But move five steps closer, and the illusion fades. He is in the corner, yes, but the slouch is affected — he’d be more comfortable standing straight. His worn blue jeans? Brand new, but distressed. His ironic t-shirt? That once most noble badge of indie cred? It’s been on sale at the Urban Outfitters down the street for a month. And the paintings – the paintings! Up-close, they show themselves as crude copies of those prints featured in the discounted Salvador Dali calendars sold at Barnes and Noble: forced line, muddy colors, uninteresting ideas.

What’s offensive is not the young student’s pose, for at least he is trying to do something with his image. And the paintings, while bad, are not so bad that his art school scholarship would be threatened. No, what’s most worrisome is that he doesn’t know he’s posing, doesn’t know that the elements he’s so carefully cultivated as “his own,” are not. He’s exuding “originality” in the most culturally acceptable way, possibly the only way he knows: he buys it.

Those shelves of products that our young hero peruses in his off-time– all copyrighted, patented, or otherwise “pre-approved” for consumption – give him the feeling that he has freedom of choice, while, in fact, his freedoms are limited. “Have a problem? Use this face cream. Buy a car. Wear these blue jeans.”

These are his only options.

We should feel pity for him – after all, he’s lived in Pasadena his whole life, he doesn’t know. This is what he thinks is edgy.

Because he has taste, he makes do with what he has. But because he is young, he is a bit too proud. More seasoned personalities whisper to each other: His shirt, the off-white one? With the cartoon of a red-bearded lad, holding close his seven bottles of bear, stating, “Irish 7-Course Meal?” Done. His blue jeans? 700 dollars, faded in all the right places, do not connote the roughshod life. Oh no, they scream, “Mom buys my clothes!” And the Art. Oh God, the Art.

What can save our young hero, apart from extended sit-down sessions with Roland Barthes or concentrated perusals of Frederick Jamison (both of which are, for the most part, impossible to comprehend at such an age)? What can pull away the cowl of ignorance, freeing the young artist from that most hated of appropriations – derivative?

Ready? Here comes the answer – and it’s not drugs, religious experiences, or world travel. The answer is that he must study and learn the copyright laws of United States.

And in order to learn the copyright laws of the United States, he must first know what a copyright is.

Here are the simple definitions, according to onelook.com:

# noun: a document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or musical or artistic work
# verb: secure a copyright on a written work

Why is a knowledge of the legal presedence of copyright important to a young artist? Because in order to create, a good artist should know as much as possible about all his tools. This means not just the origins of his fine bristle brush, or the interesting history of the chemistry of his pigments.

While copyright law is not as glamourous as brushes or paint, it is nonetheless as important. For within copyright law lies the secret of what to do after.

And what do American’s do after they’re done? They sell. They horde. And, in turn, they covet, they hide.

While squirreling away money is a good idea, hiding creative output is not. Keeping the creative hidden leads to problems such as our hero’s – too much confidence in too much little.

Our hero’s problems stem from this ignorance – for, despite his fancy education, he is creatively ignorant – too many things have been kept from his eyes.

But wait! you say. Surely it is his responsibility to educate himself! There are libraries, public exhibitions, and teachers.

Of course, these are necessary elements in any person’s education. But our hero cannot personally own a library book, an outdoor concerts, or the mind of a great teacher, and the relative unavilability of ownership of fine works of art encourages a lazy attitude towards authenticity.

Within copyright law, too, lies a history of the role of the Artist within American Society, a role our hero has wanted to play, desperately, for many years. Is it not also his responsibility to know his legal rights?

Sadly, our hero does not know about the Berne Convention, held in Switzerland, in 1886. Led by that most diligent, most empathetic of writers, Victor Hugo. He does not know of Hugo’s obsession with la droit d’auteur.
He does not know most of his European and Asian contemporaries not only consider intellectual property more important than money, but that the status of the artist is more socially powerful than that of entrepreneur.
He does not know that Europe and Asia have historically made political concessions to facilitate their artists’ creativity.
Or that the United States didn’t join the Berne Convention until nearly one hundred years after its inception – on March 1, 1989.

Here is something else he doesn’t know: copyright laws in the United States, had, until 1989, been focused on keeping intellectual property private in order to facilitate economic growth. In other words, in the US, copyright law has historically been a monetary issue, not a creative one…Thus the shelves of products posing as freedom as choice.

And here is something else: thanks to the acceptance of the Berne Convention, which decrees that work belongs to its creator as soon as it’s created, without having to fill out government forms, the tide is turning.

And finally, another fact: the most notable example of progressive copyright translation in the United States is the group called Creative Commons. Creative Commons gives artists the information and encouragement needed to not squirrel their work away, in fear that someone might steal their ideas, but rather, to share and remix their work with the work of others.

And now, for a theoretical leap: This is a necessary step on the incline from being derivative to being truly POSTMODERN.

(Ugh, but why postmodern? Isn’t that old hat? AU CONTRAIRE).

The hallmark of postmodernism is the desire to combine.
And we are at a point in cultural history where the only thing left to do is combine.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Marcel Proust, that most beloved of all neurotic writers, stated as a child that he did could not name a single color as his favorite, but rather, he found the most pleasure in their combinations.

And all postmodern art is a hybrid – a little of this, a little of that – which in turn encourages the creation of the global ego – an ego much less offensive than the ego present in our young hero at the start of this article.

Some say the start of the Enlightenment was thanks to the creation of factory-produced mirrors, which allowed even the most plebian life form to see themselves as individuals. But today, we don’t look to the mirror for accurate reflections. Instead, we gaze into the computer monitor. Our thoughts, words, and images, regardless of original source, create a collective brain, one that can be harnessed most powerfully through an artist’s understanding of copyright.

And even science is beginning to consider human beings in a similar way – the millions of individuals that populate the Earth are really a single, throbbing organism, a human membrane, if you will, that covers our planet, hovering, blue and bulbous, like a helium balloon bobbing about in the milky way.

Which takes us back to our hero’s work. Remember? Those great blue swathes of sky and stars that looked so good from a distance? Does he know about Turner? And if he did, would not his unpleasant ego dissolve, leaving him – his ideas and his work – behind to do the talking. And would not his art – our art – be improved?

Here’s the The Fancy PDF, as published in “Let Go” magazine

This is the question posed by Digital Family Reunion (DFR). jungle [8] has taken on the task of bringing the molecular level into a unified visual field. It began with Creative Director Lainie Liberti giving the visual interpretation of what a tech holiday party would want to stir in the consciousness of its attendees.

You will not find images of dreaded Christmas sweaters from grandma nor will this party leave you cringing from the onslaught of lackluster, forced, and drunken conversations about office politics and gossip. The goal of DFR is to synthesize 1.0 + 2.0 and create a platform for collaboration, discussion, and innovation for our communities, while of course, having a great time in the company of like-minded individuals.

One look at the website and invite for DFR and you will know this is not your typical holiday party. As with all things jungle [8] takes on, causes run the gamut of our affections. We aim to unite, to create, to empower, and leave in our wake a trail of limitless possibility.

On a cellular lever, we are molecular energy working in brilliant formation. The visual depiction created by jungle [8] for DFR is a flow of energy created by the visible light spectrum. Each of us vibrates on different energy levels, and we merge to create a community reflective of our unified energy. Out of this energy field, bursts of solar power emanate indicative of our social selves, active, powerful and radiant.

The task of translating this image into a live installation rests on the design concept of jungle [8]’s graphic designer Tuan Vutran. With creative genius beginning a steady knock on the door of perception, the installation takes on an earthy form. A week from today, at 8:15 PM, DFR will begin a yearly tradition known as the Business Card Installation Ritual.

Tuan is piecing together the Business Card Installation one Styrofoam ball at a time. Like planets, connected through clear, plastic umbilical cordlike tubes, reflecting prisms of rainbow light, the balls will appear to take flight with wings made from 2000 business cards from the original dot commers. The molecular representation symbolizes all of our talents fusing to herald a new year, a year of collaboration, change, and interconnectedness.

All in attendance for DFR will be asked to add their business cards to the Card Installation and become immortalized in a tangible reflection of our ever changing molecular bonds.

Be sure to see: Magnifying Connections: creating an installation, episode 1

The Institute of Color Research has uncovered that within 90 seconds all humans make a subconscious judgement about a person, environment, or item — and from 62% to 90% of that subconscious assessment is based on color alone.  That’s a small window to make your case.  And for the burgeoning brand, that’s a judgement that is not only going to be made quickly, but will solidify without even a conscious awareness.

So, first and foremost, color is your ally.  Color is what will be noticed first, assessed quickest, and remain longest.  Among Smashing Magazine‘s 7 Ingredients of Good Corporate Design, color stands in the number 3 spot.  About color, they say that when designing the visual identity of a brand the colors should emphasize the philosophy and strategy of the [brand].  Most definitely.  But even further, colors should trigger an emotional reaction within the viewer, no matter if that reaction be subconscious or outright.

Not convinced that color has that much impact on the human psyche?  Or just unconvinced that that impact is not quite as universal as everyone may think?  Follow me.  Take a look at Cymbolism.

From Cymbolism’s website:

Colors are believed to have very specific meanings, but these meanings vary over time, place and culture. For years designers have been using colors to communicate feeling and mood, to trigger memories to make us act a certain way.

Cymbolism is an attempt to quantify the association between colors and words [and emotions].

With Cymbolism, colors are synthesized into their word equivalent by a community of online voters.  Just match color that is immediately triggered by the word provided.  Then, the voter is provided with a continuum of other voted colors that others felt were representative of the word.  Also, after voting, click on a color to see the most associated words and emotions for that color.  Not only interesting, but another front to attack when creating the visual representation of any brand.

Perhaps with the use of color theory and recognizing how and why color impacts humans all, your brand will be known solely by its color like a certain delivery power-house. “What can brown do for you?” And how about Alltel? They’ve successfully stripped their competitors down to their primary color palettes.

Ask yourself, what are your colors saying about you?  Probably a lot more than you’ve every consciously realized.

Now, let’s correspond: What are you all trying to convey with your color choices?  Which colors impact you most?  Let us know!

This is a brilliant slide show of what Web 2.0 is and what Web 2.0 is not. Let’s get it straight, it’s NOT a design aesthetic.

The Sunday afternoon shadows are falling across your front yard, and you’re staring at the mounds of stuff your garage sale’s best efforts didn’t eliminate. Next step:  a quick trip to Goodwill, then the dumpster, right?

It’s Monday morning at the office, and you’re standing in front of a large pile of old monitors and telephones, the result of the office’s big move and upgrade. It’s seems a shame to throw it all away, but then again, it’s not like anyone could use it, and even if they could, how could you contact them, anyway?

Enter the website Throwplace.com, where people can recycle used goods by offering them on an online forum to anyone who needs them. People can view and bid on the items, and the giver picks the worthy recipient of their choice. It’s all free, with the goal of keeping the items out of landfills, and helping people who are struggling in the current economy.

The site as launched by the owner of a prestigious graphic design firm in Washington DC, when she saw a need for a place where goods could be given to those who needed them, instead of thrown out. Lomangino developed and financed Throwplace.com herself, with the goal of aiding nonprofits across the country, specifically those benefitting victims of natural disasters, or recent economic hardship.

So, next time you’re staring at a load of what you consider useless stuff on your lawn or in the workplace dumpster, remember: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Unless it’s a Hummer. In that case, I doubt anyone wants it.

And as a very last resort, if the item won’t even be accepted by recycling centers, follow ENN’s brilliant little suggestion, in their List of 21 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle: send the item back to the manufacturer as a statement that they need to make products that “close the waste loop responsibly”. 

Now, we understand young Jimmy needs to make an extra buck so he can afford to go see his twelfth consecutive showing of Hellboy II, but from a product design perspective, well, now don’t take this the wrong way, but, honestly, you need to die, Jimmy.
Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh. Maybe we should just point out some no no’s in the branding/ -product design world, instead. If we do that, hopefully, hopefully, just one, one, of the young Jimmy’s in the world will stop designing products while simultaneously eating a frozen burrito and playing World of Warcraft at 3am.

A perfect product example that must have been designed by Jimmy after a fourth bong hit is Rize, one of the many brain-less alcohol- infused energy drinks that jumped into the energy drink market after Sparks, like a little kid sister wielding arm floaties running after you into the pool, screaming “Me too, I do it too!”

Let’s analyze the product design.

Ok, problem number 1: You wouldn’t be able to recognize it in a line-up of five cans. The black and red color palette is identical to other energy drinks: No Fear, Pit Bull, SoBe, Vamp NRG, and Transphusion.

Problem number 2: You can’t read the name. It’s lost in the image of a city skyline, with a steeple forming the I, or is it an A? So the product could easily have two names. Not so good for spreading a buzz about your product, especially if spreading a buzz is literally your bread and butter.

Problem 3: Ok, I know it’s a stretch, a big one at that, but say someone actually likes this drink, and wants to read more about the brand. Shouldn’t you have a website??? Yeah, it’s just a little something we here at jungle[8] noticed, but usually successful brands have websites. It’s just a little something that enables, oh, I don’t know, brand awareness, and oh, maybe a market for your product?

Problem number 4: Usually people want to know what they’re putting in their bodies, and that’s enabled by a little thing put on food and beverage products called “Nutrition Facts”. Yeah, Rize, you might want to consider slapping one of them bad boys on your can.

Problem 5: The Manufacturer named on the can, Heileman Brewing Co, no longer exists. If a company was bought out and absorbed over ten years ago, it might not be a good idea to name it on your product.

Ok, sorry Jimmy, we might have been a little tough on you. But sometimes we can’t help but respond to a bad product when it’s so good at being gloriously bad. Next time, instead of creating the hundred and ninth addition to an already-crowded market, how about investing the energy in an area that’s useful? Think a little before you make/design/manufacture. It’s called conscious design.

Otherwise, everyone’s just going to keep running, and you’re going to be left in your arm floaties, alone in the kiddie pool.

Green Weekend: Wildlife to marine life to farm life – Like to plan ahead? Check out the Emerald City calendar to find out about all the green events around town.

From Animal to Person Examines What Separates Man from Beast ($9 adults, $6.50 children) – Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. 5:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. This month, First Fridays: Discovery in the Age of Mammals examines the evolutionary journey between animal and man. One of the world’s leading mind philosophers, Dr. Daniel C. Dennett, will talk about the revelations on evolutionary biology and cognitive science uncovered in his research.