design reverb

Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.

This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.

I wasn’t going to post anything regarding the Slashdot.org redesign contest. I figured everyone in the know, already knew. Seems like every design related blog had already posted information regarding the contest.

Well, it seems now the BBC has announced their version of the “Reboot” contest. Only this time they are not going to actually use the winning design as their final one.

“I think it’s worth pointing out from the very beginning that we are not asking people to provide million £ rebranding for us. Indeed we are NOT going to use or commission any designs for the final front page. Yes, we will turn the winning design into the homepage for a day – but that’s as a prize and as recognition for the winning producer’s efforts (and if they really don’t want us to, then we won’t). “

They must have seen the harsh words from many a professional designer who posted to Slashdot about their own contest. Seems that many think that a $4500 laptop is a bit on the lowside of the payment scale for a redesign of such a high traffic site as Slashdot. Slashdot doesn’t even try to defend this. I guess the so-called prestige of having redesigned Slashdot should be reward enough.

Sorry, but no thanks.