Postcard of the Day
Jul. 25th, 2022 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ffloToday we close out Generic Week, here at Postcard of the Day, with the contemporary version, and varietals.
Why the UPC, which is a very specific thing, should have appeared on this new type, I'm not really sure. It reminds me of how annoying I find it that a UPC is stamped on (in ink, right on the thing) so many colorful patterned playground balls---the UPC being useful only at the time of sale, but messing up the beauty of the thing forever after, during its whole life of "real" use. I guess the idea here (with the card) is that the product-ness of the card, emphasized thus, sort of diminishes its individuality, as a UPC might if stamped on us. Machine recognition over interpersonal recognition? I dunno.
Anyhow, it's surprising how many variations of this type of card i found in a quick look-see. You can (look and) here:
Here there's an added gloss to get the joke across more directly.
With these two, we get the adding in of a specific place name.
And here the place name PLUS the gloss, this time in q marks.
With all zeros in the UPC numbers.
And now both of those, PLUS some imagery, as we start to lose the genericity.
California is colorful as well, plus includes ingredients, measurements, and directions.
And the only one to pick integers in order for the UPC numbering.
Let's come back outside the cut for this last one, which rounds up stops on I-5:
Why the UPC, which is a very specific thing, should have appeared on this new type, I'm not really sure. It reminds me of how annoying I find it that a UPC is stamped on (in ink, right on the thing) so many colorful patterned playground balls---the UPC being useful only at the time of sale, but messing up the beauty of the thing forever after, during its whole life of "real" use. I guess the idea here (with the card) is that the product-ness of the card, emphasized thus, sort of diminishes its individuality, as a UPC might if stamped on us. Machine recognition over interpersonal recognition? I dunno.
Anyhow, it's surprising how many variations of this type of card i found in a quick look-see. You can (look and) here:
Here there's an added gloss to get the joke across more directly.
With these two, we get the adding in of a specific place name.
And here the place name PLUS the gloss, this time in q marks.
With all zeros in the UPC numbers.
And now both of those, PLUS some imagery, as we start to lose the genericity.
California is colorful as well, plus includes ingredients, measurements, and directions.
And the only one to pick integers in order for the UPC numbering.
Let's come back outside the cut for this last one, which rounds up stops on I-5:
