new york city

/ Don

Duane Reade’s New York Packaging

It isn’t the first time people have incorporated bar codes into the design of things. In fact, I believe I saw three different periodical covers last year that used this same technique. So the concept is far from original.

But Duane Reade—which, to New Yorkers, is synonymous with pharmacy—recently took this one step further by working their product bar codes into iconic metropolitan imagery. The Chinatown Delight—which I always thought was either a extra surprise at the end of a massage, or the revelation that she’s both my daughter and my sister (Don’t get my reference? Then forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown)—uses a subway train. The Honey Roasted Peanuts uses a NYC cityscape. The Blanched Roasted Peanuts uses the Statue of Liberty. So while the imagery and concept are New York at it’s tritest, the integration of both the bar code and symbolism into the main graphic elements on this packaging makes it pretty unique and beautiful.

Read more

/ Don

People Watching New Yorkers in Spring

When I left the house this evening, I didn’t plan on making my Friday night in Manhattan all about people watching. I’d hoped, rather, to be able to meet up with the latest girl that I’d been deluding myself about. But rather, in tune with the last few weeks of trying to see her, we never ended up together. In my head, I composed the perfect email to let her know we’re through, but delivery will wait until tomorrow morning (when I’m clear-headed). You lucky readers won’t get such a reprieve, but rather the unfiltered stream of consciousness that was my evening. Read more

/ Don

ERA404 Relaunches BroadwayVideo.com

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In 2005, Sharon Haskell contacted ERA404 to work with her on developing the portfolio site for Lorne Michaels‘ production company, Broadway Video. ERA404 previously worked with Ms. Haskell on the site for her motion, still-life and collage work, sharonhaskell.com. The site enjoyed four years of steady traffic until Broadway Video updated their branding and marketing campaign.

This is when Creative Director, Katherine Burke, returned to ERA404 to develop a new site that was in-line with the production facility’s new image. This morning, nearly four years to the day, the new site launched.

The site incorporates 80+ streaming videos in entirely dynamically loaded content, deep-linking through SWFAddress, daily news/press updates with advanced searching and RSS  feeds, archival footage and information about the production facility’s legacy over the last 35 years.

Visit BroadwayVideo.com

/ Don

Aerial Virtual Tour of New York

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Wow, I’ve just wasted an absurd amount of time on this web site. Other than the Jan Hammer music, the beauty and serenity of NYC from above is awe-inspiring enough to extend anyone’s lunchbreak an extra half-hour. Take a look at this VR presentation by PixelCase as you gently hover (or force-navigate) your way through New York City’s Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and Downtown Manhattan.

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Aerial Virtual Tour of New York
PixelCase
/ Don

NYC Subway Art Collages

NYC Subway Art Collage
NYC Subway Art Collage
NYC Subway Art Collage
NYC Subway Art Collage
NYC Subway Art Collage
NYC Subway Art Collage

Nearly all subway stations have inlays in the tiled walls for advertising. For over a century, these inlays have been plastered with wheat-paste and posters were rolled on top, only to be shredded off, re-plastered, re-rolled, and re-shredded, again and again. The resulting collage of color in this accidental artwork is often quite compelling.

Over the last decade, whenever I encountered one I really enjoyed, I snapped a photo. Mostly, I just put these on my Flickr “Textures” gallery, or temporarily use it as the wallpaper on my phone. But recently, I’ve been thinking of printing/framing some of them and hanging them in my apartment or giving them to friends as gifts. What do you think? Leave a comment below or drop me a line if you’re interested.

Other [d]online “Art Collage” Posts:
March 11, 2016 — NYC Subway Art Collages
November 5, 2018 — NYC Wall Art Collages

/ Don

Manahatta: (NYC Subway Map v. 1937 Buffalo Nickel)

Every time I look at the MTA’s system map, I always see a Native American’s face in profile: Manhattan is the stately bridge of the nose, Riker’s Island is the gleaming eye, and even the Rockaways are a feathered headdress. Partially because of this physiognomy, but more due to its sartorial charm, I presume it looks the most like Sioux, Crow— probably the ethnicity of my great-grandfather on my mother’s side—Blackfeet, Cheyenne, or Plains Cree.