12 June 2002 | In Passing...

12 June 2002

Submitted by eve on Wed, 06/12/2002 - 3:37pm. News

So a lot of folks have been mailing me lately requesting In Passing stuff. Tee-shirts, mousepads, coffeecups, and especially stencils to take to your tattoo artist. Ok, I was kidding about the last one, but people really have been making requests for the others, especially coffee cups, (which seems exceedingly appropriate to me, given the amount of coffee I consume while gathering material for the site.)

Cafe Press is great for this sort of thing. If I provide the content, they'll print it on tee shirts, boxer shorts, gilligan hats, beer mugs, frisbees, etc. And as I understand it, they don't make anything until someone orders it, so it's not like I'd have to invest in 50 tee shirts and then desperately hope that they sold. Plus, I think I'd have the option of making a dollar or two in profit for each item sold, which would be nice to help out with the whole paying for web hosting for this site thing. :-)

The only downside is... I have to provide them with the content. I've got 1002 quotes to choose from (3000 if you count the not-a-guestbook) but there's no way I'm going to make all the fabulous people who buy In Passing tee shirts walk around wearing the current logo. I'm not much of an artist, I made the logo a long time ago and haven't had a better idea for changing it, plus half of the time I read the site using w3m, a text based browser, so I don't see the title .gif anyway.

The community is a huge part of the site, and you'd be the ones buying the stuff anyway, so you should definitely have a say in what goes on it. Right now I'm thinking the items should have the logo small on the front, and a choice quote on the back. So I've got a plan. I'd like you all to choose your favorite quotes from the site and post them as comments on this entry, and feel free to add any discussion about why you like it best, etc.

As for the logo... I'm not an artist. But some of you are. And if some of you would like to share your artistic talent and draw up a logo for In Passing, you'd get credited on the page, lots of cool points from me, and the chance to see your work on a website with a couple of thousand daily visitors, and on t-shirts. If anyone wants to try this, logos should somehow use the words "In Passing," in a legible font, and that's about as far as requirements go from me. Preferably black, white, purple, or some combination thereof. Please mail me a link to a .jpeg (or .gif or .tiff, etc) if you can, or send it to me as an attachement if you can't. I'll pick out my favorites and we can vote on them here.

Sound like fun?

» add new comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 10/15/2002 - 10:49pm.

Archived comment by Sparkle!:
"That's called voyeurism!"
"Yeah, I had that job already."
--A girl and a guy a few picnic tables over at the Berkeley Marina

I think this one would be very appropriate, considering the nature of the site. :)
-Sparkle!

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 08/16/2002 - 4:37am.

Archived comment by Saint:
Okay, one last old favorite to throw out:

"Who can explain protein synthesis?"
"It's the work of the devil!"
--Two messages scrawled on the wall near a desk in a remote corner of the library

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 08/05/2002 - 4:15am.

Archived comment by grachay:
i'm not too good with the graphics stuff but i have an idea for a logo that could be cool...(if there isn't one already) i was thinking that maybe "in passing" could be in some sort of boxier font looking like it's zooming past a girl who is holding a palm pilot with her head turned back and maybe there could be people (maybe stick figures) in and around the "in passing" with lil quote bubbles coming out....just a thought, maybe someone can design it....i'm no good with that...but if you like it and can figure out what i'm talking about.....

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Thu, 07/25/2002 - 9:30am.

Archived comment by Shade:
Slogan idea (probably too late):

"Here, have a froot bat."

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 07/01/2002 - 11:55am.

Archived comment by JAM:
I haven't stopped by in a couple months, so catching up was a lot of fun as always, and now I find the merchandise news item. My comments:

* Purple, obviously.
* The URL should be there somewhere.
* My favorite quotes:

"Ponies are full grown? Holy fuck!"
"Foals grow up to be horses. Ponies stay small and cranky."
(Maybe you need to @#$% out the profanity, I dunno. I like this one only because I (and several friends) had the same misunderstanding).

This one may be too long, but it's one that made me laugh really loud:

"So you think he's playing both girls?"
--Guy 1 sitting behind me in lecture this morning
"Hell yah, is the pimp catholic?"
--Guy 2

*silence*

"...Pope! Is the POPE catholic?! Dude, you got the phrase wrong." --Guy 1
"Uh, NO. Think about it, the pope can't get any action." --Guy 2, indignant
"Nevermind..." --Guy 1, sounding like he'd like to pound his head against the desk

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Thu, 06/27/2002 - 3:02pm.

Archived comment by Apple:
I'd like to put in a vote for:

"Have you ever duct taped yourself into a chair?"
--A man shouting at the corner of Durant and Telegraph

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/24/2002 - 11:13am.

Archived comment by Hoss Man:
Let's not forget the quote that started it all...

"And then he's all, 'Marry Me'"
"Oh gawd what'd you say?"
"Sorry, desperation isn't something I'm looking for in a husband."

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sun, 06/23/2002 - 1:11pm.

Archived comment by sennyl:
"Oh, I thought you meant a 'pants counselor' to, like, talk to the pants themselves."

"Yeah, but sometimes don't you just feel like saying, 'NO! I don't want to wear orange eyeshadow?'

"That's not a sexist remark because I know men paint their toenails too, they just don't tell us about it."
--A very small, elderly woman, lecturing her younger walking companion

Btw, what is wrong with being geeky?

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sat, 06/22/2002 - 10:12pm.

Archived comment by Parental Unit:
Actually, IP *is* a chat room. It's just one with extended hours, so to speak. Which is one of the cool things about it. Contribute on your own schedule.

So if Matt can give out froot bats, does that mean I can give out cool pts.?????

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/21/2002 - 6:05pm.

Archived comment by Matt:
Yes, you get a froot bat. Montygirl, an IP veteran if there ever was one, said I'm supposed to give them out, so I guess I will. Here ya go.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/21/2002 - 1:02pm.

Archived comment by Jon:
You'll have to ask the substitute. Eve always said we could give out froot bats...

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/21/2002 - 1:39am.

Archived comment by Kate:
Do I get a froot bat for my idea?

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Thu, 06/20/2002 - 9:48pm.

Archived comment by fair_n_hite_451:
Egads! A IP chat room? Will my plummeting productivity know no bounds?

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Thu, 06/20/2002 - 7:58am.

Archived comment by Jon:
Kate, I think that would be a nice idea, if
someone else could host it... Eve already has
a lot on her plate.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Thu, 06/20/2002 - 7:32am.

Archived comment by Anna:
OK, there are lots of favourites, I've just picked the first one that rang a bell with me... how I'd love to have this on a mug:
"Were you really miserable at the party or just drunk?"
--One girl to another in line for the ATM
22nd May 2002

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Wed, 06/19/2002 - 10:26pm.

Archived comment by Kate:
I didn't know quite where to post this suggestion but I guess this is the best place for it,Wouldn't it be cool if there was an inpassing chat room? I think it would be entirely too amusing =)

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 06/18/2002 - 2:32pm.

Archived comment by Hazel:
I'd join the "Save the Logo" campaign.

As nice as the graphics designed by loyal fans are, I still think the one that's here is the best. It's so....so.....In Passing.

Hazel

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 06/18/2002 - 12:17pm.

Archived comment by Michael:
I was thinking that if we adjusted Lydia's design to include a cell phone that it would be perfect! Thoughts? Seconds?

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 06/18/2002 - 10:41am.

Archived comment by mojo:
my fav. quote:

'what did you play in the band?'
'shortstop.'

it was recent, don't remember the date though. that one
is fantastically hilarious because it makes absolutely no
sense! i even have that as my email sig (with a link to
inpassing, or course.)

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 06/18/2002 - 9:43am.

Archived comment by TheEileen:
Vote
1 - Use the same logo
2 - MsWas's logo (I really like this one)

Pllllp, in a non-flamey way, to people who say putting the .org is un-cool. Get over yourselves, this *is* about a website.

I really like the idea of putting "Anything you say can and will be posted on the internet" underneath the logo.

As much as I would love a Top 10 list, I agree with many others that we need the context as part of the post so just one quote would do. Can I plug in for three choices of t-shirt and three choices of mug quote and make them all DIFFERENT?

Quote choices for t-shirt
communists/gerbils
dodge-dart
Old Favorite:
"Can I tell you how much you DON'T want to spend $3.89 on this? Go, find something else, consider yourself lucky I was here."
--Video store clerk, to a customer attempting to rent the movie "The Avengers."
Turtles/metal detectors
Urban natural selection
and last but not least:
"We were at this restaurant while we were in Cancun, and the waiter came to our table, and said, 'Habla espanol?' I said 'no' and he says, 'why not?'"
--A guy in the South Lake Tahoe Safeway

coffee mugs
"I'm not paying for blackberry hot chocolate. I just can't."
--A guy in a cafe
Can I touch your bagel
Data entry one
CS non-magic lab
de-caf coffee and bad capped teeth
Utter sucky badness
leave my baguette out of this.
Bella, you need espresso, not tea.
splattered sugar/glow in the dark wheat.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 06/18/2002 - 8:53am.

Archived comment by Obsidiana:
Ooh...I like all three logos. Perhaps if no one can agree which is best, multiple cafepress stores might be a necessity.

My all-time favourite In Passing wasn't a quote...it was a scene. I just love the mental image of the punk blowing bubbles for the little kids.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Tue, 06/18/2002 - 8:14am.

Archived comment by Joe Napalm:

Initiative? I think you're dealing with a fairly low initiative crew, here, Adam. I mean, most of us are here while we're supposed to be working...

*Grin*

I was thinking of forming a "Save the Logo" non-profit, but I really can't be arsed.

-Jn-
Efreeti Sophist

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/17/2002 - 10:27pm.

Archived comment by Adam:
Off topic, so putting it on a news thread... I'm sure the slashdotters amongst you noted and duly ignored the slashdot meeting article... but the website they're using for organization, http://www.meetup.com, is actually pretty good, it seems. If people wanted to make the Inpassing party a reality, this would be the way to do it... who's going to take initiative?

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/17/2002 - 6:13pm.

Archived comment by kiddo:
I like Oli's version 2 over version 1, though I agree that a variety in the background quotes would be good.

The more I think about it, the more I really like the "Dodge-dart" quote.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/17/2002 - 6:05pm.

Archived comment by Parental Unit:
Well I still like the 'CS lab not a magic shop' quote for a coffee mug, as it'd be relevant in so many situations.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/17/2002 - 4:16pm.

Archived comment by Passerby:
RGB for IP purple is R=102, G=0, B=102. #660066 in html.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/17/2002 - 3:29pm.

Archived comment by jcharles:
I like sluggy's idea of printing the quotes in the same format that we see at the top of the page. Otherwise, it sounds like you're really trying to say whatever bizarre thing we're all laughing about.

One of my old favorites:

"Heyyy! It's like deja vu with groceries!"
--A bus driver on AC transit

And one I just found, that I think captures the site pretty well:

"I don't know how to say this... but... Karen honey, this just isn't the right way to get promoted."
--Overheard in the fitting room at Victoria's Secret

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Mon, 06/17/2002 - 2:06pm.

Archived comment by Penny:
I really liked Lydia's. I think the input about adding a second person that the guy on the left would be talking to is a good one. If we don't stick with the current logo, I'd vote for that one!

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sun, 06/16/2002 - 6:06pm.

Archived comment by Matt:
Good stuff, oli, especially the first one. My monitor's only 15 inches, so I had to scroll sideways to catch all of the second one. The only thing I'd like to see, personally, is variety in terms of the quotes behind the title. You know, maybe five to ten different quotes.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sun, 06/16/2002 - 11:10am.

Archived comment by oli:
sorry those last links dont work...
apparently geocities wont let me do proper links so here are the addresses;

version 1 : http://www.geocities.com/el_gimperino/inpassing1.jpg

version2 :
http://www.geocities.com/el_gimperino/inpassing2.jpg
sorry bout that

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sun, 06/16/2002 - 10:58am.

Archived comment by oli:
i like lydias logo, its cool
i have done two versions of a logo, which is pretty dodgy, tell me what you think;

version 1

version 2

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sun, 06/16/2002 - 8:42am.

Archived comment by Jon:
Hmm. I see the point about no competing "In Passing" shirts or mugs, but Eve could call hers the "official" one(thereby allowing a price hike of $1), and other readers could have "unofficial" versions. Only Eve's would have her logo on it, though.

On the other who, maybe that would be too complicated to be kept track thereof.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sat, 06/15/2002 - 9:07pm.

Archived comment by Walter:
lol. no worries, black spy. I don't actually think you guys ARE elitist. just that I don't think sneakery-style fits in passing.

and a very interesting logo, lydia. i'm not sure if i'd be willing to give it the thumbs-up just yet, but i like the aesthetic.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sat, 06/15/2002 - 12:54pm.

Archived comment by Adam:
Since there aren't purple shirts offered yet, chances are I wouldn't buy a shirt. What I would buy, though, is six or so mugs, preferably purple with white text (although white with purple would be okay, if it's more feasible), each with the current logo on one side, and a different quote on the other side. I don't expect you to set up the sets in the store itself; instead, offer twelve different mugs, and allow us to choose our own six, or some such. Because that would make a seriously cool set of mugs to have around the dorms. My favorites, nothing new, but particularly for mugs/cups:

"But you can't live on Skittles and beer, either."

"I wanted to ask, 'Are you drunk, or are you just stupid?' But..."

"It's only premarital sex if you're going to get married."

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sat, 06/15/2002 - 7:13am.

Archived comment by slugbuggy:
I like 'em all so far, they all communicate the idea of the site well. All very clean and not too complicated.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Sat, 06/15/2002 - 6:22am.

Archived comment by slugbuggy:
I like it! Anyway, we have someone with the skills, tools and desire to do it, who actually did it, and no request for monetary compensation so far. I agree it looks like some talking to Eve, but that can be fixed. Just have the guy facing the other way, away from Eve, so it looks like he's talking to someone else "offscreen." Or another person engaged in conversation with yakking guy, maybe behind the "In Passing" graphic, so it doesn't seem too off balance. But it looks good as is, too.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 11:35pm.

Archived comment by Matt:
It's definitely got merit, Lydia, mostly with your drawing style and use of color. I'd reverse the color of the field and text, though, and make the field in In Passing purple (there's some objective sRGB number for it, but I don't have Photoshop on my home computer (yet). As soon as I get some free time at work, I'll begin working on some awful perversion of an alternate logo, just to prove to myself that it's harder than it looks. And then I'll post it for general ridicule.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 11:19pm.

Archived comment by RhiannonStone:
I'm definitely gonna have to go with "short attention span voyeurism" and the current logo. And purple. It must be purple.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 10:17pm.

Archived comment by Jenny:
I cast my vote for the, "Hi, lobster much?".

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 10:08pm.

Archived comment by Lydia:
Fair_n_hite, funny you should mention that, because originally I had the image reversed, with the "Eve" character on the left and the talking person on the right, but I flipped them because I didn't think it seemed enough like the female character was listening in, so who knows. :) But thank you for commenting.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 9:45pm.

Archived comment by fair_n_hite_451:
Actually Lydia, that's not bad. Not bad at all.

But. (and there had to be a "but" or there wouldn't be much point to this message .... not that that is EVER a problem around here)

Your graphic implies people talking TO Eve, when in fact, it's more about Eve listening in when she's not invited. And that's not readily apparent.

But, take that with the whole salt lick, 'cause personally, I think Picasso needed better glasses because most of his paintings seem out of focus. What do I know?

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 9:21pm.

Archived comment by rebeldude0586:
hey i dont have any skills in actually making art but u could take the original logo and put these sideways pointing triangles coming off the same side on each letter so that it looks like its going by. if i can find an example of what i'm talkin about i'll post the link here.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 8:57pm.

Archived comment by Lydia:
Hi, everybody -- what do you think of this image?

http://www.nuklearpower.com/comic/images/inpsng.jpg

Please be gentle -- I'm very shy and it's kind of scary just to be posting this. :)

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 7:43pm.

Archived comment by mistegirl:
Thank you Monty :)

No prob Hoss - constructive criticism is good!

Namelink is the boxed in version.... here is the "no frame" version. I sent both off to Eve, so I guess we'll see what happens :)

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 7:43pm.

Archived comment by Black Spy:
Hooray, In Passing swag! A coffee mug would
be totally appropriate, and a t-shirt could also work. It's
tricky though -- as many people have pointed out, it's
incredibly difficult to find one quote that captures the
whole idea of the In Passing, since we don't want
people to think it's a site about bagels or porn. (Well, a
site JUST about bagels and porn.)

InPassing's hallmark is not letting clutter get in the way
of a great idea, so I think keeping designs simple
graphically (like some people mentioned) is good too.
And hey, thanks to those who liked Sneakery.com...and
Walter, I suppose we can seem a bit elitist at times, but
we're friendly spies, I swear! ;-)

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 3:17pm.

Archived comment by Passerby:
Putting .org is kind of geeky. I say just put -In Passing

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 2:30pm.

Archived comment by rebeldude0586:
most of the ones i've seen on all these comments are pretty good, u could make ur own line of awesome clothing with all this, but this is my favorite:

"Damn, urban natural selection fails again".

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 1:11pm.

Archived comment by Faithful Larvette:
I'm rather fond of the bagel quote for general usage. It has that ambiguous, creepy, yet intriguing feeling, plus the in-joke factor.

However I'm sure the other copy editors out there all got a kick out of this one:

"You're a human spellchecker then, basically? They pay you to do that?"
--One woman to another outside Ned's Bookstore

(Yes, they do :) see namelink)

Maybe we can pool our resources and order a batch made just for us.

First post. Hi Eve. Hi FL!

P.S. Purple is good.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 11:55am.

Archived comment by Hoss Man:
(disclaimer: all criticism below is intended to be constructive)

mistegirl, I totally dig you logo, but i'm not sure how well it would work on a T-Shirt.

"Boxed in" images tend to seem weird on clothing, people tend to think they look 'off' without knowing exactly why. I think it has a lot to do with the shirt curving all the way arround the body, but the art having a very clearly defined (square) border.

People tend to gravitate more towards shirt designs that either fade off at the edges, or have irregular, or rounded borders which aren't sharp, (something that seems like an extension of the design.)

In your case, having the quotes that are choped on the sides and the top re-enforces the border, and the boxed in feeling.

What I think would be seriously kick as, is if you removed the square border, and made the quotes fade off to various degress at various points. that would be sweet.

» reply to this comment

Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 06/14/2002 - 11:12am.

Archived comment by DataAngel:
"Utter sucky badness sounds not so bad right now."

Coffee mug. TOTALLY a coffee mug. I'd buy two!

» reply to this comment