Masthead (39k image)
Thursday, September 27th

More Photos from San Francisco...

Jon
09.27.07 @ 03:47 PM CST

catnJocie (106k image)

Click it to see it all blowed up.

Tuesday, September 25th

I hope your Monitor is big enough...

Jon
09.25.07 @ 10:21 PM CST

wilsonPanorama (131k image)

This is the completely mind-boggling view from the Wilson tasting room. (Click on the picture for a larger view.)

My Birthday is Approaching

Jon
09.25.07 @ 04:25 PM CST
listening to: Don & Mike
feeling: Fine

My birthday is coming up, and to make it easy for all of you, I am including a little widget to my Amazon Wishlist, which I have recently updated. Enjoy...and if you have questions, call Jocelyn. I like surprises.

My Amazon.com Wish List

Monday, September 24th

We're back from Napa...and you can see it all.

Jon
09.24.07 @ 12:33 PM CST
listening to: Ebert & Roeper
feeling: Jet-Lagged

Okay, so in order to cram all this Napa wonderfulness into a a format that would be easy to edit and update and share, I have decided to embrace iWeb and make a whole site about our Napa Trip, complete with a blog, photo galleries, and even some video.

In the very near future *maybe even before I finish this entry* you'll be able to see it all here: http://napatrip07.sandruck.com.

It is, of course, under construction, and will be until I finish processing film and start recalling details that are currently hazy due to the 14 wine tasting in three days...so check back frequently. ;-)

Friday, September 21st

Guess Where I Am...

Jon
09.21.07 @ 10:25 PM CST
feeling: Very, Very Good.

napaPainting (66k image)

Wednesday, September 19th

Missing You

Nicole
09.19.07 @ 04:35 PM CST

So I just wanted to let my family know that I miss them (even Greg)! So if you read this I hope you feel better knowing that I'm thinking about all of you!!

Tuesday, September 18th

Getting Ready for the Trip

Jocelyn
09.18.07 @ 05:01 PM CST

I went to the doctors and got a steriod shot and some antibiotics and am feeling much better! I can't believe napa is two days away. I thought I'd accomplish so much more before we left. I'm blaming it on "The Crud" and the pulled back. The Crud was the official term used by the doctor. I love steriods. I actually slept in our room last night instead of the guest room. I'm excited to see Napa. We're bringing the camera so we plan of attempting to capture the beauty.

Sunday, September 16th

Nose Hose

Jocelyn
09.16.07 @ 09:32 PM CST

I've been sick. I threw out my back and have a bad cough and cold. It's a bad mix. Tonight I bought a sinus rinse. It's awesome because it provides relief. It's gross and there will be no pictures posted with this entry. Anyway, I'm sitting here able to breath with both nostrals. It's really nice. So, all who suffer from sinus trouble, this is an easy non drug way to take care of sinus pain and stuffiness.

Tuesday, September 11th

Logo Developement Gallery

Jon
09.11.07 @ 12:32 PM CST
listening to: Don & Mike

For a long time now I have been thinking about how to put up all the various developement process images from the logos I design, as the really great ones are frequently not the ones picked by the client.

Thankfully, in the last year or so I have come to the realization that just because the client doesn't pick them doesn't mean I shouldn't show them. Portfolios need to be about the creative capabilities of the designer, not the sometimes limited imagination of the client.

I say thankfully because it really has helped me become a better designer. It's helped me be less inhibited and more creative, and that's what I really want to be.

Anyway, as both a way to show off the best concepts I have (regardless of their acceptance), and letting clients have an easy way to view concepts as I am working on them, I have decided to put up a logo development gallery using .Mac.

So, it'll be part incubation site, part conceptual graveyard. And, it'll be here: http://homepage.mac.com/jonsandruck/logoDesign/Menu8.html

I'll give it a better URL at some point...and add more of my recent developments as soon as I can.

Monday, September 10th

Logo Concept : Chronic Disease Fund

Jon
09.10.07 @ 06:11 PM CST

hiddenF (5k image)

As some of you already know, I am currently developing a new logo and website for the Chronic Disease Fund. They've asked me not to stray too far from the original design...so I am doing some that are very close to the original, merely solving some visual problems with the original. I am also doing some that are a modern interpretation of the original. And, I am doing some where I've reinterpreted the general idea of the original logo in my own distinct way. The logo above represents my favorite so far.

If you would like to see the other concepts I am throwing out there, you can go here: http://homepage.mac.com/jonsandruck/logoDesign/PhotoAlbum7.html.

Friday, September 7th

My New Haircut

Jon
09.07.07 @ 12:09 PM CST

Photo47 (72k image)

Sometimes I really enjoy being a self-employed designer...because I'm expected to be a little weird, and can therefore be free to have interesting hair and wear jeans and t-shirts and flip-flops all the time.

Apple does right by its customers...

Jon
09.07.07 @ 11:30 AM CST

One of the things I really love about Apple is that they make all reasonable efforts to do right by its customers. I often tell the story about when I bought my first G3 and Apple sent a tech to my dorm room in WV to replace a part for me. For that one totally awesome act they have forever earned my trust.

Anyway. As many of you may have heard, Apple drastically lowered the price of the iPhone. ($200. Yikes. That's like 30%.) And people who bought it at the full original price are pretty pissed.

I personally say, dude, this is what you get for getting all swept up in the hype. How many times have you bought something, especially technology, only to have a better version come out in six months for half the price? DVD Players, perhaps? Anyone out there pay $1000+ for a DVD player that looked like crap compared to a $500 player that came out a year later, or a $50 player now?

ANYWAY. 2 months, which is how long the iPhone has been out, is a really short time...and in consideration of that Apple is going to be giving previous iPhone owners a $100 Store Credit. What follows is a complete copy of the open letter Steve Jobs issued to all iPhone users.

Thursday, September 6th

bridal blues

Nicole
09.06.07 @ 11:39 AM CST
feeling: uhh i wonder

So I think that Joc will appreciate this, I am coming to the point when the wedding is getting close enough and the race has begun. I need to call the florist and check on some things, I need to call the church and talk to the musical director and priest (who I emailed on Monday and nothing), I keep getting phone calls about my bridal shower, which I would like to remind all married women of the joy that comes from the little things that the bride does not have to take care of!!!! This weekend is tuxes (I think) and somehow I need to get Kevin to help chose music, readings, etc.

I hope that in February I will be able to relax, and yes I know the wedding is in November but our lease is up in January so . . . life will just keep moving!

Michael Bierut Nails the Source of My Unstable Self Esteem

Jon
09.06.07 @ 10:51 AM CST

From The Design Observer:

"...what designers wanted then and want now, more than anything else, is respect. Respect from clients. Respect from the general public. Respect from — let's go right to the cliché — our moms."

Michael Bierut is a partner in Pentagram: New York, and one of the most respected designers working today. Glad to know I am not the only one. ;-)

Parting with my Crap, In Favor of More Important Crap

Jon
09.06.07 @ 10:35 AM CST
listening to: Don & Mike
feeling: Sleepy

So, Jocelyn was right, I have something to say about getting rid of all my books.

It sucks, but it is also cool. I got rid of a lot of books. A lot of them were really important to me a few years ago, but I will never read them again, and I wouldn't recommend them to a friend, and I don't think they fit into my "A person's library says something about them" theory.

So, the only things I kept were the various design books, things of literary importance, and things of emotional significance. I got rid of a lot of software manuals, instructional texts, paperback mystery novels, audiobooks, Anne Rice stuff, things I never got around to reading, Michael Crichton books (except the ones with covers designed by Chip Kidd, anything designed by Mr. Kidd gets a free pass) and books that people have given me that I have no intention of reading.

What did I get for my collection? $50. Yikes!

On the upside, it did free up a ton of bookshelf space, and in the shop where I sold my books, I found a bevy of some of the most treasured annual design books, the Graphis Annuals. I spent $160 (after 20% off) on Graphis Annuals ranging from 2002 to 2004 in Design, Poster, Logo, Corporate ID, and Photography.

So now the new collection has started. Graphis Annuals are there awesome hardbound black monotliths of books, and I know have 9 of them to start the collection. I've also finally subscribed to Communication Arts, so very soon the bookshelves will be filled with CA and Graphis Annuals.

Wednesday, September 5th

Junk in the Trunk

Jocelyn
09.05.07 @ 04:39 PM CST

Junk (18k image)

I'm sure Jon will have more to write on the subject, but I figured I'd write alittle too. Jon has made a difficult decision to slim down his personal library to only include books of literary importance. He did such a good job of weeding out books that our office now has empty shelves waiting patiently for his current design book collection as well as future additions to his design collection. I'll let him tell you about his new find at the book store. This is a picture of Jon's car filled with books that are no longer in our house!

Sneak Peek

Jocelyn
09.05.07 @ 04:30 PM CST
feeling: Humid-is that a mood?

Floor2 (64k image)

Here is a preview of our new floors. We're going to change the room a bit so I'm going to wait for the project to be complete before posting a full picture. These floors are gorgeous and change the whole feel of the house. Mabel slips on them when she's excited so she doesn't love them as much as we do.

Something Randomly Nice...

Jon
09.05.07 @ 12:49 PM CST
listening to: Loveline
feeling: Post-Lunch Metobolic Coma

So, this weekend I was all bummed out because of something shitty that a client said to me. Really, I don't even think he realized that what he said was so utterly shitty that I am contemplating never working with him again.

Anyway. Bright and early Tuesday morning I checked my e-mail and got a nice little pick me up that helped even me out a little.

David, one of the guys that founded the logo design community LogoPond (which I have written about pretty regularly) sent me a comment on this blog and let me know that he likes my work.

So, I guess that's all it takes to rectify my fragile self-esteem. wink

Tuesday, September 4th

Bad Fusion Bad

Nicole
09.04.07 @ 11:52 AM CST
feeling: sad

So, yesterday, Kevin and I went to a Japanese Fusion resteraunt (I can't remember what it was fused with) anyway, I tried the Pineapple Chili Chicken, which tasted nice (well Mom wouldn't like it but that's besides the point). Well, we were driving around Lawerenceville looking at the area and what's there and I got sick- lots of pains in the stomach- so much so that we stopped at the local mall and we had to hang out for at least a half an hour well I drank some tea and went to the bathroom, a couple of times.

And this makes me sad, because I finally tried something new and look what happened. I am going back to my bubble, if you need me, you can reach me there by email. sad

Saturday, September 1st

grrr

Nicole
09.01.07 @ 06:29 AM CST
feeling: blah

So,

I have been trying to lose weight, I walk everyday at lunch for 25 minutes or so. I try to work out everynight at home, but it only seems to happen on a couple of nights instead of everynight. I am also eating a ton of veggies (yes mom - the weight watchers amount of veggies) and I just keep circling, this wouldn't sound bad if the circle didn't conquer 8 lbs of difference from the top to the bottom of the scale. This just sucks.

I was actually doing better before I went back to work, because at home we don't have goodies all over the place- people bring in dougnuts every friday (there has been 1 friday without doughnuts). Anyway, I irritable and frustrated which makes it that much harder to try harder and work off more- I guess that means I won't be winning my deal with Kevin any time soon and won't be able to wear my 130 lb (as in I reached 130lbs) dress to the rehearsal dinner- as I don't think that I can lose that much weight in 2+ months.

So, Grrr.