Speed Trap Alert!

Having just returned from a road trip down the Northeast coast of USA, this article on speed traps caught my eye.

No, I did not get any speeding tickets, but I suppose it would have been nice to know where the next police car lurked, in advance... just ask my navigator who had to bear the brunt of my sudden slow-downs, en route to our various destinations.

Marketing Campaign: More Garbage, Delivered Straight to Your Front Door!

The other day, I arrived home to discover that a package had been left at my door. More accurately, it was a plastic bag hanging off my front door knob. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it wasn't really a package in the true sense of the meaning (something you look forward to unwrapping, perhaps a pleasant surprise from someone who is thinking about you). No, this was marketing collateral.

It caught my attention, alright... when I opened up the plastic bag, I saw a large plastic Yoplait Yoptimal yogurt tub inside. Odd, I thought, because it felt so lightweight. I opened up the tub, and sure enough, inside the otherwise empty plastic tub, was a glossy paper pamphlet.

One thought immediately crossed my mind: what a waste of plastic. Some cities don't even recycle these kinds of plastics. What about people who don't recycle at all? Their plastic bins will likely end up in some landfill for the next hundred years. What about all the other plastic tubs in my neighbourhood? and the tubs in the neighbouring neighbourhoods? ... and beyond? I felt cheated, and worse, I felt like they'd duped me, somehow, into thinking this was going to be something good, but in fact, it was just more stuff to throw away.

It made me mad that a big company could be so irresponsible, in the name of trying to capture consumers' attention (and hence, their money) in this ever-changing world of competing markets. A regular yogurt eater, I do not want to buy this brand, because of their lack of foresight.

According to OttawaKiosk.com, the Ottawa-Gatineau population reached a staggering 1,150,000 in 2005. It's probably more now. Assuming that the campaign was city-wide, and each household received the same package that I did, that's a lot of new garbage that will have to be disposed of... without ever serving any purpose beyond feeding maws the giant yogurt company. Large, successful companies have responsibilities to their communities, and should be strategizing on how to help communities, not hinder them. Shame on Yoplait.

Cool vs. Practical Musings

It is my belief that in the world of designer survival, there exist two basic breeds: those who will not compromise their artistic integrity under any circumstance, and then, there are the pragmatic. Accepting this philosophy can be a tough pill to swallow. As for myself, well, I think I do fall into the the latter group.

It's not to say that I don't think I have talent (for I have a typical designer ego, loving my own work, for the most part). I argue, however, that willingness to compromise, while sometimes eliminating my candidature from some of the more sophisticated and creative contests (much to my regret), has probably brought me more steady work over the years, and enabled me to survive as a self-employed freelancer.

True, I envy exciting projects that cross the desks of some of those non-compromising colleagues. On the other hand, I believe that (inevitable) change requests are perhaps less disturbing to pragmatic designers.