Popular Christmas Toys

With Christmas right around the corner I thought it would be kind of fun to take a walk down memory lane and look at the top selling Christmas gifts for the past several years.

This year it is reported that the Nook eReader (sold at Barnes & Noble) is the gift in high demand.

Last year it was the Elmo Live.

In 2007 the iTouch was the big hit.

2006 and 2005 saw a node to the video game industry with the release of Sony's Playstation 3 (2006) and Microsoft's Xbox 360 (2005).

2004 was the Robo Sapiens.

In 2002 and 2003 it was the Beyblades, fighting spin tops (I don't remember hearing about this one).

2001 was the Bratz Dolls.

2000 the Razor Scooter.

1999—Pokemon, 1998—Furbies,1997—Giga Pet,1996—Tickle Me Elmo, 1995—Beanie Babies, 1993–94—Power Rangers, 1992—Barney Talking Doll, 1991—POG, 1990—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1989—Game Boy, 1985—Care Bears (they were inspired by greeting cards), 1984—Transformers, 1984—Cabbage Patch Kids, 1982—BMX Bikes, 1981—the Smurfs, 1980—Rubik's Cube.

RG

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/top-christmas-gifts

http://www.softsailor.com/news/9939-barnes-noble-unveils-nook-ereader-with-3g-wifi-and-capacitive-touchscreen.html#axzz0YMaUdfUA

http://dumbfoundedone.wordpress.com/2008/03/

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/archives/cool/01-04-06/beyblades.html

Wash U Trip

I loved getting to see the rare books collection at the Wash U library. Growing up, I have learned about a lot of those books from history classes, so it was neat getting to see them in person. Out of all of the books we got to see I found the one the human anatomy the most interesting. Taking Book Design this semester has made me really appreciate books like that because of all the work that has to go into making them. The book has beautiful and detailed illustrations. I love how it was interactive. The viewer could open the bodies up to see what was behind certain things. I was able to find some other books like it that I thought I would show as well.

RG

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allerleirau/2981533542/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allerleirau/2981533930/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allerleirau/2980676915/in/set-72157608451453291/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allerleirau/2980677119/in/set-72157608451453291/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allerleirau/2981532652/in/set-72157608451453291/

NW Grunge Style

While I was home for the holiday this past week, my mom and I decided to do some shopping. I noticed that there is a lot of plaid and flannel around this winter season. I grew up in the northwest in the midst of the whole Portland and Seattle Grunge movement, so this whole plaid and flannel thing is a reminiscent of my childhood. In our last class we talked about the Grunge movement and how it related to graphic design. I thought I would expanded upon the Grunge movement and talk about how its look related to clothes. The Northwest Grunge look according to Julie Knapp, “was characterized by the way lack of style became a style in and of itself.” The key item to the Grunge style is a button-up plaid flannel shit, preferably in darker colors like maroon, brown, indigo, and forest green. Doc Martins or Converse All-Stars were the shoes of chose, and baggy jeans that were hopefully tattered and worren looking. It was “predicted that flannel would return in a bright burst of color” and it has.

RG

http://www.life123.com/beauty/fashion/grunge/grunge-fashion.shtml

http://www.nwsource.com/shopping/fashion/flannel-shrugs-its-grungy-reputation

http://curlywurlygurly.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/fashion-faux-pas-underwear-as-outerwear-and-more/a

http://www.life123.com/beauty/fashion/grunge/grunge-style.shtml

http://www.logicalharmony.net/my-spring-fashion-wishlist/

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak is a famous and influential illustrator best known for his children's books. With work spanning half a century, Sendak is a quite an interesting person. He was born in Brooklyn in 1928 and was sickly for most of his childhood. For this reason, he had to stay inside a lot, and so he began to really love books and drawing. After high school, he worked as a window dresser for F.A.O. Schwartz, an upscale New York toy store, while attending art school. He also began work illustrating books written by other people.

"Throughout the 1950s, Sendak worked regularly, producing nearly fifty illustrated children’s books. He saw in book illustration the opportunity to expand the imaginary world of the reader. While many illustrators had concentrated on clarifying the images in the text, Sendak believed that an illustration should add to the mystery of the work. His oddly grotesque characters seemed strangely inviting in their imperfections," (PBS, American Masters).

By 1963, Sendak had already risen to fame as an interesting and different artist. But that year he gained true respect as a great illustrator with his most famous work, "Where the Wild Things Are." It was the first project in which he was both writer and illustrator. At first the book caused quite a controversy. Parents and even child psychologists said the pictures were too scary and that the main character, Max, was a bad influence. But eventually, this book came to be loved by both adults and children. It was even recently made into a movie.

Sendak wrote other children's books as well. The best known besides "Where the Wild Things Are" is called "In the Night Kitchen." and was published in 1971. This book still makes the list of the American Library Association's 100 most challenged books even today. The main objection is that the little boy in the story, Mickey, is naked through most the book. Even so, both of these books continue to be very popular.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/maurice-sendak/about-maurice-sendak/701/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/10/maurice-sendak-and-his-wild-things-the-legacy-of-their-1963-rumpus-.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/maurice-sendak

JH

Woodstock

Woodstock was a three day concert that involved a lot of sex, drugs and rock’n roll. It was the “pop culture music event of the decade and arguably to this day the single most profound event in the history of music. Acts from all around the world met at Max Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, NY on August 15-18, 1969 for a celebration of peace and music. What began as a paid event drew so many viewers from across the world that the fences were torn down and it became a free concert open to the public. 500,000 youthful individuals gathered peacefully at Woodstock 1969 creating the largest gathering of human beings in one place in history. Woodstock 1969 defined an entire generation and its effects on music and American culture can still be felt today.” Artists that played at Woodstock included Jimi Hendirx, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Santana, the Grateful Dead and the Who. The Woodstock Music Festival of 1969 has become an icon of the 1960s hippie counterculture.

DH

http://www.woodstockstory.com/woodstock1969.html

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/p/woodstock.htm

"Pavement Picasso"

During one of the presentations on Wednesday, Julian Beever’s artwork was shown. I had seen one of his pieces online a long time ago, but I had forgotten about it. I was intrigued by his work and wanted to learn more about this amazing artist.

Julian Beever is an English, Belgium-based chalk artist. He creates renderings of old masters and large pastel portraits of famous people. He has been creating trompe-l’oeil chalk drawings since the 90s. When viewed from the correct angle his creations look three-dimensional. His artwork takes three days to create. He keeps his camera on a tripod in the same spot and continually checks it. He also doesn’t kneel at all when designing. He has a stool he leans on to remove some of the physical stress. Some may ask why he does this. He states, “My art is for anybody, it’s for people who wouldn’t go into an art gallery. It’s art for the people.” I think he’s doing a great thing because if you’re walking down the street with a drawing on it, it’s kind of hard to miss. They way he plays with perspective is truly amazing! The fact that he is able to draw well and incorporate the perspective into it is mind boggling! I would love to see one of his creations in person.

EV

http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2006/01/27/pavement_picasso_feature.shtml

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Kent State Shooting

On May 4, 1970, four students were killed and nine were wounded at Kent State University after some Ohio National Guard members fired 67 rounds in 13 seconds (wikipedia). One of the students wounded was permanently paralyzed. 

The shooting opened after students began protesting the American invasion of Cambodia. But not every person who was shot was protesting, some of them were just walking by, this included two of the students who were shot and killed. These students weren't even forcing their way into buildings or attempting to push through the guardsmen when they were shot. Wikipedia gave the distance that the students were from the guards when they were killed : Jeffery Glenn Miller; 20, 265 ft., shot through the mouth and killed instantly, Allison B. Krause 19, 343 ft, fatal chest wound, William Knox Schroeder; 19, 382 ft., fatal chest wound, Sandra Lee Scheuer; 20, 390 ft., fatal neck wound. They were all close to 20,000 feet away, unbelievable. Sandra and William were just trying to walk from their one class to another.  

Overall, the rally the students held was described as peaceful, no one was trashing anything on campus or lighting things on fire, they were voicing their opinions about the war and having the guardsmen on their campus. Apparently, the guards were asked on the campus by the city's mayor because threats had been made to downtown businesses and he thought local police would not be able to handle the "situation". Long story short, they were students having a peaceful demonstration within their full rights to voice their opinions and they were shot at for it. It's things like this that make me look back at the history of our "land of the free" in disgust. It makes us seem like a bunch of hypocrites. 

The photo above is the iconic Pulitzer prize-winning photo by John Paul Filo, who as a journalism student at Kent at the time of the shootings. It shows Mary Ann Vecchio screaming as she kneels by the body of wounded student Jeffrey Miller (wikipedia). You can see the true emotion and shock that she and the other students around had from the shootings. The image is haunting. It was taken just 39 years ago; I cannot imagine what that experience would have done to me, but the photograph alone gives me chills. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm

LH