photo by Aaron Arthur

I am not a “trekie.” I grew up on “Space 1999” and “Thundercats,” however I can draw the parallel to a bunch of manic, lunatic fringe designers. We are “trekies” in our way—spooky, serious and devoted to the craft of making stuff pretty. Think about 3,500 geeked-out designers in Atlanta for 3 days…

This is the “Creativity Business & Technology Conference for Graphic Designers,” and as I found, a great forum to recharge my creative batteries. HOW was able to provide design seminars, inspiration and creative advice with some of the industry leaders like: Chip Kidd, Gary Baseman, Deborah Sussman, Kit Hinrichs, Marc English and many more. These creative professionals lead the charge in how we see things, and it was a pleasure the see their creative fervor first hand.

Here is a play-by-play of my HOW experience:

Sunday

ARRIVE´… check in and register. Ooh nice room. Hit the expo.

BFG has a large offering of Art Directors and we hit the expo area in “Reservoir Dogs” style. Riley and myself—in the spirit of Smirnoff—grab a quick libation and begin to work the room. Lots and lots and lots of paper vendors: Wausau, Neenah, Mohawk, Xpedex… they must have given away 50 tons of paper samples. The irony of a tattooed and pierced designer carrying around paper bags full of paper samples, wearing a beret with a “STOP...

For environmentally conscious consumers—or for those curious about driving a hybrid—there’s good news. Hertz and Avis are planning to offer hybrid vehicles as part of their rental fleets.

Avis will have 1,000 Toyota Prius hybrids available for rentals as early as this week. Their plan is to initially offer hybrids in its California, Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C. locations and possibly expand to more spots in the future.

Hertz is planning to have 3,400 Prius hybrids available by next year at 50 U.S. airport locations. According to Hertz, replacing 1,000 of its regular cars with hybrids will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 3,000 tons a year.

According to Avis spokesman John Barrows quoted by the Associated Press:

Barrows said Avis also believes that the Prius rentals will not only appeal to travelers but those interested in buying a hybrid.

"Obviously we have customers who want them," he said. "And there are other people out there who are interested in purchasing a hybrid but really want to check one out before buying one."

Starting next week, MySpace users will be able to watch mini-episodes of 15 old TV shows, including “Charlie’s Angels,” “Who’s The Boss” and “Fantasy Island.” Sony Pictures Television is referring to the shows as its “Minisode Network.” They have been edited down from 30 to 60 minute TV shows to four to six minute programs that are more ideal for web viewing.

According to the New York Times:

The minisodes are not intended as pastiches or excerpts; they are edited carefully so the plots can be followed from beginning to end. (It helps that many of the series are formulaic sitcoms or police dramas.)

The concept is comparable to the Condensed Books once sold by Reader’s Digest, which promised to provide readers with the essence of the original, longer versions.

“The new forms of media make lots of things possible,” said Amy Carney, president for advertiser sales at Sony Pictures Television in New York, part of the Sony Corporation of America division of the Sony Corporation of Japan.

The sole sponsor of the minisodes is Honda. The automaker will be airing a shortened commercial prior to each shortened show. Appropriately enough, the ads will be for its minicar, the Honda Fit.

Most of us are patriotic. But it is safe to say that we don't all have a 50-foot aluminum pole with an American flag waving boldly in our front yard. However, we do like to say we buy American. BigMacs and Ballpark Franks. So why does the Chevy Aveo come with duck sauce instead of a side of ketchup?

According to recent data compiled by USA TODAY, only 4% of the Aveo is actually built stateside. This mean that the remaining 96% of the car is made in South Korea. This would explain why I have never seen the Aveo make an appearance in one of those American Revolution spots from Chevrolet, or even a newly released commissary Tupac video. Some of my 40 just spilt on the floor.

So what does this mean? Does the Aveo prefer the warm waters of the Korea Strait to that of Lake Michigan? Is there something bigger going on here? Is there a call of duty or higher power the Aveo answers too?

I like to imagine that the Aveo is protecting us from the dangerous communist regime that has set up shop in the North. It makes me sleep a little easier knowing that Kim Jong-Il will have to out-gun the little Aveo before he can ever dream of starting a turf war in the South.

We're not talking zero to sixty times, torque or flux capacitors. We are talking about a simple, back to basics philosophy. You don't buy an Aveo for cheap thrills. Golly gee you buy an Aveo for democracy! It's not just an American car,...