has convinced me to fix up this myspace page i’ve neglected for so long… (basically, it was coming up so high when you googled ‘notcot’, figured might as well clean it up)… so during a phone call earlier, i got bored and started tweaking it - and so i’m jumping on the bandwagon and publicly announcing its existence. Add us if you want, it looks sad with so few friends!
Oh, and on a more productive note - this might be a great way for me to get some basic news out to all of you - or a place for you to submit sweet ideas+images via the comments… but lets take it slow… and see how things go.
p.s. what should i put on the page?
A prehistoric camper, an orange battle, technicolor business cards, teenage-pest-control and a future camper!
This week curated for you by Hello-Friend… more .orging goodness over at NOTCOT.org… we’re waiting for your contributions!
My little project for the day - figuring out how to set up a double opt in e-mail list - to provide you guys with some visually enticing goodness in your email - b/c i know how happy i am when i get well designed emails with content i want - so while i don’t have the regularity of the list ready yet - just letting you know i’m working on it - and feel free to sign up now, and you’ll be the first to know when i launch one - and possibly even get some sneak peaks at works in progress before side projects go live. Also feel free to use that form to let me know more about what you’d like from us - or your ideas for email list content. I’m thinking we will initially shoot for once a month - and then a few scattered fun ones when we find things worthy of emailing. (You wouldn’t want me promising weeklies, and then force the content, right?)
Alien, ancient, and yawning lifeforms! The Mach 4 version of scissors! And a toy that knows all…
These are Shade Elaine’s picks from this weeks .org-ing. Go check out and contribute your own finds to NOTCOT.org!
SORRY! I feel a little silly apologizing to all of you. But i know i’ve been a bit off my game the last week or two - Oxford was hectic, and jetlag this week has not been pretty! So just wanted to let you know that i’ve had so many different things happening (many relating to NOTCOT projects growing quickly!) - finally got a new car (my first car that wasn’t inherited and my first NEW car) - and spent the very early morning out on the beach with my dad to break in his new kayak (only telling you that to explain the pic up top!). So be nice, and i’ll have lots of goodies to come for you… and the posts will pick back up as well… and please spread the word on NOTCOT.org, its been so much fun getting more people posting to it, and just having a place to share all the random bits we don’t always have time to get on NOTCOT.
Rabbits, Death, Crystal Bodies, Sod Couches, Hoffa Cupcakes, OH MY!
New tradition starting - Hello-Friend is going to do weekly curation of the visual goodness from NOTCOT.org to whet your appetite for what else is there when you need some inspiration and designer fun that often slips through the notcot.com cracks.
Life in Oxford is a bit backwards right now, as is my internet connection and posting ability. But while massive posts are less frequent, we’ve been adding much fun stuff in visual snip-it form over at NOTCOT.ORG! [and thanks to people writing in for passwords, we are looking forward to having more fun additions over there, and also can see many more extensive posts here growing from things people point out to us at .org] Check out the interview with Nokia’s Liisa Puolakka - Head of Brand Visual and Sensorial Experiences as well as some very cool art/figurines. We have the random commentary going there… the soundbites that we exclaim as we come across those images… but don’t be fooled, the content is quality, its just that backpage where (as if it were possible) we care even more about images than we do here at notcot.com!
Feedback on the concept - want RSS/Tagging? should it be sorted/searchable? does bulletin board - post away, and new will pile up over old - work?
Updated by Hello-Friend - NOTCOT.ORG:: Announcing NOTCOT’s community gallery - an internal bulletin board [now open to the public] - a place of inspiration so random some of it may never make it on to NOTCOT.com, yet is always guaranteed amusing. [more info below]
Over two mere months, our small group has amassed 200+ things that have amused/inspired us. Now that NOTCOT.org is public, this number will skyrocket with YOUR contributions.
… in oxford now, somewhat lacking internet connection, but working on fixing that, might just need a day or two! But lots to come! So please play with and check out the 200+ goodies over at NOTCOT.org until i get this sorted out? Grazie~
