Posted: June 26th, 2009 | Author: Marcel | Filed under: Commentary, Music, Personal | Tags: death, michael jackson
I remember the moment in 2005. It was lunchtime and I jumped up from my desk at work, put my phone on pause, and headed to the break room where there was a small TV. As I made it over, my supervisor walked out disgusted, and at that moment I knew. Michael Jackson was found innocent by the jury.
I went back to my desk, unpaused my phone, and fielded 411 calls. Relieved. I loved Michael Jackson.
Ten years earlier, I heard my sister cry while listening to “You Are Not Alone“. It was the first time I saw the effects of one person’s existence towards someone else. And Michael’s voice helped bring that feeling out. It’s to this day one of my favorite songs.
Michael Jackson’s music brings me back to simpler times. His message gives me hope. His smile made me feel like there were good people in this world.
I’m really going to miss Michael Jackson.
No Comments »
Posted: June 24th, 2009 | Author: Marcel | Filed under: Commentary, Typography | Tags: barack obama
At the 2009 date of An Event Apart, one of the speakers was Scott Thomas. Scott was one of Barack Obama’s two design directors throughout his presidential campaign. He spoke on the second day, but my friend Dan and I had a chance to speak with him at the first night’s after party. A couple interesting things he had to say:
- Scott was the person who chose to use the Gotham typeface as seen in all the “change” and “hope” material as seen below. John McCain’s campaign used the same typeface that’s on the Vietnam War Memorial. Gotham represented stability and a fresh start.
- Over 46 revisions were done before Barack Obama’s website design was finalized
- It was near impossible to contact Scott during the campaign via email. He would tell others to send multiple emails. He told his personal circle to just call him (also often repeatedly)
- Many people would come out of the woodwork to request one-off things like tattoo designs and the like. “We’re trying to win an election and you want a tattoo design?”
- Scott was not as heavily involved in the whitehouse.gov redesign, although it looks the same
2 Comments »
