Some Kind of Blog

by Clare Ultimo

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An Open Letter to Great Mother Gaia…

April 22, 2015 By Clare Ultimo

Dear Mother Earth, Please hear my humble and heartfelt apology for all this. I am just an ordinary human, but I am not an ungrateful sleeper who disregards or discounts you. I know this is YOUR show and long after my own little scene here is finished, long after the spectacle of spacemen and ships that move through time become commonplace, I will always know you by the love felt in my own heart. You have imprinted my soul with true kindness, a constant reminder of divine source. This sounds … [Read more...]

Filed Under: (Not so) Metaphysical, Personal is Political

Why War May Really Be Over…

November 23, 2014 By Clare Ultimo

Centuries of killing each other seem "normal" to us. Accepted human behavior. "This is what humans do" kind of thinking. Pacifists and anti-war sentiments have been met by anger, outrage at the disrespect this seems to mean to soldiers now or lost in previous wars, outrage at the disrespect to "ideals" Americans were told were the right of people everywhere. Americans especially were righteous and holy for fighting for this elusive "freedom" we never seemed to question until now. It started … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal is Political

Distress, Death and Graphic Design

September 21, 2014 By Clare Ultimo

The Urban Outfitter Kent State shirt design. It's almost embarrassing to talk about it. On the one hand, what power could a shirt design have? Shirt designs come and go in seasons, like everything fashionable. New ones pour out of department stores daily. What could have caused one shirt design to get so much flak? Last week, Urban Outfitters released a shirt that became almost immediately controversial, not in a good way. The shirt has the Kent State University logo on it, under what seems to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Design and Commerce, Personal is Political Tagged With: dangerous ideas aiga conference, design activism, design irrelevance, free speech and graphic design, freedom of the press, graphic design and corporatism, graphic design and social relevance, Kent State protest, kent state shirt, sept 2014, social meaning in graphic design, tibor kalman, urban outfitters

What Inspires You? The Writing Process Blog Tour

June 14, 2014 By Clare Ultimo

The Writing Process Blog Tour came to me through writer/performer/artist Annie Lanzillotto and it came to her through Angel Eduardo, who came up with the idea. If chain letters were truly rewarding and fun, the BlogTour would be it! I first met Annie Lanzillotto at the end of the 20th century (living in the 21st century, we can say that now!). I was reading in an event that Annie organized at The Kitchen called “The Global Poetry Slam”. While I'm not much of a slammer (I have only won one slam, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: (Not so) Metaphysical Tagged With: Angel Eduardo, Annie Lanzillotto, Belief and Technique for Modern Prose, blogroll, blogtour, creative process, Jack Kerouac, my writing process

Announcing the QEG: Happy Earth Day!

April 21, 2014 By Clare Ultimo

Fix the World Project

QEG developments are a sign that Earth Day means more than lip service to some... While we think that the idea of going off petroleum entirely would be good for the 99% as well as Mother Earth herself, we have been convinced that it wouldn't be easy. After all, the light bulbs in your house are powered by generators that have to burn/combust something (like coal or oil or gas) to create a constant commotion because that's how we get energy. And solar and wind are great, but our present fossil … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal is Political

If Everyone Told the Truth: A Personal Fantasy Through the World as We Know It

June 29, 2013 By Clare Ultimo

What do you think the world would look like if everyone told the truth?  It would be wild, right? Imagine honesty falling out of important zipped lips in the highest places in the land.... If the President of the United States could tell the truth, he would say: “I made a mistake. I led the American people down the wrong path because I really don't have as much power as everyone thinks I do. I'm a pawn in a global game too, and honestly I would like Americans to begin to take more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal is Political Tagged With: Bextra, big pharma, corruption in media, government coverup, Lilly pharmacutials, monsanto, politicans who tell the truth, the big six media, truth tellers, whistleblowers 2013, who owns the press, who tells the truth in politics

On Silk Stockings, Cigars and Turning 20

August 15, 2012 By Clare Ultimo

My favorite 20 year old is celebrating an amazing history of creativity and commitment this year. And while I do know a lot of 20-year-olds, I'm talking about The Alternative Pick, the place to find edgy photographers, illustrators, multimedia and design since 1992. AltPick.com went live in 1995. It's bit of graphic design history in the making, you might say. AltPick has been attracting the freshest talent in the business from the start of it's youthful life. Founder Maria Ragusa wanted this … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal is Political

Occupy the Heart in 2012

December 12, 2011 By Clare Ultimo

At a client holiday party last week, talking to a marketing director at the bar and the subject of Occupy Wall Street comes up. "I've been working with a friend to create some Occupy graphics, maybe even sell them and give the money to the movement," I said to her. The marketing director responded, "Oh don't give the money to them, Give the money to the stores in that area that are losing business because of them. Stores in the area are being forced to close down." She was angry with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal is Political Tagged With: occupy, occupy design, occupy graphic design, occupy wall street nyc

2012 on Seventh Avenue

May 16, 2011 By Clare Ultimo

Having been remiss from this particular arena of the cybersphere for a while, all I can say is that I've been observing what seems to be a lot of chaos around me and I've been trying to sort it all out. It seems of late, a lot of my friends have begun thinking about 2012. These are not the flaky, tree hugging types. The most practical and down-to-earth among them are feeling "something" is in the air. They watch  Doomsday Specials on the History Channel and call me during the commercials. "Is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: (Not so) Metaphysical Tagged With: 1984 in corporate america, 2012 and fear, 2012 in daily life, 2012 the beginning not the end, ask questions, Corporate control of the media, corporate fascism, real meaning of 2012, We Should Be Looking for Questions

What Not To Change About Graphic Design

September 15, 2010 By Clare Ultimo

Graphic Design and its extended family are rotating at a constant tilt these days.  Adobe upgrades about once a year now ; design programs you’ve invested thousands of dollars in are obsolete before you take a deep breath. Lots of technologies are going downstream - stuff that some of us even grew up with (like books !). Graphic Design has become a household word and a very popular Major in lots of universities. There are more "graphic designers" than ever…  the kid down the block with some time … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Design and Commerce Tagged With: graphic design history, how graphic design is changing; is everyone a graphic designer; graphic design for everyone; important things about graphic design, jean cocteau graphic designer, the way graphic design used to be

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Recent Articles

  • An Open Letter to Great Mother Gaia…
  • Why War May Really Be Over…
  • Distress, Death and Graphic Design
  • What Inspires You? The Writing Process Blog Tour
  • Announcing the QEG: Happy Earth Day!
  • If Everyone Told the Truth: A Personal Fantasy Through the World as We Know It
  • On Silk Stockings, Cigars and Turning 20
  • Occupy the Heart in 2012
  • 2012 on Seventh Avenue
  • What Not To Change About Graphic Design

Categories

  • (Not so) Metaphysical
  • Design and Commerce
  • Personal is Political
  • Raves about my FAVES
  • Variations of Now

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1984 in corporate america 2012 and fear 2012 the beginning not the end Angel Eduardo angelheaded hipster Annie Lanzillotto ask questions Belief and Technique for Modern Prose Bextra big pharma blogroll Blog Talk Radio blogtour Corporate control of the media corruption in media creative process dangerous ideas aiga conference design activism design irrelevance freedom of the press free speech and graphic design government coverup graphic design and corporatism graphic design and social relevance Jack Kerouac Kent State protest kent state shirt Lilly pharmacutials monsanto my writing process occupy occupy design occupy graphic design politicans who tell the truth sept 2014 social meaning in graphic design the big six media The Chip in Your Head Will Text FOR You! tibor kalman truth tellers urban outfitters We Should Be Looking for Questions whistleblowers 2013 who owns the press who tells the truth in politics

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