I was at the Fiona Apple show last nightwhere she had a total “meltdown.”She was crying, hitting herself in the head, screaming (off mic) between lyrics. While at first it was uncomfortably humorous… it became quickly upsetting. In the day of overly manicured, corporate-sponsored performances… last night’s show was a throwback to the days of Jim Morrison, Jimi, and Janice. Unpredictable feast or famine… depending on how the drugs kicked in. You just don’t see stuff like that these days… which made it pretty amazing.

The “Reflection-technique” is everywhere. It’s the new “Dropshadow.” You’ve seen it in shiny new cars spinning in a clean room, to line-ups of sneakers, to containers of laundry detergent. While it can be a great way to create a glossy environment for your “Hero Shot” –  I’ve seen some pretty bad executions.

Including myself in that camp:

“Client loved the stage thing… just add the word to ‘Help’ to the reflective Nav?”
OK… Hmmm…. “Help” has a “p”… a damn descender… havoc below the baseline… and it’s much too late to tweak the design… it’s been coded. I’m not doing those rollovers again. Ugh… whatever.

Remember… reflect wisely.

Put down your summer reading and go to the theater. See An Inconvenient Truth starring Al Gore, and co-starring his sweet macbook. Talk about awesome product placement. If I’m not mistaken, that was the original macbook prototype that he used to invent the internet All jokes aside…. the move was awesome! His presentation was right up there with Coldplay’s onstage “videowall” screens…. brilliant information design… Bravo!