Feb

Artistic Expression in Search of a Dream

by Meredith Mullins on February 20, 2014

four images of America with streets named Martin Luther King, artistic expression by Susan Berger on a photographic journey (© Susan Berger)

A look at images of America: What is the common thread in these photographs?
© Susan Berger

A Photographic Journey Captures Images of America

What do you see in the four photographs above?

There may be several “Oh, I see” moments as you study these images—responses and emotions affected by who you are and what personal experience you bring to the conversation.

Different stories will unfold.

However, there is a common thread. Can you find it?

Meredith Mullins Comments

The World's Photography/USA

Feb

Vintage Fonts Go Digital on Buenos Aires Buses

by Bruce Goldstone on February 17, 2014

Two Buenos Aires buses, one showing the use of vintage fonts as design inspiration and the other showing digital fonts for clarity and utility.

Buenos Aires buses dressed to the nines on their way from Caraza to Retiro, old style and new
© Bruce Goldstone

Torn Between Design Inspiration & Utility

Buenos Aires is a city of kinetic visual overload, where color, pattern, and structure compete for your eye’s attention. One of the first things I fell in love here was the vintage fonts on the city buses. People tend to think I’m either kidding or crazy, but nonetheless, it’s true.

A source of constant design inspiration, the gorgeous graphics bundled onto a Buenos Aires bus pack a powerful punch.

Every bus line has its own vibrant palette, like rival schools sporting their colors. Strong stripes and elaborate, hand-painted designs called fileteado add to the impact.

And it’s all topped off with a big, bold number.

A Buenos Aires bus sporting vintage fonts that are a design inspiration. (Image © Bruce Goldstone)

A Buenos Aires bus is a design class on wheels.
© Bruce Goldstone

More than a hundred different bus lines cover the city in complicated routes that zig-zag through town. The number of the line perches proud and loud on the front of the bus.

A Number Is Worth a Thousand Words

Soon after I arrived, I began to snap photos of every bus that passed (while carefully avoiding being run over).

A collection of numbers in the vintage fonts on Buenos Aires buses are a design inspiration. (Image © Bruce Goldstone)

A number of bus numbers
© Bruce Goldstone

I took new delight in every bold or subtle variation, cruising the city’s streets:

The chessman solidity of the trapezoidal number #1
The thick, squat look of the extra-bold, extra-wide sans-serif #5 and #6
The delicate stroke that outlines the elegant #12
The jaunty snout of the 1 in #17
The rectilinear combo that gives #21 a modernistic flair
The voluptuous curves of #86, bold white on a sexy red background
The cheerful profile of the scooped twin 1’s in 115

Zero Tolerance

So, the first time I saw a digital bus display in Buenos Aires, I was horrified.

A digital bus sign in Buenos Aires lacks the design inspiration of signs with vintage fonts. (Image © Bruce Goldstone)

Where’s the charm in a digital dot-matrix font?
© Bruce Goldstone

The modern clarity of the neon green digits struck me as inhuman and charmless. There was no style, no effort, and no class.

I sulked for days.

I groused to friends as more bus lines began to make the switch from hand-selected, quirky typography to mass-produced digital dullness.

Then Again . . .

But then one night, things got much clearer. Or, rather, they didn’t.

Several hours after 11:00 p.m. (when the subways shut down), I was dutifully waiting, and waiting, for a #29 bus. Early on in my Argentine education, I had learned that you have to flag down a bus if you want it to stop. If you don’t hail the driver, he won’t stop even if he sees you standing there.

Finally, I saw a bus in the distance. Alas, it was a #22, a line that would take me even farther from home.

So I didn’t signal the driver.

As the bus went by, I looked up again and realized I’d misread the barely-lit number. It was, in fact, my #29. I stuck my hand out, but—too late! The driver passed me by.

I Saw the Light

I had at least twenty minutes to think over my mistake, as well as my firm allegiance to dimly-lit vintage fonts of old. I began to rethink my aversion to digital fonts on electronic displays.

Now, whenever I see a night bus, I realize that its shining, vivid clarity has many virtues, not the least of which is visibility.

A digital font on a Buenos Aires bus may lack the design inspiration of vintage fonts, but is useful for helping you flag down the right bus. (Image © holgs / iStock)

I’m beginning to see the charm here.
© holgs / iStock

And so I had an “Oh, I see” moment that was quite literally about seeing—It’s a whole lot easier to read electronic fonts at night.

As I’ve come to terms with the new digital fonts, I’ve been heartened by another discovery. Not every bus line is content to stick with the simple, minimal dot-matrix fonts dictated by a small digital array. Newer models offer more complicated arrays that allow bus lines to choose their own, unique electronic fonts, like this elaborate #9.

A digital bus font in Buenos Aires may lack the design inspiration of vintage fonts but has the advantage of readability. (Image © Bruce Goldstone)

A nifty new nine
© Bruce Goldstone

I still love the vintage fonts that crisscross the city on many bus lines. They delight the eye as design inspiration for typography enthusiasts like me. But a bus passing in the night with its electronic display helped me get home, and that alone may be reason enough to accept the digital bus fonts that are taking over in Buenos Aires.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Bruce Goldstone Comments

Argentina/The World's Art & Design

Jan

Live Life to the Fullest with Fine Feathered Friends

by Meredith Mullins on January 30, 2014

Birder with binoculars, trying to live life to the fullest with the bird a day challenge (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Staying focused on the Bird-a-Day Challenge
© Meredith Mullins

A Bird-a-Day Makes for Challenging Play

Swampies. Rumpies. Sharpies.

Sound enticing? Well, yes, in a way. But what are we talking about?

Is it a secret code? Adventure apparel from Banana Republic? Characters in a new video game?

Welcome to the wonderful world of birding. We’re talking about Swamp Sparrows (swampies), Yellow-rumped Warblers (rumpies), and Sharp-shinned Hawks (sharpies).

And when it comes to birders, we’re talking about an international community bound by a passion for the beauty, the personalities and patterns, and the sweet songs and operatic trills of our bird friends.

A way to live life to the fullest.

The hooded merganser, a bird that inspires birders to live life to the fullest as they participate in the bird-a-day challenge (Photo © Mark Catesby)

The Hooded Merganser goes punk.
© Mark Catesby

Notorious List Makers

Birders are generous in sharing information about sightings and are notorious for making lists. Backyard lists, county lists, state lists, year lists, life lists.

For many, the ultimate goal is the Bird-a-Day Challenge—spotting a new species of bird every day of the year.

The yearly challenge was started by Massachusetts birder Tom Wetmore. Florida birder Trey Mitchell offers backbone to the program by providing a website where participants track their findings.

There is no official prize. The challenge is personal.

blue bird in a tree, the indigo bunting, a reason for birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (© Mark Catesby)

The Indigo Bunting, a little touch of sky on Day #162 for Mark Catesby
© Mark Catesby

“It gets you outside every day,” said Mark Catesby, one of the four birders to complete the challenge in 2013. “And you meet really interesting people, including a new side to yourself.”

Trey Mitchell concurs. “I call birding my ‘therapy.’ It’s much cheaper to get out and bird than to see a therapist. Also, anywhere you go, if you’re a birder and see another birder out in the field, you typically have found a new birder friend. It’s like a family.”

A white ibis, with long bill, inspiring birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (© Mark Catesby)

Seeing double with a White Ibis, on Day #208 for Mark Catesby
© Mark Catesby

The Honor System

There is no director, judge, or jury for this challenge. It’s self monitoring—an honor system. But there are a few guidelines.

You have to spot the bird on the day you record it. You can’t repeat the same bird or skip a day. Your bird can’t be in a cage or on television. And it can’t be a chicken. That’s about it. The rest is up to you.

Yellow bird, the American Goldfinch, inspiring birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (Photo © Mark Catesby)

The American Goldfinch makes any day sunny, including Day #218 for Mark Catesby.
© Mark Catesby

Five Strategies for Bird-a-Day (and Life)

Those who have made it through all 365 days will tell you that it’s about knowledge, spotting techniques, persistence, patience, and luck. But they will also say that strategy is paramount.

Here are five strategies, which also provide a good guide for living a full life.

1. Understand the rhythms of nature.

In the bird-a-day world, that means understanding the movement of birds (e.g., when the wintering birds move north, when spring migration is coming, why certain habitats attract certain species, and how that changes with the seasons).

2. Stay in tune. Keep up with current news.

Use every possible resource to stay up-to-date on where the birds are. Take advantage of e-bird alerts, Audubon Society newsletters, and sighting websites in your community.

The violet-headed hummingbird, inspiring birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (Photo © Mark Catesby)

3. See the world.

Traveling is always eye-opening. And when you’re searching for new bird species, different locations open up a whole new section in your bird guide.

4. Save for a rainy day.

In life, saving for a rainy day is a good idea—to provide a contingency for the unexpected.

In the bird-a-day world, the same strategy is important—having birds in your back pocket. Birders call them “safety birds” or “pocket birds.” These are birds you see every day. The trick is to save them until you really need them. Seek the rare treasures first.

A red cardinal inspires birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (Photo © Mark Catesby)

5. Make your own rules when necessary.

When the going gets tough, allow yourself some interpretive freedom. For example,

“If it shows up at a bird feeder, it’s a bird.”

“Females may be considered a different species than males (for sure!)”

“Day can be defined as a 24-hour period anywhere in the world.”

These suggestions were offered by a helpful family member of Mark Catesby. It should be noted that he completed the challenge without taking advantage of these creative interpretations.

Fiery-billed aracari, with its long red beak, inspiring birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (Photo © Mark Catesby)

Resplendence

Even with technique and sound strategy, there are still a few birds that are elusive. Some people call them “jinx birds” (if your friends have seen them but you haven’t). And, in some cases, the bird is so rare, or endangered, that it’s difficult to find.

Mark Catesby (and siblings) went to Costa Rica in November to keep the momentum going in the bird-a-day challenge.

Birding group in Costa Rica, inspired to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (© Mark Catesby)

Mark added several unusual species, but the Resplendent Quetzal, considered by many as one of the world’s most beautiful birds, remained a phantom.

“I can’t promise that we can find it,” said local guide Ersel Aguilar. But all held out hope.

Colorful resplendent quetzal, inspiring birders to live life to the fullest with the bird-a-day challenge (Photo © Mark Catesby)

Then, on the last day of the visit, a call came that the Quetzal had been seen 50 miles away. With mission-critical focus, the group sped to the spot.

The Quetzal was waiting . . . and was, as its name promised, resplendent.

But, then, so were the other 364 birds that Mark recorded in 2013.

Oh, I see.

Resplendence comes in many forms.