My little sister just put me on to wordle.net. You paste a big text block, spin the dials and it spits out a gorgeous “word cloud” design.
Category Archives: Art & Design
Site Use Idea: Hipster Relocation Project
Here’s my latest idea: set up the site as a non-profit org that works with communities to relocate their hipster infestation to other areas. As every city seems to have issues with young urbanites invading their neighborhoods, but nobody seems to view himself or herself as a hipster (none of my hipster friends would categorize themselves as such), nobody will be offended and everyone will love the idea. We could take a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach. There’s the Mission District in San Francisco, Brooklyn, Wicker Park in Chicago, and many more in every other city in the country.
80’s culture seems to be making a return (evident in hipster fashion), so why not the mantra of “Die Yuppie Scum!” There were also a number of projects in that decade to relocate the homeless by rounding up local derelicts, and giving them bus tickets to warmer climates. Even in my progressive hometown of Burlington, VT there was a notorious fund-raiser held at one of my favorite bistros to send the undesirables west (you can read a bit about it here). We could scour the country for a derelict industrial district rife with warehouses and factories ready to be converted into lofts, build up a buzz and throw a big send-off party. We could even just lure them all onto buses with the promise of free vintage clothing and an open bar, and once they’re all passed out drunk, just have the drivers take them all away.
Site Use Idea: Indulgences
First Intercontinental Church of Nermo: As a minister ordained over the Internet, I figure I should be able to exploit, er… rather utilize, all of the rights and privileges due me as a man of the virtual cloth.
Long out of fashion, perhaps I can bring back the practice of buying indulgences. It will be the first virtual spiritual commodity. You send me your money and I’ll guarantee you admission to Heaven. Of course I’d offer a full money back guarantee. If for some reason, you find yourself in a less desirable post-mortem location, I will issue a full refund.
Maybe it’s just the name of the mascot
On my quest to figure out what the heck this site is going to be, I was thinking that I need to develop some sort of branding/identity concept for the site, which led to the idea of Nermo as a mascot.
I’m picturing some sort of gruesome yet adorable chimera like a panda with a crab claw for an arm, perhaps constructed of mismatched Beanie Baby parts.