It was one of the biggest upsets in sports history. It was the stuff of legend; seconds left on the clock, the "Hail Mary"-ish throw, the older brother watching from the press booth erupting into a moment of proud candid ebullience. And when it was over, and the Giants had reigned victorious against the undefeated Pats, they were rewarded with one hell of an ugly trophy: The unofficially titled "Vince Lombardi" Trophy.

Legend Paula Scher and Pentagram have unveiled their new identity system for NYCB, the country's preeminent ballet company, and perhaps the world's. Whether it is good or bad may not be the point; it's design speaks much more to the pragmatism of design than the need to create something beautiful and personal.

Important News Alert: A Graphic Designer Did Not Bring Down the Third Reich. That's right. You heard me. False alarm.

After Steve Jobs closed shop for the evening last night at MacWorld, Apple stock prices plummeted. Almost 10 points in a day. Some speculate it might be attributed to the new Macbook Air, a cutting edge, sexy little number that might be a little too ahead of it's time.

I'm deep into the final remaining pages of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and I can't begin to articulate what an incredible and life-changing book it's been. Michael Pollan has offered America a meditation on all things food, with all of its complexities and potentials. I dare anyone to read it and not change their diet.

In the last few months, three significant new logos have shook the design community with their radical (though remarkably similar) solutions. Everyone's much reviled NYC and London 2012 campaigns from Wolff Olins, the agency that designers love to hate, and the much lauded new logo for Sak's Fifth Avenue from Michael Beirut, the designer to which all designers kowtow. But if you ask moi, only one of them is valid as a logo.

I had the pleasure recently of seeing a few possible Oscar contenders (they've already received Golden Globe nods) on the big screen: Sweeney Todd, Juno, and There Will by Blood. And while they were all enjoyable and well-crafted, the one thing that stuck out for me as a comparison were their graphic choices regarding their title sequences; they were all diametrically opposed to one another.

It's one thing for an accounting firm to send out a fruit basket every holiday season to its client base—it's quite another thing for a design company. A good designer knows that its Christmas gift is really a marketing effort; done correctly, it can generate great buzz and be quite memorable. That's why I send out crap every year. Seriously.

"I will not ever go near naming a company ever again." That is literally the exact phrase I told a client yesterday. And I mean it with every piece of my whole body. After 4 naming projects this year, I'm throwing in the towel.

Naming a company is a job best left to people who name stuff for a living. Those naming firms charge at minimum between $30,000-$50,000 for their lowest tier of services, and if you ask me, they rightfully earn every penny they make. What's so dreadful about naming a company? EVERYTHING.

A few months back, probably around the heights of the summer, an ad campaign for a car insurance company aired—to the joys of myself and to the horrors of my friends and family.

This weekend I had the honor of experiencing Tino Sehgal's Kiss. It was quite possibly the single most powerful work of art I have ever experienced. Kiss is currently on exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Chicago until the end of the year. What is it? I have no idea.

Whenever a client looks at me like I have six eyeballs, just because I've presented them with a radically new idea, I immediately pull out my secret back-up plan- The Peace Symbol.

This year I'm hosting Thanksgiving for the first time. So, in addition to frenetically stressing over the condition of my apartment, and performing the obligatory "spring" cleaning in autumn, I'm also trying to learn how to cook more than the six items currently in my culinary repertoire (popcorn, toast, Easy Mac, etc)—none of which are apropos for Bird Day. In short, I'm going nucking futs.

With all of the buzz about the movie Helvetica, now is a perfect opportunity to talk about the wonderful world of font obsession. Everyone's got them; though some fonts seem to affect people particularly poignantly. Futura seems to have a tenacious grasp on brilliant movie directors.

I just finished reading 79 Short Essays on Design by Michael Beirut, Graphic Design's unofficial spokesperson to the world. They are a collection of recently written essays from his editorial work, as well as his blog posts on Design Observer.