I managed to start my day by pouring a fresh cup of good coffee into my keyboard. Are we sure this is really Friday?

I’ve always loved the slice of Americana that is pop art. I wish there were more opportunities in my daily design career to utilize the style, but the fact is, there just aren’t that many instances where it would be appropriate. Even the great pop artists (as we’ve come to know them) such as Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and, of course, Andy Warhol, used the pop art movement as art, not the way modern designers use art in their designs.

That said, whenever I get the chance to delve into that arena I really enjoy it. I designed this BMW shirt for an E30 fan. It’s definitely not of the same caliber of the true pop artists, but it was fun to work on just the same.

In a weird coincidence, my local Autozone is currently running a special where if you buy a bottle of a certain brand of fuel injector cleaner and an air filter, you get a free air freshener. As luck would have it, I happened to go in there Tuesday night to purchase those two items, unrelated to the totally random promotion.

Honest.

Well, at the checkout I was allowed to pick from an aromatic bin full of tree-shaped air fresheners, and chose the one that seemed the least obtrusive – “the Designer Series.” After pulling the product off the cardboard backing I found that my choice came with a free designer gift: a gold tree-shaped decal.

I realize that the concept of time as we know it isn’t over, but I’m pretty sure this will stand out as one of the worst promotional ideas ever. Unless you’re a sixteen year old guy with your first new car, does anyone really actually like the concept of these little trees? They block your field of view if you hang it from your rear view mirror, or blow around distractingly in any breeze.

What are the chances that I’m going to permanently mount a gold-foil version of this item to my car? In fact, the only benefit of these products is that some of them smell slightly less offensive than Pine-Sol, but a decal doesn’t even have that.

Could there be a better way to get their point across?

A Tuesday Haiku

Ate a bunch of peanuts
Freshness date long overdue
Wish I’d noticed that.



Thank you.

It’s been around for months now, plastered all over every billboard, bus wrap and web banner ad in sight. And yet, somehow, the new Pepsi logo still leaves me wanting more.

And by more, I mean more explanation. What is it?

As a designer myself, I’d like to think I could appreciate a clever trademark, or the double meaning in an image, or even the abstract icon. Still, I have to say, I just don’t get it. Perhaps the off-putting disregard for symmetry and balance is what they were looking for. Maybe the ambiguity is intentional. Maybe we’re supposed to see whatever we want in the mark, thereby endearing it to every viewer in a different way. If that’s the case, here’s what I see:

Pepsi is now the choice of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Congratulations, you brand trendsetters.

EDIT: Here’s another take on the goofy design decision. Pretty funny.