A few weeks ago I spent two days at the Archives Center of the Smithsonian’sNational Museum of American History. It was a dream visit, merging my interests—design, anthropology and photography—in one whole experience. (To add to the excitement, I had just finished reading Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, so you can imagine how cool it felt to do research in DC.)
As I arrived, two seventh-grade girls did as well. I was instantly impressed with their excitement, formal communication and eloquence as they interacted with the archives’ staff. With a to-do list, a legal pad, and pencils in their hands they were keen on finding primary sources for a school project on nuclear energy. They were prepared to do some serious work, but were soon caught off-guard when the archivist asked: “Did you do a Google search?” Read the rest of this entry »
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Yesterday I placed an order off Film Baby, an online independent film distributor. Like in any other seller, I chose what I wanted to purchase, added to a cart, checked out, and within minutes I received an order confirmation email. A few hours later, I was alerted that my movie was already under way. Upon review of the shipment confirmation, I found an unexpected surprise in the text: humor and personality.
Please rest assured that we’ve taken great care in the shipping of your DVD.
We hold true to an ancient DVD shipping tradition passed down for over 5000 years. This very intensive practice is only achieved after years of training, meditation, purity of mind, and deep breathing exercises.
After a rigorous 17 step process of verifying the authenticity of your DVD, we donned silk gloves and placed it into a sacred box made of magic and lined with Unicorn fur, tied the box with a strand of Gypsy hair, and wrapped the whole thing in a snazzy looking faux gold leaf paper, with elm leaf inlay from Costco. Unfortunately, by the time it gets to you, all of that fancy stuff will likely have been picked clean by the greedy postal service employees. Please don’t be surprised to see just a plain cardboard box.
It’s surprising to see how my opinion of a seller can be so suddenly shaped but such a small detail. I now only wonder if this is the only message, or if there is more than one. I guess I will have to order another movie to find out…
mother: [Places plate on table.] Here’s breakfast. daughter: [Arms-crossed with some attitude.] Just toast? Dad gives me scrambled eggs. mother: [Places plate on table.] Scrambled eggs… daughter: [With more attitude and a rude gesture towards the plate…] Plain scrambled eggs? Dad makes it how I want. And to drink? …juice, chocolate or coffee. mother: [Brings some orange juice.] daughter: And the whole wheat? mother: [Frustrated] Commercial voice: Our breakfasts do not have competition. Only in our restaurants do we prepare you a real breakfast, complete and your way.
[Commercial ends with father and daughter eating.]
This advertisement currently airs as part of the commercial prelude to feature films in Puerto Rico’s movie theaters. Due to its dry humor, its consistent showing during the summer offerings, and the context of the cinematic apparatus, every movie-going person now knows it by heart. The phrase ¡¿Revoltillo pelao?! has become part of everyday conversations.
On a first glance it’s a fairly standard advertisement: short and to the point. Its story relies on contemporary characters and scenarios we can quickly understand, an association it uses to explicitly inform, with a hyperbolical narrative, the benefits of this particular fast food chain. Yet, a deeper look reveals a myth(1) portrayed by a series of implicit messages which reference a drastic cultural shift in the Puerto Rican understanding of family values: the divorce has been socially accepted. Read the rest of this entry »
Armando Rigau holds a degree in Philosophy from Georgetown University. Currently he studies at the M.Arch. 1 program at the School of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University. Alberto Rigau recently completed his graduate studies in Design at the College of Design in NC State University. Currently he runs a multidisciplinary design studio in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On Thursday October 8 2009 3M Company of Puerto Rico held a fashion show to promote some of their Post-it products. For the event, estudio interlínea was commissioned to design and execute the event’s visual language… of course, all of it made out of Post-its. —— To make the video more interesting, I used the […]
Alberto Rigau designed the commemorative object that was given to the recipients of the 2009 medals in architecture. Puerto Rico’s professional college of architects and landscape architects honors individuals and/or entities who are not directly related to the discipline of architecture but who have contributed to the field in a way that can be evidenced [. […]
Alberto Rigau was recognized by Marvin J Malecha, FAIA and Denise Gonzales Crisp for his contributions to the NC State University College of Design community. He was recognized for his roles as a T.A., a teacher at the College’s Design Camp for aspiring design students, as a designer for the Student Publication and for the […]
