A great sculpture installed on Wall St in NYC early this morning. The ECONOMY is melting away today in Manhattan!

There is simply nothing else to say … I couldn’t agree more!

So, a few months back Jenny and I were heading into the Garden State (New Jersey) to see Radiohead play in Liberty State Park, just off the island of Manhattan. While waiting for the NJ Path train, I noticed this phone on the platform. And what struck my attention was the simple fact that the same message needed to be communicated three different ways. I can only imagine how those three or more meetings went at the corporate office. “It just isn’t clear what the phone is for … How can we simplify the message?” And at some point there had to be some sort of approval process from a “higher-up.”

Personally, I believe the original message is clear enough … “Passenger Assistance Telephone.” What else needs to be said? Well apparently, plenty! I just love “Lift for Aid.” That’s great! What kind of “Aid” are we talking about here? The arrow really tops it off. As if there is anything else anywhere nearby that one might possibly be able to lift.

Ran up to Boston today for the Head of the Charles … Resolute has several new, fancy custom-painted boats. Any crew-rowing shell you see out on the water is either black, white, yellow or a few select other flat colors. On occasion, a boat will have a logo, maybe a pin-stripe. But Rick Laviolette, CEO of Resolute, decided to put that to an end. Resolute introduced several new custom-painted boats. Quite interesting to say the least.

Below are a few shots of the day … en route and at the Regatta:

Heading down to Penn Station to catch the train.

Somewhere in Connecticut … Maybe ?

One of the first groups of spectators I came across once getting to the river … Dont ask! No clue what she’s wearing.

Bows of two of the custom-painted boats.

The second stop on the Barnum Design field trip took us to Vivien’s office in the East 60s on Park Avenue. Yeah, a really prime spot. And to top it off, her office is on the 16th floor with a beautiful terrace. And she has done an amazing job with the landscaping / garden. Its a utopian oasis of beautiful vegetation against a grid of skyscrapers and glass.

We (Barnum Design) had a bit of an office outing, a field trip per se. First on the itinerary was attending the MoMA for the afternoon. And in the empty lot next to the MoMA was the Modular Housing exhibit. Unfortunately it was a rainy, New York fall afternoon, so we couldn’t explore the interior of the houses. However, the exteriors themselves were pretty impressive. Especially the Katrina Home that can be put together with absolutely no tools what-so-ever. Imagine a giant, 3D jigsaw puzzle … Last image below:

Going through some old photos, I stumbled across a few favorites from a couple of recent and not so recent photoshoots. Here’s a small sampling:

Jenny on the Brooklyn Bridge … a very bright lamp post.

Lafouji at the office … Just a couple of clip lights.

Jae at the studio in Chelsea.

Jae at the studio in Chelsea.

Stevens at the rooftop Cabanas at the Maritime Hotel in NYC.

We (Barnum Design) launched the new and improved Resolute Racing Shells website a few months back. Have yet to post it, so here it is. I have Resolute on the brain because I’m heading up to Boston for the Head of the Charles this weekend on a photography assignment. It’ll be a very long day (to and from NYC in the same day), but it will be worth it.

Below are a couple of screenshots of the new website:

As always, we’re working on some fun stuff for Resolute Racing Shells. Here is a photo I’m working on and working with from the shoot in Boston / Cambridge earlier in the summer. Its great to have such an amazing opportunity where my photography, design and intellect all coalesce into one cohesive, long-term project.

Do you want to purchase a bottle of mad Luchador wine? I wouldn’t know. I’m no wine expert. As a designer, I was instantly drawn to this bottle. No contest … It stood out among the adjacent competitors.

Many consumers make decisions at the point of purchase. Many unconscious. Trust me, it’s true. Big-box retailers have paid a pretty penny, many times over for market study after market study. We are an impressionable consumer.

In a time of financial crisis, consumers are using much less credit to make purchases. Therefore much less purchases across the board. What drives our collective unconscious during these times? And why doesn’t this drive stick with us in times of prosperity? We quickly forget our suffering.