After last week’s entry about Spencer Fairey taking a little too little artistic license with another person’s image, let’s start this week off with a great example of taking someone else’s idea and doing something with it.

We’re going to start with an album that some consider to be the very first true rock-n-roll record, Elvis Presley’s self-titled debut on RCA Records. When RCA purchased the 21-year-old singer’s contract from Sun Records’ owner Sam Phillips (for $35,000) Presley had only a few singles to his hame. This 1956 album was the album that introduced him to world and launched him to the stratosphere.

Twenty-some years later, in 1979 (1980 in America), The Clash released their masterpiece, London Calling. The cover of London Calling featured a very clear tribute (or was it a thumbing of the nose?) at Presley’s cover.

And now, thirty years after the Clash’s homage to the King, New York City design studio The Chopping Block has breathed new life into the image with their robotRock t-shirt.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love this shirt. I’d like to recommend that everyone go out and buy one—and I really think you should—let’s just coordinate what days we’re going to wear them, cool?

I’m a big Clash fan, so the London Calling image has been a part of my consciousness for many, many years. I never realized until a while after that it was a nod back to the Elvis album. There have been many other covers, images, parodies, etc. that have borrowed from that original Elvis album, but these are a couple of the best examples around.

So what will I design that will be toyed with for the next 50 years? Hmmmm…good question.

No matter who you voted for, there is no denying that Barack Obama’s campaign easily came up with the most iconic and memorable images in the 2008 Presidential campaign. One of the images most frequently printed was done by graphic artist Shepard Fairey, who first became known for his Andre the Giant Has a Posse stickers created while he was a student at RISD in the late 1980s. Using an image of Andre the Giant, the stickers were widely distributed and began showing up all over the United States and, eventually, the world. Fairey described the stickers as a ”an experiment in phenomenology.”

Because he was using the wrestler’s image and name without permission, a lawsuit was threatened and Fairey created a new iconic version of the likeness. This new likeness became a brand of its own—Obey Giant.

Like the original stickers, the Obey Giant icon took off. Fairey, a longtime proponent of pushing the limits and breaking rules saw another one of his creations spread around the world in stenciled graffiti and stickers and more.

Fast forward to 2008.

The Obama campaign approached Fairey and asked him to come up with an iconic image and he came up with the Obama Hope poster (bottom image). The image caught on like wildfire and began showing up EVERYWHERE, giving Fairey yet another pop-culture hit icon. This time, however, there was a catch.

The Associated Press claimed that Fairey used one of their photos (top image) as the basis for his icon without permission/rights to do so. Fairey denied the accusation saying that he based his drawing on another photo, but made significant changes to the photo, which he claimed was within fair-use rights.

Taking the offensive, Fairey sued the AP, presumably because of the damage their claims did to his reputation. The AP didn’t buy his explanation and promptly sued back. All along Fairey kept proclaiming his innocense and defending his good name. Until recently, when Fairey admitted that he had, in fact, used the image that he was accused of using.

So let’s recap…the AP said he used their image, he denied it and went so far as to sue the AP. Now he admits that the AP was right and that he concealed/fabricated a story about the other image and filed a lawsuit under false pretenses. His laywers dropped the case as quick as they could and now Fairey is claiming that the real issue is fair use rights.

This guy is a million-dollar talent (literally) with a ten-cent head. What the hell is he thinking? He’s going to lose this case, lose millions in a judgement to the AP (which they have pledged will be given to a non-profit organization), pay all court costs, and could face further punishment for filing a frivolous lawsuit under false pretenses. Hell, for all I know, he could end up with a little jail time.

As a designer I can tell you that if anybody ever took one of my photos and just traced over it, I’d be pissed. That isn’t fair use, that’s copying. It’s larceny and Fairey deserves whatever punishment he gets. He stole an image another artist (the original photographer) created.

The really funny thing is that when another designer created a parody of his Obey Giant icon with a SARS respiratory mask, guess who threatened to sue, claiming trademark violation. Fairey went so far as to call the Texas designer a “bottom feeder” and “parasite.”

I don’t like to see people, even jackassy people, go through bad times, but I have to admit that I want to see this guy get his comeuppance.

Have you heard that Simpsons matriarch Marge Simpson will be the first-ever cartoon to grace the cover of Playboy? In addition to the cover, she is given a few pages inside the book complete with data sheet and a two-page centerfold. You can read more about it at NPR.org.

Personally, I think it’s pretty funny and it’s a GREAT promotional coup for The Simpsons, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary on Fox this year. Thing is, it sounds like it wasn’t Fox’s idea. Sounds like the idea came from Playboy who wanted to try to draw more 20-something readers to the magazine, whose readers have a median age of around 35.

Why Marge Simpson, though? The Simpsons is still a solid enough performer on Fox, but the series is decidedly in decline. And I can’t quote viewership statistics, but my feeling is that the younger readers they are trying to appeal to aren’t necessarily Simpsons fans. My guess is that if they watch the Simpsons, they only do it to kill time until Family Guy comes on.

Family Guy skews much younger and with it’s edgier humor would seem to be a better fit for what Playboy is going for. Maybe the problem is that Playboy’s folks are skewing a lot older themselves and can’t be bothered to stay up past 9PM. Or, worse yet—and more likely—they’re too busy watching Desperate Housewives.

I like the idea behind the cartoon cover and giving a few pages on the inside—I’m even sure that the novelty will give Playboy a nice, one-issue sales bump—but I think those buyers are going to be in the 30-45 age range. If anything, the median reader age may go up for an issue.

Overall idea: B+
Probability of giving the magazine a short-term (one issue?) sales increase: 80%
Probability of achieving stated goal of drawing younger readers in: 15%

Overall grade (for Simpsons): A

Overall grade (for Playboy): F-
I would have given a C- because it is a fun idea and will result in a temporary sales bump, but they kind of botched when it comes to drawing in the younger crowd.

I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago that Tri-City Monthly Lifestyle Magazine is changing its name to Great Lakes Bay Regional Lifestyle Magazine. This rebranding comes within a couple of years of the magazine’s previous rebranding project. Launched 5 or 6 years ago as Interlude, the magazine wanted a greater regional appeal so they settled on Tri-City Magazine. I never cared for the name Interlude, so even the unimaginative Tri-City Magazine was a change for the better.

For any established institution to undertake a rebranding project is a pretty big deal and to do it twice in two years is a risky proposition. Any momentum you have gained with the initial rebrand stands to suffer a little bit with a second rebrand. On top of that, changing the name and then changing it again so soon after will give some people an impression that the magazine is not stable or lacks direction. In the magazine’s defense, due to some big internal changes, I can attest to the fact that they are now probably more stable than they’ve ever been. With the recent changes as well as the editorial changes that took place a couple of years ago, I think the overall content and presentation are better now than they’ve ever been.

While I don’t like the idea of rebranding so hot on the heels of another rebrand, my real issue isn’t that they’re changing the name again, but what they’re changing the name to. Great Lakes Bay Regional Lifestyle Magazine? Really? I have to admit that I am surprised that Tri-City drank the Kool-Aid on this one. When the local communities first unveiled “Great Lakes Bay Region” as the new name for the regional brand, I wasn’t particularly wowed by it. I think the name is way too long, doesn’t lend itself well to certain applications, and I don’t much care for the logo. In branding terms, that’s three strikes against you.

Right away, though,you saw a lot of businesses jumping on board. Public radio quit calling it the Tri-Cities and started using the GLBR moniker. Newspapers quickly updated their style guides to push the new regional brand. My problem with the magazine changing their name, though, is that I think they are the first business to make the regional brand a part of their identity. In effect, they let somebody else name their business. And until then you are saddled with a magazine name that’s as long as an entry in the dictionary.

I don’t think you’re ever going to see an everyday person on the street refer to this region as the Great Lakes Bay Region. As I’ve written about (at length)—it’s just not a great name. There’s no tongue appeal to it. It’s not sexy. It’s just…wordy. Try slipping Great Lakes Bay Region into casual conversation. It’s not easy to do without sounding like you’re selling something. What happens in a few years if this brand doesn’t catch on and people just stop using it? Do you change your name again?

This name change just seems like they are trying to fall in line with what the regional chambers of commerce want. Why let somebody from outside dictate what your identity is? What’s next? Give the chambers final editorial approval on the articles and ads? We’re not talking Woodward & Bernstein here, but tying a publication too tightly to local business interests takes away any appearance of journalistic integrity.

I think Tri-City would have done well to just leave it alone and keep their name. Or, if they are really committed to rebranding, take some time and actually come up with a solid identity. There are some really talented and creative folks working at the magazine, they could come up with something great if they were given the opportunity.

How much attention do you pay to the fonts you use everyday? If you’re like most people, you probably have a few favorites, but don’t worry about it too much. Now how about this…how much attention do you pay to the fonts that other people use?

There is a little bit of an uproar on the internet recently over stylish-but-affordable furniture retailer Ikea switching the fonts they use in their advertising. For a long time, Ikea had used a customized version of Futura in most of their advertising. If you’ve ever seen an Ikea catalog or ad, maybe you can picture the big, bold prices accompanied by a brief description. All of their advertising had a consistent look which helped bolster their overall brand image. In addition, the use of a custom version of a classic font showed that Ikea really did pay attention to design.

So why the brouhaha over a simple font change? The problem, for most people, is that they switched to Verdana. Verdana is a font that many people are familiar with (even if they don’t realize it) because it is a free font distributed by Microsoft. It’s probably found on just about every computer in the universe. I’ll bet you they even have Verdana on the International Space Station. Except there it’s SPACE Verdana…that’s pretty sweet.

The font itself, isn’t terrible. It’s just sort of boring. It was designed very specifically for use on computer screens. Loose letterspacing and tall lower-case letters give Verdana an overall looser look. This is so that it’s easier to read on screen—letters don’t plug up or run too close together. And for that purpose, Verdana performs perfectly. It is a very good utilitarian design.

But to take this on-screen font and use it for print work shows, in many designers’ minds, a lack of respect for design. Complaints about the font range from finding the cheapest option available (free) to the easiest solution due to it being readily available around the world. Neither of these show the same sort of concern for design that Ikea shows with every single one of it’s nearly 10,000 items. Each silverware tray has a fun name, unique design—in short, each product fits in with the Ikea brand image. Using Verdana does not fit into the Ikea ethos.

Personally, I’m not freaking out about the font. I’ve seen print pages with the new font and while I don’t love it, it doesn’t ruin it for me. To be totally honest, I think that a lot of the uproar is because it’s a font created and distributed by Microsoft. Microsoft and the design community don’t generally play well together. It’s not the Mac-vs-PC thing, though, so much as it is that Microsoft tends to devalue professional design. By putting out products like MS Publisher with 15 zillion templates, they tell people that everybody can be their own designer.

The moral of this story is this: um…I don’t know. I have to admit that it would be pretty sweet, though, if 989 Design ever got so big that people got pissed off about the font I used on my site. I think I’ll make that one of my goals. Become huge, cause font uproar.