By Mark Kaufman

By Mark Kaufman
I got a big poster from Corbis the other day touting some kind of Golden Discount. Beats me what the hell this offer is. This is one of those “Design for Design Sake” pieces. On first glance it looks oh so cool, but on second glance, the one where you stop to actually try to understand what the piece is intended to inform you about, it is an absolute disaster! Numbers, and copy blocks going every which way, 90 different typefaces, all shouting look at me, look at me! And signifying nothing. I added the question marks and the exclamation point to this photo which neither adds nor subtracts to the legibility of this poster. I might as well have added a kitchen sink to this mess. Come on Corbis, you can do better. 

By Mark Kaufman
Cartoon about SCHIP veto and right wing attacks on kids! See short video clip of PAul Lynde singing KIDS! from Bye By Birdie here.

By Mark Kaufman
New spot of the indie/rock/psych folk/singer/songwriter/elfin/harpy Joanna Newsom. 

By Mark Kaufman
Each day brings a new affront to the world as we know it. Why, oh why did the person serving up my coffee this morning have to add a smiley face sticker to the lid?  Why turn a cup of human kindness into a cup of bitterness and resentment? Yes, it's a slow news day, and that's all I've got.

By Mark Kaufman
‘Tis the season. Halloween season that is. The awesome Canadian cartoonist and animator Jay Stephens has a blog called Monsterama, dedicated to all things cute and creepy. The creator of Oddville!, one of my fave comic strips, traffics in scary monsters and pop culture year ’round, not just in October like the rest of us. Thanks Jay!

By Mark Kaufman
New spot I did for the Stranger to accompany music feature on the new Radiohead album_business model_game changer, In Rainbows. I opted for something loose and sketchy. Just like the download process for the album.

By Mark Kaufman

By Mark Kaufman
The Frown Prince is gone and with Joey Bishop's passing it is officially the end of an era. With the exception of ladies auxiliary members Angie Dickinson and Shirley MacLaine the Rat Pack is kaput. Rest in peace Joseph Abraham Gottlieb, you and your ilk are sorely missed. See a very low-resolution animated opening sequence from the Joey Bishop Show here courtesy of Toontracker.

By Mark Kaufman
Here’s a detail of a spot I did for a story about how KUOW, the Seattle National Public Radio outlet is sitting on a mountain of cash, whilst alluding to financial crisis during pledge drives. I must say that back in the day, I listened to NPR quite a lot, but thanks to Air America and other progressive radio shows, and more importantly the ability to listen to radio stations around the world via the internets, I rarely if ever listen to public radio anymore. Who wants to listen to pledge drives, namby pamby political coverage, essays about sustainable puppy chow and throat singing all damn day? I don’t, but I’ll listen to strident political coverage, Argentinian punk, Italian Europop and white noise all damn day and night. Still, NPR does have killer tote bags.

By Mark Kaufman
Over at Design Observer the last couple of days, Steven Heller mused about bad, copy heavy advertising and kiddie porn(?). With that in mind I thought I'd start a book club, and the first one I'd recommend is the book Advertising Design and Typography by Alex W. White. This book has several things going for it. No. 1 it is a rare book about design NOT written by Mr. Heller , No. 2 I think it is the best book about advertising, design and typography to come out in many a year, and No. 3, besides having lots of pictures of great ads both old and new, keeping the current fascination with the trendy and “now“ to a minimum, it actually has a great deal of something called words. The words are actually informative and work well with the aforementioned pictures. All kidding aside, this is a great book, just the kind of thing I like to read on the beach.

By Mark Kaufman
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”
Albert Einstein

All illustrators and designers probably face this conundrum at one time or another, the mystery sketch. I tend to jot down notes, thumbnails, and ideas on anything at hand, cocktail napkins, newspapers, receipts and the like. Sometimes when I empty my pockets to see what the day has brought forth I find something like this. I don’t have any idea of what this was supposed to be. I like the looks of it though.

By Mark Kaufman

By Mark Kaufman
Here's a detail of a  piece I did last week for the Stranger called the United Colors of Burien. The article deals with the varied ethnic enclaves and the food and restaurants and people that serve it up in a community due south of white bread Seattle. This map follows a taco wagon to some good eats and different cultures. I think it turned out swell, and in a first for me I got some nice comments from both the writer and the editor of the story! Looking for a great place to eat pupusas or pig ears or taro or dim sum? Head south my friends.

By Mark Kaufman
Much like the cobblers kids that had no shoes, Vivitiv, our design concern has been without a working website for some time. I know it's embarrassing, but we kept churning out work for our clients over the years and our site kept being pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. Well, those days are over, check out vivitiv.com, for the latest news from Vivitiv, a portfolio of work, client lists, blog and more. A big thanks to Erin Leonard at Mountbracken and Campbell for his hard work and dedication, and to all of our clients that have kept us busy and out of trouble over the years.