THIS WEEK

With Frank Romano

Hi, this is Frank Romano for WhatTheyThink.com.  There were a few things that I found in the news this week which were interesting to me; they may be interesting to you.  There’s a company – this is via Dr. Joe.  There’s a company in, I think it’s California, yeah, Los Angeles.  The name of the company is Knock-Knock and they’re selling you, you ready for this?  Paper Tweets.  Paper Tweets.  This is a printed stationary that says, “Paper Tweet” on it.  It has lines and indications for 140 characters. 

Twits always crack me up. 

So you can actually write out your notes and hand them – when I was a kid, that’s what we did.  If you wanted to send a note to somebody in class, you wrote it out and you surreptitiously passed it to them or through other students to them.  Of course, then the nun would find out and catch you and then beat you, but that was a different story. 

Ahhhh, the gold ol’ days. 

The last role of Kodachrome.  Kodachrome film, as you know, they stopped making it.  There’s one roll left – one roll left in the world.  They gave it to a photo journalist named Steve McCurry.  And he’s taking the 36 last pictures that will be on there.  Now, those pictures are, I think, one was the Brooklyn Bridge, one was Grand Central Station.  But he’s also traveling to India and other places in the world to take images as well.  The last 36 pictures.  And the last company that can develop that roll is in Kansas and they’re going to develop it and it will be part of a special that will be coming up on the National Geographic Channel.  But Curry’s the one that did that wonderful, iconic photo of the young lady from Afghanistan – I’m sorry, from Pakistan. 

What would be, if you – I remember once being at Hallmark and they had an assignment for their new graphic designers.  They took them to a farm and they gave them all a camera and they said, “You’re leaving for another planet, you’re never going to see Earth again.  What are the 10 images that you will take with you to remind you of your life on this planet?”  And that was the assignment.  It was rather interesting in what they did.  This is almost the same kind of an assignment.  What are the 36 last pictures you want to take with this roll of Kodachrome that might be indicative of life as we know it. 

R.R. Donnelly is creating a research facility.  And what’s interesting is it’s in Grand Island, New York, which is where Moore had one of the greatest research facilities ever.  And of course, through a variety of acquisition, Donnelly ended up with more, Moore Wallace of course, in that facility.  That’s where some of the first digital printers were ever installed.  I used to take my classes up there by bus to see the first Zicon machine, the first Indigo machine, the first Docu-Color 40 that were installed in the United States were installed there and used for testing purposes of how they would apply it for more printing and services.  So Donnelly will be there developing inks and electronics and systems.  And of course, they are a  big developer now of ink jet systems for their own use.  Will they sell them to other?  Ha-ah. 

Being an old person, I get the AARP Bulletin.  The Journal, this is The Bulletin.  The Journal is the magazine; The Bulletin is more like a Sunday magazine.  And they did a whole article of ways to save money, 99 Ways to Save: 

Number 11:  Save on printer ink by using the Century Gothic Font, which a recent study showed consumes about a third less than the industry standard, Arial.  That saves you about $20 a year for a home user printing 25 pages a week. 

First of all, Arial is not the standard.  It’s Helvetica, by the way, but that’s beside the point.  But it’s a shame that Arial has become so popular.  And I’m not sure I want to use Century Gothic.

Nothing like a good font argument…

Maybe I want to use Palatino, thank you very much or Garamond.  So please don’t tell me that a recent study – who did the recent study, by the way?  Somebody who developed Century Gothic?  Give me a break! 

There are all kinds of hints and tips in this thing by the way.  Some of them are pretty weird. 

Save cell phone minutes by skipping long-winded voice mail greetings and instructions.  Press star when calling Verizon customers.  The number “1” for Sprint users and the number sign for AT&T. 

So, various ways to save money; Century Gothic is not the one I want. 

I call this font Frank Sans…

Somebody sent me this; it’s from Boing Boing.  They took a whole bunch of braces, you know, they normally go that way, and they did them this way and they did typographic mustaches.  So, I think they’re great.  Some of them are beautiful.  And Gil Sans is a great looking moustache.  Cooper Black is a fantastic looking moustache.  So anybody who wants to put on a fake moustache can just print out a brace, you know, enlarge it somewhat and [phbt] put it on and you’re all set to go. 

And lastly, I was in a parking garage in Boston on Clarendon Street, the old Hancock Garage.  And as you got to the elevator there was these little cards that you could pick out.  Depending on which elevator you took, and in fact, when I saw this one I ran to the other elevator as well.  It says, “You are Parked on Level 5, which elevator you are at, please take ticket with you.”  And it even has instructions on the back and says, “If you need help, jump starts, tire inflation, windshield washer fluid, tire changes, call this number.”  They have an office and they have people who will come and help you out.  It reminds you then where you parked in the garage, because it’s kind of hard sometimes to figure it out or remember it unless you write it down.  But thought this was great and I like it for another reason.  It’s printed and it cannot be replaced by electronic technology.  Although it’s entirely possible that it could put a little bluetooth unit right there at the elevator and theoretically that is how you would find your way.  I’m not sure about that.  Or maybe you would use your car electronic system in some way.  I like the printed card.  Thank you very much. 

So, take care. 

Next time…

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