Dear American Airlines

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"Dear American Airlines, I (Dustin Curtis) redesigned your website's front page, and I'd like to get your opinion. I’m a user interface designer. I travel sometimes. Recently, I had the horrific displeasure of booking a flight on your website, aa.com. The experience was so bad that I vowed never to fly your airline again. But before we part ways, I have a couple questions and three suggestions for you."

Ha! I admire the thinking and motivation behind Dustin's Dear American Airlines website. Designers 1, American Airlines 0.

Decaying Paintings

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0303-decayingpaintings.jpg

Humans have a tendency to want to fight time and create things that last forever.  But there is something very beautiful about how a fragile material ages, and changes over time. 

Valerie Hegarty challenges the way we think about art by creating pieces that are already decaying and decrepit.  Her art is battered, torn and damaged.  It has already been burned, shot, drowned or eaten by bugs... so now you don't have to worry about it, just enjoy it.  (Found through My Formative).

I Missed You!

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Improv Everywhere is a group of New York based undercover improv agents who organize and execute missions to "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places".  Their missions are all pretty funny and involve some sort of over the top kind gestures.  Their latest mission called Welcome Back brought a huge smile to my face.  The mission involved 20 "agents" to camp out at JFK airport for the day to welcome strangers.  They found a driver in the airport carrying a sign with someones name on it.  Then they would fill out all of their welcome home signs accordingly.  When that person came to meet their driver they were also met by 20 strangers screaming their name, carrying balloons and flowers.  Watch a video of the event here.  This is such a brilliant idea.