Posts Tagged ‘aol’
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The Reflex Blue Show, Season 2, Episode 18: Jason Tselentis Interview
December 4th, 2009 |Posted In: The Reflex Blue Show
If memory serves me correctly, I met Jason Tselentis during an AIGA Nebraska event where House Industries presented at a bowling event. After the presentation, Jason ended up being in the same group of lanes I was during the after-presentation bowling. Over the next year or so, I spoke with Jason at a number of AIGA events, until he left the city to get a master’s degree.
Years later, we ran into each other in the online world, with him writing for Speak Up and me at the also defunct Be A Design Group. It was only a matter of time before he finally stepped foot back in Nebraska, where we got him to stop by and record a podcast with us.
Since Jason also teaches design, we start with a conversation of specialization versus generalization in design degrees and design businesses. From there we show him that which he has never seen. The new ‘Aol.’ mark.
Mig Reyes makes a return with a student tip, and we end speaking of Jason’s upcoming (2011) Rockport book on Type.
And please, let us know if you use the measurement known as the pica. Do you?
Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Season 2 Episode 18 (26 meg) or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.
6 Comments
The staggering failures of the AOL identity project released last week continue to amaze me. Covered thoughtfully here, you can really take the time to savor the flavor of deceit and corporate ineptitude. I’m not really talking about AOL when I say that, either. No, it’s the paragon of bad design, Wolff Olins, who is again the culprit.
After the London Olympic logo fiasco, and to a lesser extent Wacom’s “thing,” one might begin to wonder how these people stay in business. I believe that their client list, for one, has so many giant names of industry listed on it that it blinds potential clients to the thievery they are about to experience. Second, it is entirely possible in this day and age, still, for a client to hire an agency without doing a proper Google search. But lastly, and what I believe to be the true representation of their power, they must have a highly motivated sales/account management staff who can sell shit like this with a straight face.
Either way, work like the AOL “identity” and the others, when coupled with the sneering, look-at-how-clever-we-are press releases and after-the-fact justifications make all designers look bad. I’d like to ask them to stop.
Nate Voss is a designer, illustrator, talkshow host and design journalist. Working in Omaha since 2001, Nate served four years on the Board of Directors for 
Donovan oversees all creative development at