The Cookblog by Brian Cook

Folk Taxonomy: A Portfolio

I’ve created a minimalist portfolio of my design work to keep those projects distinct from the more varied and editorial content that appears on this site. I call it “Folk Taxonomy”, which is any sort of vernacular naming system (see Wikipedia). Some items I’m particularly excited to share are:

• A project in which I redesigned the crest of each i-League team.
• Beautiful macro photos of the Hartford Museum Passport, courtesy of Gareth Weston.
• A collection of logos I’ve created, some of which were previously unreleased.

Enjoy!

Gadgets for Christmas 2011

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved thrift stores. Browsing through aisles of unique items, their mysterious origins and oft-inscrutable purposes, I envisioned a workshop stuffed with gadgets that I could endlessly disembowel and reconstitute after my own fancy. This resulted in my acquiring a collection of near-useless items (potato mallet), faux classics (Lee Iacocca’s autobiography) and atrocious clothing (that red mesh singlet).

Thankfully, I’ve managed to shed my desire to own these products, I remain fascinated by gadgetry and do not hesitate to recommend as gifts products that strike me as “cool”. I thought I’d try my hand at this for the Christmas 2011 shopping season, and so I’ve made a website called Christmas 2011 Gadgets. Whether you’re looking for a ball launcher dog toy, joystick for iPad 2 or any number of cooking gadgets for Christmas 2011, you can find my favorites there. And if you’re making some sort of gadget for Christmas 2011 and want my to try it out, feel free to contact me. I might just feature it.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

I was recently moved to give a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy center of bones where our blood cells are formed. The disease develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control. About 3,500 children are diagnosed each year.”

I hope you’ll join me.

Waiting for Superman Dribbble Contest

Want a dribbble invite? Earn it by making the most impressive Waiting for Superman poster and link to it in the comments. Contest will close at 12pm EDT on Friday October 22, 2010.

Waiting for Superman is a wake-up call. The public school system in the United States is failing this country’s children. There are no miracle cures, no quick fixes, no silver bullet solutions. The problem requires attention, involvement and hard work. At every turn, the focus must remain on providing every child with an education, even and especially at the cost of adult comfort and satisfaction. Children must come first, not only in rhetoric but in action.

Please be sure to submit your name and email when commenting so that I can contact the winner.

Brain Teaser

This image represents one particular week. Do you know which one?