I’ve been digging on Ladytron’s EP single “Ghosts” — actually the Toxic Avenger remix. (Incidentally, it’s mislabeled as the Cassette Jam mix in the iTunes store; the 3:37 track is really the Toxic Avenger one, while the 6:49 one is the true Cassette Jam.)

I like the abstract cover art for the EP as well. So much so that I created an animated GIF out of it, using the inverse image of it as the second frame. Behold:

What I find visually interesting: The inversed version, with the black background, somehow looks more cartoony to me than the original white-background image. Especially the clawed hand in the center-right. I’m not sure I can explain why. Maybe it’s just because I’m so used to the original image? Or does the negative-space technique created by that white background somehow give the imagery more weight?

Judge for yourself. Hopefully you won’t be haunted by that seven-second flicker.

So, vanity license plates.

Whenever I see one — and I catch sight of at least one per day — part of me wonders why they’re still around. First impulse is to consider them so 1980s, and to assign the same outdated sensibility to the car/plate owner.

But then I consider: Despite 20-some years for the gee-whiz factor to fade, customized vanity plates are still effective. Because default plate numbers are an anonymous jumble of letters and numbers, a plate that spells out an actual word/phrase/name is going to stand out, and thus be memorable. Whether the aim is some level of marketing, an attempt at whimsy (as I assume the “A SINNER” plate above is), or just plain egotism, it works by breaking out of the clutter.

And sometimes, the presence of such a proprietary tag tells you to stay far away from that car’s bumper. Which is a bit ironic, considering the unspoken idea is to get close enough to actually read the thing (unless you have eagle-eye vision like me, with the aid of glasses).