Sad Cartoons

The Land Before Time and Bambi -- A couple of movies that left me traumatized as a kid. I thought my parents were going to get killed. I guess they prepared me for the worse, or made me overly emotional. Now I'm crying to three-dimensional digital films like Pixar's Up.

Miranda's Old Time Ice Cream Shop

If you're on the Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail in Morrow (Warren County, OH), make sure to stop by Miranda's Old Time Ice Cream Shop for Food, Drinks, and Ice Cream!

Obama Gay Pride

President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage undoubtedly reflects a personal evolution in his thinking, as he's said.

wdsiemer

wdsiemer

Paint Bucket

If I owned a professional Painting Company...

Betty White Brownies

Betty White is a Queen of Pop Culture. Everything she touches has appeal. So, I'm suggesting Betty Crocker modify their branding a bit. Keep the Betty, drop the Crocker, and replace it with White. Done! Add a little fun, and call it good.

A possibility we'll see this one day?

Minnie Mouse Vector

There's a song featured on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for Minnie's Bow-tique. It's been stuck in my head the last couple of days. Free vectors attract viewers, so hopefully you will stay to look at other features on the site. Wishful thinking :) Enjoy!

JPEG (BotW Source Image)

DOWNLOAD Vector EPS of Minnie Mouse

Zipper Google Doodle

Oh, how fun:
Gideon Sundback, Zipper Engineer, Celebrated With Interactive Google Doodle.

Earth Day

5th Avenue Frogger

Frogger parodies could easily be justified as designs we've seen a lot, but this is a clever, imaginative take on the franchise. The arcade box uses real-time web-cam traffic feeds (and some clever coding) of New York's 5th Avenue to simulate the car obstacles in the Frogger universe.

System of Codes

Hair Physics

NPR's Science Friday has really been on my side today--talking about space missions, sea exploration, LEGOs, special effects, and digital animations. Great listening.

In the 2010 Disney film "Tangled," Rapunzel's hair becomes a character of its own. Here is a short video segment: Untangling The Hairy Physics Of Rapunzel.

Play with LEGOS

LEGOs (from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play-well") have so many different applications.

Fernando Ramirez Martinez built this pinhole camera out of
LEGO blocks, light-proofing it with duct tape.

Credit: Photos courtesy of Physical Fiction

Lego Letterpress
Lego Mastery

Interlocking Motifs

I like the rat-like creature...

Sam Brade

Put it on Credit

We accept the following forms of payment:

DOWNLOAD vector "We Accept Credit Cards" logos

You might want to hold onto this one! (It's coming...)

Symmes Players Presents

See a show :)

Capitalizing on ClipArt

Sometimes a client's time and budget isn't enough to start creating everything from scratch, so ClipArt jumps into the equation per request. I'd much rather create an original design. Here is an example of the same flower being used for two separate jobs. Crunching the numbers/sacrificing the design.

Weekend Notes

Walgreens Nationals Logo
1.) Over the weekend my wife noted the Washington Nationals logo looks very similar to Walgreens' logo, which it has been compared to before (see Totally Looks Like).

Kroger Fuel Logo
2.) Every time I see the Kroger Fuel logo, I try to decipher its meaning. I keep thinking I'll find some clever hidden meaning behind it. The colors seem to go with Kroger's brand (the blue and red as primary colors/purple/orange as secondary), and remind me of a gas property's diamond.

The odd white space is what puzzles me. I would have to think it is a stylized map of the United States, but of this I can't be sure. I have considered a stylized "K" (which it definitely is not), some kind of international gas symbol I am unfamiliar with, or just some fun, stretchy shape (like a tag). It has to be an icon of the states with Kroger colors and a big gray line enclosing it, right? I feel like I'm missing it.

Cincinnati Zoo
3.) Went to the Cincinnati Zoo. A lot has changed since my last visit. It's nice to have such a great organization in Cincinnati.

Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau, an artist of the Parisian streets, honored today by Google for what would have been his 100th birthday Monday.

From Wikipedia

National Geographic Photos

National Geographic Photos

Baboons can recognize word shapes (study)

Split-screen | What was that monkey looking at? PlayBaboon -wdsiemer ii

[READ ARTICLE]

Cincinnati Streetcar

Over-The-Rhine Blog

The Avengers

Okay, it's a little rough and the color/lighting is incorrect, but it's not easy to find a decent photo.

Hawkeye, The Hulk, Iron Man,  Nick Fury, MacGyver,
Black Widow (hidden behind MacGyver), Captain America, Thor

Spotify Play Button

Previously:
Spotify's web site has been down today, probably a technical issue regarding the addition of the new embedded "Play" button, which I was hoping to test on The Sketchpad today.

Add a "Play" Button

The Cinema – My Blood Is Full Of Airplanes

Spreading like Wild Violets

The Sketchpad continues to grow. I can now say, "As heard on NPR." Not really, but it sounds good. I only asked the radio panelists about the wild violets invading my lawn :-P

Photoshop Actions

Like Instagram?


There are many websites that feature customized Photoshop Actions that can alter your photos-- from sepia to vintage effects.

100 Free Photoshop Actions

Best Buy CEO Resigns

A few notes I haven't posted...

• IGN.com ripping the video game Naughty Bear in its home page review while the whole rest of the page's theme is an advertisement praising the game.
• Buying a 99cent Pepsi Next at Walgreens and receiving a coupon for a Free Coke Zero
• Below is somewhat reminiscent...

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn is stepping down from the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, a company widely criticized for not responding quickly enough to growing competition and the changing shopping habits of Americans.
-USA Toda

I suppose Brian Dunn wasn't responsible for this onslaught of ads on the same page as news of his resigning.

Or maybe he was... "I leave it today in position for a strong future," Dunn said.

Google Art Project

Journey around the world with 134 new collections in the Google Art Project

Tidy Cats Cincinnati

When is an advertising campaign not a good idea?

When it is kind of confusing, not very funny and associates a neighborhood with a cat box. (from Cincinnati News)

Taken from www.ford-life.com

An apology has been issued and the billboard changed to a Pet Adoption ad...

Pinocchio

Jim Dine’s 12 ft. bronze “Pinocchio (Emotional)” goes on permanent display at the front entrance of Cincinnati Art Museum with a public unveiling on April 4. For more information visit www.cincinnatiartmuseumorg or call 513-721-2787. / Provided, The Pace Gallery, New York.

View Gallery details...
Jim Dine PINOCCHIO (EMOTIONAL)

8-Bit Movie Posters

8-Bit Movie Posters
by Eric Palmer
View his gallery!

Eric Palmer

Eadweard J. Muybridge

Google honors the english photographer Eadweard J. Muybridge.

Happy Easter!

Think of all the Easter Bunny has done for you...

Politically Incorrect

Thomas Kincade

The "Painter of Light" (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012


Know my friend Ken will be saddened by this news. He owned a couple of his paintings, and enjoyed visiting his gallery in Tennessee.

Tired of Fish? Eat Rabbit

Poor Man's Rabbit Recipe

justjans

More rabbit recipes...

Pepe the King Prawn

Was watching the Weezer Keep Fishin' music video, and this scene with Pepe the King Prawn made me laugh. It looks so goofy, but great.

Peep Chick in Nest

Typogami

Caught my eyes because of my series of origami icons.


Typogami
Typogami is an animated typeface for Adobe After Effects CS3, 4 & 5.

The static and animated version are available for free:
Free Typogami at Facebook

Watch Video

The Wovel

http://www.thegreenhead.com

Thinking of a time a couple years ago when my friend bought a wovel--the snow shovel on a wheel. It was one of those "what were you thinking" moments.

He was all about setting it up, but the instructions were in german, and he lost his patience. So he returned it (for a $60 shipping fee), and I never had the chance to see him look like a fool.

It looks like it would make a great conversation piece as home decor. "What is that--an Amish buggy wheel; a 19th century tool?" "No, it's a wovel."

The SnowWovel

2012 Opening Day

Since I posted an image from Opening Day 2011, I realize I have been doing The Sketchpad blog for over a year. Time flies.

Red Schedule's contrast almost looks fake on my old radio

Last year...

Google Announces Project Glass Wearable HUD

A follow up to my brief Future of Electronics

Get notifications, video chat and send text messages with the power of your glasses.

Also see Microsoft's Futuristic Transparent 3D Desktop

Universal "NO" Image

Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series

Adding a funny illustration within the prohibited circle.

NO ELEPHANT POOPING!

Business Cards

A few business cards that go the extra step...