SKAGGS

There has been a lot of talk about this and while we try to keep politics out of our blog, occasionally we do drift into political issues. I’m not in favor of the government bailing out the auto industry primarily because I don’t think it is their business to do so. What the government could do in this case is order an entire new fleet of government vehicles that are either hybrid or 100% electric. This order would need to be filled within the next four years and instead of just giving them billion, the government would in essence pay to have Detroit re-tooled to produce the cars of the future

Think about what this would do. A) It would create jobs and lots of them. B) It would make the necessary conversion that would position the hybrid or electric car as the default type of vehicle and therefore automatically lessen the US’ dependence on foreign oil. C) It would massively curb carbon emissions which is very important and D) it would put in place the necessary reasons to build infrastructure to support the change to electric vehicles.

It’s a win/win proposition - jobs are created, we protect the environment and we decrease our oil consumption. What do you think?

PS. Seth Godin commented on this issue today with another idea.

SKAGGS are proud to introduce our newest intern. La bienvenue, Caroline! Fluent in German, French, Polish and English, she’s lived in cities all over the world and New York is next on her list. Caroline brings with her a Parisienne’s eye for style, fashion and chic design. She tells us she’s had a “crush” on SKAGGS for a while now, so we’re looking forward to having her as a member of the team!

Pentagram redesigning one of the most iconic hip hop magazines to date…Who’d have thunk it!? It’s not often you see really well designed Hip Hop publications . So when I found out that Pentagram have redesigned Vibe (hip-hop’s premier magazine) for their 15 anniversary, I was pleasantly surprised and even more impressed having seen the outcome here.

Working with Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith, art director Mark Shaw, and photo editor Robyn Forest, Luke Hayman has developed a new format for the magazine that looks back to the original designed by Gary Koepke and subsequent redesigns by Robert Newman and Florian Bachleda.
“Vibe is an icon in the magazine world,” says Hayman. “This was an exciting opportunity to sample and remix the rich heritage of its famed design and photography.”

Read more here

Fubiz tuned me on to these beguiling images by Parisian illustrator Jules Julien [note–not work safe]. Does this work imply that within a consumerist culture, we are soon defined by the products we consume? Or that globalization leads to the loss of cultural identity?

It’s interesting to consider just how many brand services and products each of us consume every single day. This point is well made by annonymous blogger Dear Jane, whose timeline of every logo she sees on an average day rings true for most of us. Take a moment to think about it: what would yours look like? No doubt there’ll be a Facebook/Twitter application out there soon.

Way back in the summer of 2001, I visited my good friends Ping, Li and Mengye in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan Province. In July of that year I was in Beijing, where there was widespread excitement about the Olympic bid. When it was announced that Beijing had been chosen, the city erupted into parties, celebrations on the street and a palpable feeling that Beijing’s moment had arrived on the international stage.

Seven years later, there’s no doubt that the city has exceeded all expectations as Olympic host. Beijing has a new airport, an astounding Olympic stadium, and international focus has turned to emerging Chinese artists and the Chinese role in global media. The world is gearing up for the opening ceremony this Friday, with billions expected to tune in.

Read the rest of this entry »

If, like us, you’re addicted to Hell’s Kitchen, Iron Chef, Top Chef, and you watch the Food Network religiously (we understand), then we’ve got a treat in store: a grilled chicken recipe by SKAGGS’ very own Joe Guzman. We’ve had so many requests for this during cookout season that we decided it deserves its very own one-off feature. Enjoy!

Serves a bunch of fairly hungry folks, and just a few VERY hungry folks.

For Brine:
3 Cups Water
2 Cups Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar or Spenda
2 Tablespoons Whole Black Peppercorns
4 Lemons halved
1 Head of Garlic Cut in Half
2 Standard Refrigerator Trays of Ice

For Marinade/Sauce:
1 Can Chipotle Chiles in Adobo
1 Bunch of Cilantro or Culantro Roughly Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium Onion Roughly Chopped
2 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
1 Tablespoon Chipotle Chili Powder
1 Packet of Goya Sazón con Achiote
Juice of 2 Limes
Salt + Pepper to taste

3 pounds skinless chicken breasts or thighs.

For Brine:
Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil until salt and sugar are melted. Add Ice then cool in refrigerator.

For Marinade/Sauce:
Combine Chipotles, Onion, Cumin, Chili Powder, and Sazón in a Food Processor or Blender and process until smooth.
Then add the remaining ingredients until a paste forms. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside roughly 1/4 of the mixture to use for dipping/basting.

For Chicken:
Once Brine is cooled add chicken and allow to soak for at least a half hour and at most an hour and a half. Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse with cool water. Add the chicken to a Zip-top bag and cover with the Marinade. Place the chicken in the fridge and allow to marinate overnight.

Set up your grill for medium high heat and indirect cooking (for a charcoal grill, place all of the coals on one side of the grill, for a gas grill, light the flame on the side of the grill opposite the chicken). Cover the grill and grill the chicken until cooked through (internal temperature of 180). Then remove from grill and baste with reserved sauce, or set aside for dipping.

Serve with a cold Brooklyn Lager and enjoy.

Working with TOTO has not just been an education in Japanese bathroom equipment, but also a linguistic lesson in American English… a tap is a faucet, baths are tubs and sinks are lavatories. Also rocket is arugula, the hash key is the pound key, blades get dull not blunt, wellies are galoshes and try asking for a plaster; I could have bleed to death yesterday before someone figured out I meant a band-aid! …Fortunately, of course, I know most of this already from watching Sesame Street when I was wee!

To quote Oscar Wilde, “Americans are identical to the British in all respects except, of course, language.”

Googly-eyes spotted around on my travels around New York. Guerilla art, graffiti, whatever you wish to call it, the Googly-eye cru’s campaign is inoffensive and always makes me smile.

And me too, and me too…

that’s the attitude and service we received from FedEx Kinkos’s while hiring them for a paid “test run” of poster for our client. Meanwhile, they’ve potentially lost a 1/2 million dollar job due to lack of managing their custumer service and quality control. I recently read that “Kinkos’s wasn’t doing too great…” I wonder why?

In an age where smaller businesses are ruling the roost and home printers have fantastic print quality, Kinkos’ business decline is no surprise! In my opinion, they need a big change in employee attitude and large modifications to their operations, NOT a new tagline or advertising campaign. This is a common and frustrating mistake with large corporations; instead of looking at the company internally and fixing the decay, they seek “new, shiny and expensive veneers” in the form of headline grabbing rebrands and “innovative” marketing. While they might attract the business, maintaining it is going to be a problem if you haven’t got informed and proactive employees. Did you know that consumers are 50% more likely to be influenced by word-of-mouth recommendations from their peers than by radio/TV ads and I’m quite certain we all know that stories of bad experiences spread far more quickly than good ones.

I’m not sure about the rest of the country, but I know for a fact that Kinko’s reputation in New York City is pretty much known for “bad service, unhelpful and/or un-informed staff. It’s a love/hate relationship - you usually end up HAVING to use them, because there’s nobody else available for your last minute or convenient job. You just have to grit your teeth and put up with the poor service. At SKAGGS we call this “Duane Reade Syndrome” (don’t even get me started on that).

Does anyone else agree?
If any Kinko’s employees or Kinko’s corporates are reading this, please feel free to enlighten me — I look forward to hearing from you.

Welcome to the ramblings from an Intern and the City. My name is Jeni, I’m from from Scotland and I am priviledged to join the wonderful Skaggs team in New York for an internship. Over the new few weeks I shall share my diary of events and thoughts as an Intern, but also as a travel journal as a first-time visitor to New York with observations, restaurant reviews and general tales. Carrie Bradshaw I am not, I have neither her wardrobe nor column writing ability. But I do love to gush about Design. I am hugely passionate about Design, across the board- graphics, architecture, web, products, illustration, interaction, fashion, typograhy, exhibition… and all, perhaps, an obsessive level! I read too many Design blogs, subscribe to too many Design journals, spend too much jet-stetting to Design events and own the complete Borders Books creative section. I can bore anyone who takes me out for dinner about the font choice on the menu, I get frustrated with poor illustrative diagrams building flat-pack furniture and detest things that don’t work due to thoughtless product design. I like things that are well thought-out and user-centered*, functional, simple, with a touch of aesthetic elegance. Keep an eye on my blog posts over the course of my time here at Skaggs.

* my spelling is not wrong or right, it’s just British.