Sayaka has already created a number of such sculptures for her collection, all which draw inspiration from her time abroad in various countries. As an artist creating these pieces, she attempts to unravel and understand the mysteries of the world. She believes that by taking arbitrary pieces of discarded materials and fitting them together in a sculpture, sense can be made.

Check out Sayaka's site here

Another restaurant brought together from the minds of those who run Steamworks Brew Pub, Rogue was a project every one of our design team loved to be a part of. Sharkbite Art + Design was brought in to create branding, marketing materials, signage and develop a web presence and while we're still hard at work perfecting the many pieces that make up Vancouver's hottest new eatery, all deadlines were met for the soft opening on June 11th.

One of the coolest parts of this project for us over the next few weeks will be to help communicate their "Pay What You Think It's Worth" campaign which allows patrons to simply contribute what they believe is fair price for the food or drinks they order. A novel concept here but currently in use in some European cities, it gives people the ability to shape and contribute to the menu and will allow Rogue to make decisions based on true customer input.

We'll keep you posted...

The genius behind this site is Matthew Inman, a designer working out of Seattle. I'm hoping he'll accept the reproduction of these images as an act of paid homage rather than setting out on a "let's-sue-their-asses" rampage ;)

Every designer has experiened this: How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell. 

NOTE: If you're an existing client and you're reading this... it's not about you :)

The highlights:

Check out The Oatmeal for the full, very funny version. I love this guy...

Starting with a website and some basic marketing materials, we provided branding assistance and design services with the goal of injecting some life into this previously neglected business.

By the end of the first year, this heritage mansion in the heart of the Rockland neighbourhood in BC's capital city quickly grew in stature and reputation and today holds the distinction of being rated by TripAdvisor.com as the #1 ranked B&B in Canada and the #2 ranked B&B in the world!

While it's nice to think that Sharkbite was a catalyst to the success of Abbeymoore, I've stayed here many times and can only say that you have to experience it for yourself to understand why the credit goes entirely to the innkeepers. The place is warm, comfortable, inviting, friendly and private all rolled into one. Anne and Ian are wonderful hosts, with that perfect ability to be there when you need them and invisible when you don't - always a sign of impeccable service... the sort of trained attention you would expect from a 5-star establishment.

But it's not just my word, Suzanne Morphet wrote recently in WestJet's Up Magazine that "we learn what makes Abbeymoore Manor so special: it’s not about the rooms or the food, as fantastic as they are. The reason people love this place is because Ian and Anne care to get to know you."

That pretty much sums it up. 

So in conclusion, Sharkbite Art + Design is the sole reason behind the success of the Abbeymoore Manor in Victoria... don't believe anything else.

P.S. Check out their blog too!

OK... we're frickin' busy, busy, busy. We have many projects going. I've got quotes to prepare. 51 emails this morning. The guy in the office downstairs is complaining that the bass riffs from our office are messin' with his mojo. I have a dinner to prep tonight and my neck's got this weird pinchy-pain coming from what's probably inoperable brain tumours. I need to go for more workouts. Damn, I missed bball last night. I've got this great idea for a book of poems. I want more time with my kids. I think that bank short-changed me today on my US conversion rate. Apparently my toe-tapping while working is driving people around me nuts. I love our new client, BC Pharmacy Association. I think I'll change my dentist. What's the deal with volts vs. watts? Man, my kids are cute. I have to get down to see my sister's show. It's only a 5-minute walk away.

The book of poems will be called "Chatterbites on a Whole Beach Run"... my next blog post!

Olympic Cowichan Sweater won't be knit by First Nation

While cruising through the Sandals site to explore their site design, I came across the above image. It freaked me out right away but I was having trouble putting my finger on the root cause.

I guessed it was because as a viewer (and potential customer) I was supposed to see myself as this yahoo in a pool getting happy over the thought of a guy in a soaking wet suit and gloves shaking a cocktail for me; the pure joy of slipping off my chair in the shade in order to find the most pretentious way imaginable to order a drink.

But all pessimism aside, I think the true uneasiness comes from the fact that this is such an obvious photoshop job... it sets off all my designer's spidey senses.

What the hell happened to the water-waiter's legs?

More bad photoshop examples (insert simple Google search) here:

Detached arm for Sandra Bullock and pasted on head for Bradley Cooper!

Crazy, wacky kids... I mean the ones that were paid to do this layout work...

"10-4 good buddy... can I stop hiding down here and maybe you can hold this yourself for a while?"

"Awww... that's adorable... he's got his daddy's legs!"

And I guess these examples exist because someone hired a bogus designer or rushed a deadline or ran with a tiny budget... all harmless fun. It's examples like this below one issued from Sepah News, the media arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards news site that are really scary:

Mandate:

a gathering of ONLY men.

Activites during mandates include cruising, playing madden, going to wendy's. When one is one a mandate, one must show the mandate symbol. This is done by crossing the middle finger and the ring finger so the hand resembles an "M". 

Example: "Damn that mandate was off the hook"

Mimbo (or Himbo):

A mimbo is a good looking male who either is or acts like he is extremely stupid. The female counterpart of the mimbo is the bimbo.

Example: "He's hot... probably can't hold down a job, but I like dating mimbos like him because they don't give you trouble or try to control you."

Manzeer (or "Bro"):

Word describing a bra designed for men that possess droopy, saggy, or otherwise oversized pectoral fat. Such men could be said to have "man boobs".

Example: "If Jack's man cans get any bigger he is going to need a manzeer to keep from getting black eyes."

Murse:

A man-purse; very fashion-forward right now, seen on many hipster guys. Some like to call it a European Carry-All, but it's really just a bag for boys.

Example: "Wow, Snoop's new laptop fits perfectly into that small bag he carries"... "Fo shizzle ma nizzle - great murse!"

Note: The term "murse" has also been commonlyassociated with a Male Nurse... made famous by Ben Stiller as Gaylord Focker in Meet the Parents.

Mantyhose:

Support hose for men, used by those who've found a passion for pantyhose, claiming they wear the hosiery for support, comfort and aesthetic purposes. Instructions on how to put them on can be found here.

Example: "Until I found mantyhose, I had a hell of time holding it all together."

Have I missed any others?

I hope you'll let me know if I have...

I know, I know... this blog is supposed to be a place where we offer up bits of info relating to the business of design; our business of design, to be more accurate... But the reality is that I know the stats to date so far - and this forum is still in its infancy and traffic is about 3 steps below a crawl at this point so I could really hang up anything right now and it wouldn't matter.

So what the hell... here's some shameless personal self promotion showing our family's Christmas card for this year. We've been doing it since my first son was born in 2002, so welcome to the 8th version of our annual tradition. Happy holidays.

It started out as a joke... scan in some twenties then email them to a friend who's been waiting on the 200 bucks I owe him.

The scanning part was easy. I've done it before when I scanned a crisp $100 bill then photoshopped my 100 year-old aunt on to it, output it to a 4' x 8' banner and brought it to her birthday party. I've even scanned in loonies, twoonies... probably a few more I can't recall... all part of the job, really.

But today, when scanning in this fistful of twenties, I tried opening the file in photoshop only to get this error message:

Click on the INFORMATION link and you get told that:

"The counterfeiting of currency is a crime, and any reproduction of banknote images – even for artistic or advertising uses – is strictly forbidden."

and then this last line: "The Bank monitors Web sites for abuses."

YIKES!

Apparently I've now opened myself up to the possibility of "imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and a maximum fine of $2,000"

OUCH!

And because I'm so curious, I did a quick Google search to see how The Bank was doing at their website monitoring and got these 2 million + results in .21 seconds:

Not too hard to find top-surface criminals... my favourite is Obama and his twenty bucks.

I can only imagine the reaction that would come to that new counterfeiter when the realization that all of his hopes and dreams are dying in front of his eyes as his scan is blocked from the gates of Photoshop... the great big "doh" that would ensue... the tears, the sound of crumbling dreams - all ruined by those meddling kids at Adobe.

Of course, it only took me a couple of clicks and a screenshot to get my path to incarceration started... and this blog post waving in the face of the The Bank Monitors isn't going to help. Anybody know of a good lawyer?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And just for fun,... here's that $100 bill with my great Aunt Ivy on it:

Our holiday card to our beloved clients and suppliers this year has been greatly expanded to include a new colour palette that we're certain will sweep the design world by some sort of storm - or disturbance.

Inspired by some delicious recipes that were in heavy rotation in the late 60s and early 70s, our crack team of designers have come up with a truly classic holiday colour scheme that will leave your senses in a catatonic state of wonder. The rich hues accompany five classic recipes that are sure to be a hit over the next few weeks, and if you are one of the lucky recipients of this year's mail-out, we encourage you to try out one of the recipes and embrace a reclaimed love of good food from an almost forgotten era.

Here's a sneak peek at the delicious offerings:

Please do enjoy this free colour scheme offered only here. Use the colours in your next design or see what's close in your sock drawer and mix and match your wardrobe - go crazy with the whole thing! We truly hope that you too find yourself inspired for the smells that could fill the air...

Winexpert's corporate site is now live and and some scores are just now coming in... 9.5, 10, 9.9,... doh! it looks like we may have gotten a 7.5 from my mother (disguised as the Russian judge of course).

So why am I undertaking such an obvious display of back-patting?

Well, to start... besides being our maiden blog post, this site represents a broad launch of many sites that stem from this one. Sharkbite was commissioned over a year ago to develop a site program that would provide Winexpert's retailers with powerful sites that would have a dynamic connection to the corporate site.

14 months later, and the Winexpert WebKit Program is launched; high-powered site options for retailers that will allow them to increase sales without having to incur high costs or chew up valuable work time. Reaction from wine retailers across the country has been HUGE and we are now busy customizing these sites to launch in 2-3 weeks. A great example of a WebKit site can be viewed at BeyondTheGrape.com. 

Launched simultaneously is also  the Limited Edition 20-year Anniversary site that highlights one of Winexpert's most successful brands, Limited Edition. Check it out... you could win FREE WINE!... even a wine fridge.

All of this would not be possible without the amazing talents of our programming partners at Azaris Studios, makers of the Vortex CMS engine that runs these sites.

And for those of you who know me and the way I preach the good benefits of blogging and business, forgive me for such a tardy, overdue, late, delayed, slow, dilatory and behind schedule Sharkbite blog... it's "the cobbler's kids have no shoes" syndrome... we've just been too busy making other business work, that we've neglected our own for far too long.

Thanks for listening | Clay Yandle