Netdiver (ISSN 1911-866X)

Vogelhäus German for bird house is an independent freelance graphic studio slowly carving a place for themselves. Gotta luv the simple neutral interface with dragging functionalities to scroll right to view more of their selected work.

Someone to watch for.

:Udated: Mathieu Hubert the brilliant! Everything he touches (photography, graphic design, mixed media, identity) turns into visual gold. Now sporting a new interface, since he was last featured – always getting better and better and better.

A couple of years already he joined the swelling ranks of the new creative DIY movement with his original mixed media and recycled objects.

Stereoscopik is a photography experiment. Wonder how he was capable to gather all the different viewers?

Received a cool collection of best wishes postcards from Kolle-Bolle a French graphic design collective. They all look pretty nerdy and by wearing this orange helmlet.. wonder if it’s any indication on how strongly they are ready to defend their ideas. Probably so.

Guess what? One their strenghts is type based designs and are behind Mathieu Hubert new website.

:Udated: Upload completed! No rest for the restless RESN who once again build another crazy interface design for their new website, which is most unconventional, to say the least.

If you’re so inclined, yes, they are hiring!

Maxwell Lord is a by-product of his russian inheritage and global street culture. His illustrations spell his roots in bold confident strokes, with layers upon layers of details while other works are graffiti tags.

He’s done some pretty good identities too and is currently looking for assignments.

What an intriguing title for this photography experiment: We’re All Gonna Die – 100 meters of existence by photographer Simon Høgsberg.

Imagine stationing yourself at the same spot, in this case a railroad bridge, over a period of 20 days to capture 178 passerby and mounted them into a single image?!?!

Seamless, it feels like a huge panoramic camera sweep.

:Udated: Because he graduated as an architect, Pawel Piotr Przybyl aka Siedemzero this training sure shaped his capacity to do slick motion design and animations comprising of lots of 3D space renderings.

Since 2006, he is the senior art director — motion designer at MTV — check this MTV made promo movie.

He has numerous talents and design is but one of them. Luv his print work reeking urban style. Great to see a long time Netdiver alumni doing so well and was recently recognized as an ADC Young Gun.

Welcome to the incredibly surrealist world of creations that is part of Musubi portfolio. Although not a photograph himself, everything he does has to with working with some of the best photographers in staging, lighting, propping, art directing and conceptualizing hyper beautiful visual collages. Dazzling details and unexpected use of objects.

Jaw dropping work!

image The flower power Pompadour head piece

image Siren and pond of pearls

image Shallow water filled with red/pink palette flowers

See more photography

:Udated: David Löhr aka Scienceunderfire has a knack for creating amazing animations, matte paiting and fully animated 3D robotic characters. Freshly graduated, he has even taken a successful dip into stage and costume design as well.

Check Similo and the Dropping Knowledge projects.

Supernature presents Rabbit Wonderland interactive installation.

Rabbit Wonderland is a series of innovative outdoor LED interactive sculptures that aims to bring color, laughter and warmth to the streets of Shanghai during the Shanghai eArts Festival 2008. It Is a crossover project with W+K Shanghai.

The Tuned Stairs project is a playful musical experience conceived by Federico Urdaneta for the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

The installation turns a stairway into a musical instrument. Each step plays a metallophone note as the visitor steps on it. Visitors create their own musical composition according to how they go up or down the stairs.

Interview by SHIFT. Discover the creative world of Ms. Mimi and Mr. Pong are a design duo under the collective title, Mimipong . Their latest project, The Saddest Place on Earth, gathers the creative artists, writers and musicians we all love to come together and conquer sorrow!

Gotta luv the beautiful plush toys, the packaging and branding they did for the project.

From Russia with love comes Airdesign, a self described design laboratory who are really producing great.. design. Lovely identity, packaging, posters, etc. Really impressed by the diversity of both expression and conception abilities. This must be a fun bunch because their work is shouting with life.

Shown one of my fav flyer.

Qubik is the design studio of Joe Gilmore and is pleased to make his website portfolio hold in a couple of pages. Spreading his work in well organized thumbnails invites the viewer to have a quick overall appreciation for his past projects and talent.

Well done!

Rightly so befitting the moment as artic cold weather is hitting Montreal, Sylvain Dumais, a fellow quebecois now living in Toronto, has made one of his childhood dreams come true. As a photographer, he has made it his business to capture people in different surroundings.

Don’t miss the ice fishing section, which is a yearly native sport here.

typo/graphic posters is a directory of typographic and graphic posters which offers a very frustrating navigation and could easily be improved but is worth bookmarking if looking for mostly type based artworks.

Mashed list of favorites:

poster by Anton Sokolowski

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poster by Chris Henley

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poster by Greig Anderson

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poster by Joe Gilmore

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poster by Yair Cohen

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poster by Vasava

:Udated: On Jan 13 it was the birthday of someone very special and the web would never have been the same without him. Happy B-DAY Jeffrey! Brought to you by the Way Back machine — remember your caption? “THIS SITE IS ALWAYS GROWING. ARE YOU?”

Dr.Web cool image, circa 2000.

We recreated your “I BET THEY’RE WATCHING ME RIGHT NOW” (.gif animation circa 2000) to bring a smile on your face. And finally, look what we dug up just for you ;D

Nostalgica, the Close-up interview.

Fantastic! Antoine + Manuel are graphic designers based in Paris who spread stunning and often time three-dimensional creations. Commissioned by top fashion designers, art and public organizations, they even dip into adorning your interior with lovely decorative stickers, wallpapers and objects.

Soon to be released a first compilation book of their work.

Passing along the right recipe to use to create a rich black versus the k default setting.

Default K = 100
Rich Black C = 90 M = 60 Y = 30 K = 100

Gabriel Chacon aka Chakz just launched his KAOZ serie fashion line of sharp urban tees and messenger bags. Common in all, raw doodled like characters which the models have fun emulating the inherited attitude of each tee design.

Raw, fresh and driven.

Once in a while the quest for excellence hits the diamond level and this is what TNOP is about. After merging in 2006 with bePOS|+|VE
design, they now have offices in Chicago (US), Bangkok (TH) and Firenze (IT).

Discover sections upon sections of great visual communication and graphic design projects.

Just found this amazing montage by Will Pesta in Anti issue #8 — Theme: Glasses, Eyes, Look.

Recession Tips For Web Designers by Jeffrey Zeldman

“I know something about surviving bad times, having started my agency, Happy Cog, at the dawn of the dot-com bust. Of course, the recession we’re in now may end up making the dot-com bust look like the years of bling and gravy. But the bust was rough enough at the time.”

Found these enigmatic photo montages casting 40-50s characters in modern day situations and executed by Mira Ruido who claims to be a freelance illustrator and sound designer.

It is well known that Issue 0 (the first one) is the make or break of a new print magazine — hence named 0. Its survival depending solely on how sales go. Then, there might be a second issue. No guarantee.

The biggest efforts are put into designing a jaw dropping cover. Many Issue 0 become still born magazines. Out there, because of their incredible graphic, visual and technical qualities, although disappeared altogether from market, they resurface and stock avid collectors shelves.

Thus, a cover sells. Most books catch us by first impression, and that is the intent of why a jacket or cover is designed. So here’s a pearl for you: if only for finding instant stimulation, or to appreciate the variety or to proof one of your concepts, hours and hours of browsing awaits in The Book Cover archive.

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via Jason Santa Maria

Are you familiar with Piero Fornasetti? He was a Milan painter, a sculptor, an interior decorator, an engraver of art books, a creator of more that 11,000 items, a deviser of sceneries and customs, an organizer of international exhibitions and events. As far as the variety of decorations is concerned, Fornasetti’s production of objects and furniture is one of the largest of the 20th century.

He is the one who also has created the modern Mona Lisa. The enigmatic woman’s face has been reproduced on just about any media..

Detourmoves a company that creates contemporary canvas (screensavers) for flat screens, came up with a clever idea based on his “Theme and Variations” concept, the Fornasetti Moves.

First and foremost, Blank Roast is an ecological and accredited coffee manufacturer based in Germany. Who can pass up on a good cup of coffee in the morning?

Secondly, luv their website. It’s just the right balance of information between the eye grabbing visuals based on their packaging. With the nice little iconic system leading to the different roasts, viewers receive pertinent information.

Simple, minimalist, beautiful.

Guess what these objects are (for)? On first sight kind of hard to figure out isn’t? That’s because Alfred van Elk which is a Dutch design industrial studio with more then 25 years of experience, received more than 25 design awards (!!) and creativity, stamps everything they touch.

Projects vary from small domestic appliances and packaging to consumer electronics and project furniture.

Picture #1 Oyster Plateau (biodegradable)

Picture #2 Passage strategic board game

:Udated: Adhemas Batistas is selling colors by art directing, designing and illustrating some of the most memorable projects, of one was the fantastic website he created for the Havaianas (Brazil) that became an internet sensation and putting him on the map sorta speaking, almost overnight.

His style has been emulated all over the world, aspirante indulging in his explosive concepts to hone theirs and generating a trend in graphic design. 2 years later, his portfolio is restocked with fresh projects. Have a look.

Although this Internet meme happened a little while ago, can’t pass up sharing it — to all the CSS jocks — this one is for you:

Give Up and Use Tables

Miniature is the new beautiful! Ingenious, amusing and almost huggable (^!^) whatever happened to this high concept product by Sony — Senseware, a little TV that rest in your hand?

Or the NUM Key Pad chairs which would aptly offer extra seating when being grilled by clients in the conf room? You could even cook up an inside secret code as to <who> gets which number.

For example, <C> to be awarded to culprit of the mess.

Nevermindus acrylic diamonds baby — the new meaningful bling in town selon Hafsteinn Júlíusson is growing jewelry. Literally! More pictures in store.

Vitra has manufactured furniture designs by Charles & Ray Eames and George Nelson since 1957. Building on this foundation over the years, the company has developed a wide range of furnishings for the office, for the home and for public spaces in collaboration with progressive designers.

Luv the Verner Panton chair which is now manufactured in a child size format, something impossible 35 years ago proof that good design always passes the test of time.

Apathy is The New Art was created by the group known as The Erasers. In a conversation with Giorgos Kakanakis one of the members, and in reply to my own my gosh, I hope you are wrong, follows some thoughts to tinker with.

“It is a strong statement, but it’s true for us. I think that everyone is influenced by the global but also by the local landscape that surrounds them. In Greece — art — is on a very superficial level (in general) and I believe that one could make this point on a global level as well. Of course this is a big discusion and there are a lot of exceptions to this (very general) point.

I (as well as the people that I work with) like work that creates conflict. This seems to be a part that is missing in a lot of contemporary work. Many people shy away from conflict, sometimes rationalizing this in that, confrontational art must necessarilly lead to didacticism..etc…”

Do you know the Diva Syndrome? What is Egoware?

Long lasting nicknames that are absolute antethesis to what John Meada posted: “(He) is noting how fresh ideas often come from professionals that allow ego to give way to the naivete of their youth.”

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via Twitter

Faces! Our face is the great definer of who we are. People recognize us, saluting how different we are from any other, apart from having an identical twin and then, even so, there are notable differences.

Pak Fung Wong has made it his business to photograph faces and as you will see in the people in studio collection, the portraits are capturing just that.

UK based? Want – need a desk space? Carsonispace is a five desks area available for rent that just opened up at Carsonified HQ to be a co-working environment.

Just shoot Ryan Carson an email at ryan at carsonified dot com if you’re interested!

Well it’s been a busy year for Eve Duhamel who usually lives in Montreal, is now based in Berlin for the current while. Her new work has become increasingly self-assured, especially her paintings, is showing so.

Still exhuberant, fresh and popping brigh colors.

Carole Gautier and Eugénie Favre make up the design collective Polkaouistiti and upon landing on their black and white interface, you are greeted with a huge logo, then an equally huge manifesto is posted. In fact, everything is huge, including their talent.

I find their work personal and by using bold graphics, favoring black and accentuating with colors, gives it an edge with a somewhat dreamy quality to it.

Three guys with three overdrived imagination make up the collective Venour who just launched their new website that favors humor and silly little animations to take us to the hidden sections.

They dip into new media, illustration, VJ, art, entertainment, own a shop.. busy-busy guys.

Josh Cochran illustrations seem to always juggle complex information and manages to combine these in interesting concepts avoiding the pitfalls of over designing.

SONIC is a New York based design studio specializing in the development of consumer electronic products, household appliances, medical equipment and structural packaging.

Check out this pacifier-style thermometer with an orthodontic nipple makes it easy to take baby’s temperature in a natural and noninvasive way.

:BkRev: Hot off the press: Geometric, a graphic art and pattern fonts book. The first ever book published by the talented gals at Kapitza it comes with a CD containing 100 pattern fonts which is probably the most extensive pattern collection available from any foundry.

This colorful collection is almost dizzying! How the authors managed to compile such a wide array of patterns underlines how undertaking this task points to a real passion – almost an obsession.

Fantastic, the fact that they supply the CD containing all the fonts and ready to use for your own compulsive pattern designs. Last but not least, it includes a useful font index and a smartly explained tutorial section.

Vincent Van Gogh said:
“I am always doing
what I cannot do yet,
in order to learn how to do it.”

PingMag, the Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” will be taking an extended hiatus, and will not be updated for the foreseeable future.

Let’s finish 2008 in grand style and welcome 2009 with high expectations of discovering new talents. Soooo totally creative, and cutting edge, and sitting (definitely) out of the box are the works of The Rainbowmonkey.

This is the home base and personal playground of designer, musician and artist Markus Hofko. Don’t miss his signature work for his main music project Okyo.

Did I say wow! See you on the other side.

Refreshment served! Ideas! A closer look at creativity!

“One of the most daunting task for a designer is to generate ideas. Sometimes this task is considered a minor undertaking for unknowing people. Why so? Because the results may look convincingly simple. Deceitfully simple. Nada. This is not the case as you may well know.

So how do we in fact become proficient idea generators? First, ideas = creativity. The root of creativity stems from the word creation which
is to create from nothing. Nice theoretical assumption. Now what is the practical side?”

Gotta luv this ultra minimalist one pager website concept that plays literally on a metaphor of black and white to make up for Contrast. They state: We do web apps — We’re pretty good.

Yosoh has relaunched a new website. He creates memorable ceramics and design. Maybe an odd match but one he has taken full advantage of.

“In grad school getting my MFA in Ceramics, I met a graphic designer named Larry Geiger who showed me this program called Photoshop. Completely enthralled by all the things he could do, I began to see the computer in a completely different light. That Christmas break, the chair of the art department gave me his building key. But instead of logging studio time, I snuck into the computer lab and spent the next 30 days glued to the screen.”

Atelier Utopia is “a transversal laboratory of ideas, a virtual container that really joins together the passion for art, design, fashion and everything that can become communication.”

Well rounded pitch isn’t? I particularly like these suspension lamps.

Keep Your (Design) Job Right Now by Greg Huntoon

“There are tough decisions being made in conference rooms and owners’ offices all over the world right now, and your name might be inextricably on one of the cut lists. So, let’s assume, for the sake of this article, that you are on the chopping block, but you are in the gray area.. ”

Hapchanced on this book by Rex Ray that compiles pages upon pages of his recognizable motifs and designs. It is one of those treasures to cherish since I have a passion for forms and colors.

He has taken his collages and paintings to a new level of visual delight. His style, reminescent of the kitschy 70’s is infused with unrivalled candor and playfulness.

Totally awesome WADEZIG! Which name hints at nothing, showing End of the Beginning issue (of?) and I wouldn’t know how to pronounce the name – but wait and see. Ah! This is a really rad website – simple interface with kewl scripting tricks and absolutely gorgeous apparel.

See for yourself!

Found this new type foundry, NewbauLaden that offers a series of really useful fonts. Nice website too.

Working on a new version of your site, R2 (graphic design and art direction) is a good example on how to keep enough of your work visible till then. The only thing missing – is a title in the document.

Btw this is something that I encounter more and more, it’s really important both for search engine catalogs and for bookmarking purpose. How do I know – who is yet another ‘untitled document’?

Dan Funderburgh serving patterns on apparel, graphic design, even wallpapers (pretty cool ones indeed) since 2003.

Designboom interview with Vince Frost.

“.. the harder it is the more challenging it becomes. At the end of the day we’re a service. We’re just trying to help people. We (designers) are not mysterious people, our work is really straight forward, it just takes a lot of effort to listen really hard and to explore..”

Discover an artist, Oliver Vernon whose style is containing chaos with beautifully complex compositions and forms.

It’s about time somebody shows the true side of this ugly war. Suzanne Diaz has launched this billboard campaign named Soldiers Face who are alive.. and traumatized. Beautiful, vulnerable, and human.

Isn’t it time we worship peace instead?

OKAYBOSS is the launchpad for talented illustrator Hazim Abdul Hamid aka Jimbo.. whew! What is interesting about his folio is that he is litterally using a platoon of the same character wearing different head gears and goggles each presenting a different piece all this package with humor and flash running interface.

Just discovered this amazing resource for animation, VFX and motion graphics for advertising and broadcast designers and fans called STASH magazine available as a monthly DVD.

Watch trailer issues to see what’s inside!

This cutie ain’t a photograph nor a toy but in fact, it is a painting executed by Nate Ronniger who makes it his modus vivendi to use familiar toys, intricately texturized paper folding and paint them in storytelling ways.

Execution is stellar!

Vanna Bowles creates mostly monochromatic spectacular illustrations usign relief which adds drama to her vignettes and builds emtionally charged mechanical paper sculptures.

Must see!

WoW! Most of us spend 10 hours + a day sitting in front of our puters and Herman Miller Embody chair intends to address all our postures issues.

Fantastically weel done flash website.

Diego Bellorin aka empk works as an independent Art director and Graphic designer in Barcelona & Paris, developing and realizing contemporary design projects across various related sectors.

The voice of USS Enterprise is gone. Au revoir Majel Barret!

What’s in a cover? Eye Magazine reveals behind issue #70 design process. Interesting that motion graphics meets print.

Terrific conceptual photographer Van Vincent is a master in this genre. He likes to play with objects and defying gravity and other unusual takes in his shoots.

Tronic designs a Sony Style Sweet spot. Nice animation.

Ouch! Just cut yourself with paper or worst? Found these wacky bandages on Fredflare for small bobos.

It’s definitely the right time of the season for good wishes, etc. A number of years back, after being asked the question over and over in interviews: “Why are women under represented in the industry?”

The short answer boils down to “until men can have babies or caring for them does become a societal responsibility – the situation won’t change.”

I wanted to do something positive about this and decided to start the Powagirrrls directory to honor women who rock the design scene with more than pink design. Regardless of their on-going discipline, they get double appearance (listing) on Netdiver.

Long introduction to a project, The Girl Effect, that the good folks at Grow Interactive have produced which struck a deep chord this morning.

Please take time to view it, ponder and do something about this if you can. Never underestimate the power of one.

Lovely card I just received designed by typozon and us extending our wishes of PEACE and LOVE! That’s really all that matters.

And I {Wish} for? by Carole Guevin“As the new year is nigh my heart is filled with a mix of desires and wishes. I will pretend the sky is NOT the limit and share with you what I wish for ….”

Michele D’Auria new film for Honda which is a beautifully melancholic concept that revolves around following your dreams.

Presenting the sweet twins Baby Di Di from House of Liu as spotted on Rocket Fist.