The Newsstand Sophisticate » Design

It Looks Like You’re Reading The Newsstand Sophisticate. Would You Like Help?

Julien — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:33:53 +0000

If you’ve used Microsoft Word in the past ten years or so, you’ve probably been annoyed by “Clippy,” the little talking paper clip who recognizes that you’re writing a letter and then offers you some “help.” If you’ve ever wondered where Clippy (or the talking dog that also offered his unwanted assistance) came from and how Microsoft could have thought they were good ideas, wonder no more: The Secret Origins of Clippy have been revealed.

You’re Fit And You Know It

Julien — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:21:33 +0000

If The Wall Street Journal keeps printing articles like this, a speculation on whether Barack Obama is too skinny to appeal to an increasingly corpulent American electorate, it could really eat into the circulation of . . . The Onion. (Even the infographic looks suspiciously Onion-esque.)

Cartes Postales

Julien — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:29:38 +0000

If you like old French postcards (not to be confused with old “French letters”—if that’s your thing you’ve got the wrong Web site), you will enjoy this site. The googly-eyed animal postcards are especially bizarre and amusing. It’s a French site, so naturally some of the postcards are smutty. Those of delicate sensibility beware.

Watching the Reel as it Comes to a Close . . .

Julien — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:01:20 +0000

Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records, has died. I never knew much about Wilson when I was a teenager buying and listening avidly to any record with the Factory label, but since then I’ve come to appreciate what he did very much. Entrepreneurial talent and great taste are an unfortunately rare combination, but they were certainly combined in Wilson. I can’t think of another record label in which graphic design, production, and music are so perfectly put together, and which have aged so well. (Well, maybe Happy Mondays haven’t aged well, but the early Factory releases have.)

R.I.P, Tony.