Land of the Free is a series by photographer Steve Schofield in which he uses "portraits of science-fiction costumers in their homes in Britain" to "investigate how, through a sub-cultural world of fandom, like-minded people establish a fictional existence to escape the everyday."

It's part of the FreshFacedAndWiledEyed exhibit now up in London, described in more detail here by Worldchanging.

Via Chris's Invincible Super-Blog

You can find five of the issues in this document from February and the other two in this order from March. My Blog@ series discusses the background--and of course, there will be much more on this here or on Blog@ in the months to come.

Designed by Little Friends of Printmaking for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's Free Summer Kids Camp screening of the classic 1966 Batman movie, this print captures how the movie itself says different things at the same time to kids and adults.

Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi, originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian.

For me growing up, Mad Magazine was *the* window to the world of 1950s and '60s ad design. Now, of course, we see the same this world through the lens of Mad Men, which itself pays homage to Mad's take not just in its title but the occasional knowing reference in the show itself.

Now the show takes things a step further--with a killer Ad Age parody promotional insert.

Design Won't Save the World, originally uploaded by frank-c.

A response to this t-shirt.

An American Red Cross volunteer in 1919. No Caption Needed has more photos on this theme--be sure to scroll down for the punchline.

I've repeated it enough to folks in the Real World that I should also say it here: a museum should not be a mausoleum, a place where design goes to die. Yet that's what they've become, much to their detriment in traffic and dollars. That's one reason why cutting-edge folks in the museum community are trying a host of new things to give life to the dead--such as this effort by the Tate Modern which is inviting street artists to paint its walls.

The Darwinian marketplace reigns supreme at the otherwise tranquil Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, as programmers look to material ROI in determining which spiritual teachers to hire:

The course listings can seem almost like a collection of randomly combined buzzwords: “path,” “wellness,” “Rumi,” “goddess,” “awakening.” But deciding what goes into those catalogs is a process that leaves little to chance or flow. With one hand firmly on the bottom line and the other grasping for the spiritual firmament, the people who run Kripalu are engaged in a sort of permanent yoga stretch.

“We’re constantly re-examining,” said Kripalu’s president, Ila Sarley. “What are the needs? What are the needs of the market, and what are the needs of society?” In the end, everything comes down to what will bring bodies in the door. “What we’re looking at,” Ms. Sarley said, “is what will someone pay to take a vacation to do.”

The sure thing: celebrities.

Not so good a bet: do-goodery.

A program on “Conscious Kitchens” featuring the cookbook author and food activist Francis Moore Lappé was poorly attended. “Some of our more socially conscious programs tend not to draw as well,” Ms. Sarley said. “Probably we should have focused more on foodies and gourmet.”

It's an important lesson to keep in mind--far more people will say they'll buy a socially conscious product or service than will actually lay down the cash.

Naturally, Frank’s cover would have sold for thousands. Sober estimates (much more trustworthy than the alternative) run at $8,000. It’s a shame. That’s a lot of money for a charity to lose.

Earth Times reports on the controversial charitable blogging of a 19-year-old girl named Xiao Yun, who is posting pictures of herself on a Chinese message board to raise money for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. The gimmick: the more people give, the more pictures she'll post.

Judging by the many photos flying around the web, her fundraising strategy has been pretty successful--so much so, in fact, that she's been banned in Thailand, a response not exactly unfamiliar here in the U.S.

This is a web page created by Do Good Design, a Scottish firm that targets the social enterprise market. Design firms of this type are a growing market, so much so that educational institutions are getting into the mix. For example, not too far from me in NYC: The Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation.

And yes, as I was reminded again last night, I really need to be applying good design to my eponymous placeholder site. But hey--it was the first HTML I ever did, 10 years ago, so it's, like, a protected historical monument or something. Still, I will get rid of it, old picture and all, someday soon when I catch up with my writing projects, honest!

Wimpy Pop-Ice Puppet, originally uploaded by Waffle Whiffer.

I had one of these back in the day--1969--but even in the environmentalist heyday that was the late sixties & 1970s I never thought of cartoon puppets as the cutting-edge of sustainability. Yet an astute commenter makes the connection:

You know, I think that one great way to reuse plastic bags—since nobody knows what to do with them—is to reintroduce puppet bags.

Two Underdogs Agree... Capitalism Is Cold, originally uploaded by The Voice of Eye.

Undermining capitalism through domesticated cartoons:

England and The United States of America. Because money is the driving decision making and "creative" force in these two countries, both of these legendary characters have been short-changed and/or sold-out.

Just when films based upon graphic novels and comic books are beginning to show some promise (ie. V for Vendetta... along with Batman Begins, X-Men, and Spiderman to some extent), Miracleman, arguably the finest revisionist comic book hero and one of the greatest unknown stories of the 20th Century (written by the brilliant Alan Moore and then later continued by the equally qualified Neil Gaiman), has been "trapped in a complex and expensive legal battle with several people claiming at least partial ownership of the character" since the early nineties.

Meanwhile, one of the most beloved canines of my generation has become laughable, or rather pitiable, as the AOL/Warner/Disney money making machine bought out then tried to revisit a character that will only truly work as one who is animated and anthropomorphic. The Rotten Tomatoes Freshness Rating gave "Underdog: The Movie" a very low 13% and mentions, "Underdog is a mostly forgettable adaptation that relies far too heavily on recycled material and sloppy production." Ken Fox of TV Guide said: "If you set your expectations just low enough, or are an easily satisfied 8-year-old, you might have a bit of fun."

When it comes to making lots of money, one can always rely on dumbing down the creative, thoughtful, and provokative in exchange for appealing to the Lowest Common Denomonator.