Long Posts
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Theory #1: The airbags didnāt deploy because they failed. The airbags should have deployed, but must have been defective. Most people who believe this want me to share a picture of the damage with Buick and complain. āThey should have to compensate youā is a common refrain. “You should sue."1
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Theory #2: The airbags didnāt deploy because the tree missed the sensors. This theory was floated by the tow truck operator. Because the tree went through the headlight where there are no airbag sensors, the airbags didnāt deploy. In this scenario, the headlights are essentially a weakness in the carās safety design.
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Theory #3: The airbags worked as designed. They should not have gone off because the accident wasnāt a typical head on collision. The car was immediately spun around in a lateral motion. The physics of the accident were weird and disorienting. Itās worth noting that my wifeās iPhoneās crash detection didnāt trigger either despite the fact that it was thrown to the floor from the center console. Several people have theorized that the force of the airbags could have made injuries worse.
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That’s not at all how this works. ↩︎
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I almost didn’t post the article referencing Gill’s quote, but his writings on the craftsmanship during the Industrial Revolution are incredibly relevant in today’s generative AI world. ↩︎
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Eric Gill was insightful about human nature, but was, himself, an awful human. ↩︎
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You are giving back, not using your free time.
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You are offering your skills and abilities, not providing free labor that other people would pay you for.
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You are providing service to the community, not working for free.
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AIGA used to stand for American Institute for Graphic Arts. Now, it’s just the organization for design. ↩︎
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Growing up, I called her āGrandmother Caldwell.ā My cousin called her āGranny.ā But once the grandkids arrived, she became āGiGi.ā ↩︎
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Mostly because I didn’t really have an office. Open floor plan… ↩︎
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If it ever actually happens. ↩︎
- How many times do we take something on because we want what someone else has?
- How often do we chase a new solution because itās shiny and bright?
- How often do you let the opinions of āsome peopleā change how you feel about decisions?
- What decision could you make that would simplify your life?
- What have you built that you no longer need, but that you continue to spend significant time on?
- When have you made a decision that turned out to be much more work than you planned? How did you handle it?
- Has someone made a decision your secretly agree with? Why havenāt you told them?
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Scout SUVs will be manufactured just north of my hometown ā Columbia, South Carolina. ↩︎
- I wrote more, getting my first journal article published and I have several others in the works. Iāve written more here on Micro.Blog in 2023. So mission accomplished.
- I did a good job getting organized, but I need to stay organized. There are still some areas I need to work on, but I feel like I made some progress.
- I worked on a bunch of my typeface designs and even though Iām not ready to release anything, I feel like I was able to dedicate some time to visual projects.
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Get healthy. Iām not trying to run any races or achieve some incredible physical feat, but I do need to eat healthier and make time for physical activity. This is, without a doubt, my number one priority.
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Write more. Continue to write here, and work toward my Ph.D.
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Get organized and stay organized. Continue to refine and evolve my methods and tools for staying organized.
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Explore creative endeavors. Keep working on typefaces, but also, get back into the habit of sketching regularly.
- Our oldest decided to attend the University of South Carolina and had a great first semester.
- Liz and I are notably bad a selfies, but this outtake was better than the actual selfie and I love it.
- The girls were a little excited about seeing Taylor Swift in concert. (It was an amazing concert and Iām glad we all got to go.)
- We have a high school graduate.
- This is a big kitty yawn, but it looks so fierce.
- Ryan is still playing lacrosse and bounced back after some adversity this summer to have a great rec season.
- We attended my nephew’s football playoff games. This was the final play in overtime that sent them to the state championship. They won that game, and won a state championship.
- Birthday hike for my oldest included a stop at Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest. It was so cold, that the rocks were covered with ice.
- Dr. Pardun for supporting my bizarre little project, especially in the early days when the project was taking shape.
- All of the Ph.D. students in that content analysis class who helped me figure things out and took me under their wing.
- Dr. Mortensen for taking over as my thesis director and helping guide me through the publication process.
- Kevin Hull and Van Kornegay for serving on my committee and providing helpful feedback.
- Robert McKeever and Jacob Long for giving me an appropriate foundation for analyzing data.
- Editor Cleopatra Veloutsou who guided me through the process with the Journal of Product and Brand Management.
- All of the reviewers and discussants at the conference level for AEJMC and in the peer review process whose feedback legitimately made this paper better.
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Our heroes (and maybe villains) will remain stuck in the Peridea galaxy. That would at least explain where they were during the Rise of Skywalker.
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Force ghost Kanan Jarrus appears to… Ezra? Hera? Jacen?
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Yoda’s species is actually from this new galaxy, and they are the enemies of the Nightsisters.
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There is an even darker power in the new galaxy that is stronger than the Nightsisters and Thrawn… which is why they want to escape.
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Huyang helps Ezra make a new lightsaber, and the blade is… yellow or purple.
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All those New Republic ships are actually filled with Imperial technology and spies and Thrawn will be able to control them.
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There’s a Jedi temple on Peridea… with a portal that transports our heroes to Lothal via wolf ride.
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Post credit scene features Hera assembling a team to fight Thrawn… including Zeb, the Mandalorian, Grogu, the surviving members of the Bad Batch and Rex.
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Baylan Skoll actually does have a plan.
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Don’t install a talking alarm system. It’s annoying. (My neighbor isn’t happy either. He says it is way too sensitive and goes off at the slightest movement.)
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We can choose to be amused instead of irritated. Sometimes, it’s best to greet the metaphorical camera and go on with your day.
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We asked our neighbor if the camera records audio. It doesn’t. Jill knows this. She says hello anyway. ↩︎
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Iāve done some research on printing technology and let me tell you, the newspaper reports from the late 1800s about the Linotype are the definition of “hot take.” ↩︎
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Do you remember the TV show Beyond 2000? How many of those featured technologies actually became successful products? Not many. ↩︎
- For the content type, I feel art worked best for the creations I generated.
- The select similar button lets you refine easily
- Realistic people and animals are a struggle. I accidentally generated a person with two noses. And sometimes, an arm connects in the wrong spot.
- If you include too many prompts, Firefly often doesnāt know how to resolve them all and you get strange results.
- If you have two of the same letter, they are identical. And while I understand that, it ruins the hand-created art look. Hopefully theyāll change this in future versions.
- The transparent background works well when you use the loose fit because elements overflow the shape of the letters.
- I could see this feature being built into Adobe apps eventually.
Why didnāt the airbags deploy?
An incredibly strange accident, but my wife and son are fine.
Two weeks ago, Liz and Ryan were driving to school early in the morning in a midst of a rain storm when a pine tree blew into their path and impaled their 2020 Buick Envision. The tree was about 24 feet tall, passed through the headlight, through the engine, through the firewall, through the dashboard and extended several feet into the passenger cabin, between the front headrests.
By some miracle, Liz needed only four stitches on her hand, caused by a ring that had to be cut off her thumb. And my 12-year-old son, who was in the front passenger seat, was completely untouched. Numerous people from firefighters and policemen to tow truck drivers and insurance adjusters have said theyāve never seen anything like it.
After people processes the shock of the accident, and the relief that everyone is okay, most people look at the picture of the interior and have the same reaction: āWait, why didnāt the airbags deploy?ā
The airbags did not deploy. And everyone has a theory about why.
My gut reaction is that the airbags behaved as designed, but I also could understand if the car wasnāt engineered to withstand such a strange, one-in-a-million accident.
Hereās the thing, though. I donāt know how airbag systems work. Most people donāt, but that hasnāt stopped us all from speculating. We imagine the airbag systems in modern cars to be this protective cloud that inflates around us, but I know itās more complicated than that. We want to know why the airbags didnāt deploy because we want to be reassured that if it happens to us, weāll be safe. But itās just not that simple. There are too many variables.
Weāll never know why the airbags didnāt deploy, but Liz and Ryan are lucky to be alive and Iām incredibly thankful for that.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, and Gill Sans: Separating work from their creator?
I watched a couple of my favorite episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tonight. The show was once one of my favorites and creator Joss Whedon could do no wrong. I loved Buffy, Firefly, The Avengers and Dr. Horribleās Sing-Along Blog. I even watched Agents of SHIELD. But eventually, it came to light that Joss wasnāt the feminist he claimed to be, repeatedly cheated on his wife, and verbally abused many of the people he worked with, especially Charisma Carpenter.
Chocolate Cake for Breakfast is one of my favorite stand up routines. Bill Cosbyās family-inspired standup ā long before the Cosby Show ā was hilarious. But later in life, he was credibly accused of drugging and sexually assaulting several women.
Gill Sans is a legendary typeface, created by author, artist and typographer Eric Gill. Iāve worked for several companies for which Gill Sans was a key element of their corporate visual identity. But Eric Gill noted in his diary that he had numerous affairs, sexually assaulted two of his daughters… and his dog.
These are three examples, but they are far from the only examples. Many works of art and entertainment have been created by people who turn out to be despicable. How do you separate the creator from their work? Can you?
For me, I can separate Joss Whedon from Buffy and his other creations. He didnāt write every word and the show isnāt just him. The actors, writers, and staff brought the show to life and crafted the characters who I loved so much. But I have to admit that Iām now less likely to watch old episodes of Buffy, and I no longer hold the show on the pedestal that I once did.
Itās different for Bill Cosby and Eric Gill, though. Their creations are sole creative endeavors. As much as I might like Cosbyās old standup routines or Gill Sans, I canāt separate the creation from the person who created it. I donāt listen to old Cosby standup, and I donāt share it with my kids. I donāt use Gill Sans (or any Eric Gill typefaces) if I can avoid it. If I cite some of Eric Gillās writings on typography like I did a couple of months ago, I include a comment that he was a horrible human being.1
Iām not 100% sure this dichotomy makes sense, treating collaborative works differently than sole creations, but itās where I am right now.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Inherent. Indestructible. Permanent.
Almost 100 years ago, in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, typographer Eric Gill 1 wrote āAn Essay on Typographyā and addressed the tension between art and industrialization:
āBut thoā industrialism has now won an almost complete victory, the handicrafts are not killed, & they cannot be quite killed because they meet an inherent, indestructible, permanent need in human nature.ā
Iāve been thinking about this as the internet fills with AI-generated garbage and popular social media sites are monetized by hate.
Inherent. Indestructible. Permanent.
While Eric Gill never imagined the internet, I think his statement applies just as much to our modern world as it did in the Industrial Revolution. Much of the internet might become cheaply-produced, AI-generated, SEO-approved content, but people all over the world who care about creativity and writing will still produce great work and share it.
I’m probably being naive, but Iām still hopeful that the human need for creativity will overwhelm the capitalistic urge to industrialize content.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Jobification of Volunteer Work
Almost 20 years ago, I was in San Francisco for my first AIGA Leadership Retreat. AIGA is a national organization for design1 and I was a first-time president for the South Carolina chapter. Iād just finished attending a session on leadership and one of my new friends who’d been a president before pulled me aside and gave me some advice: āThis is supposed to be fun. If it stops being fun, ask for help. You are giving up a bunch of your free time and if you arenāt having fun, itās not worth it.ā
Iāve been thinking about that advice a lot lately and Iāve come to a realization. Our volunteer āopportunitiesā have become unpaid part-time jobs. (Maybe they always wereā¦) We are saddled with job descriptions and expectations. We dedicate our time and energy to a cause because we believe in it, but we manage volunteer organizations following the only model we have: business.
I see it in churches, who are looking for people to fill roles and run programs to keep the organization functioning.
I see it in our professional organizations, like AIGA, where we expect a level of excellence and professionalism on par with what we would expect from our corporate colleagues.
I see it in academia, where professors do a massive amount of additional service work in reviewing journal submissions and organizing conferences.
I see it in recreational youth sports, where people dedicate nights and weekends to coaching kids year-after-year.
I see it in our organizational boards that are increasingly trying to recruit people with particular backgrounds and skill sets to provide professional guidance.
This problem is compounded by how we talk about these volunteer positions:
We talk about this volunteer jobs more like a calling, not a job. And that makes it so much harder to separate from a position that is overwhelming.
The result of this structure is almost always burnout. Frustration. We often become stuck in our volunteer positions, unable to find someone to take over the incredibly complex structure or programming we have built or maintained. Unsurprisingly, most people ā even if they care about deeply about an organization or cause ā are unwilling to step up and commit massive time and energy to a cause when they are already juggling their own jobs and family commitments. The volunteer opportunity that you were excited about is now weighing you down and causing stress and anxiety. Itās no longer fun.
This situation isnāt good for the organizations either. After someone manages to escape from a volunteer position, how often does that person significantly decrease their involvement? I canāt tell you how many people I know who disappear after a long stint on a church council. Or how many former AIGA presidents I know who now have nothing to do with AIGA only a couple of years after their term is over. How many board members step away completely after their service is complete?
The mission of the organization then shifts from serving the community to finding the volunteers to sustain the organization.
We need to rethink volunteer leadership.
The realignment starts at the top. If the leadership of an organization is overworked and burned out, the other volunteers will assume thatās normal. Some will try to emulate the behavior. Others will leave knowing they canāt commit that much. Our presidents, executive directors and other leadership need to model an appropriate work/life/volunteer balance. Working around the clock isnāt always the long-term, sustainable answer.
We need to spend less time crafting our job descriptions and more time building relationships. Weāre following the model we know, based on how our business organizations are structured, but Iām not sure that model works in todayās volunteer organization. While we need to make sure expectations are clear, we also need to worry less about the business-like hierarchy and spend more energy on engaging our community. Focus on doing good work, aligned with the mission of the organization.
We need to be realistic about what we are asking people to do. Recruit more people to do smaller jobs instead of asking one person to commit a massive amount of time. Maybe in the past, you recruited one or two people to run an event. Maybe you should instead recruit 5-10 to cover the same amount of work. And if we canāt find the needed volunteers, it is time to scale back the project or event to be more reasonable.
We need to be thankful for the contributions of others, no matter how small. Too often, we thank volunteers by presenting them with opportunities to embrace an ever-increasing volunteer workload. We need to actively discourage overcommitmentā¦ and never ask for more than anyone should rationally be able to give.
We need to be thoughtful to fellow volunteers. Itās easy to get frustrated when people drop the ball. We need to check in on each other, be supportive and remember that we are all doing this for free, in our spare time, because we support the same cause and the same mission. We need to be understanding, not judgmental. We need to offer support, not criticism.
Understand the difference between governance and micromanagement. Yes, we need boards to make sure that the money is being handled properly and the mission is well-defined. But the board shouldnāt micromanage everything. We need to let people do the tasks we ask them to do.
Be flexible. Life can change in the blink of an eye. Be flexible with expectations. Be understanding when things donāt turn out the way you wanted. And realize that every volunteer is balancing life and work and family.
And finally, we need to remember to have fun. These organizations and boards that we support, love and commit our time toā¦ they should be enjoyable. And if they arenāt, itās time to fix them.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. Bob is currently taking a break from board service and volunteer opportunities, after getting burned out.
How big is the Rivian R3?
Electric truck and SUV manufacturer Rivian announced their new R2 SUV today, but surprised everyone with a smaller R3 version as well. I love smaller cars and I’ve been waiting for new smaller EVs to hit the market, hopefully at a lower price point. The R3 looks adorable and it reminds me of a VW Rabbit, which I used to drive.1 But Rivian didn’t publish any specs so it’s hard to gauge how big R3 is.
Thankfully, they provided high res imagery and it’s easy to see the tire details ā Pirelli Scorpion MS 235/55 R20. So based on a 20-inch rim size, and with a nice profile shot,2 it’s possible to estimate the size with a little bit of simple math.
These numbers are rough, obviously. But here’s what I got:
Rivian 3
Length: 149 in.
Height: 55 in.
Wheelbase: 102 in.
That length looks a little short, but as you can tell from the picture, there is very little overhang in front or behind the wheels. For a point of reference, I compared those numbers with the specs of another EV model that I like a lot:
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 5
Length: 182.5 in.
Height: 63 in.
Wheelbase: 118.1 in
The Rivian R3 looks to be a good bit smaller than the IONIQ 5 in all dimensions. In fact, the R3 looks closest to the size of a four-door gas-powered Mini Cooper:
2024 Mini Cooper Four-Door
Length: 158.5 in.
Height: 56.1 in.
Wheelbase: 101.1 in
Of course, there are lots of caveats to this comparison. My numbers are rough, the car is a prototype, and things can change as the car moves to production. Who knows when it will be available to purchase, but I’m excited about the Rivian R3. I’m not in the market right now, but my next car purchase will be an EV. That size is actually perfect for what I want ā a small EV to commute back and forth to work. Now we’ll see where the price falls.3
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. And Bob likes small cars.
That time my 89-year-old grandmother āhelped someone oldā
I used to dread calling my grandmother on her birthday. My mom died on that day and so every time Iād call, sheād start with āWell, you know, I wish Nancy was still here.ā And that always bothered me and usually made me tear up, so I would wait as long as I could to call. I was pretty sure that I was the last grandkid to call each year.
Twelve years ago today, I called GiGi1 to wish her happy 89th birthday. She answered the phone upbeat and excited, telling me about all the people who had called her earlier in the day (including my siblings and all of my cousins, letting me know that I was, in fact, the last grandchild to call.) But she closed with a surprising statement, subtly mentioning that she āhelped someone old today.ā I was intrigued and asked for details.
GiGi was at the gas station filling up when she noticed an āoldā man struggling to take the money up to the cashier. She took the money up for him and they struck up a conversation. The man was recovering from a double knee replacement. He was upset with his doctor that they’d done both knees at the same time, and told him that ānext time, weāre doing them one at a time.ā The doctor told him āMr. Jones. You are 99 years old. We arenāt doing another knee replacement.ā
I tell that story often, but realized Iāve never written it down. I love how many lessons about attitudes, expectations and perspective are packed into one story. GiGi passed away a few years ago, living to the age of 98. Today would have been her 101st birthday. There are many stories to tell, but this is the story I tell about her most often and wanted to share it on her birthday.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Retiring āInternational Bob is Grumpy Dayā
March 3, many years ago, my mom died unexpectedly. In perhaps one of the greatest understatements ever, I struggled with her loss. Some days, I still struggle with her loss.
I discovered that on March 3, every year, I was grumpy. Kinda pissed off. And in general, not a fun person to be around. So I declared the day āInternational Bob is Grumpy Day.ā Gave it a silly name. Explain to people how I’m feeling. I told coworkers that it probably wasnāt the best day to ask me challenging questions. Or rely on me to be particularly tactful. In short, March 3 was the one day a year that itās best to leave me alone. It worked. People left me alone, and I, predictably, was grumpy.
March 3 was also my grandmother’s birthday. I’d call her and she’d mention how much she missed mom. And usually, I’d tear up. Maybe the anticipation of the call was what made me grumpy. I don’t know. Over time, I became less grumpy on March 3. Still sad, but I was able to understand the grief a little better. Decades heal. In my most recent job, my coworkers understood, but also didnāt let me sit in my office alone.1 They worked hard to keep my spirits up.
This year, Iāve decided that itās time to retire International Bob is Grumpy Day. Instead of sulking, we are taking a day trip with the whole family ā my oldest is home from college on Spring Break ā and Iām going to enjoy the company of the people that I love. And take pictures. Because honestly, thatās the way mom would have wanted it.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
The end of the Apple Car: This isnāt the revolution they thought it wasā¦
Apple has canceled its decade-long program to build an electric car. And while I think itās probably the right call to end the program, I do understand why Apple tried.
Ten years ago when Apple started the project, it was the perfect moment to rethink the automobile. With the change to battery powered electric powertrains, many of the traditional constraints of car design were no longer relevant. You no longer need a motor, or a gas tank. Cars are more reliant on their technology stack. There were very few competitors and they were almost all selling cars at the high end of the market. It seemed like a perfect time for Apple to step into revolutionizing the design of cars, questioning the established conventions of the past. Changing how cars were designed, manufactured and sold.
And yet, today, thatās not what happened. In general, electric cars today look like gas-powered cars, but without the tailpipes. There are reasons for this, I think ā consumer buying habits, aerodynamics and federal safety laws ā but the result is that this isnāt the revolution that it looked like it might be. Couple that with the fact that the no-steering-wheel, self-driving tech that Apple was rumored to be pursuing is decades away from being truly reliable.1 Battery advances are slow. When they started, there were few competitors, but thatās changed and lots of established car makers are committing to electric cars, with the addition of new upstarts like Chinaās BYD.
I understand why Apple started their car program. But after a decade of being stuck in neutral, I also understand why they finally ended it.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Church Sign Problem: An extended metaphor for many things in business and life.
An established church in a small town has a simple sign by the side of the road. The town is growing and the road in front of the church is getting much busier. A new church down the road installs a large sign. Not wanting to fall behind the times, the established church installs a new sign, too. This sign allows the church to add custom messages to the sign by manually arranging letters.
At first, the church simply puts up their service times, but some people think thatās boring. The church needs more catchy information on their sign. Something that people driving by will engage with. The pastor recommends putting the sermon title on the sign, but after a few weeks, realizes that sheās got to come up with a catchy sermon title every single week. Someone volunteers to update it with a new bible verse each week, but they get tired of updating it and eventually stop. Another person finds a list of attention-grabbing church sign messages on the internet and volunteers to put those on the sign. But theologically, some of the quotes don’t align with the church’s teachings and others of them arenāt exactly welcoming. Some people driving by are offended by some of the messages. After a couple of years, everyone is sick of dealing with the sign, but the sign is very visible on the main road into town. The sign must be updated.
A handful of members decide to get together. They donāt exactly call themselves the āsign committee,ā but they meet every so often to talk about the sign and what to put on it. After months of discussing the sign, they realize that the real problem is that they have to manually update the sign each week. Going out to the sign with those letters on cards takes time and a better solution would be to have a digital sign that could be updated remotely through the internet. As a bonus, one of these signs can cycle through multiple messages.
They raise the money and update their sign to have a beautiful glowing digital display. The sign is bright, but some people think itās too bright. They start by including the service times each week. And bible verses. And sermon titles. And upcoming events. At first, lots of people are excited about the new sign and have lots of ideas, but over time, that excitement fades. Some people think the sign changes messages too quickly. While the sign is easier to update, keeping track of multiple messages, chasing down information, and updating the graphics takes more time than the old sign did. The sign becomes more than a weekly task. Itās a job. Sometimes, the sign glitches and a technician has to come fix it. Everyone is frustrated with the sign, but the money was spent and the sign is there. It needs to be updated.
Finally, the pastor decides that they are spending too much time dealing with the sign. She switches the sign to share a single message: āAll are welcome.ā Some people complain that the church isnāt using the sign to its fullest potential. But secretly, everyone is glad they donāt have to deal with it anymore.
Iāve used a shorter version of this metaphor to talk about social media feeds that suck time and energy from an organization that doesnāt really need one (and usually doesnāt have the resources to support one). But Iāve been thinking that this parable/extended metaphor actually has a broader application. A couple of reflection questions:
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Honda shows off EV concepts ā and two new logos
A new look and branding for Honda EVs
Honda showed off two new EV concepts under the new Honda Zero brand at CES ā the Saloon and the Space-Hub. Most of the coverage is focused on the futuristic looks of the concept cars. As someone who grew up going to the Chicago Auto Show and seeing the cars of the future, Iād temper any expectations that the final designs will be this radical.
But as a branding researcher, what caught my attention is that they also rolled out a new Honda āflying Hā logo to be used on all new electric cars. From the official Honda press release:
The current Honda āH markā has a long history, dating back to 1981. In launching the next-generation EVs, Honda designed a new H mark, to express the companyās determination to undergo a historic transformation as well as the ability to constantly pursue new challenges and advancements. This new design expression, which symbolizes two outstretched hands, represents Hondaās commitment to expand the possibilities of mobility and continue to meet the needs of its customers. The new H mark will be applied on future Honda EV models, including the Honda 0 Series.
The logo simplifies Honda’s current H, removing the outer bounding box and reshaping the mark. It does feel like a more modern mark and seems appropriate on the futuristic vehicles. As logo introductions go, this might be the slowest roll out in the history of visual branding since the first Honda Zero cars wonāt be released until 2026. And since the logo is intended for just electric vehicles, that means that Honda is choosing to fragment their brand for a period of time.
It’s worth noting that the Honda Zero brand had its own mark at introduction. I’d be surprised if this is used in marketing when the models debut in 2026. I’m not sure what’s going on here, since the elements don’t really match anything.
Electric car branding is fascinating to me. VW and BMW add a letter or letters to the model number. Hyundai is using the Ioniq brand name for most, but not all of their EVs. Many vendors are rolling out EVs alongside their internal combustion engine lineup. VW is resurrecting the old Scout brand for a line of electric SUVs.1 But to my knowledge, Honda is the first company to create a version of their corporate logo especially for electric vehicles. As the transition to electric vehicles continues, it will be interesting to see how EV branding continues to shift and evolve.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Reset, Continued: 2024
I adopt a theme each year and last year, the theme was Reset. That theme included focusing on physical and mental health, writing more, getting organized and rediscovering creative endeavors. I made progress with three out of four goals.
That leaves physical and mental health. I was particularly physically active for the first few months of the year, but hit a rough spot around April and lost momentum. I never got back in a rhythm.
This year, more of the same
As I started to plan for 2024, I felt like my focus was going to be solely on health. I felt great at the beginning of 2023 when I was more physically active, and I definitely want to get back to that level of activity. Combine that with processing the unexpected death of a coworker a few days ago ā who was younger than I am ā and Iām solidly committed to getting healthier in 2024.
But as I read over the list of my goals from last year, I still see room to improve in those areas, too. Iām still working on my Ph.D. and carving out time to write is critical. I still need to work on personal organization. And I need to work on creative projects ā especially getting into a routine with my sketchbook.
So I go into 2024 with four goals… basically the same goals that I had last year:
Iāve got a lot to be excited about in 2024, including my 25th wedding anniversary in August. Iām looking forward to a healthy and productive year.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
2023 Favorite Eight
I always pull together my favorite eight shots of the year (as a contrast to those algorithmically generated āBest Nineā posts). I love that it gives me an excuse to go back over all of my images from the last year and relive a lot of great memories.
This is the fifth year Iāve done a Favorite 8. You can see my previous posts from 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 on my other site, Sketchbook B. And I posted my 2022 here on bobwertz.com.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Milestone: My first published research paper is now online
Iāve reached a big milestone in my academic career: my first published research paper.
Brand new: How visual context shapes initial response to logos and corporate visual identity systems has bene published in the Journal of Product and Brand Management. Itās available now online and will eventually be assigned to an issue. If you have access to journal articles through a university or public library, you can access the article.
If you canāt access the article, hereās the abstract:
When a new logo is released, it does not have an established meaning in the mind of the viewer. As logos have become more highly scrutinized by consumers and critics, it has become more important to understand viewersā initial response to logos. While other studies have researched the impact of aesthetic choices on viewer reaction to logos, this study aims to understand the effect of the surrounding visual identity system when a new logo is introduced. This study combines a content analysis of 335 posts on the logo review website Brand New with the voting data from their polls to understand how visual context correlates with a viewerās initial response. Increased amounts of visual context correlate to an improved response from viewers. Different types of context that can be presented ā from logo variations and environmental examples to videos and animation ā have varied effects.
Basically, my study finds that people respond better to new logos when they are shown more examples of the logo in use. This is one of those things that seems intuitive to designers, but hasnāt been researched or quantified. Because Iām a designer, most people are surprised that my research includes a fair amount of statistical analysis, but Iāve really taken to the quantitive side of things. This paper has been in review for over a year, working itās way through the revision process.
Itās fitting that this is my first paper to be published. When I started grad school, I didnāt really know anything about scholarly research. In the spring of 2019 ā my second semester as a grad student ā I took a content analysis class with Carol Pardun. I was the only masterās level student in a class full of Ph.D. students. I felt so overwhelmed by the pressure to come up with an idea and learn methods and theories on the fly. The paper I wrote for that class was the first version of this paper. It was accepted to the AEJMC Conference that August and I presented in Toronto ā my first academic conference presentation. I loved the concept for the study and got great feedback, but I was still learning and felt like I could improve it. I scrapped everything, started over with a larger sample and better methodology. After Dr. Pardun retired, I started working with Tara Mortensen on the next evolution of this work, which turned into my thesis. And that thesis eventually became this paper.
Thanks go out to so many people whoāve help me along the way:
And of course, this couldnāt have happened without the rest of Team Wertz. Liz and the kids have been so supportive and patient while I have embarked on this grad school journey. (And occasionally, Norah and Jill even joined me at Starbucks when I had to write.) I simply could not have done it without them.
Iāve still got a few years left until I finish my classwork and dissertation, but Iām exceptionally proud of this milestone and excited to see where my research goes next.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Absurd Ahsoka Finale Speculation
Tomorrow night, the Ahsoka finale airs on Disney+. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve enjoyed the show. It’s not perfect, but I love Star Wars Rebels and it’s great to see a continuation of the story line.
I’ve got a few absurd ideas about the finale that I figured I’d share. Our heroes are on Peridea, in another galaxy. Thrawn is ready to come back to the core galaxy, partnered with the Nightsisters, to restore the Empire.
Here are 9 absurd things that are not going to happen on the season finale of Ahsoka:
I warned you they were absurd, but the list was fun to come up with. Looking forward to seeing where the show lands. There is no way they can resolve all the various plot threads, so I assume there will be another season, or the storyline will be continued in another series. Eventually, we already know this leads to a new Dave Filoni-directed movie.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Streaming killed the TV clip show
Recently, we started rewatching Alias, the 2000s ABC spy thriller by J.J. Abrams.1 All five seasons are on Disney+ and we started from the beginning. Season 1 has 22 episodes, which was once considered a “full season.” Now, a streaming show rarely has more than 8 or 10 episodes a season.
Alias became a hit and attracted new viewers over the first season. But in the broadcast TV era, there wasn’t an easy way for people to go back and watch the episodes they’d missed. I remember ABC trying to rerun episodes as it gained popularity. And the “previously on” section got hilariously longer to try and catch people up.
The 17th episode of season 1, “Q&A,” is an exposition-filled clip show where a skeptical FBI agent quizzes super spy Sydney Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner). She answers his questions, explaining the premise of the series while showing clips from previous episodes. Sydney basically tells the viewer everything they need to know in the lead up to the season finale. There’s a reveal at the end of the episode… a revelation to keep the newly updated viewer hooked to come back next week.
As I watched it, I realized that this type of clip show episode ā once a staple of 20+ episode network TV seasons ā will likely fade from existence. Streaming services like Disney+ allow people to go back and watch the whole season easily. And shorter seasons mean that you don’t need a budget-friendly recap episode. In today’s streaming world, there is simply no longer a reason to make a clip show.2
We are in the midst of a huge shift in television. Most of the attention is directed at the financial aspects of the streaming era. The demise of the clip show episode is a comparatively minor shift, but it demonstrates how the changing financial model of the television industry directly shapes the creative product itself.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Twitterless: The Final Chapter
Iāve been preparing for Twitterās demise for seven years, but I didnāt see āXā coming.
Iāve been preparing for the end of Twitter since 2016, when Twitter was struggling with some financial issues and the future was uncertain. I pondered what would happen of Twitter went away suddenly.
Which got me thinking, what if we woke up one morning and Twitter was gone. Or more likely, what if Twitter changed so radically, that it was unusable?
Iām more concerned that Twitter, or a company that buys Twitter, will change it so completely, that it becomes useless.
Fast forward a little over a year later. Twitterās financial issues were less dire, but they were struggling with flat user growth, coupled with a rise in abuse and hate on the platform.
As Twitter tries to jumpstart the service, I still believe the likelihood of Twitter imploding within the next few years is high.
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, I assumed heād shake things up, but I was concerned about the direction he would take Twitter in. I wrote a third Twitterless post to recap the changes that Iād made to deal with the hypothetical demise of Twitter.
If Twitter ceases to be enjoyable, Iāll leave. To be honest, Iāll miss it. I joined in 2008 and 14 years is a long time to use any service. Itās part of my daily routine. At the end of the day, though, if a service isnāt making my life better, Iām better off without it.
Once Twitter abruptly cut off third party clients, my Twitter usage dropped dramatically. I was a Twitteriffic user for over a decade, and it was obvious from the way he handled that situation that Elon Muskās Twitter wasnāt going to be what I wanted. I moved on.2
Now, heās changing the name of Twitter to X. I always assumed that someone would buy Twitter for the brand equity and change the service to make it more profitable. Instead, Musk changed the service and destroyed an iconic brand, all while making it less profitable.
I am going to miss Twitter. Iāve mostly enjoyed it over the years. I care enough about my own tweet history, that earlier this year, when Manton offered a way to import all of my Twitter history, I moved 15 years worth of tweets into a searchable database hosted here on Micro.Blog. I donāt know what Iāll use it for, but I do like having it.
I feel like Iāve prepared adequately for the Twitter apocalypse, but there is one area in particular where the loss of Twitter will still hurt. A common thread through all three Twitterless posts was a lament that there arenāt other services optimized for following breaking news or live events. This is still true. Maybe Threads,3 Bluesky or Mastodon can step in, but until then, Iāll miss Twitter most when watching a sporting event, an Apple keynote or following a local news story. For the last few months, Iāve been viewing Twitter to check in during big events, but the time has come to move on.
Twitter is finally dead.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Sharing Apple News Links
I get Apple News+ with my Apple One bundle and I actually use it frequently on my Mac. My local newspaper, The State, in included in News+ and I can read articles that are normally behind a paywall. Once I’m there, I tend to find other things to read and share. But sharing Apple News story links on social media isn’t always helpful since it obscures the real URL behind a redirect.
On a Mac, itās easy to share the original URL. Click the share button in the upper right hand corner of the interface, and choose Safari. It opens the original article on the web and you can then share that URL instead of a link to Apple News.
On the iPhone, itās not as simple. Click the ellipses in the upper right and select Share Story. Then from the list of apps that appears, select Safari. (You may need to click More and scroll down to find it.) The result is the same as the Mac, a new Safari window with the original URL.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
You are currently being recorded.
Our neighbors installed a new security system a couple of weeks ago. When you walk anywhere near it – and that radius includes our driveway – a recording plays: “You are currently being recorded.”
We have great neighbors, but when I first heard it, I was a little annoyed. My wife was irritated, too. Every time we walked to our cars… “You are currently being recorded.”
A few days after this started, I was walking out to the car with my kids and the alarm system informed us that we were being recorded… and my 15-year-old daughter waived in the general direction of the camera, yelled “Hello camera” and got in the car. She repeats this greeting every day when she leaves for school, choosing to be amused instead of irritated.1
There are two lessons in this story:
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
The rush to hype
Not everything is going to change the world tomorrow
Iām not sure when the āhot takeā era started. It predates the internet1, but social media really seems to have kicked it into the stratosphere. Thereās a rush to hype everything as the next disruptive invention. Wearable devices. Foldable displays. Ride sharing and self-driving cars. Blockchain and cryptocurrency. Artificial intelligence and machine learning. AR and VR. Federated social media.
While social media drives the hype train, itās powered by money. Major companies are afraid of missing a big trend and becoming irrelevant. Small companies see an opportunity to move fast and take advantage of the new tech. VC firms are willing to gamble on the technology in hopes of a big pay day. Entrepreneurs sell grand visions with hopes of making it big. All of these entities benefit from building the hype around every new technology.
What technology really needs is time to mature. Time to work the bugs out. To discover the downsides and figure out how to address them. To build a sustainable business model. Instead, too often, the money-powered hype train moves too fast and the whole thing just derails.
I love reading about technology and learning about all the latest advancements, but Iāve been following technology long enough to know that slow and steady usually wins the race.2
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.
Star Trek Picard Speculation: Chekhovās Starship
Whatās in Hanger Bay 12?
WARNING: Spoilers and speculation about Star Trek: Picard.
In Star Trek Picard season 3, episode 6, The Bounty, the USS Titan jumps to the Starfleet Ship Museum to get help from Commodore Geordi La Forge. The first exterior shot of the museum includes a selection of familiar ships (like the Enterprise A, Voyager and the Defiant) positioned in rings around the exterior of the space dock. There was one empty ring, and so the Titan “hides” in plain sight among the museum ships.
When Geordi and his daughter Alandra beam aboard the Titan, they reveal that the Titan and all modern Federation ships are networked with each other. Starfleet will find them. Picard is pleading with Geordi to help when his daughter interrupts.
Alandra (quietly): āDad. What about Hanger Bay 12?ā
Geordi (exasperated): āAlandra. Please.ā
And the dialog continues. I assumed that what was in Hanger Bay 12 would be the key to the episode, but itās not. Jack Crusher steals the cloaking device from Star Trek IV’s Klingon Bird of Prey and the Titan rushes off to rescue Raffi, Riker and Worf on Daystrom Station. Hanger Bay 12 is never mentioned again.
So, whatās in Hanger Bay 12? Likely a new ship for the museum that was intended for that empty circle that the Titan parked in. Alandra clearly thinks the ship would be helpful ā maybe because itās not networked. I assume that the ship in Hanger Bay 12 was likely intended to be unveiled as part of the Frontier Day ceremony and then intended to fill the empty ring at the Fleet Museum. Instead, I imagine that Picard and crew are going to come riding to the rescue in that ship…
My guess: The Enterprise 1701-D.
I canāt think of any other ships that are significant enough and arenāt already represented in fleet museum. The 1701-D was destroyed in Star Trek: Generations, though. How could it reappear? Well, at least one of the ships they show in the museum, The Enterprise 1801-A, is a replica since the original was destroyed in Star Trek III. The new Enterprise-D could simply be a retrofitted Galaxy-class starship. Or the original 1701-D saucer section paired with a different Galaxy-class body.
It might seem like excessive fan-service, but if done well, I think it would be incredible to see the crew save the day in the ship from the TV show. Picard, Riker and Troi in the three command seats. Worf at tactical. Data at helm. Geordi in engineering. It would be a fun conclusion to this final season of Star Trek Picard.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student, researcher and Star Trek fan living in Columbia, South Carolina.
First impressions of the Adobe Firefly Beta
The beta service gives some insight into how Adobe views AI’s role in the creative process.
I recently got access to Adobe Firefly, a beta generative AI system. Itās not a surprise at all that Adobe is experimenting with generative creative tools. Adobe is clearly looking at ways AI can integrate with the tools that they already offer. Thankfully, unlike an earlier wave of visual AI tools, Adobe has trained their AI model on properly-licensed images. Generated images are restricted to non-commercial use and a label is added to exported images, but you shouldnāt see a Getty Images watermark anywhere.
Iāve been following news about generative AI, but I havenāt really experimented with any of the other tools. Itās been more of an abstract curiosity. Now after playing with Adobe Firefly, I can see some of the practical implications of generative AI tools and started to think about how those features could fit into a design workflow. Also, as a Ph.D. student trying to settle on a dissertation topic, I see lots of research questions when I look at generative AI and Adobe Firefly.
Right now, the service has two features: Text to Image and Text Effects. Iāve spent a little bit of time experimenting with Adobe Firefly and wanted to share some initial impressions.
Text to image
The text to image feature is straightforward. Type in a prompt and Firefly generates four images. On the right, there is a palette with options that lets you refine your request. You can choose the aspect ratio, content type, style, lighting and composition. Below is a screenshot of the interface and a few examples of what it can do:
Prompt: green metal fish-shaped spaceship on an alien planet
Styles: art, concept art, dramatic light, flat colors
Prompt: green hot rod racing through the desert
Styles: photo, muted, blurry background, backlighting, science fiction
Prompt: loose sketch of a white male with a green sweater and a stubble beard typing on a laptop in a coffee shop
Styles: art
A couple of quick reflections on using Fireflyās Text to Image feature:
Text Effects
Text Effects lets you specify and apply an AI-generated effect to some text. Firefly has a few sample effects that give you a good idea of what the feature can do. You can choose from 12 different fonts.
Prompt: Green fluffy clouds, tight fit, transparent background
Prompt: Circuit boards, tight fit, grey background
Prompt: Flowers and Rocks, loose fit, white background
A couple of notes:
Whatās next?
Adobe Firefly is definitely a work in progress ā it is a beta ā but there are more features in development. The Adobe Firefly site lists one feature as coming soon, Recolor Vectors. Iām not sure how that will differ from the Recolor Artwork feature in Adobe Illustrator, but Iām looking forward to trying it out. Several other features are teased as āIn explorationā and some of them look interesting. No idea how close to release these are ā for all I know, they are ideas on a white board ā but ātext to vectorā and āextend backgroundā could be fun to play with. Iāll likely write additional posts as new features are introduced.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina.