Thanksgiving has come and past, and with that, our fourth annual By a Show of Hands competition has drawn to a close. The Rule29 crew was faced with the difficult task of setting down our turkey sandwiches and picking the winning examples from an amazing turnout of 134 hand turkeys. It wasn’t easy. There were some fierce arguments over personal favorites but we came to a peaceful consensus on this year’s winners.

Without further ado…

We’ll start with the kids bracket. Coming in the Runner’s Up spot: Nathan, age 13 with the Martian Turkey. Despite the potential Homeland Security risk, this turkey shows us that you don’t have to be from Earth to celebrate the glorious holiday that is Thanksgiving. Nathan, don’t let this Martian Turkey run away back to Mars with your $15 iTunes gift card.

And the winner of the kid’s bracket is… Bailey Curtis, age 11 with the mysterious and apparently startled Handopus! This creature of the deep was a unique, five-armed interpretation of the Turkey of the Sea (which I can only assume is an octopus). Bailey, we hope you enjoy the $25 iTunes gift card!

On to the grown-ups! The runner up for this year’s competition is Erik Michael Garland Fox with his wonderful watercolor (and slightly neon) interpretation of a hand turkey. How our favorite holiday fowl manages to keep a fedora on under water is beyond us, but we appreciate Erik’s sketchy style and excellent use of color throughout. Erik, congratulations on your $25 iTunes gift card.

Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the winner of this year’s overall contest is…

Todd McQueen and his “Protect the Ball” turkey. I think it’s safe to say that fall is probably not the turkey’s favorite season due to… well… us eating them and all. But this turkey is making the best of it by enjoying a little pigskin action. We can only assume that this turkey juked its way out of peril to live and play another day. $50 could buy a lot of football apps on iTunes, Todd!

But that’s not all! This year’s turnout was indeed amazing and we’re incredibly grateful for all of those who submitted their depictions of turkeys both big and small. As a result, we’ve decided to bring in an Honorable Mention winner this year. Another $25 iTunes card goes to Carolyn Watson Dubisch for this snapshot of a real life hand turkey captured in the wild. Thank you Carolyn, for your incredible gaggle of turkeys this year!

And with that, the hand turkey season is closed for the year. You can still see all the entries from this year and last on the site, and keep an eye out after Halloween next year, when the fifth annual contest will surely return. Until then, we hope you enjoy your leftovers!

(Winners, please contact us here at Rule29 so we can help get your prize to you!)

What is it about graphic design that moves us and drives us?  The image above says it all: design ignites change.

But how has design itself changed over the past decade? “Graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade,” which has become the basis of an international exhibition on display at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN until January 2012: Graphic Design: Now In Production.

The exhibit examined the growing cultural role in mainstream design and the designer’s expanding role in content creation as well as in bridging the gap across once exclusive fields and roles, such as typeface design, product design, animation, and more.

Brand New contributed a before and after logo wall with a simple yet effective voting system in which many participated. This connected viewers with the exhibit and helped solidify the concept of the new cultural role consumers play in design.

Many posters were on display, which marked the growing role of design in cultural movements. Below is a shot of just some of the posters created by the masses for the growing “green” movement of the last decade.

And, a design exhibition isn’t complete without some beautiful Swiss-style poster love. Check out the posters below that portray popular TV shows in minimalistic style.

The exhibit included many, many more tidbits and treasures, but we’ll let you go and check it out for yourself.

What ways do you think design has changed the most since 2001?

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since our third annual hand turkey extravaganza ended with these great winners. The time is here once again, our friends, to charge up the tryptophan motivation and be a kid with some hand turkey works of art. Please check out our updated Show of Hands site, download the form, read the rules or check out the 2010 entries, and be among the first to enter the 4th annual Show of Hands competition. Remember outside of the sheer glory of being named champion, we enhance the sweet taste of victory with some  iTunes gifts to go with it.

PLEASE NOTE – part of your jury selection will be based on tweets, likes and comments. So enter early and enter often. Let everyone know about it and get some social networking love. Get your office into it, break out the crayons or oil pastels, make Grandma bust one out and your kids (oh yeah, we pick a kids winner too). Bottom line: Have some fun.

We are excited to see your tasty turkey creations, let’s get it rolling!

Alright, now come back to reality, it’s 2011 and there is no such thing as a Sears catalog, there is a Target on every corner and an occasional Toys R Us. For a moment there I thought that I was really missing out on this decade’s toy selection. But now, as I look back on what is really going on in the land of toys, I realize that I have never been so wrong.

Recently I got my brother’s old Tomy 2000 Robot up and running and had this realization. He got this gift in 1984, when it was the hottest toy around. This puppy has been in seclusion in a corner of my basement for years, going through multiple floods, numerous moves, dropped, neglected, and ultimately forgotten.

Sad, I know, but proud to say that today Tomy is up and running.

Here’s a question. How much better do the kids today really have it with their crazy cool toys and all? When I think of the toys my nieces and nephews have had, and how long they really last, it makes me wonder how much better these toys really are?

If I were to go to a Toys R Us today and wander over to the Robot section, I would likely find numerous robots that resemble animals, such as a four-foot tall dinosaur robot or the dog robot that can only bark, move around, and sit on his back paws. Now, compare this to the awesomeness of The Omnibot 2000 by Tomy.

Tomy can pour drinks on a special serving tray – all done by programming/recording the movements to an old-school regular cassette tape, which could then be played back by using the built in clock. It has a speaker you could talk through and even record yourself for any secret missions the Omnibot was to go on- plus you can DJ it up with pre-recorded music and mix your voice in it! Seriously what robot today could pour you a glass of scotch and talk to you via speaker while scratching the tables with some Lil’ Wayne too?!

Now that that it is proven that robots are not nearly as cool as back in the day I decided to flash back to the toys of the 80’s and see if what I was thinking was correct or if I was just trying to make myself feel better about my age! Cabbage Patch Kids were awesome. They came with their own adoption papers, now kids get look alike American Girl Dolls. I admit I have one of those too, but I was way more addicted to my Cabbage Patch Kid….I mean they had tattoos on their bums. Then there were the Care Bears, which were the happiest bears ever. Today you go to the mall and “build-a-bear”, which isn’t nearly as charming as bears that live in clouds and slide on rainbows.

These days’ kids have Pokemon cards, but back in the 80’s we had Garbage Pail Kids and they were the coolest trading cards in the world! And lets not forget the Glo Worm, a pink toddlers buddy whose face lit up when you hugged her. Now you have toddler dolls that burp and pee…seriously sick, not happiness. I’m on a roll now….one word for you- Jem, no explanation necessary. My Buddy….the only real pal out there!

One thing that there really is no competition with today is video games-as fun as Atari and the first Nintendo were, video games are with out a doubt insanely better today. I do wish that when I was younger I had a Nintendo Wii and an iPod touch-sure would have been better than my cassette deck!

19 films in three and a half days. This was the experience both Justin Ahrens and I (alongside our friend Eric) had at the Sundance Film Festival this past week. And if you’re curious what it takes to get 19 films in within this amount of time, let me put it this way. At 2 a.m. Sunday evening/Monday morning we were still in the Q & A session with Pfife of A Tribe Called Quest (“Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of Tribe Called Quest”) and at 6:20 a.m. the same morning, we are in standing in line for “My Idiot Brother.”

This was my fourth trip to the festival in the last five years and continue to return home with the same reflection/realization… Ironically, the festival is not about seeing movies. It’s about the conversation, about what is being “said.” There is no doubt that the festival’s leadership team views their role as somewhat of a cultural guide – point viewers to “stories worth discussing.” In fact, this was the sentiment after (almost) every film. Someone in the audience would ask the director something like, “So, what’s your position on environmental terrorism?” And the director would respond… “Well, we simply want to have a conversation regarding. This is why we made the film.”

So, what’s in store for this year’s cultural conversation? Here are a few films we saw worth discussing…

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“If a Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front”

Documentary filmmaker Marshal Curry set out to ask the question of… Whether or not (environmental) change can take place “within the system” or if revolutionary type action is necessary to effect systemic realities? And if the latter is necessary, is it worth breaking the law?

“Connected: An Autoblography about Love, Death, and Technology”

Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain set out to explore the “connectedness” of not so much technology, but humanity. Why do we “link” together through various mediums? What was technologies intended purpose? Are we utilizing for these purposes?

“My Idiot Brother”

Even the dysfunctional comedies such as Jesse Peretz’s “My Idiot Brother” explored the questions of human interaction. In a society that operates with the assumption that everyone is simply out for themselves and/or most people are innately “corrupt”, Peretz suggests otherwise. What would happen if we simply trusted each other and assumed humanity was innately good?

“The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”

In what is (in my opinion) Morgan Spurlock’s best documentary since “Super Size Me,” the realities of product placement midst the entertainment industry is explored brilliantly through product placement in his own documentary. What is the branding/advertising process within movies? What are the narrative/artistic compromises being made today through advertising? Is product placement worth it? What does it mean to sell out? These were all questions being asked in “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.”

“Higher Ground”

Spirituality was a common topic at Sundance this year with roughly half of our films dealing with on some level, but maybe none more than Vera Farmiga’s “Higher Ground,” which ultimately asked the question of whether or not God is real and active. Both faith and doubt were explored midst both the absurdities and beauty of the Christian faith.

“The Details”

Jacob Aaron Estes’ dark comedy(ish) film “The Details” very well may have been my favorite dramatic film at Sundance this year. Dealing with an uncomfortable blend of (dis)honesty, marriage, love, and generosity, Estes’ ultimately asks the question… “Is it worth it?” And when it is (or is not)… “Are we worth it?”

“Homework”

In the adolescent “coming of age” story of Sundance this year, Gavin Wiesen explores the reality each of us have dealt with at some time or another… “Who am I?” And “What will it take to… well, be me?” Wonderfully done.

“Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest”

Tribe Called Quest is arguably one of the most influential hip-hop groups of our time. But this film is not about music. It’s about the complexities of (working) relationships. By investigating the “on again off again” friendship of Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, director Michael Rapaport explores both the history and progress of not only hip-hop, but the group as a whole. Interestingly enough, Phife was at the premiere while Q-Tip decided not to support the film. The film and reality seemed to be playing out right in front of our eyes.

“The Redemption of General Butt Naked”

Yes, this was the actual nickname of Joshua Milton Blahyi, one of the most notorious warlord’s of Liberia’s 14-year civil war. Directors Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion set out to ask the question(s), “Is it possible for a murderer of thousands to change?” And if so… “Is it possible for his victims to forgive?” A conflicting story of evil, forgiveness, and faith.

“Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles”

A fascinating story of the mysterious “Toynbee Tiles” that have been appearing around both North and South American since the early 80s… What do they mean? Is it street art? How were the placed on the street? Why? While these questions are certainly interesting, this story is not so much about the Toynbee tiles, but the investigating trio that set out to discover its creator.

“Cedar Rapids”

What might have been the funniest movie we saw this year, director Miguel Arteta set out to explore the awkward realities of industry conferences – in this case, an insurance conference in “Cedar Rapids.” With an all star cast of Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (The Wire), friendship is explored midst both unpredictable circumstances and unlikely colleagues. But this film did not have to be “serious” to tackle a worthy set of questions… in this case, ones of authenticity, trust, and acceptance. Already set to be release mid-February.

Other (Short) Films Seen:

• The High Level Bridge
• Bike Race
• Small Change
• The Hunter and the Swan Discuss Their Meeting
• Andy and Zach
• Pioneer
• AWOL
• Diarchy

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Here’s the deal. (For the most part), we take safety seriously at Rule29. We have an alarm system. We use pocket protectors. We have limited Justin’s use of exacto blades. And most nights we remember to turn off the space heater (not really). But recently, we were paid a visit by our local Fire Chief. He’s a nice guy and is certainly looking out for our team. While we don’t want to get into the numerous violations we had, we did want to share about one that caught our attention… Apparently, our fire extinguishers were “out of date” and needed to be “disposed” of properly. How does a creative firm “dispose” properly? Well, how about we simply show you…

Filmed with our shiny new iPhone 4′s

I’m sure that by this time most Americans have had their fill of turkey, what with it being five days after Thanksgiving, but not us at Rule29. We love us some turkey…especially in hand drawn form. We’ve talied up the results of this year’s hand turkey illustration contest.

Find out who was victorious in R29′s Show of Hands competition after the jump.

First, we should probably address how we came upon a winner. The turkeys with the most comments and/or Facebook Likes, along with our personal judgement came out on top. The winners will receive iTunes gift cards.

So, without further ado, check out the champion gobblers.

Adults Category

First Place ($50 iTunes gift card): Todd McQueen – Four Seasons of a Hand Turkey

Second Place ($25 iTunes gift card): Jana Kinsman – Team-Up Turkey

Kids Category

First Place ($25 iTunes gift card): Savannah Glitschka - Giblets

Second Place ($15 iTunes gift card): Abigail Pelloquin - The First Thanksgiving

Honorable Mentions

etherbrian - Cosmic Puritan Mind Food

Joycer – Robot Turkey

Lucia Faust - Gobbles

Brent Pelloquin – Hang Six

Tom Favorite – Simpsons Turkey

Nick Valente – Eat Mor Chickin

Congratulations to all the winners! We will be in touch shortly to award your prizes. Also, if you’re sentimental like us and like to take a walk down memory lane, you can view past entries here and here.

Until next year’s competition… Gobble, gobble!

I have been a fan of Ze Frank since I first saw him speak at AIGA and watched his show faithfully in 2006 and 2007.  What I most admire about him is that he goes for it. He tries things to gain a new understanding, and he shares it. I also admire his perspective, humor and the way he has been experimenting in connecting with people online for almost a decade. Why is this important? Because at Rule29 we think it’s always valuable to wonder, to play, to learn and to try different and creative ways to connect. As designers, we of all people need to realize that connections are now made in an ever expanding new world as mobile and online social interactions increase. So pull up a chair and spend the next 18 minutes watching the video above, and I guarantee you that you will laugh and get a deeper understanding on how we are connecting, all presented in a way that is uniquely Ze Frank. You can also get more Ze by watching his 2004 Ted talk, follow him on twitter, and facebook, or explore his site.

What do you think? What’s your favorite Ze Frank project?

As the weather turns cooler and the leaves begin to change to their rich fall colors many Americans start to turn their thoughts to the more important things in life. And by more important things I mean football.

The long awaited kickoffs, the fantasy leagues, and dissection of plays of the previous game and speculation of what is to come have all commenced and are filling the discussion space of offices everywhere. Also, the Chicago Bears are currently 3-0 (even if just by sheer luck) so currently all is well with the world.

One thing that we always love about sports teams, especially in the college realm are the mascots. They make the experience of the game that much more enjoyable. As large dancing characters they are fun when the game is going well, but it’s when the score is not in our favor that they really shine, rallying everyone together reminding us to cheer. They bring a sense of unity and sometimes quirkiness to the games that we love so well.

Last year Collegehoops.net posted their top 10 favorite college mascots, which for your Friday enjoyment, we would like to share with you today. As you read through this fantastic list we were wondering who is your company mascot? Here at Rule29, we have adopted our Design Monkey as the inspiration of our office. Official or unofficial we all seem to have them; something you look to relieve the tension of a stressful day. Maybe it’s that weird singing squirrel your co-worker keeps on their desk or maybe something more established that embodies the vision and purpose of your company. We’d love to hear them!

Without further adieu from Collegehoops.net…

1  Syracuse Orangeman
We’ll start with one of the more well-known mascots. What’s a better mascot than a giant orange with a blue hat?  Sightings include numerous ESPN commercials and all Syracuse basketball home games. The orange has played a crucial role in Jim Boeheim’s success over the years.

2  UCSC Banana Slug
Arguably the toughest mascot in all of sports. It was once removed as mascot by the dean at the university, but a strong rally by the UCSC faithful made sure the slug returned to its rightful home. Pulp Fiction fans will recognize the banana slug on the t-shirt that John Travolta wears in the movie.

3  WKU Hilltopper (aka big red blob)
This thing is anything but a hilltopper, and has stemmed from former WKU coach E.A. Diddle nervously clutching a red towel during games.  Public appearance of hilarity: the commercial in which the blob is sitting in his prom date’s kitchen being grilled by her parents, and the dad looks at it and simply says “I don’t even know what you are.”

4  Stanford Tree
Many fans may be thinking “Why the hell is the Cardinal’s mascot a tree?” It stems from the fact that the tree is a redwood tree, as Palo Alto, CA is not too far from California’s historic redwood forests (having been there, I’d recommend it to those looking to get as far away from every form of human civilization as possible). Nonetheless, the tree is comical-looking, and as ESPN’s Pat Forde can surely tell you, is a lot of fun to dress as.

5  Delaware Fighting Blue Hen (YouDee)
What’s more fierce than a hen?  A blue hen!

6  Dartmouth’s Keggy the Keg
This mascot was never approved by Dartmouth, but Keggy sure has brought a lot of excitement to Hanover, NH. This keg was the #1 fan at all things Dartmouth, and proved to be a good luck charm at countless lacrosse matches.  Who could say no to a keg that’s grinning from ear to ear?  I certainly couldn’t.

7  St. Joe’s Hawk
Students at St. Joe’s have plenty of financial incentive to tryout to be the hawk for basketball games, because doing so waives all tuition fees. The catch? The mascot has to flap its arms for all 40 minutes. Eager students should hit the gym before attempting such a feat.

8  Franklin and Marshall College Diplomats
These mascots made the list because I nearly fell out of my chair laughing after I saw them. What’s better than two of America’s Founding Fathers smiling and giving the thumbs up?

9  UCSB’s “Fanton of the Dome”
UCSB’s athletics teams are the Gauchos.. which is cool to begin with. Second, they play in the Thunderdome, which not only sounds bad ass, its a good arena too. And finally, add in the “Fantom of the Dome” and you have the ultimate combination. The Fantom doesn’t appear at all games anymore, as he’s just a random dude who lives in So Cal, but he showed up for the Gauchos big showdown with UNC and will no doubt continue to be a UCSB tradition.

10  Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Nads
First off all, I didn’t even know RISD had a mascot. But if I were to guess what the school’s mascot would be, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that it’d be a pair of testicles. Scrotie is the number one fanatic for RISD sporting events, and makes the list due to the hilarious amount of shame and disgust it brings to the university.

Hi I’m Dawn, one of the Rule29 interns. I was asked to share a bit about myself.

I am an angler — by definition, a professional bass fisherman. As a young child I fished for catfish in the mighty Dupage with my uncle, and in the quarries behind his cabin for blue gill. It wasn’t until a couple years back that I got involved in tournament fishing. I now participate in two tournaments a year — in July for bass, and in October for crappie. I always seem to have greater success with the latter because, honestly, it is quite a bit easier.

My favorite part of the fishing day is in the wee hours of the morning, driving full-blast down the Lake Chippewa Flowage. With deer feeding on the shorelines, woodpeckers chipping away on the trees, dinosaur-size bald eagles soaring above, occasionally swooping in the water just feet away, grabbing whatever they see. Sometimes you can even spot the occasional bear either fishing or strolling through the woods.

By far the best part of the tournament is the catch — hooking the big one. This July I finally got “on the board” in the bass tournament. Learn more about my catch after the jump.

As an angler, I have the ability to extend the truth a bit. It’s a gift all anglers possess, but for this occasion I’ll stick to the real truth. I caught a  1 lb. 11 oz. bass on a buzz bait. It was a beauty of a bass — flipping around, putting up a fight, which made it that much more exciting! It wasn’t very big, but it was still legal — meaning it was longer than 14 inches.

Each day of the tournament you fish from 6 am to 4 pm, and you have to keep the fish alive through weigh in. The one crucial piece of advice for new anglers is that you must account for the fish losing at least a ½” in the live well. During this time the fish can excrete certain prey like crawdads and such.

I wish I could write of the great lures and secret spots that make me the greatest angler this side of the river, but I would just be telling tall tales. Truth is, I have a lot to learn, and am excited for every minute of it. Getting on the board this year means I am looking at catching probably about 30 fish next year — a good start for someone fairly new to the tournament scene. Some things I am for sure of? I have the coolest fishing hat and fishing vest ever. Every piece of gear I buy at the Bass Pro Shop inches me closer to getting my own Saturday morning fishing show on ESPN. I imagine the name of the show to be something catchy like Angle This, or Hooked by Dawn (representing both the break of day and my first name, which is really quite corny, but could work).

Do you have fishing experience of your own? Locations to catch the monster of all fishes, or lure recommendations are always appreciated. Share your favorite spots and gear in the comments.