Sometimes people get carried away with being stylistic. This dog sign looks more like someone assaulting a dog with a light-saber, and as for the roadsign on Van Ness and Mission Street, why even bother? That sign always amuses me when I get off the freeway.

First real world design project - We're off tommorow to the Petrified Forest National Park to work on designing two "entry stations" for the park. You know the little kiosks where you pay your fee and get handed a brochure? Not the hugest project, but ought to be an outstanding learning experience, and if they actually get built, even better!

Let's review the new Wisconsin State Quarter. Done? OK. 2 out of 4 stars. Pretty boring. Low on inspiration. Mildly embarrassing. In a word, forgettable.

The problem is the amateurish attempt to use too many symbols at the same time. A good looking coin should be relatively simple as well as thoughtfully designed. If Wisconsin wanted the cow, they should have had just a big smiling cow on the quarter. That would have looked great in a kitschy sort of way, and it would have been hilarious opposite the stoic Washington.

Too bad for WI. But it's still not the worst designed quarter out there. That honor goes to Ohio who's quarter looks like it was designed by a team of 5 year-olds with a clip art program. Not to mention the fact that no matter how hard Ohio numatasists try, North Carolina will always be more associated with the Wright Brothers. Plus the NC quarter actually looks nice.

Even more so - the Ohio quarter came out a year after NC, which makes it even lamer that they decided to use the Wright Flyer design long after is was circulating. How lame are people in Ohio? Have I used the word "lame" enough?

That brings me to my point - the people in Ohio are probably nice folks, but their quarter, circulating amongst millions does not do them justice. These silly little coins actually do make a statement. A nice looking quarter makes a good impression, a forgettable one is forgotten, a lame one does worse.

If Mississippi can design a good looking coin, surely anyone can.

[the master list]

Post script - Though totally predictable, the proposed Texas quarter looks damn cool.

Well, it could be worse, but all three of the finalists for the Wisconsin State Quarter are pretty lame. If I had to chose the least lame, it would have to be the guys with the canoe.

Sacramento: Well, despite it's poor showing in the polls, I am happy to see that my favorite quarter has been chosen as one of the 5 finalists to be the CA state quarter. Here are the final 5. The one with John Muir would be my second choice.

[all known proposals here]

Most of the US state quarters that have come out recently are pretty generic and uninteresting. A few are fabulous, and a few are horrendous in their design.

This is my favorite design for the new California quarter (coming out next year). It's a giant sequoia with circular rings printed across the coin. Simple and beautiful. It doesn't appear to be the most popular design, but I like for its originality and the bold, if arrogant, tagline: "Largest living thing on earth".

Go to this website to cast your vote. There are some crap designs on the ballot, but fortunately, the current leader is not so bad, even if it as bit of a disorganized collage.

I'm going to do a review of all of them when I get around to it.

Park Guell in Barcelona is every bit as amazing as I thought it would be. I wish I had more time to write some intelligent commentary about it, but I'll just say it was extremely pleasant. Just being there was somehow uplifting. I spent about an hour sitting under one of the viaducts listening to a jazz band, whose CD I ultimately purchased, then wandered off climbing the staircases until I could look over the whole city and out to sea. A true masterpiece of landscape architecture. Some enjoyable photos - click these thumbnails for big full screen pics:
     

I was wandering through Clerkenwell today in the cold, bundeled up in a long overcoat and a bright red scarf today. I decided to amuse myself by peeking into offices and inspecting their interior. Most of the offices around here are ridiculously hip, with lots of designer furniture. I wished I had my camera because I found one that had a camper-van suspended over a big hole in the floor. The van had a conference table inside, and the rest of the place has decorated with all sorts of kitchy furnniture. Pushing Eurochic to new levels...