So What Isn’t Dead Nowadays?

It’s good to be provocative sometimes, especially if you can get a conversation started about an important topic. I assumed that’s what Wired magazine was doing a few weeks ago with their “The Web is Dead” cover story, ironically announced online. It got people thinking: “what do they mean by that?” And so I was relieved to find out that, no, the internet isn’t really dead, but Wired had a point to make.

Too Big to Fail

The economy is still reeling, and the evidence is all around us: empty storefronts. It seems like every week another bank or retail shop down and moves out. Well, I’ve got a plan to fix it. I’m launching a new business venture: Ponzi. We’re gonna have multiple locations. Whenever a store vacates a property, we’re going to be there. I can’t tell you exactly what this store is, but if you tell all of your friends about it, and they tell all of their friends, and they tell their friends and so on, then it has to work, right?

Better Book Covers

Here is a blog that goes under the category of “I Wish I’d Thought of That! But, On Second Thought, If I’d Thought Of That, Then It Wouldn’t Be Nearly as Good.” At Better Book Titles, Dan Wilbur redesigns the cover of a well-known piece of literature with what would have been a more honest or direct title. They’re the ultimate “spoiler alerts,” like this alternative title for The Professor and the Madman, below. A lot of them will make you cringe and laugh at the same time, which is gold. And it’s expert Photoshopping as well. See for yourself.

Vote for our SXSW Panel!

My friend Austin Kleon has put together a panel for next year’s SXSW Interactive about the relationship between words, pictures, and humor. Sound familiar? The title is Your Caption Here: How To Manipulate Images Without Photoshop, and the panel is full of talented folks: Kleon, who recently published Newspaper Blackout; Jessica Hagy, of Indexed; Maris Kreizman, of Slaughterhouse 90210; Ross Nover, of The System; and myself. It should be great, because each of the panelists’ work comes from a slightly different angle, but each is wonderful in it’s own right. You can vote for the panel here, on the SXSW Panel Picker site. Whether you’ll be at SXSW 2011 or not, please vote!

Heavy Metal Meekness

I’m calling bullshit on all heavy metal logos. A band’s logo is ostensibly supposed to be a visual reflection of its music, and as we know, metal music is bold, loud, and aggressive. It’s a nihilistic assertion of the force of will in the face of a brutal world, yada, yada, yada. The problem is that the corresponding logos are about as threatening and subversive as a Mister Softee truck, with their clichéd, paint-by-numbers conformity. They are all total snoozers. Try to stay awake when looking at the gallery below:

#KanyeNewYorkerTweets

As further proof of the giddy mashupability of words and pictures, some folks have been making the internet giggle by pairing New Yorker cartoons with Kanye West’s tweets (as reported on HuffPo, among others). It’s brilliant. I was honored to be one of the victims, and although this isn’t in Kanye’s sputtering maniacal sweet spot, it does have 18 exclamation points. (Thanks to Paul and Storm!)

“B.L.T.” in Flight 7

If you are reading this and you haven’t already seen it, check out the preview of the comic I did for the seventh volume of the popular Flight series, published by Random House and edited by the amazingly talented Kazu Kibuishi. Or better yet, go buy it on amazon.com. I was thrilled to be included in this volume. It’s a handsome one, with lots of other great work in it!