Via dachesterfrench:
The new Gap logo. Strange move. I think this sort of “modernizing” rebranding is almost always a mistake unless a company has just sponsored a genocide or something. -D.A.
A sad day for iconic brand design.
Of course, there’s the accompanying rogue Twitter account, http://twitter.com/gaplogo, that cropped up yesterday (Oct. 6) and went from 275 to 375 followers overnight.
Oct. 7 afternoon update: A logo redesign contest, coordinated by Scott Hansen, with one hundred and forty-three entries (and counting), is in the works.
Via architizer:
BLDGBLOG has pictures of “Upside Dome,” an installation in the St. Michiel Church in Leuven, Belgium by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.
The project replicates catenary arches to form an ‘upside down’ dome in the otherwise dome-less cathedral, using only chain hung from the ceiling.
BLDGBLOG author Geoff Manaugh says it better than we ever could, writing “Looking at “Upside Dome“… is like seeing the underlying geometric logic of Western space bleed through from a hidden dimension.”
Yeah, a bookshelf-of-the-week contender on Monday!
Apparently, this is a book exchange site, a.k.a. bucherwald, in Berlin; it’s associated with BookCrossing. Found a brief video about it here.
Not A Pet Person? Watch This ‘Dogumentary’ : The Picture Show : NPR
Even if you’re not a pet person, this six-minute-long documentary, titled Last Minutes With Oden, will break your heart. It’s an incredibly moving story of love and loss. I had a hard time watching it.
Advisory [from NPR’s site]: Some of the language in this video is not suitable for all audiences. Sensitive viewers should note the video contains scenes of a dog being euthanized.
States of the arts:
Today, in Detroit Symphony Orchestra (not-so-good) news: Day of a Strike Dawns for Detroit Musicians - NYTimes.com. With contract negotiations between DSO management and musicians as contentious as they are, and the musicians declining the DSO’s latest financial offer with its “extensive cuts in pay and benefits and extensive changes in how they perform their jobs,” I have a hard time seeing how a work stoppage could end very soon.
From the DSO’s Web site:
“Any increase beyond our last offer will put the DSO in a deeper hole that would ultimately drive the organization out of business. There is nobody who winds in that situation.”
Of note, on the fiscal housekeeping side of things: the DSO, following years of living beyond its means, has an accumulated deficit of $9+ million (I think I’m understanding various figures correctly), and, per Dan Wakin in The New York Times, has been “raiding its endowment to pay for operations.”
Evidently money isn’t the only issue in the negotiations; the historical orchestra model in which musicians spend the majority of their “work” time rehearsing and performing series of classical and pops concerts is at risk of evolving greatly. The DSO’s proposed contract offer includes a reduced season (fewer weeks; reduced pay), plus musicians’ increased involvement in community and education programs (which could include teaching or performing chamber concerts). Future operations of orchestras – not only in Detroit, but elsewhere – may include a similarly pronounced emphasis on musicians’ participation in community and education concerts/programs which could, in fact, make orchestras more relevant to and valued by the communities they serve. Detroit’s proposed work-model, regardless of whether it’s ratified, could serve as a precedent for other orchestras.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, good news announced in Houston: Houston Symphony Musicians Ratify New Contract - chron.com
In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the 156-light necklace of the George Washington Bridge will shine pink for the month of October.
(via Bridge Goes Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness - NYTimes.com)
100th Anniversary Corn Mazes – from Boy Scouts of America’s Photos on Facebook
(There are 11 mazes in the set. They’re actually pretty cool-looking.)
