Roughstock Studios

Russian Anti-Alcohol Posters: Propaganda or PSA?

2007-11-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

[11.03.07]

Every society has, at various points in history, struggled with it's relationship to mind-altering substances. While I would certainly consider alcohol to be at the low end of the innocuous—insidious scale, there can be no arguing that if given the right conditions, it can wreak it's own brand of havoc on both an individual and societal level.

Campaigns against the "scourge" of alcoholism, whether it be Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, or the U.S. during Prohibition, are nothing new. Russia, of course, is no exception; the country has persistently fought high rates of alcoholism, as evidenced by these fascinating posters.

It's not surprising that public campaigns such as these get off the ground. Alcoholism does nasty things to people. But the problem with these campaigns is that they fail on two levels:

They equate alcohol consumption with alcoholism, and;
They blame alcoholism for many of the very things that feed it: violence, depression, job loss, etc.

Widespread spikes in alcoholism rates typically correspond to increased levels of poverty and socio-political oppression. So is poverty and oppression the result of alcoholism, or vice versa? The answer is not as simple as most temperance movements make it out to be.

[via Jay Brooks]

Unmarketable: Read This Interview

2007-11-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

[11.01.07]

From Anne Elizabeth Moore, author of Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity:

"...those of us that actually are dedicated to ethical, sustainable, and autonomous cultural production—is really tiny, and kinda lonely, and we’re rapidly running out of beer. And all we can do when we run into each other is sigh deeply."

Read the whole interview with her on Murketing; it's worth it.

Sustainability vs. Luxury: Are They Really At Odds?

2007-10-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

Whatever you personal feelings about Al Gore, he must be doing something right (you don’t win the Nobel Peace Prize, after all, for failing miserably). Thanks in no small part to Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, the American public’s awareness of environmental concerns has grown considerably in recent years. This increased awareness brings with it a fascinating process of learning, questioning, justifying, arguing and, sometimes, changing. Since our industrial revolution, America has been a society of consumers, embracing values of luxury and carefree (careless?) spending. With the advent of the climate crisis, this consumerism is being challenged. But is luxury truly anathema to sustainability? Must we really choose between consumption and abstinence?

Ask the average citizen what it takes to be sustainable, or green, and you’ll likely hear something along the lines of, “Give up the fun stuff.” This model is perpetuated by the environmental movement itself, whose primary motto is “reduce, reuse, recycle,” implying we must reduce our indulgences before anything can be done to save us. Charlotte McGuinn Freeman, of the Living Small blog recently summed up this pervasive attitude rather bluntly in a recent entry for The Ethicurian: “I hate to be the one to point it out, but luxury and sustainability are contradictory values.” Clearly, this belief runs deep, regardless of which side of the fence you shop on.

Is it true, though?

Is it possible to live in extravagance without damaging the environment? Is it possible to thoughtlessly consume without essentially shitting your waste all over the place? Right now, the answer is no. Thanks to an unchecked economic system that has never once factored environmental resources into the cost of doing business, we now have a world of goods made from toxins, that produce toxins, and end up as toxins in landfill.

Just imagine if companies— the building blocks of our current economy—assigned a real dollar value to the cost of natural resources. I’m not even talking about the expense of strip mining, for example, with all its OSHA regulations and heavy machinery. I’m talking about costs like the lost productivity of worker-drones who don’t have access to sunlight and fresh air, or the long-term cost of depleting oil reserves without a sufficient energy source to replace them. These are real costs to businesses of all sizes, but when was the last time you took a hard look at the “waste disposal” line item on your P&L?

The truth is that the products we make and sell and buy are damaging us even as they make our lives easier in the short term. Pesticides that help us produce more food faster actually leach into water sources, for example, then leach into the fish swimming in those water sources, then leach into those of us who eat that fish. Or, on a simpler level, take your latest purchase at OfficeMax: how much of what you just paid for is actually for plastic packaging that you sent to a landfill as soon as it passed through your business’ doors?

It’s not doomsday yet, though.

As I write this, R&D departments throughout the world are racing to find new, better alternatives. At one time, recycled paper was a crappy alternative to virgin pulp paper but thanks to technological development, we now have gorgeous, affordable recycled paper options at our disposal. The Prius is another, if imperfect, example. A process once hidden from the public’s gaze is now snowballing into the limelight. Companies are recognizing that the up-front R&D costs generally pale in comparison to the ROI to be seen down the road. And we small businesses get to piggyback on their innovation.

What they’re working on is really incredible, and incredibly sexy. Cars that run on air (they exist!); treatment plants that clean wastewater using the gas from their own processes (okay, that last one's not so sexy, but it's really cool). These advances have already been made, and now it’s a matter of applying our technological capabilities to their mass production so they become the norm and not the exception. Quickly. And that happens through publicity (cue Al Gore) and the build-up of demand.

It’s a beautiful cycle, isn’t it? And it’s why I believe that luxury and sustainability are not contradictory values in and of themselves. With our current production framework, no, of course they can’t coexist. But our current framework is changing. If regenerative products become the norm—products that add to the health of our environment rather than detract from it—it could conceivably mean that carefree consumption can actually be an environmentally friendly action.

One has to happen first for the other to be true, of course. But the change is happening. So as we continue to demand that the end-user change their habits, we need to also demand—even more strenuously—that the producers change theirs.

Design Thinking: Wall Cleat Switchplate

2007-10-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

[10.29.07]

Like any good designer, Karl Zahn created the Wall Cleat to solve a specific problem; what the hell do you do with all the messy cording that piles up at the electrical outlet? His answer is no more and no less than it needs to be:

It's not in production yet, but check out his Boiler Design Office to get a hold of other products he's created. (I wonder how he'd deal with a multi-plug surge protector?)

Free Recycled Packaging Rubber Stamp Art (Updated)

2007-10-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

[10.25.07]

If you're a retailer who ships your products in reused or recycled packaging, then this one's for you. A fellow member of the Co-op America Business Network recently asked about rubber stamp art that they could use to inform their customers about their packaging materials.

I whipped up this template you can use to get your own custom rubber stamp made for this purpose.

The following artwork should be acceptable for most stamp makers (the line widths in this image should meet minimum requirements of 2 mm), but if your stamp maker feels the line thickness is not big enough, contact me and I'll see what I can do. Also, note which file format your printer requires and select the appropriate one (if neither will work for you, again let me know and I'll see what I can do).

Instructions for 300 dpi jpeg:
1. Click on the image below (it'll open in a new window).
2. Right-click (PC) or control-click (Mac) on the larger image and choose "Save Image As."
3. Send image to your local rubber stamp maker via ftp or email.
4. Stamp away!

Instructions for 600 dpi tiff:
1. Click on the image below (it should start downloading to your default downloads folder immediately).
2. Send image to your local rubber stamp maker via ftp or email.
3. Stamp away!

If you do end up using this to create a stamp, please consider emailing me a photo of the finished stamp in action!

Fine Print
© 2007 Roughstock Studios. You may not alter or sell this artwork, nor anything made using this artwork, without express permission and compensation. Artwork may be distributed free of charge but must include this "Fine Print" section, and must include a link to www.roughstockstudios.com. I and Roughstock Studios cannot accept responsibility for any printing/production issues that may arise from the use of this artwork.

Packaging Ideas: Wild Bunch

2007-10-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

[10.21.07]

These are juice bottles from Wild Bunch:

Although these are sexy, I'm not one for overpackaging. And I can't help but feel this kind of stopper is overpackaging (what advantages doe sit really offer the consumer?).

But imagine if this was a wine bottle—a recorkable wine bottle. Now that would be something.

Feed Fixed (I Think)

2007-10-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

[10.21.07]

Okay, folks. I believe I've got the janky feed issues worked out. Just in case, might I recommend that you update your rss subscriber to: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RoughstockStudios ?

This should eliminate the feed always displaying the home page announcements at the top of the post listing (so that you can read Blog! in reverse chronological order). Please let me know if you're having difficulties.

I've also added a happy little feed subscription button at the bottom of this website for easy sign-up.

You're Eating Frankenfoods...No, Really, You Are.

2007-10-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

[10.21.07]

I knew it was bad, but I guess it didn't really hit home until I read this quote:

"...more than 70% of processed foods on grocery store shelves contain genetically engineered or biotech ingredients."

Without some seriously conscientious shopping habits, it seems close to impossible to avoid eating this stuff. Organic farmers' market, here I come!

[Full article from the LA Times]

Wonky Feed Subscription For Now

2007-10-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

[10.19.07]

I've been fiddling with the feed to this site, trying to set it so that you can easily subscribe to Blog! only, instead of getting stuck with the update to other minor pages on the site. ~~I think I've got it.~~

I apologize if you're subscription has gotten wonky all of a sudden; I'll let you know as soon as I've got it all worked out. Thanks!

Lights Out!

2007-10-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

[10.19.07]

Tomorrow evening is Lights Out San Francisco, a group effort to reduce energy consumption by turning your lights off for one hour. The organizers expect to save about 15% of the energy typically consumed on a San Francisco Saturday night.

If I was still bartending, I'd be hosting a Lights Out Party for this thing. Imagine a roomful of revelers, a crapload of candles, and no lights! Sounds pretty sexy to me. Then again, you don't need a party to light a few candles and enjoy the non-electrified mood lighting...

All ya gotta do is turn off your non-essential lights on Saturday, October 20 (tomorrow!), from 8:00-9:00 pm. You can also sign the pledge if you're feeling really proactive.

Photography Is Cool Again

2007-10-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

[10.18.07]

After discovering the latest evidence that anyone can and should do everything, I'm tempted to rail about the rise of the cultural creatives. For now, though, I'll hold my tongue and simply show you this:

It's the White Stripes' latest promotional item, and it's a doozy. Hot, ain't she? Meg has one, too, but it's the Diana model. These cameras are fun as hell, take phenomenally wicked shots, and are pretty much what's made toy cameras a cult phenomenon right now.

Funny how it took technology to convince the general public that artistic creation was an accessible, worthwhile pursuit and now everyone's creating with obsolete technology.

Some Colors Can't Be Copied

2007-10-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

[10.10.07]

I'm on the road right now, resting in rural Vermont. Internet yes, cell phone service no. Strange dichotomy. Even stranger is the 3-legged dog I'm staying with. Photos to come later (I only brought my film camera). In the meantime, here are a couple of shots from last year's trip:

Simplify This.

2007-10-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

[10.09.07]

One of the easiest ways I have found to simplify my life is to stop reading the absurdly long list of ways to simplify your life continually posted by life-simplifying blogs.

October Hours

2007-09-30T16:53:00.001-07:00

[09.30.07]

Please note that I'll be out of town from Oct. 3 through Oct. 16. I'll have limited access to email, but if you have time-sensitive needs, please feel free to call (415) 515-9308, M-F 10-6 EST.

Varini's Three Dimensional Painted Rooms

2007-09-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

[09.27.09]

I came across some anonymous photos a while back and never knew from whence they came. Just found out that these optical illusions are the work of Felice Varini.

See additional roomscapes.

It's Official: Roughstock Earns Green Certification

2007-09-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

[09.26.07]

Roughstock's been getting some press for our recent certification as a San Francisco Green Business! We've worked closely with various city agencies throughout the fairly exhaustive certification process, focusing on reducing energy and water consumption, minimizing Roughstock's waste stream, and adopting purchasing policies that reflect environmentally preferable standards.

This certification marks an important shift for both myself and Roughstock; I really want this studio to serve as an agent for change within both San Francisco and the larger business and design worlds. This includes working directly with environmentally and socially conscious companies, as well as operating as sustainably as we can.

It's reassuring to know that both our local business community and the wider design world recognizes the value in sustainable business practices. Read what they're saying about Roughstock:

The Green Jobs Act Needs You

2007-09-26T10:37:00.001-07:00

[09.26.07]

From the Ella Baker Center:

"...the media so far has missed one of the most interesting and innovative proposals that will be voted on: the Green Jobs Act of 2007.
This ground-breaking legislation will make $120 million a year available across the country to begin training workers (and would-be workers) for jobs in the clean energy sector. When the bill becomes law, 35,000 people a year will benefit from cutting edge, vocational education in fields that could literally save the Earth."

This is the kind of legislative thinking that we need; not only does it offer marketable vocational skills to those in need, it also creates a workforce ready and able to help grow a more sustainable economy.

To quickly and easily show your support for the Green Jobs Act, just fill out this short form and click "Send!"

Hilly Krystal Was a Millionaire

2007-09-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

[09.23.07]

Can't say I was surprised to learn that Hilly Krystal, the late owner of CBGB, was worth $3.7 million when he died. Of course, he told his ex-wife and son that he was broke, and he didn't pay rent on the club for years before his death. Kind of sad, really:

"At 82, [Hilly's ex-wife] Karen Kristal still has bright eyes and the vocal projection of a trained actress, but she slipped in her apartment over the Labor Day weekend and broke her elbow. She appears to be slipping in other ways, too: She asks questions over and over and exhibits other signs of a mind affected by age. [Hilly's Son] Dana says that his mother's brain scans show marks that are indicative of mini-strokes and that she has water on the brain. He also says that his sister Lisa, who was a fixture at Hilly's side, pressured Karen to sign away her rights to the club when she didn't have the presence of mind to understand the consequences of her actions."

[via The Village Voice]

Corn Is the New Fast Food

2007-09-20T14:52:00.001-07:00

[09.21.07]

Well, duh. Since the movies Fast Food Nation (and the book it was based on) and Super Size Me raised the ridiculously obvious point that we are what we eat (and what we eat is often crap), the American food chain has gone under the ~~microscope~~ macroscope. The most recent example would be Michael Pollan's recent success, The Omnivore's Dilemma, a book that eloquently and exhaustively traces three American food chains.

The first of those food chains was the mainstream industrial one (organic agriculture and hunting/gathering being the other two). Turns out the lifeblood pumping through our nation's veins isn't blood at all—it's corn. So you already knew that. Well, in case you'd like to know more, there will soon be a movie exposing all: King Corn looks to be the big screen answer to The Omnivore's Dilemma.

PARK(ing) Day 2007 Is Tomorrow!

2007-09-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

[09.20.07]

Grab some sod, a tree or two, and a bench and start feeding the meter. PARK(ing) Day is more than just some hipster eco-radical's idea of a good time. It's not performance art. It's a really valid, important use of public space.

Arrr...I Missed It

2007-09-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

[09.20.07]

Yeah, I missed International Talk Like a Pirate Day; guess I better walk the plank. I remember the good old days, I do, when I could tell my joke about the latest pirate flick (it's rated arrrrr) without everyone acting like I was sooo last season (year?). But in posthumous (belated?) honor of the holiday, I give you:

That's a postcard from 826 Valencia, the San Francisco writing center that helps teach kids how to play with the written word. The center is fronted by a pirate supply shop that offers such fundamental pirate accoutrements as glass eyeballs. If you don't believe me that this is one of the coolest projects ever, maybe you'll listen to David Byrne, who says it's "one of the top five pirate stores I've been to recently."

Map Love: I Didn't Do This In Grade School

2007-09-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

[09.20.07]

Give this real quick map game a try. Seems like a great solution to the shortage of maps in South Carolina.

Visualizing Beer: The Beer Menu

2007-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

[09.17.07]

When I was working on the training program for the Four Points by Sheraton Best Brews program, one of the biggest difficulties was designing a beer menu that was actually useful. Every Four Points bar carries about two dozen craft and regional beers, with many locations carrying upwards of three times that number. The challenge boiled down to this: how do you design a menu that:

Delivers all the necessary information that a beer drinker might want (beer name, brewery, geographic origin, beer style, general flavor profile, and alcohol by volume)?
Is easy to scan?
Makes familiar/national brand beers easy to locate?
Conforms to the clean, simple style of the Four Points style guide?

Step one, of course, is logically categorizing beers. Most bars that focus on craft beer tend to categorize beers by region, although some opt for style. Both approaches can alienate (yes, alienate) the casual beer drinker, to whom such categories may be virtually meaningless (just what the hell does a German beer taste like?).

Luckily, my client had spent years creating a system for categorizing wine by flavor profile. Could we apply this same approach to beer? we wondered. In theory we could, but WineQuest's flavor profiling relied on an intricate database of thousands and thousands of wines. Amassing a similar database of such detail-level information for beer would never be done soon enough.

The solution, I found, was to create five straightforward categories that any customer could easily understand:

Draft Selections
Crisp Refreshers
Smooth Thirst-Quenchers
Robust Brews
Low Calorie and Non-alcoholic

I then recommended that each category list the beers according to the following format (with mildest flavors at the top and strongest at the bottom, much like WineQuest's progressive wine list format):

Beer Name (Style, ABV%): Region
Example: Sierra Nevada (Pale Ale, 5.6% ABV): California

Of course, there was plenty of back and forth between myself, WineQuest, and the in-house design team at Four Points. But ultimately, they used pretty much the format I created (though I think they may have played with the punctuation and text formatting of the individual beer names).

A menu like this accomplishes several things. First, it forces the drinker to focus on the beer's general flavor profile (I wrote in-depth training courses for the staff to familiarize them with the various flavors of their core beers and beer styles in general, so that the menus would be accurate). Placing the name of the beer first in each line is the logical placement, allowing brand-loyal drinkers to easily find their beloved (cringe) Bud. Providing secondary details like place of origin and beer style serves a twofold purpose: it lends a uniqueness to each beer, and it helps educate more casual beer drinkers. Finally, the simple presentation prevents those who just want a cold brew from feeling like they have some hoop to jump through, while beer geeks get all the info that helps to reinforce their geekiness. It's a beautiful, though delicate, balance.

The piéce de resistance of the menu has been stripped down in its final form, sadly. My original design called for an additional key of icons to indicate particularly hoppy, fruity and malty beers for those who are looking for more specific flavor guidance. I was also insistent that Four Points include an icon for high ABV beers, to ensure hotel guests, many of whom would likely be driving, would know what they were getting into. I think (though I'd have to double-check this at an actual Four Points bar), they ended up using icons only to indicate recommended beers and high ABV beers.

I have to admit, I'm really proud of the final menu. The look and feel is all Four Points, thanks to their in-house team, but the structure is all mine. It makes it really easy to select a beer from what can be an otherwise daunting list, regardless of how much beer knowledge you might have. So the next time you're traveling, don't forget about this incredible beer goldmine!

De Caboteur Français Étrange de Stella Artois

2007-09-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

[09.17.07]

I took high school Spanish, so forgive me. But these coasters that Stella Artois sent to me as part of a fancy promotional package (seriously, these things came through customs), are quite, well, magnifique.

I like that they aren't overdone; nothing fancy, just a little flare here and there. And you gotta love a client who appreciates white space.

Only one question remains: will Stella's elaborate marketing campaign (have you explored that site link yet?!) really elevate the beer's reputation from the Pabst of Belgium to high end import lager?

Design Matters: Architecture of Authority

2007-09-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

[09.14.07]

When designers get all wordy and start saying things like, "you see how this line draws the eye to the main message, while that gentle curve prevents it from being too aggressive..." don't roll your eyes so quickly. Because each design element, when assembled correctly, does impact the viewer/user/visitor/audience.

The Architecture of Authority, by UCSB professor Richard Ross, catalogs and explores "spaces built to communicate with others." The collection of photographs is thought provoking and occasionally disturbing. You really should check out excerpts from The Architecture of Authority and read the interview with Ross.

[via Coudal, of course]