A terrific post at the COLOURlovers blog answers this and many other questions about why certain colours are associated with certain things. Click over and have a read.

Technorati Tags: color, association, design

I can’t even begin to analyse the ramifications of this happening! Reports I’ve read say that the two companies are talking and it’s a deal that could be worth about $50 billion.

There’s a part of me that really wants this to happen, but not because it’ll stick it to Google. Quite the opposite actually. I posted before about how it’s currently hard to root for Google because they’re growing so rapidly and seem impossible to stop.

A deal like this would surely put them on the back foot for a while and, in my eyes, make them an underdog again. I like rooting for the underdog.

Technorati Tags: yahoo, microsoft, google, merger, buyout, acquisition

If you’ve been driving around Karachi’s Clifton or DHA Phase 5 today, you will have noticed that McDonald’s has done a pretty good job hanging their banners on every pole they could reach. Now, you and I know that their drive through service is available 24 hours a day. That’s good news for people who are hungry in the wee hours of the morning.

What’s even better news, and what they don’t tell you on the banner (they really should have, since it’s an as-good, and maybe, better offering), is that the home delivery service is also available round the clock to people in the Defence and Clifton area.

The banner also fails to mention that it’s only the McDonald’s at Seaview which is open 24 hours a day (and the airport, but that happened long ago).

Yes, I called 111-BIG-MAC and asked them. I was just curious. You now know and have me to thank for it.

Technorati Tags: mcdonalds, 24 hours, drive-through, seaview, karachi, home delivery

I went to a Citibank ATM this afternoon and noticed this posted at the machine.

Couldn’t they have put up a better looking notice? Maybe used something with a Citibank logo. Maybe pasted the notice vertically so it didn’t run past the pillar. They definitely could’ve worded it better, because the copywriting is pretty awful, and left out the quotation marks.

I wonder who this notice could be directed at. I figure there are two kinds of people. The first would be women wearing hijab and they’re certainly not going to unveil themselves for a camera, even an ATM security camera. The second would be people who’ve come to the machine to do something dodgy. I can really see themselves posing for a pic.

I suppose there could be a third type — the guy who picks his nose a lot. At least he’ll know not to do it when withdrawing money.

Lastly, we’re not really a very security-aware society. There aren’t any CCTV-type setups here and we’re pretty oblivious to our surroundings. I would bet good money that most people who use an ATM don’t even know there’s a camera watching them and if they do, they’re not thinking about it when at the machine.

You’ve just made them conscious of the fact that you want to have a look at their face. They’ll be more inclined to cover up now that they know you want to have a look at them.

So, in essence, the notice feels invasive, achieves nothing and looks horrid.

Technorati Tags: citibank, atm, security, notice, copywriting, privacy

There’s a phenomenal set of images on Flickr representing Swiss graphic design history. I haven’t been able to go through all of them yet, so can’t state which is my favourite.

It’d be nice though, if anyone went from here to there, to post back what they were drawn most to.

Technorati Tags: swiss, history, poster, graphic, design, typography