Packaging Design: What's Outside Counts

The recent Tropicana brand packaging re-design debacle shows that for consumers what's outside does indeed count. Here's a link to a New York Times article on PepsiCo's mis-calculated effort to change the look of Tropicana juice cartons:

"Tropicana Discovers Some Buyers Are Passionate About Packaging" - February 22, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adcol.html

We have a number of books in the library on packaging design, as well as books about branding:

AiRD Library Catalog Search: packag*
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=AiRD&deepsearch=packag%2A

AiRD Library Catalog Search: brand*
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=AiRD&deepsearch=brand%2A


Note the use of the asterisk in the searches above; in LibraryThing the asterisk functions as a wildcard. Therefore, 'packag*' picks up 'package', 'packaging', 'packages', etc. ; 'brand*' picks up 'brand', 'brands', 'branding', etc.

Aquaculture

Here's a brief guide to doing research for Culinary's aquaculture assignment.

First, you might want to get started with some general background information on aquaculture. For this I recommend the Wikipedia's article 'Aquaculture' (a Class B article), as well as a chapter in Marion Nestle's book What to Eat, 'The Fish-Farming Dilemma', pp. 203-217. Nestle's book is on Reserve - ask for it at the Circulation desk. (Nestle also writes an excellent blog under the same title as her recent book, Food Politics). The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, available online on eNotes.com, has an article titled 'Aquaculture' which includes a discussion of the effect of different types of feed on farmed fish flavor.

Aquaculture is of interest to government agencies, industry groups, and environmental organizations. Government agencies at the federal and state level work to promote economic development and provide regulatory oversight of the aquaculture industry; as a consequence, these agencies' websites often provide a great deal of information. See below for links (links in bold are particularly useful). Keep in mind that aquaculture is generally divided into two types: marine and freshwater; information resources on aquaculture often cover one type or the other. Of course, salmon are anadromous, so they can wind up in either category...

For more in-depth or focused information, try searching for news and trade journal articles on the topic. Below are links to two regional publications: the News and Observer and the Triangle Business Journal. A simple search on 'aquaculture' will return results. When searching the Proquest and Electric Library databases, which have worldwide coverage, you may wish to include the term 'north carolina' (e.g., 'aquaculture and north carolina') in order to limit your search results. Other possible search terms include 'fish farming' and 'blue revolution'.

Background / Reference Sources

• The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture: Aquaculture

• What to Eat / Marion Nestle
  Reserve
  RA 784 .N46 2006

• Wikipedia: Aquaculture

Search for Articles

• Electric Library Database (login and password required for off-campus access)
• News and Observer
• Proquest Database (login and password required for off-campus access)
• Triangle Business Journal

Government and Industry Web Sites: North Carolina

• Aquaculture in North Carolina (NC Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services)
• NC Aquaculture Development Conference
• NC Department of Environmental and Natural Resources - Division of Marine Fisheries
• NC Seafood Directory (NC Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services)
• NC Sea Grant
• NC State Aquaculture Extension

Government and Industry Web Sites: National / International

• 2005 Census of Aquaculture (USDA)
• Aquaculture Network Information Center
• State of World Aquaculture 2006 (FAO)
• NOAA Aquaculture
• NOAA Fishwatch

An Evening with Chip Kidd - Tomorrow Night

Chip Kidd will be speaking at Meredith College tomorrow night; for details, visit the event web page:

http://raleigh.aiga.org/events/2009/02/25660742

According to the web page, he'll be available to sign books. We have quite a few books by, about, or with an introduction by Chip Kidd:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=AiRD&deepsearch=kidd

- not quite as many Kidd books as NC State, but not bad for a library that has been open for less than a year.

We'll be getting a copy of Kidd's latest book, The Learners, shortly.

NY Fashion Week 2009

You probably already knew that this week is New York's Fashion Week; I didn't until this morning when I head this piece on NPR:

"Fantasy, Invention At New York Fashion Week" - February 19, 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100832762

(In case you haven't noticed, I listen to NPR every morning).

Of course, most major news outlets and fashion publications are covering the event.

Here are some web sites of interest:

• Getty Images (check box for 'Editorial', search keywords 'NY Fashion Week')
  
• New York Magazine - Fashion Shows
  
• New York Times - New York Fashion Week
  
• Style.com
  
• WGSN (ask for student logins/passwords from you instructor)
  
• WWD (Women's Wear Daily)

The AutoCAD 2009 Books Are Here!

The AutoCAD 2009 books are here and ready to be checked out.

Follow this link for a list of new AutoCAD titles:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=AiRD&deepsearch=autocad+FEB09

Some of the new books include CDs / DVDs which can be checked out seperately; ask for discs at the circulation desk.

Be sure to let me know your opinions on these books; they get updated every year, so we'll have to get new ones every year. You can let me know in person, by email, by commenting on this blog entry, or by posting a review on LibraryThing.

Raleigh Spring Home Show This Weekend, Feb. 20-22

Raleigh Spring Home Show this weekend - February 20-22, 2009

For more information, visit the event web site:
http://www.acshomeshow.com/HGExpo/RCS.html

There's a coupon for $2 off the admission price on the bulletin board in the student lounge - or at least, there was one this morning.

Ikea Opens Store in Charlotte

Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer, will open a new store in Charlotte, NC this Wednesday.

Here's a link to the full story from the News and Observer:

"Ikea store opens soon in Charlotte - Store with a fan base opens Wednesday in Charlotte" - February 16, 2009
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1407395.html

Free Browser-Based Vector Editor Released

A new free (for non-commercial use)* vector editor called Raven has been released by Aviary. It's a browser-based Flash application. Here's the link:

http://aviary.com/tools/raven

One commenter on Digg wrote:

"Wow. Very, very impressive. Not as intuitive as inkscape (whose bezier curve tool is far easier to use than photoshop and raven's) but it doesn't hog the CPU even using flash 10 on mac!"

I tried Adobe Illustrator for the first time last week, and was disappointed. I much prefer Inkscape. I'll have to give Raven a try sometime and see for myself how it compares.

*According to Aviary's FAQ page, if a user intends to use their software for commercial purposes, a subscription is necessary.

Local Locavores Have New Option

From WRAL.com:

"Farmers' market coming to Cary" - February 10, 2009
http://www.wral.com/news/local/noteworthy/story/4509206/

Ready, Set, Grow!

The 'Featured Books' now on display in the library now include books on kitchen gardens, container gradens, herbs, edible flowers, and wildcrafting. Spring can't start soon enough!

Here's a list:

X-ray : see through the world around you / Nick Veasey
The first book on display isn't about gardens or edible flowers, though it does feature some striking radiographic images of plant life, among other subjects, such as a bus with passengers and the side of an apartment building.

Little Herb Gardens / Georgeanne Brennan

The Edible Flower Garden / Rosalind Creasy
Recipes in this book include "Tulip and Endive Appetizer", "Stir Fried Beef with Anise Hyssop", and "Rose Petal Sorbet".

The Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden / David Hirsch

McGee & Stuckey's The Bountiful Container / Rose Mary Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey
How to grow your own food plants in a small amount of space.

All New Square Foot Gardening / Mel Bartholomew
Another popular approach to gardeining in small spaces, with limited effort.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle : a year in the life of food / Barbara Kingsolver
A family spends a year eating what they can either grow themselves or obtain from local farmers.

The Forager's Harvest : a guide to identifying, harvesting and preparing wild plants / Samuel Thayer
Did you know that cattail pollen can be combined with wheat flour to make muffins? It's a shame Lake Crabtree is contaminated with PCBs.

Bee Books
What would a garden be without bees? Let's hope we don't find out.

Bees in America : how the honey bee shaped a nation / Tammy Horn

A Spring Without Bees : how colony collapse disorder has endangered our food supply / Michael Schacker

Robbing the Bees : a biography of honey - the sweet liquid gold that seduced the world / Holley Bishop

Blue Mustang Sculpture Provokes Debate

From the Wall Street Journal:

"A Horse of a Different Color Divides Denver
Blue Mustang Sculpture Shocks Visitors, Perturbs Poets; 'Because of This Thing, People Think They Are in Hell'" - February 7, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123395183452158089.html

Fairey Arrested for Tagging

Sheppard Fairey, creator of the famous Obama 'Hope' poster, was arrested in Boston this weekend for tagging.

Full story from the Los Angeles Times:
"Obama poster artist Shepard Fairey is arrested on tagging charges" - February 8, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-na-fairey8-2009feb08,0,7789739.story

'Hope' and Infringement

"The Associated Press is alleging copyright infringement for an image of Barack Obama created by street artist Shepard Fairey."

Full story in audio from NPR:
"Fair Use Or Infringement? Obama Image In Spat" - February 5, 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100301384

Boutique Owner's First Success a Matter of Serendipity

Here's another story from NPR, one that dates back to just prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama. While the story primarily focuses on the effect of the recesion on sales at a Washington, D.C. formal wear boutique, it also includes fascinating details on the boutique's owner, Harriet Kassman, and how her career started as the buyer for her father's shop. Audio only.

Inaugural Gown Shopping In A Recession - January 12, 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99235475

"Red Makes You Stupid", Researcher Jokingly Surmises

I heard an interesting color-related story on NPR this morning; both the audio and transcript are provided at the link below.

Study: Seeing Red, Blue Affects Outcome Of Tasks - February 6, 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100301582

Apparently, "red makes you stupid", and it can also increase a man's perception of a woman's attractiveness (the photonic equivalent of beer goggles?).