Whåt løgø?

The European Union needed a logo for its birthday next year and launched a competition among graphic design students ― I linked to the competition using its official logo in Bulgarian, displayed to the right (I just love Cyrillic letters...).

Now, the panel of 11 independent experts has made its choice, and one may wonder how on Earth (sorry: Europe) they managed to come up with that one. I have discussed it with several people with an interest in, and knowledge of, graphic communication and aesthetics as well as in EUrope, and we all agree that there must be better among 1700 submissions. For example the one here to the left (which, admitted, I am not neutral in estimating but then again, the complete 1700 submissions have not been made readily available to the public).

First of all, you can hardly call the winning logo a logo. Even if I to some extent can understand the idea of using different typefaces creating one word and thus symbolising togetherness despite diversity, the use of diacritics is an idea that in my opinion more symbolises lack of understanding. I mean, ö is not pronounced like the o in the English word 'together', é not like the e. Furthermore, it has to be translated into all official EU languages, which only makes this aspect worse. Will the short Dutch word 'samen' become 'šåmęñ' (see? how did you pronounce that, by reflex?) then, since they have to stuff in diacritics? The Dutch-speakers will not even read it, as they will not notice it's a Dutch word.

But have a look at the top 10 submissions and judge for yourself.

Then they did slightly better in choosing a poster for the 'Breaking stereotypes' campaign. The winning bid is displayed to the right, but there are quite some good contributions here as well!

It's about trying ― Il s'agit d'essayer ― Es geht darum, zu versuchen

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs and check."

« Seuls ceux qui se livrent à l'absurde parviennent à l'impossible. Je crois que c'est au sous-sol : je monte un instant pour vérifier. »

„Nur wer das Absurde sucht, wird das Unmögliche erreichen. Ich glaube, es ist in meinem Keller ... lassen Sie mich nach oben gehen und nachsehen.“

M.C. Escher
M.C. Escher, Taschen 2006

All M.C. Escher works © 2006 The M.C. Escher Company B.V. ― the
Netherlands. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.mcescher.com

Pix from Italy

A friend of mine drew my attention to photobucket, and images on my blog will now be hosted on that site.

That means that I can finally upload images, which are not featured on other websites. Such as my own photos.

As an appetiser, here are some photos from my recent trip to Italy — one from Bologna, one from Ravenna, and one from Firenze. Should you wish to use any of them, please contact me.

In the very near future, I will upload more pix from the trip and link to them by updating this post.

Enjoy
Bjørn

Les miracles selon Paulo Coelho

« Si nous ne naissons pas à nouveau, si nous ne parvenons pas à regarder à nouveau la vie avec l'innocence et l'enthousiasme de l'enfance, alors la vie n'a plus de sens. »

« L'amour est toujours nouveau. Peu importe que l'on aime une fois, deux fois, dix fois, dans sa vie ― on se trouve toujours devant une situation inconnue. L'amour peut nous mener en enfer ou au paradis, mais il nous mène toujours quelque part. Il faut l'accepter, parce qu'il est ce qui nourrit notre existence. Si nous nous dérobons, nous mourrons de faim en ayant sous les yeux les branches chargées de fruits de l'arbre de la vie, sans oser tendre la main pour les cueillir. Il faut aller chercher l'amour où qu'il soit, quand bien même cela peut signifier des heures, des jours, des semaines de déception et de tristesse. Parce que, dès le moment où nous partirons en quête de l'amour, lui aussi partira à notre rencontre. »

« [C]haque matin comporte son miracle particulier, son moment magique, où de vieux univers s'écroulent et de nouvelles étoiles apparaissent. »

Paulo Coelho, dans Sur le bord de la rivière Piedra je me suis assise et j'ai pleuré, traduit par Jean Orecchioni

Paulo Coelho quotes on Ascension Gateway
Osho on the subject of love
Yes on surrendering to love
Clasen on the beauty of love

Denmark's a dish (or several dishes, actually)

You may already have wondered what 'à la danoise' means on French menus... but in Poland they go even further. Instead of just sticking to do things 'the Danish way', they put the entire country on the menu!

The explanation is that 'dania' is plural of 'danie', which simply means... 'dish'. In other words, the Polish word for 'dishes' is the same as the Polish name for Denmark. An example of ethymological coincidence. And of a funny (machine?) mistranslation.

Worldwide

Yep! A visitor from Africa! Now my blog's been looked at from all continents!

L'amour e(s)t l'indépendance

«L'indépendance synergique au lieu de l'interdépendance symbiotique, c'est ce qui crée des relations inspirantes et motivantes, qui pourraient tenir et évoluer dans le long terme. [...] Pour cela, laisser la liberté à l'autre est indispensable ― et l'amour sera rendu à un facteur de dix ou cent!!»
Bjørn Clasen, 5/9-6, dans un échange philosophique sur les couples

Øh nå

»Steen var også tandtekniker, så i dagtimerne talte vi en del i telefon.«
Jan Tronhjem alias J. Gedde
i et interview i KODA /DK, September 2006
om sin tekst til Dodo & The Dodos-sangen 'Vågner I Natten'

Om vrede og ligegyldighed

»Det er sjældent de læsere, der er ophidsede over avisen indhold, der for alvor siger den op. De truer måske med det, og måske gør de det endda, hvis bølgerne går virkelig højt. Men har de så stærke følelser på spil, vender de for det meste hurtigt tilbage. De kan ikke undvære modsigelsen og udfordringen, hvad enten de nu er sig denne mekanisme bevidst eller ej. De læsere, vi varigt mister, er tværtimod de læsere, der er ligeglade, som synes vi er kedelige eller uinteressante. En vred reaktion kan være tegn på meget, men sjældent på ligegyldighed.«
Tøger Seidenfaden

Kilde: Klumme på Politiken.dk 1/10-6

Hjemlighed

»Hjemlighed er duften af madpakker, alt for meget fodtøj i entréen, støv i en solstråle og edderkopper i hjørnerne.«
fra en interessant artikel på Politiken.dk om udviklingen i begrebet hjem, om rodløshed ...og dybest set om identitet

Take a look at this beautifully designed site

copenhagen alternative art fair 2006's website is a beautiful example of web design. Its aestehetic simplicity does not disturb but actually emphasises the clarity of the site. It makes you feel like clicking and exploring the contents ...but only after you have let your eye be spoiled by the meta-esque design.

One of the best-designed websites, I have ever seen.

The artist behind it is Christian Yde Frostholm. You can see other projects of his here. Enjoy! It's art!