Vintage Quotes

The Challenger lifting off on the morning of January 28, 1986.  Soon after takeoff the Space Shuttle Challenger experienced a catastrophic failure, eventually killing everyone on board.  Later that day President Reagan delivered an address to the nation.  Many believe this was one of the most profound speeches of the 20th Century.  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/speeches/reagan_challenger.html

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.

President Ronald Reagan, January 28, 1986 National Address

The Crew of the Challenger, January 8, 1986.  Photo12/UIG/Getty Images.  Soon after takeoff the Space Shuttle Challenger experienced a catastrophic failure eventually killing everyone on board.  Later that day, President Reagan delivered a national address which many consider to be one of the most significant speeches of the 20th Century.  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/speeches/reagan_challenger.html
The crew of the Challenger, January 8, 1986.  Photo12/UIG/Getty Images.

Great Design

Health Is Everything

I haven’t seen an ad this good in a while:

New CVS marketing campaign.  This was a "skyscraper" ad I saw recently.
New CVS marketing campaign.  This was a “skyscraper” ad I saw recently.

I think it’s a high caliber design because it’s simple and it exhibits integrity, or at least it presents itself as having integrity, which is probably close enough.  The truth is, it’s very difficult for a company to have this level of integrity.  Any design which puts that on display will tend to catch your eye and you will tend to remember it.

If you wanted to be a perfectionist, you would probably remove the ‘Learn More’ hyperlink at the very bottom.  It takes away while adding nothing.  Clicking on the ad itself should take you to the exact same destination.  Removing that text makes the ad more simple.

Vintage Quotes

Reflection of a meeting room on a South Korean soldier's glasses.  This meeting room is in the DMZ, the dividing line between North Korea and South Korea.  Since their armistice in 1953 the two countries have technically remained at war.  AP Photo / Lee Jin-man
Reflection of a meeting room on a South Korean soldier’s glasses.  This meeting room is in the DMZ, the dividing line between North Korea and South Korea.  Since their armistice in 1953 the two countries have technically remained at war.  AP Photo / Lee Jin-man

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

George Santayana, Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies

Vintage Quotes

The ingredients for man's most critical needs captured perfectly in one of the most striking movie posters ever produced.
The ingredients for man’s most critical needs captured perfectly in one of the most striking movie posters ever produced.

Humans can survive three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, three weeks without food, but just three seconds without hope.

Rule of Thumb

Vintage Quotes

Cooperation between Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scouts of Japan http://chiba.themightymustang.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scout_Motto
Cooperation between Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scouts of Japan http://chiba.themightymustang.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scout_Motto

Always Be Prepared

Common Variant of the Boy Scout Motto

Flag of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.  Logo Copyright ©  Boy Scouts of America.
Flag of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.  Logo Copyright © Boy Scouts of America.

World Scout Emblem 1939-1955.  Logo Copyright © Boy Scouts of America.
World Scout Emblem 1939-1955.  Logo Copyright © Boy Scouts of America.

Poor Design

Competing Classification Systems

I’ve been reading First Aid, CPR and AED Advanced.  Overall, the book has been pretty clear, but there have been a few exceptions. Page 95 (below) is one of them.

Page 95 of First Aid, CPR and AED Advanced, Sixth Edition.

This page messes with my mind.  To me, it’s just like that mildly annoying color-related brain teaser that tries to trick your brain – which apparently is well documented and called the Stroop Effect.

In this flowchart, when the designer(s) decided which of the two choices (‘Yes’ or ‘No’) should be green and which should be red, they adopted the very common classification system where ‘Yes’ is green and ‘No’ is red.  However, they overlooked the context of the diagram, and specifically, what ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ indicate.

In this diagram ‘Yes’ means the victim has a head injury or has significant breathing problems.  My mind wants that to be colored red because it conveys a huge negative.  This classification system ought to trump the more basic one.  It’s more aligned with how my mind works.  Maybe if you’re a real Yes/No-oriented person, you see it the other way.

http://www.archimedes-lab.org/Stroop_test.html
http://www.archimedes-lab.org/Stroop_test.html