Now this is a dentist I actually may want to visit. The fact that they actually took the time to work with a designer on their brand tells me they may actually care about me. I love the fact that the phone icon creates the cavity or blemish on the tooth. It also signifies the action you need to take to get rid of the blemish when you pull the card out. After pulling out the card the tooth is perfect again signifying the result of calling the dentist. Absolutely brilliant!

I think one of the worst things imaginable in this life is visiting the dentist. I don’t think I have ever had a pleasant experience. They always tell me something is wrong and how I am not flossing enough.  In actuality they should just record themselves and play it as soon as I walk into the office but with a twist – honesty.

“Hi, this is Joe, your dentist. While you are sitting and relaxing to elevator music, your tension will begin building. You will wonder, what could he possibly tell me this time? Yes, I am going to tell you that you have a root canal and that you have a cavity that needs filling. You will also wonder, does he have to use the pointy pick all the time? Yes, I always use the pointy pick that will claw at your gums and hurt terribly. I am going to poke and prod and needle you until you really don’t want to eat for a week. Those are the facts and the pleasantries. Let’s get down to the real business.

Why does he hire all those hot dental assistants? a) You are less likely to scream like a little bitch while this hot woman is sucking your spit from your mouth and wiping your drool and b) This is also to distract you from getting terribly upset at your tremendous bill that insurance probably won’t cover when you leave. You wouldn’t possibly act like a complete asshole in front of a hot woman. You will also wonder, is he actually cheating with his wife with one of these assistants? OF COURSE I AM! You think I am an idiot?”

“This will change the way you design websites. Add a line of code to your pages and choose from hundreds of fonts. Simple, bulletproof, standards compliant, accessible, and totally legal.” – typekit

While the pricing is kind of hefty to be able to do anything solid with it personally, this is a great option for companies that have the resources. $250 a year for a major company is a drop in the bucket. I think this will certainly enhance the web if it catches on. There are tons of font replacement options but all are far to cumbersome and weigh the page down too much.  The load of the font on the page is listed with each font. Some are as low as 50k or so.  I will definitely be trying this out as soon as possible.

I find this project highly hysterical.  There are certainly some great artistic versions of the dollar as seen below.

We’re a culture not a government

Better Late Than Never – LOL ‘ode to sans serif

From ‘Russia’ With Love

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

In Jack We Trust – ‘Here’s Johnny’

The next one has the most thought behind it and actually has a bit of reasoning if you check out the blog post.  Everyone else just submitted pretty designs while this designer actually came up with a good ideology.  Check it out.
Dollar ReDe$ign: Michael Tyznik

The feel of this journal is a lot of fun. It is completely durable and allows you to be a bit rough with it.  You don’t have to baby it for obvious reasons. 

I am definitely an obsessive journal collector.  However, I typically only buy journals that I can purchase again. The reason for this is that buying a unique journal bothers me when first writing in it.  I always want to use the journal for the “perfect” reason. Whether it be for tasks, ideas, sketches, collecting stickers, grocery lists, or whatever I always want to think that I used it for a reason that matches the personality of the journal.

I am thinking about starting a journal/moleskine/notebook site where I can write about this stuff. I think I need to learn how to post more on my own site first before I create a bunch of niche sites.

East & Young – Reveal (Original mix)

How hard is it, with all of the things that happen to a person individually and at work, to come up with 250-500 words or so and slap a picture on the Internet? From what I can tell, difficult.  The statistics about how many blogs are created daily are staggering however, not many people after the first few posts consistently post stuff. I have a bunch of posts in draft however, I never finish them. I have a bunch of posts written in my Things task list but I never get around to them.
Crazily, I think that blogging is a lifestyle.  As is updating your facebook, twitter and other SM sites.  It takes work. 

On that note, on a recent trip to SF, I went to a club named Vessel and heard this off the hook DJ. One of the songs he played that night is above and has kind of become this summers 2009 soundtrack for myself.

La Roux – Bulletproof (Zinc Remix) [Non-Radio Edit]
La Roux is very popular in Europe and they are hitting the U.S. hard this summer with their single Bulletproof. However, it is the zinc remix that is hitting the airwaves and it is available nowhere.
Everyone and their mother is looking for this and Apple and the usual suspects do not have this version available in the U.S. but this is the version that everyone is listening to on the radio.  So here is the download link http://www.mediafire.com/?mzdtiymdylo   The last link was to other version. My apologies.

I really can’t explain it better other then to tell you to go check it out yourself.

Finally, after a year of getting honoree (top 15% of entrants) for different sites at the USTA, 2008 USOpen.org was selected as a Webby Nominee. Last year we overhauled the site completely from top to bottom.  Tons of personalization features and we had an all time high of traffic, visits, time on site, and 200+ million pageviews. I am super excited as this is one of my first awards working at the USTA.

The first year I was at the USTA the 2007 project timeline only allowed for minor tweaks to the previous years site. Last year I was able to work with IBM’s team and work from concept to completion on creating a new design from scratch.

The Webby’s is basically the Oscar’s for the Internet. It is a 13 year old show that brings out the best and brightest of the industry. Hollywood even gets in on the mix as last year saw Stephen Colbert and Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) make an appearance at the show. We are currently up for an award in the Event category against Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Online Series, YouTube LIVE, Sony CES 2009, and Yahoo! Upcoming. So how we are going to beat the most trafficked site on the Internet AND models in lingerie is up to God in heaven. However, being selected as even top 5 nominee is an extreme honor and I already feel like we won.  A lot of hours and hard work goes into the US Open each year by hundreds of people. All of us should be proud of this accomplishment.  I always wanted to win a slinky for an award.

Here is the official email from the Webby Awards –

Dear Ken:

It is our pleasure to inform you that The Official Website of the 2008 US Open has been nominated for The 13th Annual Webby Awards in the Events category.

As one of only five nominees in its category, your work and the team behind it are eligible for the Internet industry’s two most sought-after awards: The Webby Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award.

David-Michel Davies
Executive Director

The Webby Awards | Int’l Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences
http://www.webbyawards.com | http://www.iadas.net

So the voting has already started – Please vote for USOpen.org for the People’s Voice Awards.

This is the song that Apple should dedicate to Microsoft.