GO BALLISTIC
Australian publisher Ballistic Media is looking for computer-generated images to feature in its annual book Exposé 3. Any digitally created artwork is eligible, whether it’s 2D or 3D, for commercial use or personal entertainment. Send it in—it’s free and there’s no entry limit. Have your work judged by industry hot shots like Star Trek visual effects supervisor Dan Curry, feature film visual effects designer Eric Hanson (The Day After Tomorrow, Spider-Man, Bicentennial Man), and National Geographic magazine art director Chris Sloan. They’ll select images for a range of categories, including Character in Repose, Abstract & Design, Fantasy, Humorous, and Evocative. Deadline is Feb. 28. Selected artists receive a free copy of the book when released in August. www.ballisticpublishing.com

AN ANSWER TO THE BRAND BROUHAHA
Thank goodness the AIGA didn’t take itself too seriously when taking on the hefty task of publishing The Dictionary of Brand. The foreword, written by former Critique publisher Marty Neumeier, compares a collaborative team of “brand specialists” trying to define ubiquitous marketing jargon like brand audit and brand architecture to the legendary Hindu fable of Six Blind Men who try to identify an elephant by touch—“all of us are partly right, and all of us are wrong.” One of the more intriguing dictionary entries (there are 211) is BHAG: a “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” designed to focus an organization. Edited by Neumeier, designed by Willoughby Design Group, available on Amazon. www.aiga.org

DESIGN WORKS SOLD
Show us the money! After 22 years in the business, Hornall Anderson Design Works of Seattle accepted an acquisition offer from Omnicom Group. Now another cog in the mega media Daddy’s Diversified Agency Services network (more than 160 companies are listed, including design i-shops like Agency.com, Organic, Siegel & Gale), Hornall Anderson hopes to tap into the parent company’s global clientele. Whether that dream comes to fruition, the design firm is committed to hiring more creatives and investigating the possibility of moving into a larger space. Partner John Hornall’s announcement of retirement ran simultaneously with the acquisition. www.hadw.com

VISUAL RESERVE
When client Simple Shoes provided only the concept of its new anonymous sneaker as “anti-jock” and not the name, The Visual Reserve in Nashville, Tenn., had to rely on the pre-existing brand to create the ad campaign. Simple knows its customers: They’re not marathon runners or famous basketball players—they play dodgeball and kickball behind neighborhood elementary schools. As Visual Reservist David Bean says, “They’re not trying to compete with Nike.” In fact, the tagline they wrote rings true to their simplistic brand identity: “This shoe is definitely not endorsed by anyone.” Ads will run this spring in alternative weeklies like the Village Voice and LA Weekly. www.visualreserve.com

HYBRID ART
The Laguna Art Museum will be infested this spring with Paul Paiement’s paintings. His eye-catching entomologic studies in watercolor and egg tempera reveal bodies of beetles, ladybugs, and butterflies metamorphed into everyday human objects such as lightbulbs, pencil points, and golf clubs. Or, have the objects been metamorphosed into bugs? His series, Hybrids 1.0–3.5, will include 30 new paintings and a 10 x 11-foot mural featuring computer-activated flashing fireflies. Paiement’s latest upgraded series will be open for social dissection and discussion at the Museum March 6–July 3. Curated and organized by Tyler Stallings, who did not wing it. www.paulpaiement.com

ANDERSON RANCH ARTS
Formerly a sheep ranch, Anderson Ranch is now an artists’ residency compound nestled in the resort community of Snowmass Village, Colo., 10 miles from Aspen. Photographers, illustrators, sculptors, painters, printmakers—all are invited to apply for the 25–30 slots available for the 2005 season. Stays vary from two to six months. Current winter visiting artists include Kiki Smith, world-renowned potter Takashi Nakazato, woodturner David Ellsworth, and sculptor Robyn Horn. Applications are due April 1. If in the area, be sure to stop by Aspen’s Wintersköl celebration. Anderson Ranch sponsors a snow-sculpting competition every January, when teams work around the clock to transform 8-foot cubes of snow into freestanding sculptures. www.andersonranch.org