Design and digital culture NEWS // November 2004
Luv
the concept - luv the copy - luv the work. Mix your (own) poster store
with your (own) excellent portfolio and you get to meet The
Heads of State!
J.M.
Weston? L'art de la chaussure or the art of shoemaking since 1891.
Another
new design hub on the block with stunning flash design for each sections: STILPLATZ.
You
have gotta see the intro for the idFLUX project.
Simply amazing transitions and when black, white and grayscale become
the new way cool palette.
Click view to see the animated movie designed by Kurtzmedias, music
by my good friend, Philippe
Gully.
Designing
Futures seeks to redefine the identity and future of Western Australian
craft and (industrial) design by fostering a culture of innovation
and sustainability.
Streamlined
and multi-languages site for LineaQuattro that
uses lots of white space to display beautiful pictures of their products.
This
is a classy photographer. All the shots are simply outstanding! Form,
comfort, taste and space sections awaits you. Francine
Zaslow 
is
a true powagirrl!
Soap
Design specializes in cd box design. The array of their work is
pretty amazing. Creativity on warp speed!
Inside Tokyo
Designers Block and Tokyo
Designers Week for fans of industrial design - you are going to
be swept off your feet! via designboom.
Nove is
the home of a very talented designer. The quality of the compositions
that spans over many different styles makes him an accomplished professional.
Croma,
Dura, Forma??? Cool fonts by Dislogic,
home of designer Nicolas Deslé.
Have
a look at this optical illusion.
Amazing - nothing is animated but our eyes trick our brain. Read an explanation about
it.
Mindblowing
illustration skills and a totally innovative navigation / loading system
for Earthstetic ||. Worth visiting
from top to bottom from one of my favorite designer. Must see.
It's
official!!! Firefox 1.0 launches.
Be empowered to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than
with any other browser.
Redesigned
from top to bottom! tdcollins _music is
one of the most promising composer - his music is powerful, inspired
and executed with incredible discernment in tones and instrumententation.
Storytelling
is one of the enticing and value-added way to captivate attention and
if you have 7 Designers, the
better. I know we've seen quite a couple of those chemistry symbol like
navigation - but check this one out! The animations are very cute!
“In
a rousing keynote at the 2004 HOW Design Conference, speaker and author
Daniel Pink declared that designers will play a huge role in the emerging
economy. All you passionate creatives, unorthodox thinkers and unbridled
innovators are poised for world domination. Who knew?
For the 2,400 design professionals in the room, Pink's words were golden:
The future--the near future, at that-- belongs to the right-brained.
The audience roared.”
Follow
Your Heart by Bryn Mooth with Daniel Pink
Interview
with Ugly Dolls designer Sun-Min
Kim and
inside look at a success in the making. “Back in 2001, she forever
changed the course of history when she sent her then long-distance
boyfriend, David Horvath, a hand-sewn plush doll modeled after a little
character he frequently doodled into the corners of his correspondence
with her.
The apron-wearing little fellow was named Wage, and he was the very
first Uglydoll.”
Two
inseparable designers who founded Indien SHTML (Rip) are going solo and
looking for gigs in London. Daniel &
Albert design skills are excellent. Their new site has got an easy
flow and nice size screenshots.
Teamzero (Da
TeamBronx) is home to a fantastic illustrator and designer of character
figurines. I particularly like his hiphop figures are who are very realistic
of both style, culture and body proportions. You can read a telling interview
of Tim Tsui who
shares his aspirations and recent work.
Because
50 years is a long-long time - 50 Years of Rock'n'Roll site condensed
lots of information and made it an appealing journey through this musical
movement.
That's
an interesting project! Using photography + animations and some visual
cues for navigation which was prepared for Europe 4 Kids - Poland.
Great way to discover and learn geography.
Yuri
Melnicomm represents the quintessence of what photography is all
about! Likened to photojournalism, he exercises his keen eye in capturing
cultural events and convey the on the move momentum. His archive is
a jewel!
Oh
my!!! Astounding web site redesign for Noedesign!
How about if you 'flip' the interface and use it as the 'back' button?
Creative and innovative. I LUV the character design as if it was a toy
to convey that it's all about commercial work and convey a sense of fun.
Dan took the design far enough that all details in the different section
makes for a homogenized experience. Must see site!
What Böwer site
shows what they can do in their field of expertise, industrial design
with emphasis on commercial furniture design. Some of their units simple
lines are really beautiful.
Newly
updated sites to revisit:
/
Stoller + Company
/
SymmetryLab
/
When I ride my bike
Illustrators
portfolios and sites that have been recently redesigned. All promising
talents to watch for!!
\
Cengiz Bodur illustration portfolio has been redesigned!
/
mimi*online whose
characters will become nice toys in the future.
Artlab is
Amoeba Corp's gallery/retail shop. It is a space where the creative people
at Amoeba Corp. and selected contributors are able to showcase their
talent.
Items that are sold and displayed include works of art and design (both
new and old) from the disciplines of illustration, painting, graphic
design, photography, sculpture, product design, music, writing and any
other form of creative expression that relates to art
and design culture.
2stepsback is
a travelling exhibition of sizable proportions since 80 artists are included
in the show.
New
studio on the block - Moodesign -
uses simple inverted graphics in a schewed interface to show their stuff.
Identity / print work is awesome and their website design skills mature.
“Around
the world, designers share common threats and challenges in their profession.
What do you feel is the biggest threat? In my region, the biggest threat
to the design profession is...”
Poor or receding economy -> 12%
Inadequate education, training or standards for design professionals
->
6%
Lack of design appreciation or awareness by the general public -> 85%
What
happens when four xtra talented illustrators band together? Portland
Studios for one. Expect to see amazing work from artists at the top
of their game!
The
first time ever that there are 3 Design Forte Reviews published. As you
will see - all are unique - all are different in their media and approach
- and all have the same quality in common: uber talent and having it
expressed with exceeding excellence. Fast connection preferred + download
intensive.
WALLDESIGN
litterally sweeps you off the floor!
Gosh! When I discovered this site I could not leave without having looked
at all - but I mean ALL - the projects. What a visual experience!!!
Get ready to be swept off by designers that are taking 'faux' and 'trompe-l'oeil'
to a new height and reinterpretating environmental design.
I know that interior decorating - especially for commercial spaces -
often amounts to a corporate 'packaged' look that was suggested from
some marketing research reports (mind you not that it's irrelevant to
know that your audience hates red as well as acid jazz).
But in this particular case, this design studio is tasking for large
surfaces and ripping rules governing conventional commercial environments.
Be prepared for an extraordinary inside look that might get you to want
to go on a shopping spree for paint, rollers and brushes and start that
project you have long delayed.
Never before have I seen such an amount of delightful visuals applied
to whatever surfaces in order to create a new and fresh atmosphere.
Be it outside, inside, in malls, on walls, big or small furniture, there
is a radiant overall effect that is simply breathtaking.
These snapshots are only to wet your appetite, the actual pictures are
astounding.
See it differently.
“Searching
for new forms of approximation to the seventh art, ROJO proposes
a trilogy of short films to be performed in an atypical cinema session
where departing from a script and from a few already filmed images, make
the image and sound montage in real time with the aim to invent the live
cinema.”
Visionaria, International Video Festival in Siena (Italy)
on 4 November 2004.
One
of the eldest site to be displayed in netdiver portfolio section is the once
upon a forest personal playground of Joshua Davis. I remember vividly
how the critics and everyone in the community had had their socks pulled
off just by looking at the early iterations. Just learned that the site
is regurlarly updated. Check it out.
The notion of rendering art by first programming sequences and playing
with the visual components until you have the Eureka moment is a breakthrough
in computer generated art.
Eye
Candy ready for download.
How about a new wallpaper?
Louise
Hyatt the
art of new contextual realities. Some do brilliantly with paint others
with design, this powagirrrl does
it with light and lenses.
The breadth of her photography portfolio - should I say - the quality
sustained in her portfolio - is short of brilliant.
If on the average there is a ratio of 1 on 20 takes to get just one
good photograph, Louise does not seem to burn rolls. So either she is
extremely lucky or extremely talented. I tend to lean and side with the
latter. Which does mean - hard work is required to achieve such.
The first thing that struck me is the subdued elegance. Elegance in
sometimes not traditional settings (check some of the wedding pictures)
whereas it's really all about the subject and not the background... but...
wait there is a play of forces at work.
One setting the other in the best light which is called mastering the art
of the pose and gently persuading your subjects to soulfully assist.
Equillibrium in broken in lines. Ouch... this one is rather hard to
achieve. Composing non-linear photography requires that you are capable
of seeing outside from the lense, the perfect framing for a specific
shot.
Ode to life and diversity, to happy and not so happy moods, to etheral
and real, to poetic and realistic, to exalting moments to simple ones,
this photographer is one of the most versatile I have reviewed.
Seventhmodel is
an extraordinarily all around talented designer portfolio. His layouts
are slick and manicured and his animations well thought out. Now go feed
your eyes.
As
usual excellent coverage from Designboom one
of my favorite industrial / interior / architecture mag. Cheers to Birgit
(mega powagirrrl) who at the helm as editor, strives to constantly publish
innovation in design, content and international event coverage.
Don't miss the 100% design 2004 / 100%
tiles exhibition.
BUPLA claims
to be “une agence de dépannage graphique” coarsely
translated as a repair & fix agency that uses a mix of vector and
pixel art for their interface. Original, eclectic and fresh. We're pleased
to welcome a new powagirrrl.
99
ROOMS installed where you least expect it. A most unusual art installation!
How do you go about making an art installation whereas you can have
your visitors seek and find their way through?
99 ROOMS invites you to make an incredible voyage into rundown buildings
- I really don't have a clue if these paintings are incorporate within
the structure itselves or painted over and integrated withing the site,
but one thing is for sure lots of work and planning went into making
this an immersive experience.
It makes you appreciate perhaps your personal surroundings.
It makes you appreciate that in years long gone, some locations were
bustling with human and worthwhile activities can stand later...in decrepited
states... all but forsaken... until the keen eyes of an artist can instill
value.
It makes you appreciate that even in the dire places, art can live.
Sometimes you need to seek (by mouseovering) the areas whereas you activate
and animate the paintings.
Some are poignantly dreadful as are the backdrops. Others are stunningly
beautiful. Others again - just mystifies the viewer. But all were painstakingly
chosen.
I did go through all the rooms myself and sometimes the level of difficulty
is almost too much and somewhat kicking the fun out but with perseverance
was able to visit this unusual and unique exhibit.
To the team of artists and self-invented curators - kudos!
Though
I find the play on word of 'Think' to be rendered by a too litteral rendering
- there are hidden treasure in 220178 site.
The navigation that (yet) again uses the square boxes is interesting.
You
have got to see BOSQ site for the unusual
navigation system. You need to use the arrows in the portfolio to choose
and enhance view. Although I find it hard to assess the quality of the
work (snapshots are too small) - the technical skills are definitely
evident.
The Box
Doodle project has been updated. This is an incredibly original,
smart and fun way to recycle boxes and paper scraps. Have a look! If
you wish, you can participate too.
Can't
help but luv minimalist sites with layers of subtle visual artifacts. Lard
Designs excellent portfolio and a new cutting edge London firm on
the block.
Zeroin dedicates
itself in fostering Greek design and aiding it to breach international
frontiers while simultaneously enhancing the import of world-wide design
trends and directions within the domestic community.
The aim is set on providing the support necessary for talented individuals
and surfacing artists communicate with their audiences. In other words,
zeroin is a space where peoples ideas, work, visions and thoughts will
be presented, exchanged, displayed and shared.
An
interactive experimental and graphical way to talk about anarchism, break
its old fake revolutionnary look, and show people they can think by themselves... OPFA (on
pourrait faire autrement) is a stunning flash site whereas the user experience
is centered around curiosity and discovery!
The loading sequence is something I have never seen before.
Wanna
see real web pros at work? Check Produce
Media portfolio. They know their stuff. All their projects have this
eloquent simplicity paired with a little visual edge. Impressive!
Another
random art and algorithm exploration linked to mouse movements and clicking. Gazing-into-Raindrops.
Lots to see.
Madmerch has
got a brand new face brought to you by 2advanced.
Also they offer a great deal. Are you a designer who wishes to design
your own Ts and sell them? Check them out!
Watch
out for the browser resizing (which could have been avoided imo), Engine is
an explorative interface where you zig and zag to find the content. To
their credits it is well done.
UNDO graffiti
style from NYC and Barcelona for their new site. Heavy duty actionscripting
and xml coding to bring this site to life. Truly original.
What
happens when two illustrators collaborate? Hello
Duudle is a 1,5 meter long book filled to the brim with duudles -
they pinged and ponged the poor duudles back and forth between Denmark
and Britain and never actually met; an interesting way to work and a
completely unpredictable result.
If
you dare, why not use all the screen? This is Mr
A intent! Interesting concept. Some of the images are fuzzy and full
of artifacts but it still works. At least it's consistent.
Grave
day for US citizens! Artwork Chaz Maviyane-Davies; heads-up by Robert
L. Peters.
In
troubled times, especially when the consequences of speaking up can have
dire consequences, historically and proof, until today, artists have
resorted to using an alias, to protect their identity and sometimes their
lives.
“Martielo Toledo is
a fashion designer from Brazil. His face is a mystery. Martielo just
only appears on pictures with a mask, inspired by Mexican fighters from
the 50s, his nickname is EL ROSTRO DE CYDONIA. The site shows his strange
influences.”
Be
amazed! This is truly the kind of engaging and immersive project that
makes the web such a great platform for storytelling and user experience.
Kudos to the team. This is a must see!
Presenting STYLE WARS with words
from Code and Theory: “The
site itself is a groundbreaking piece of web art, we hope. Thousands
of photographic images were culled from archives to create a panoramic
and navigable representation of the decade in a singular street along
which end users can walk.
This rich and engaging activity is designed to allow anyone the opportunity
to not just witness, but be apart of, a frozen moment in early hip hop
street culture. Along the virtual street, users can see animations of
graffiti being made, never-before-seen footage from the movie, photos
of urban fashions, real historical drawings, and lifestyle shots of B-boys
and B-girls.”
From
an idea to a business in 15 days, with a month-long selling season: Lowercase
Tee has politically and otherwise active customers from 39 states!!!
You know the date is fast approaching...
“We
want to be different. Our creativity stems from inexhaustible thoughts,
hopes, dreams and fears.” Prior statement is a most profound and
accurate description of what creativity is all about. Now guess who is
behind such? Gerd Priebe!
Who's he? Running an architectural design firm. But just not any: his
vision enfolds designing industrial centers to residential to store to...
across all the same recognizable signature. Priebe's design include a
lot of curves which shape and drape the immediate environment in a less
agressive manner and yet, embodied in a strong modern design.
To me, it spells out life and light instead of morbid glass and steel
cubes.The details are exquisite and when you look at some of the realizations
- it is hard not wanting to be there - to experience the location in
situ. Now think of some of the buildings around you - don't you agree
that a lot of these convey a level of impersonal disconnect that we just
wish to avoid them... as if they were not designed for humans but for
machines.
Cold and claustrophobic, an ode to venture capital more than to urban
living.
Nice
interview by Creative Behavior with one of the powagirrrls - Zela
Lobb - illustrator with much talent!
Having
being involved with reviewing and judging music bands sites for a number
of years - Kinito - stands out. Actually
one of the best design I have seen. Vibrant colors and the navigation
by mousing over each part of the index picture serves to enhance each
member - emphasizing the message. It's all about them!
Really like the graphic treatment and composition.
Because
the future is in their hands! Sirulian is sixteen and in his submission
text he mentions that he's put in a lot of hours and already has faced
the 'headaches' of being a designer!
Someone to watch for!
-> more
news
^
