hello

update update update!

2008-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

i will no longer write on this blog. i have a new blog now.
update your linxxx!!!. my blog has moved to bardhihaliti.com/blog

thanks!

2008-02-26T17:37:00.002-08:00

this blog ends here...with this post. im in the process of transferring to another blog and will let you know more about it when that process is done. cheeeerrrrsss.

2008-02-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

this blog will soon stop existing...

2008-02-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

my good friend nita salihu finished her undergraduate degree in graphic design from university of prishtina, and now is doing her masters in multimedia/graphic design also at the university of prishtina. She works for ogilvy in kosova, and as part of the independence celebrations, she designed the huge steel type that reads "newborn" set in DIN bold. This typography sculpture went in the center of prishtina, the capital of kosova, where the independence celebrations took place. the whole project took around 10 days to finish. most of the people celebrating the independence got to sign their names on the letters, including the president and the prime minister.

click here for more pictures

2008-02-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

i got sagmeister's new book in the mail today. comes with 15 different covers. very neat.

2008-02-20T00:56:00.001-08:00

So, my country, Kosovo (official name now Republic Of Kosova) became independent this past sunday. It's been very surreal and a great feeling. Surreal mostly because we never used to celebrate something of our own...we always celebrated other countries independence like Albania's and Americas...and since we weren't a country we did not have our own national soccer team playing in the world cup either so we always picked other european countries to support during world cup.

Anyway, everyone I have talked to at home has been feeling great about this "thing", this whole "thing" they have been waiting for too long. I personally didn't know how to celebrate. Well, I wasn't even in Kosovo...so instead I just spent the day playing ping pong and feeling great. I still continue to feel great for many reasons. I'm very excited to see my country on the map. I'm excited to be a citizen of a real country. I am excited that I will no longer confuse the people at the airport when they check my "passport".

Thanks to all the countries that have recognized our independence so far; Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Costa Rica, United States, France, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Albania, Turkey, Australia, Senegal, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Belgium, Finland, Lithuenia and Austria. And as for the countries like Russia, Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus who won't recognize our state I dont really know what to say. I'm not gonna say anything about Russia, cause i never care what they think. But, as far as Romania goes, shame on them. They are the poorest country in Europe so they should know what it's like to want something better. They were crying like little babies until they joined European Union. Im also very disappointed at Spain. Just disappointed that they continue to stand by the Serbian government on the Kosovo issue, a government that still to this day hasn't apologized the the people of Kosovo for all the pain and suffering they have caused them. A government that has denied the war and the killing in Kosovo. It's beyond my understanding.

I wish all these countries would understand. I wish they'd understand that we can't go back to someone who has raped us, tortured us, killed us, taken all the basic rights from us, abused us, massacred us etc. Imagine your father raped you, killed your mom and your siblings, would you go back and live with him? You probably wouldn't. That's how we feel about Serbia. We never wanna be part of it. We like being on our own more than anything now...and there's nothing that will stop us.

2008-02-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

i just finished the second issue of resource room. you can see more pictures on my flicker, and if you are interested in writing on the next issue please contact me at bardhi.haliti@gmail.com

2008-02-18T08:48:00.001-08:00

i took this image from my friend vigan's blog. this is the sunday cover of a big daily newspaper in kosova. p.s. yu stands for yugoslavia.

2008-02-17T19:11:00.001-08:00

2008-02-16T13:44:00.001-08:00

2008-02-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

martin woodtli

2008-02-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

2008-02-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

the swiss are good.

2008-02-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

2008-02-10T13:10:00.001-08:00

2008-02-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

animal collective/taste: there's a secret place i hide that's deep inside of me/an elusive voice that tells me what i like, now/you might think i'm gonna judge you in your fancy place/i don't really give that credit to what taste does 'cause/

i don't care if you don't like that/you get your feelings hurt/but i'm okay with that
and if i like you/it's for your simple ways/and we will always be at a tasty place
and you can cook a rose but i don't eat those/taste!

and i didn't pretend to like the clothes you chose for me/something in my heart, it tells me it's a weakness/but i like shiny things and flower prints you wouldn't dare take a woman's blouse and set it for your son to wear/when we share our points of view you get a glimpse of me/i get a glimpse of you/and i don't really care if i don't change your ways/we will always be at the tasty place/and you can cook a rose but i don't eat those/taste!

am i really all the things that are outside of me?/am i really all the things that are outside of me?/am i really all the things that are outside of me?/am i really all the things that are outside of me?/am i really all the things that are outside of me?

2008-02-05T23:55:00.001-08:00

I was just reading on bbc about this Palestinian family living in a cave in the West Bank. The family has no access to clean water, the children are unable to attend school and there is no electricity. Seems like after such a long conflict in the area, the governments and the people of that area should be striving to contribute to an improvement in people's lives rather than destroy their houses, arguing that the land they were built in belongs to only one group of people. I have yet to understand how putting some poor family in misery can become someone else's fulfillment and happiness.

2008-02-05T17:18:00.001-08:00

this is world's longest couch in denmark designed by anders nørgaard for BoConcept. total length: 168 feet 8 inches-weight: 1.4 tons-comprised of 54 legs-seats 104 people.

2008-02-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

2008-01-31T18:31:00.001-08:00

i took this picture of my super fun neighbor 6 years ago, and i just recently found it while looking for something else.

2008-01-31T17:57:00.001-08:00

in response to this

2008-01-31T17:29:00.000-08:00

i hate pennies, but for some strange reason i always find them in my pockets and it really annoys me.

2008-01-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

2008-01-28T17:28:00.000-08:00

i wasn't really kidding when i said i'm convinced i make the best spaghetti.

2008-01-27T21:57:00.001-08:00

(photography by andrew testa)
In the summer of 2007, I got a grant from Brigham Young University that almost covered my plane ticket to fly to Kosova. The grant is called "ORCA" and it was awarded to me to work on the new national visual identity of Kosova. My degree show (the last project i have to finish to graduate) is also on the national visual identity of Kosova.

How does a nation of diverse ethnic groups define itself visually while still acknowledging the existence of very different perspectives?

As a native Kosovar and ethnic Albanian I am very interested in my own country's visual identity and the perspectives of its people (including ethnic Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Romas etc.). Currently, the issue of national visual identity is extremely relevant as Kosova seeks its independence.

Kosova has struggled to maintain a clear visual identity that would represent its varying people and their culture for decades now. The worst action towards Kosovar identity came during the 1990s when Slobodan Milosevic was in power. He systematically destroyed everything that was part of a Kosovar identity. Historical buildings, educational institutions and other symbols of national pride were all targets. As a result, the continuing conflict expanded into a war and took the lives of many innocent people, mainly Kosovar-Albanian civilians. It also caused hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee Kosova into neighboring countries like Macedonia,
Albania and Montenegro.

Growing up in Kosova, I can say I'm very familiar with the country and its people. My immediate and most of my extended family still live there. I have experienced much of its recent political strife, and the issue of national identity is very important to me personally.

My objective for this upcoming show of mine is to show the results of my one year research on the issue through different graphic elements which include; a new state flag, postage stamps, government identity, and other various forms of national visual identity.

The exhibition will be announced in the next few weeks. Hope you can make it.

2008-01-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

i like this picture of me and my dad.

2008-01-26T11:37:00.001-08:00

i have a flickr account now. you can see my images here

2008-01-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

i just recently discovered ida borg's photography
i like it very much.

2008-01-23T17:07:00.000-08:00

i'm convinced i make the best spaghetti anyone has ever eaten.

2008-01-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

some new work on my web site
click here

2008-01-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

my computer hard drive failed recently and i lost all my music amongst other things.
tonight, as i was searching through my old cds and choosing which ones to burn on my itunes library, i came across one of the kim hiorthøy cds. i had forgotten how much i liked him. it felt good listening to someone who is very good at many things.
whenever i listen to him, i feel like i want to move to norway.

why do i have this longing for norway? it's weird feeling so nostalgic for a country i have never lived in.

p.s i hear sonic youth is pretty big in norway. cool. speaking of sonic youth, they ended up playing "kool thing" at a club in new york last week and i couldn't get the song out of my head for the rest of that night. that band never stopped being cool.

2008-01-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

chris coy's web site.

2008-01-05T00:34:00.000-08:00

klaxons are a good band. a good band to listen to anytime of the day. any mood. any season.

2008-01-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

SV Associates were nice enough to mail me one of their books for free from berlin. thank you!

2008-01-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

I visited california for the first time ever this past week (San Diego and Los Angeles to be exact). Still haven't been to San Francisco, but I WILL go someday, ok!
Had good food, slept in comfortable beds, all thanks to the shields family who were very very nice and sweet.

photo by t.m.s.
(me and a chill/sweet bra riding the waves in the background)

2007-12-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

if you want a christmas card from me in the mail, you should put your mailing address under "comments".

2007-12-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

2007-12-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

happiness week # 7
i got joy division's "closer" on vinyl.

Moritz Waldemeyer's design of OK GO stage costumes. the costumes spell band's name.

2007-11-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

tonight, i volunteered at rah (recreation and habitation) where my friends davey and elaine work. i helped people who were mentally and physically disabled put christmas decorations up at their center. i met a lot of very nice people, including joney who was a 50 year old man. he had the greatest and the funniest christmas wish list. i sneaked in at one of the managers office so i could photocopy it. here it is:

2007-11-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

i put this up in my room for people to draw. next time you are in my room, please draw something.

2007-11-25T20:27:00.001-08:00

happiness week #6 -
so i guess you could say i have a web site now. click here to see it
photo by chaunté vaughn

2007-11-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

happiness week #5
send me a postcard, make me happy.
-
bardhi haliti
340 east 200 north
apt.B
provo, ut 84606

here are some cards i have gotten in the mail before.

my friend sandy send this first one to me from virginia

my brother lumi sent me this one from ljubljana, slovenia.

this one was sent to me from experimental jetset in amsterdam.

tara sent this to me from new york

my friend milk sent me the first one from provo, and the second one was sent to me from davey in miami.

ashleigh sent me this one from kenya, africa.

2007-11-13T23:28:00.000-08:00

2007-11-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

blur and oasis were such a big deal. you either liked blur or oasis. you "weren't allowed" to like both. it was almost as if you were to say this in america: "i am both, a republican and democrat", it just doesn't fly. i secretly liked both, but only secretly. i always liked blur more, but then it was so hard to ignore the great catchy songs from "definately maybe" and "(what's the story) morning glory" by oasis. i mean how can you even today, they're classic!

then, there was a phase when i'd only listen to suede and the verve. i had started to forget about oasis and blur. there was way too much hype around them. suede were much better than both of them combined anyway. suede were and still are my favorite britpop band. i recently started listening to them again...and sometimes the verve but mostly suede. it brings me back to the nineties, lots of memories.

today i have been in a perfect mood for "coming up" album by suede. been listening to it over and over all day. nothing makes me more nostalgic than the songs from "coming up", particularly songs "trash" and "lazy". ah!
i always thought their album covers were fascinating. they totally ignored "this-is-how-a-britpop-album-cover-should-look-like" mentality. i liked how different they were from most of the album covers that were coming out in the nineties. god bless peter saville.

2007-11-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

happiness week #4
i finished my first experimental graphic design book this week. it's called "for.mat-a book of experimental exploration".

i got to see "control" this weekend. it's a movie by antonin corbijn about ian curtis and joy division. it was the best movie i have seen this year.
watch the trailer here

i saw the video for "peacebone" by animal collective a couple months ago and really liked it. i watched it today again and it made me happy.

Animal Collective - Peacebone
Uploaded by NetsteN

2007-11-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

happiness week #3
pablov albuena's "augmented sculpture".
watch the video
here
-

unhappy things:
* i wrote the wrong paper for my anthropology class (my teacher said that "that shows a lack of dedication")
* finished my experimental design book (couldn't finish the binding due to the press building being closed on saturday)
* my pea plant died
* wrote a terrible paper on marcel dzama (i pretty much just made up a story how he is a psychosexual freudian admirer)
* didnt dress up for halloween
* didn't finish my web site

2007-11-01T13:57:00.001-07:00

the spanish government ran a competition earlier this year for a new government logo. the designer was rewarded 12,000 euros for it.
i just recently saw the results and immediately thought of the german government logo. what a shame! it looks exactly like the logo of the german government designed by jürgen huber and lisa eidt more than ten years ago.

2007-10-30T00:24:00.000-07:00

happy things from week two.
(things i did/see/listened/ate/experienced)

1. i was supposed to post this on last week's list but forgot for some reason.
the new sigur rós single "hljomalind" is out and it's one the most beautiful songs i have heard. you can listen to it here
also they have a new movie coming out called "heima" and you can watch the trailer here

2.on thursday night, me and my friend tess were talking about bread. at one point i told her that bread was probably my favorite thing in the world. the next morning when i woke up to go to school i noticed that she had left a bag full of bread in front of my
door.

3.the new interactive poster by london based design studio build.

4.igor eškinja’s perceptional manipulations of the space and objects

5.the new wes anderson film "the darjeeling limited"

2007-10-24T22:14:00.001-07:00

2007-10-22T00:12:00.000-07:00

→ happiness pt. I

from now on, every sunday i will be posing things that have made me happy during the week.

one/
i got the august/september issue of grafik magazine (favorite design magazine)

two/
chris got back from his 6 month trip to argentina, peru, chile and and now lives with me, and plays charango all day and night.
three/
house numbers by 10 typographers and graphic designers from different countries.
four/
my pea plant survived this week. i need to get new pots and make more room for the plants.

2007-10-08T00:55:00.000-07:00

2007-10-08T00:41:00.001-07:00

2007-10-07T12:36:00.001-07:00

me and chris had an .html slumber party at his house. at one point i got really hungry and ate the whole bag of tostito tortilla chips they had, and then later for dinner i ate most of their vegetarian lasagna. this morning i ate some of their cereal and an apple...and i can't wait to eat that cake that jillayne is making right now!

2007-09-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

this always makes me happy. i hope it makes you happy.

#64.1 - Beirut - Nantes
Uploaded by lablogotheque

2007-09-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

2007-09-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

sego festival happens this friday+saturday (21+22 september). the kick off is on friday night at 8 p.m. on 100 north university avenue in provo. everyone should go. my friends have put great effort into organizing this festival for months now.
the second day (22 september) will be held at rock castle ampitheatre (1300 east center street) and the bands will start playing at 2 p.m.

i did these posters over the summer.

FUN WEEKEND!!!

2007-09-07T04:41:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures from my exhibition in prishtina on monday, 3rd of september. it'll be up for 3 more weeks.

2007-09-01T05:02:00.001-07:00

i have a graphic design exhibition on monday (3 september) at rizoma space in prishtina. most of the stuff that i will be showing will be stuff that i have been working on this year. there will also be a couple of things that i did in the last couple of years.

come if you are around.

b.

2007-08-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

i finished these pyramids for my exhibition in prishtina next week. they are also going to be part of an ongoing project i am working on called "stories from the city". the pyramids are made out of paper. here are two pictures from "stories from the city". i will post more from the project in the next few days.

2007-07-17T00:03:00.000-07:00

here are some photos from the exhibit at mode boutique in provo,utah.
thanks to everyone who came.
it will be up till friday.

2007-07-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

>>>>>>>>>>

i have a poster exhibition at mode boutique this monday (16 july). it starts at 8 p.m. the mode boutique is on 45 university avenue in provo. there will probably be cookies and drinks. so bring yourself and your friends.

p.s. there won't be any posters for sale, but you should bring money if you want to buy really cool clothes there. they have a t-shirt bar, and they also carry brands like: modern amusement, cheap monday jeans, creative recreation shoes and stuff like that.

>>>>>>>>>>

2007-06-26T23:36:00.001-07:00

i wrote down 400 things i want to do in my life on stick notes. i posted all of them on the wall. i am ashamed to admit that 80% or more are design related.

2007-06-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

duh!

2007-06-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

2007-06-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

2007-06-06T15:31:00.001-07:00

2007-05-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

opening day: may 18
time: 6 pm
where:337 south 400 east
salt lake city, utah

2007-05-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

2007-05-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

...and more cutting.

2007-05-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

i feel like i have cut paper for more than 30 hours this past week. my hands and fingers still hurt.

2007-05-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

ok. so done and done. me and chris are trying our hardest to silkscreen this poster before 22 of may so we can sell it at the show. our school is not letting us use the silk screen facility to print it cause it's not a class project. anyway, we still might be able to print it out before the show.

anyway, please go the show. they're one of the best live bands in the world.

2007-05-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

a few years ago, the swiss national bank had a swiss money design competition. i think the competition was called "switzerland open to the world". one of my favorite young swiss designers martin woodtli participated and got third place i believe. if you are not familiar with martin woodtli's work, then i would say check out his experimental design book or the posters he did for the "museum fur gestaltung zurich". His work is really great and fresh.

here's some of his submissions to the swiss national bank competition:

i wish money looked that good. it would probably keep me from spending it.
i didn't like it when we switched from deutsche mark to euro. not that deutsche mark was amazingly well designed but it still was better than the euro. it's a shame how bad the euro money is designed.

the american dollars don't do it for me either. the design is very dull in my opinion, and it seems that the government is long overdue for a redesign of the dollar.
my friend andrew bontorno redesigned 5, 10 and 20 dollar bills as part of his final BFA project in graphic design. they turned out really great. i hope the government gets to see them and decides to hire andrew for the redesign someday :)

2007-05-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

well, it seems to me that finding a house shouldn't be such a hard thing to do. i just can't quite understand why people put so much unnecessary furniture in their houses (7th century couches, american civil war tables, dentist chairs). Why is it hard to find an empty room with white walls and a kitchen that smells normal? well, i finally found one house that i am ok with. however, my brother, being an asshole that he is sends me this picture from geneva and ruins my summer living.

2007-04-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

more to come soon.

2007-04-16T00:01:00.001-07:00

2007-03-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

so i have a few things hanging at the harris fine arts center (hfuck) as part of the visual arts annual student show. if you happen to be there, you should check out the show.

////

2007-03-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

public vandalism/

2007-03-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

my studio space at school has become my home in the past two years. it's where i work on projects, take naps, play loud music, get angry, dance, waste time, eat soup and sandwiches, eat grandma cookies and drink fanta occasionally when i need a soda (i wish they had coke) from the vending machines, never eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cereal, avoid milk.

five meters from my studio space is where all my design classes are. five meters the opposite side is where the kitchen is. one floor above the studio is where i work. my life happens within a very small space.

2007-03-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

me and chris coy get to design the official animal collective poster for their salt lake city show on may 22. we had a photoshoot yesterday with chaunte vaughn. chris lives in salt lake, and he has been very busy working on different things and art directing stuff for real salt lake. i had to do all the art direction for the photography on my own since he couldn't make it. i was stressing out about it but it turned out even better and faster than i had expected. chaunte is so helpful and so good to work with. i met chaunte in the darkroom at 13:00 and then we both headed to the photo studio to set up the equipment and get ready for the photoshoot at 14:00. We photographed 26 of my friends (chaunte and me included) from 14:00 to 18:30.

we took four head shots and two full body shots of each person. two of their head shot photos were of them in their normal state and two other in their scary/psycho/angry/scared state.

here is boo:

tyler (he made the best richard d. james face i have ever seen anyone do)

liz

2007-03-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

cell phone colors

2007-03-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

cell phone faces

2007-02-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

i met the dean of fine arts and communications a couple years ago. we only talked for about five minutes i believe. what bothered him about me was that my hair length didn't meet the byu standards. i havent talked to him since. however, he has talked to my teachers about me a couple times. well, not necessarily about me, it was more about my hair.

i got a scholarship from him this semester. anyway, i am sending him a thank you letter along with a sample of my hair for him to keep.

2007-01-30T23:28:00.001-08:00

2007-01-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

my friend chris coy knew that i am obsessed with all things norwegian, so he bought me a ticket for my birthday to see this norwegian movie called "reprise" at the sundance film festival.
i can't remember the last time i saw a really amazing movie, except for nói, a movie that i watch religiously.

reprise blew my mind. the soundtrack started with joy division, which kinda assured me that it was going to be a good movie. then surprisingly joy division was all over the movie again. more songs as part of the soundtrack, and more and more joy division t-shirts being worn by the characters in the movie. so, the main plot was about two writers growing in a post-punk world. there were a lot of stories within that main plot, and all of them were played, written and treated perfectly. then there was the punk norwegian band kommune, which added some humor with their obscure lyrics such as "don't let the prime minister fingerfuck you"

it's been such a long time since a movie has had such a big effect on me.
anyway, i am not going to give any more details about it. but, sometime in my life, i want to make something that's as perfect as this movie.

2007-01-08T15:19:00.000-08:00

the july '06 issue of grafik. magazine had a feature on ten world known designers where they were asked to write about people who are a source of inspration for them. the feature was called "graphic design heroes"

ian anderson of designers republic picked bill hicks not as a hero or an inspiration, but as someone who he considered as "the value of personality, character, individuality and humour in communication..."

2007-01-03T01:14:00.000-08:00

i purchased hussein chalayan's book this past summer when i was living in new york. his work amazes me. he is probably the best example of exploring certain geographical and cultural territories in relation to human body.

this picture was one of the first things that got me interested in him. i liked how he wasn't afraid to touch on such a sensitive subject.

2006-12-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

my birthday is coming up. seventeenth of january. i only have one wish, and that wish is this book. if you buy me this book, i will love you forever. if you don't, i will still love you. but if you do, i will love you more.

you can get it here Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album

2006-12-12T01:02:00.001-08:00

film.

2006-11-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

i am proposing 8 new flags for 8 countries. more flags to come in the next couple of weeks.

2006-11-30T18:05:00.000-08:00

this morning i got an email with the title "PROPOSED FLAG FOR THE STATE OF KOSOVA". i was kinda excited to see what they had come up with. the issue of national visual identity, and especially of a national flag is very relevant now as kosova is seeking independence. i was actually really interested to see how they had approached it, since i am working on a national visual identity for kosova as part of my BFA in graphic design. so i open the email and look at it, and i am like oh i see, this person is trying to make a funny joke. but no, this person was completely serious.
this is what the the proposal they did:

it's proposed by joe dioGuardi, who is a US congressman, and president of the albanian-american civic league.
this is pretty much what they did. they combined the american flag with the current flag that Kosova and Albania use. what a ridiculous thing to do! it's not like kosova doesnt have any history. it's not like we have to borrow from the american visual identity in order to make our own identity. what shocks me the most is that it's coming from a congressman that should know these things. a congressman that knows the history of kosova, and a congressman that is aware that kosova has so much more history than america. i personally think it's offensive to make such a visual statement to a nation that has existed for so long and a nation with one of the oldest languages in europe. and creating such a dull visual statement doesn't seem fair to people of kosova.

the purpose of a flag, and a country's visual culture is to communicate to its own people. this doesn't communicate to me.
what shocks me the most is his/their statement about the proposal. it doesn't make any sense at all.

"I believe that this flag will capture the heart and spirit of the Albanian people all over the world, especially the Albanian citizens of the new state of Kosova. It contains the national Albanian symbol (the double-headed eagle) and the national colors (black and red). It also reflects Kosova’s historic connection to the Albanians of Montenegro, Macedonia, the Presheva Valley, Chameria (the Chams and Arvanites), and Italy (the Arberesh), who are represented by the five white stripes. The white stripes on red also serve to remind us of the important role that the United States has played by recognizing the State of Albania after World War led by president Woodrow Wilson, leading NATO against Slobodan Milosevic in 1999, and working today to gain international recognition for Kosova’s independence."

excuse me, how does this flag capture the heart and spirit of albanian people? how does this flag say albanian? what's albanian about it?
the important role united states has played by recognizing the state of albania, and the help kosova got from you in 1999? does that mean that all the countries that have had some kind of involvement with the united states need to change their visual identity and their flag? does it mean that they have to adopt a new flag that would be reminiscent of the united states flag?

*in the next post i am gonna propose new flags for a few countries*

politicians should never be allowed to do flag proposals or any kind of national visual identity proposals.

let's talk about the european union flag for a minute here. this is how the european flag looks like right now:

what does this say about europe? boring? yes super boring. why does it say boring? because it's proposed by politicians, and it doesnt say anything. another reason why they should never propose anything that belongs to visual artists.

check out the rem koolhaas proposal for the european union flag. this is what a flag should look like. this one is a good example. a flag that has not been designed by a politician. it works well because it represents cultures within the european union by representing their flag in a way that has never been seen before, and yet still very familiar and iconic.

so again, back to the proposal for the new flag of kosova. it must be remembered that a flag is a national identity, and the visual influence can only come from the people and symbols of that nation, and not from a country across the atlantic.

politicians need to learn how to think. first they should think how to not screw up the world. the visual identities are the last things they should worry about.

2006-11-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

a few hours ago, i went edward burtynsky's lecture at byu. hearing him speak about how he approached his projects, and the traveling he did in order to accomplish them really inspired me. it was also interesting to see how some of his work was his autobiographical reflection. his photographs capture amazingly detailed shots of nature and the human as a force and spirit to geography.

Tomorrow, jennifer baichwal's documentary "manufactured landscapes" is showing at byu. it focuses on burtynsky's work. go see it!

2006-11-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

2006-11-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

2006-11-12T23:35:00.000-08:00

ok guys. i am giving away one poster, maybe even two, but most likely one.
this is a poster i designed early this year. it's limited edition, silkscreened and it's printed on really good paper.
in order to get this poster you have to answer this question right:
1. what animal collective song has inspired the concept for this poster?

if you get the answer right, then it's likely that you'll get this poster.

2006-11-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

2006-11-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

went to see joanna newsom last night. amazing show at an amazing venue. i was listening to her at school one day, and one of my friends said "wait, what's this, a cat singing?" i don't understand why a lot of people don't like her voice. i really love it. she sounded a little different at the show. her voice wasnt as thin. still really amazing though.

2006-10-29T16:35:00.000-08:00

halloween's here (almost). this is a picture i took two years ago. i dont remember where, but i remember that i randomly stopped the masked guy and his friends, and asked them if i could take a picture.

2006-10-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

brian collins, the creative excecutive director from big (brand integration group) at ogilvy & mather gave a lecture at byu yesterday. he brought with him the five limited edition coca cola bottles that have been designed by famous designers. i had only seen them in the web before.

left to right: mk12, caviar, rex & tennant mckay, lobo and the designers republic (tDR)

2006-10-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

my work station at home.

2006-10-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

usually, i try to ignore all the books that start with “how to…”. i dont know, but it’s just something about such titles that really throws me off. though, there was something about this one that attracted me, and made me read it. i don’t know if it was the cover, such a simple and appealing solution designed by bibliothèque, or that it was written by adrian shaughnessy with forward by stefan sagmeister (two designers/art directors that really admire). but it could have been the people they listed on the cover of the book that had been interviewed, and seeing norwegian graphic designer, author and electronic musician ( he makes beautiful lo-fi electronic music) kim hiorthøy, i had to read it.

i’d recommend it to anyone who is a student, especially if you’re looking for an internship or a job, or you want to set up your own studio. one of the best suggestions that i think adrian gave to students was that you should never intern for a studio that doesn’t pay its interns. studios that don’t pay interns aren’t worth working for. i’d say don’t do it especially if you end up in new york. it’s hard to survive in new york without getting paid. i personally did get paid when i interned at mcgarry bowen, but there’s people who interned other places and didn’t get paid, and i know they had a hard time getting by.

if you are in the process of interviewing for jobs, this book will teach you how not to make a fool out of yourself.
if you are running a studio but having a hard time getting clients, you should read this book. though, don’t think that by reading this book you will get 10 new clients the next month.

anyway, this is a good read either way.

though, don’t get fooled by the title. you will have to lose your soul to get where people like adrian shaughnessy and stefan sagmeister are today.