Design and digital culture NEWS // February 2007
Dig
my shoes! For Fall 2007, PF Flyers will
debut the Perrin, the true fusion of a dress shoe and sneaker.
To mark this momentous occasion, PF Flyers has incorporated unique Duckie
Brown French textiles into the shoes in extremely limited-edition
quantities.
He's
got groove baby! Ricardo Marques wants
to be a star and seems to be apt to deliver the right moves.
His website proves it!
Hint-hint to aspiring musicians, DO invest in building your online presence.
Web
1.0. Web 2.0.. Web 3.0??? Web
4.0?!?!? by Seth Godin
“The web changed my life. I can't live without wikipedia or Google.
But ultimately, I'm disappointed. Almost every day, the web lets me down.
Web4 is what I'm really waiting for.
We need ubiquity to build Web4, because it is about activity, not just
data, and most human activity takes place offline.
We need identity to build Web4, because the deliverable is based on
who you are and what you do and what you need.
And we need connection to build Web4, because you're nothing without
the rest of us.
Web4 is about making connections, about serendipity and about the network
taking initiative.”
Use
Ctrl+Shift+T in Firefox browser to reopen the last deleted tab! CTRL
+ E jumps into the Google search box... ain't that cool!!!
En
primeur, lancement de PRAKTICA,
version 6.0.
Philippe et moi on se connaît depuis des lunes et tous deux nous
nous sommes lancés dans la publication web et la mise en place
d'un portail parce que nous partageons la même passion: le design!
Ce projet que Tristan Philippe a initié, est devenu la référence
dans la francophonie et je vous propose d'évaluer la démo des
nouvelles fonctionalités.
Je lève mon chapeau!!! Tour de force accompli avec brio!
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: PRAKTICA launches
it's v.6 version that contains loads of updated, improved and new functionalities!
WOW!
What
is Graphic Design For? by Alice Twemlow
One would expect that all designers would instantly know how to answer
this question and surely I could, you could, offer smart and correct
ones. So why make a book about it?
The title made me curious as to what could be added to what I already
know and I was humbled by my ignorance and how, in fact, I was in dire
need of expanding my knowledge base.
Written in a concise almost bullet like style, it is not one of those
verbose thesis whereas the topic...
Read the complete review.
Master Plan (the
movie) is about the power of Google.
The search engine, page
ranking, advertising, access to information, products... and more!
Must see and read!
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
Hats off to Ozan Halici and Jürgen Mayer for their Bachelor thesis.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle2:
via Datasky
Happy
Cog Redesigns by Jeffrey Zeldman
“Good redesigns work like my teacher’s hair. They are always
an opportunity to fix or change a lot of things that aren’t obvious
on the pretty new surface..”
Nobody says it better.
Typographic
Alternatives to Helvetica by P.J. Onori
“Unlike some of the more humanistic and hyper-styled fonts, I
feel the clean machinist fonts act as a neutral style element for a design.
There are places where Gill Sans, Kabel and other unique san serifs just
are not going to work, whereas I feel that the Helvetica-ish fonts will
intrude much less with other styles.”
Helvetica
and Alternatives to Helvetica by Stephen Coles
“Helvetica is a classic. Helvetica is played out. Each of these
statements is true to an extent. The world’s most recognizable
typeface will soon star in a new film that documents both its omnipresence
and its timelessness.”
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
via Swiss Legacy
Luv
the curves and spikes and unusual geometric volumes of Rothelowman architectural
projects showing a new modern revival style.
Great work! From Australia with luv.
Naughty
naughtiness from Monoface!
Just click on the face parts or ask for a refresh...
Ohlalala! What an imaginative way
to pimp your.. studio!
Printernational
offers 10
Tips to better print design and more!
They've got a nice website too.
Conducted
by MiresBall in conjunction with
Luth Research and the American Marketing Association, the survey offers
a broad snapshot of the state of today’s brand.
- “What are the biggest challenges facing today's brands?”
- “How often are companies revitalizing their brands?”
- “What are the most popular—and most successful—brand
positionings?”
- “Where are companies spending their marketing budget?”
Download
the survey
Download
the white paper
I'm
a big fan of Frank
Lloyd Wright who set out to build some of the most amazing homes
and useage of unprecedented architectural details to adorn them.
As a serious architectural / product design student gotta to have seen
some of his work and secured a couple of relevent compilation books as
future references.
Here's a small project put together to show you some of the houses build
in Hollywoodland.
Definitely
more than fluff.. fluffco 
strong
strides are demonstrated with the array of projects served and self-created.
As they say: “Fluffco doesn't manufacture sweet whipped marshmallow
spread or cotton swabs. We're a two-person creative partnership based
in Toronto with a focus on web design.”
_ _ _ _ _ _
For example, the MakingRoom Magazine (on hiatus)
has got a fantastic example of Matthew
Curry aka Ninjacruise painting processes from beginning to end accompanied
by an interview. Fantastic!
From this
To this
Final painting can be seen in the slide-show.
A
tad bit too darkish in the navigation area, humanot still
shows a good portfolio.
The
Wurstminster Dog Show is now live. Artists were invited to reserve
a dog breed on a first come, first served basis.
Part of sales benefit a Portland pet emergency hospital.
Shown talented Scott Renden aka Yosoh golden
retriever version.
Just
got my socks knocked off! Do you known Big-Giant!
Firstly, you've gotta see their website. The beauty of dynamic info trees
that behaves as a fanning script and eye guiding details.
First class projects too.
Also, as they say, to keep their artistic and creative juices going,
they founded UNKL Brand. Gotta
luv the cute Unipo collection.
JPG
Magazine is for people who love imagemaking without attitude and
was created by the husband and wife team of Derek Powazek and Heather
Powazek Champ in 2004 with a simple goal: to honor the fantastic work
coming from nonprofessional photographers all over the world.
It's published 6 times a year and everything in the magazine comes from
you!
Submit, vote, if you like it.
MediaStorm is
a multimedia production studio based in New York City and collaborating
virtually with creative resources around the globe. They're looking for
a few good men/women!
The
Rasterbator created Matias Ärje
Have you ever gotten close enough to a billboard to see
all the strangely captivating multicolored dots that form the image?
Now, thanks to the work of a clever Finn, you can make the same kind
of beautiful halftoned enlargements of your own photos.
MAP is
currently seeking advanced Flash developers in the LA/OC are. You like
actionscript, yes?
Ditch
the DRM, says Jobs
Today, Steve Jobs is pledging to get rid of DRM (Digital Rights Management)
from music.
_ _ _ _ _ _
Thoughts on
Music by Steve Jobs
“..some have called for Apple to open the
digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its
music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played
on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music
purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods..”
What
a fantastic idea!!! Readymech(s)
are free, flatpack toys for you to print and build.
BL:ND is
looking for a Head of Production. Candidate has, at minimum, 4 years
of experience as Head of Production or equivalent, managing 5+ million
in billings in post production industry.
Barkley
has got openings for
Copywriter - Senior - Interactive
Creative Director - Interactive
Video Specialist - Creative
Tour Manager-Mobile Marketing - Sponsorships & Events
I
luv toyz and I just found the Little Molly collection designed
by Kenny Wong.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
via Artoyz which has managed to
build a nice site that offers optional views of a toy and panning over
content holder for description in some sections.
The
Movement design studio portfolio site uses a small bar code like
navigation and scrolling through the section. Interesting.
A
great interview with talented Jillian Tamaki by Illustration
Friday.
“I think that setting out to "find a style" is sort
of pointless and limiting. As students, we were very much encouraged
to develop our basics, experiment with media and not lock ourselves
into finding a marketable style.
It was through this process that I realized that what I enjoy most is
the process of drawing, which I have tried (and struggled!) to keep my
focus for years now.
I think my style is an evolving thing, as I try to improve
my drawing skills while staying loose, minimizing reliance on the computer,
and resisting the urge to overpolish –the warts are what
make the drawings interesting!”
Steve,
green our Apple in 2007!!!
“We love Apple. Apple knows more about clean design than
anybody, right? So why do Macs, iPods, iBooks and the rest of their product
range contain hazardous substances that other companies have agreed to
abandon?
A cutting edge company shouldn't be cutting lives short by exposing
children in China and India to dangerous chemicals. That's why we Apple
fans need to demand a new, cool product: a greener Apple.”
Raymond
Hiawatha Thunder-Sky was a clown on the most serious of missions...
reshaping his world and ultimately ours too..
The journey of an authistic person.
Now
that's a cool initiative! Design-Feed is
a design feed aggregator. They hand-pick the most interesting design
related RSS feeds and present them in an easy-to-browse format.
Cultivator
Advertising cultivates big and bold graphics to show their work!
Check it out.
All
about Michael (Lau) and Gardenergala by himself
He's world famous for his toy designs but the Gardeners collection stands
out because of the initial and continued concept around it. Quite a story!
_ _ _ _ _ _
Cult
Figures by Arthur Lubow
Find out more about the design toy industry, dating back to 2004 this
article is definitely worth a read because it will introduce you to the
context, some history and who are pack leaders.
New
fad??? Designers dressing up walls with funk? QORA
& SHAÏ do
so with a 70s retro feel.
Nice! FUNKYPUNKY is
born out of streetlife style but there are more goodies that makes up
to become an out of the ordinary portfolio website for Nikita Obukhov.
Apart from using dangling wires it shades the selected section and on
click, brightens up.
Really like the icononographic treatment that works as content frame
for each project.
I have
no clue as to who has created this project but hand
painting just got notched a step higher. As a rule of publishing,
make sure you always cite your source.
Can you believe the patience?
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
via Erize (nice logo)
Reminds
me of the days of where blueprint paper was used for layouts... way before
layout softwares were available. Check out how BMF is
using hand drawn illos.
The level of user interaction and comic strip style is maintained throughout
their website.
cool! From Australia with luv.
You're
never too young nor is ever too late to pursue your dream and Josh
Smith is doing just that.
In my view, he's just at the beginning of an awesome career as a photographer..
as you can see from his URL, still a student!
Here's to many more like him who undertake realizing their aspirations!!!
Just
luv her precious and delicate style! Illusanne is
soooo about elegance and refined lines. She takes advantage of her uniqueness
by having created as collections, what she terms Black style whereas
body parts are solid black and the Happy Bella style.
Now that's being creative!
So iPhone is
released! Is it worth all the fuzz and buzz??? Gotta to admit that it
looks pretty slick.
Lovepics issue
#2 is out and it's yummy and packed full of design!
The Portal directory
in the Toolbox has been completely revisited, shaken up and tweaked for
relevency. If you need more divingboards...
On a side note, it is somewhat surprising and sad, that some longlasting
pioneering design news sites have gone bye-bye, staled or unkempt...
It takes a lot of time and luv to maintain such sites. Showing your
appreciation is really important. Some folks out there work really hard
to filter, review and write about the industry.
Humbling.
Oh
the beauty! Sophie Griotto has
completely redesigned her website and her work keeps on being better
and better. No wait, have you ever seen such elegance, sparingness of
lines, beautiful compositions and movement in lifestyle / fashion illustrations
before?
She has reached poise and maturity in her art style.
Hats off to a powagirrrl!!!
Chris
Haughton aka vegetablefriedrice has a knack for nailing his projects
into supra-simple concepts.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
He just did an interview with DesignBoom about People
Tree which is a japanese and uk based fair trade clothing network.
Find out why is fair trade important and we, as designers will do so
much good, if we get involved.
Firm
and nice steady hand apparent in Rhonda
Mulder editorial
illustrations who shows also a special luv and interest in portraying
animals.. lots of dogs as you will see.
She has a wide variety available and she's that good!
Nice
flash site for Yammat with rotating
backgrounds and springy content holders that also rotates around the
interface when using the navigation!
Paper
Prototyping by Shawn Medero
“As interfaces become ever more complex and development schedules
seem to get shorter and shorter, you may find it useful to give up your
user-interface modeling software for awhile in favor of something simpler.
All you need is..”
Art
in Hong Kong has got a really nice flash site to promote their
events. Like the mixed drawn lines with parnaphelia of objects. Good
sequencing inside sections.
BTW if you have an idea, they're always looking for exhibit proposals.
Presenting
the short film ///DEFACED\\\ by
Lorcan Finnegan a filmmaker/illustrator/designer living in Dublin operating
under Lovely Productions.
What an original script idea and captivating plot. Luv the way the illustrated
characters are animated and incorporated in the video itself.
Hats off!
Luv
the campaign FlavorInnovator did
for Cal State University East Bay “to reduce binge drinking among
youth (12-17) and young adults (18-25), and related community problems
that contribute to youth binge drinking.”
Source
Creative is an upcoming UK based agency who does serious to not
so serious work.
Become
Interactive is looking for a senior developer.
RINZEN always
working on the fringe of edge. Not always equal in their output value,
their creativity is boundless.
Worrell is
looking for a Marketing/PR Guru.
Do you have a silver tongue? Do your friends think you’ve
really got a way with words? Can you become the life of the party at
the drop of a dime? Are you passionate about the world of design, including
product, fashion, graphic, and web?
Luigi
Valente is a young architect with an emerging and promising vision
of space! Someone to watch for.
Marketing
your design firm: how to brand yourselves as well as you brand
your clients by Adam Lerner
“..If all firms did so, the design consulting industry
would be populated with branded firms positioned around their own unique
attributes. Instead, the current state is an industry with largely undifferentiated
firms positioned around the same attribute: innovation.”
Well
somebody has gotta do it and they are: PTP engineered
green recycling technology processes and products. Their website attempts
to convey this with a familiar à la Matrix interface
environment.
Not bad for engineers huh?
Alberto
Cerriteno has completely revamped his illustration portfolio and
he keeps on getting better and better.
Oh
my goodness, ice cream never looked this good! Welcome to an amazing
sweet parlour based in sunny Madrid, and if you are around, indulge.
But as far as their website goes...
Check BajoCero website complete
with a 3D interior which shows more than a virtual parlour delight.
I am completely floored by the interface design that is complete with
a 3D interior which shows more than a virtual design delight.
All photography work is of tantamount quality and nothing is spared
to give you a mouth watering experience.
The logo is the first thing that caught my eye and then the simple white
chrome with tints of gray gives it a sense of purity, cleanliness and
professionalism. Who would not want a complete stainless steel kitchen
and resist its appeal?
Visit both sections (storefront and kitchen) from
top to bottom, all details are exquisite and so are all their products.
Fantastic, beautiful, delicious!
Assortment
of portfolios to discover
/
Matt Cipov check the field studies to view his illustrations
/
Jen Callejo is
still a student and a promising talent. Luv her etchings.
Byroglyphics astounding
portrait illustrator with a really personal touch.
/
eepmon deliriously expressive print and other media works!
Wayfinding
Systems by Lance Wyman
Brief and to the point with loads of visual examples. Learn from a master.
“Wayfinding offers the designer an opportunity to reference the
history, culture, and essence of place in an immediate way that will
be seen and used on a daily basis. An effective wayfinding system can
be a visual ambassador..”
Although
really-really slow loading, the patience required to view TEAMT website
is worth it. The all white 3D avatar character is so beautiful and will
shape change when you choose a sub-section in the Design area.
From China with luv.
Surprised
by innovation! Check Beta Clan which
will evolve to become a collaborative music project.
Enterprised by Danny Kamhaji who is a motion designer.
2006
was definitely the year of Rorschach
inkblot which was used in every conceivable way, but bear with me
here. Guess what you are seeing here apart from another of application
of this design trend?
The GAGE/CLEMENCEAU website
is home to a talented architectural firm and they own the concept with
brio.
When
a construction company goes soft selling, we know that hard knuckled
industries usually hermetic to design and manicuring their brand, are
starting to get it!
D.BRAIN is a construction company
that knows the power of images.
Absolutely cool website with tons of pictures. If you're into interior
design... here goes.
_ _ _ _ _ _
This little gem was designed by D.MIND..
don't know if they're related or not. On a side note, see how you can
stretch the outline of a paperclip to become a minimalist portfolio website.
The Dumbness
of Crowds by Kathy Sierra
“Community. Wisdom of Crowds. Collective Intelligence. The new
emphasis on net-enabled collaboration is all goodness and light until
somebody gets an eye I poked out.
Is it merely a coincidence that Apple, run by (as James Gosling put
it)
“a dictator with good taste” leads the way in tech design,
while risk-averse companies using design-by-committee (or consensus)
are churning out bland, me-too, incremental tweaks to existing products?”
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
Complementing must read article Digital
Maoism: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism by Jaron Lanier
Mutlu is
into product design with a decisive modern direction and an extensive
collection both for home and office.
From Italy with luv.
One
Cellular Sensation by Jeff Howe
“Here’s some advice for designers: Next time you make a
cell-phone call, look at the display and imagine your finest design on
a 2.5-inch screen. Pocket- and palm-friendly mobile technology is becoming
more ubiquitous, if possible, than the PC, and visual entertainment is
shrinking to fit it.
With 2 billion such devices expected to be in circulation by year’s
end, the mobile revolution could prove as transformative for design as
the internet was 10 years ago.”
Tom
Nagy shoots for a living. Mostly involved in panoramic landscaping
assignments, some of his photo retouching are quite compelling.
There is a making of section to learn more about the how to of
selected projects.
Brilliant work!
“There
is a fine line between an entrepreneur and a crazy person. crazy people
see things that others don't. what seems to differentiate the entrepreneur
from the crazy person is that the former gets other people to believe in
his vision.”
- Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: via Tomatic
They're
just doing their Tank! Floating 3D
red cube deconstructing to reveal sections. Nice flash website that shows
their capabilities.
From Chili with luv!
What
happens when psychedelic art style circa 70s meshes with graphic design
talent from sunny California? An interesting breadth of mostly printed
expressions: Steven Harrington.
Long
time resident, BUPLA has
got a hooplah new portfolio website.. aaah! Long live!
They
already know how to play, Gringo is
a young interactive agency that likes movement and show so with a surprising
flipping cube as proof.
From Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Book
me up Scotty! Oh my, this is just the kind of minimalist retreat that
appeals to me. Luv it, BASICO a
new small hotel on the beach.
Take a look at the sink area - luv the exposed pipes and industrial
fawcets.
“Love the re-use, re-cycle philosophy of the hotel. Interior design
by awarded Hector Galván. Cool website too” says Alberto.
Couldn't agree more!
Christopher
Lee aka The Beast is Back has
a packed load of new illustrations and toys in the making.
Shown the Impossible_Circus print is available for purchase!
P22
type foundry now offers most of their fonts in Open Type format.
Yummy
candy land characters and dense hyper realism portraits and illustrations
by Oksana Badrak
Rachel
Domm is
mostly a lifestyle illustrator with an edge. Talented!
Naughty-naughty Converse
Russia website has a panning interface with dangling navigation
(hard to maneuver) and quite irreverent (the peeing russian doll is
out of line and a sign of poor taste).
Full of bells and whistles effects, shows nothing new here since other
other projets like Style Wars and Just
for the F of it for ex, had similar animations and design feel...
gotta grant it is still quite an assemblage of technical prouessess.
Fontastica shares
some of their pixel patterns, from 8x8 pixels to 16x16 pixels. The use
is the same as for pixel fonts. It can also fit flash projets.
Pixel fonts available too, I particularly like the Z_teatime_serif.
Gotta
luv the intensity of her illustrations. Her style can be best described
as somewhat impressionist but instead of using small strokes, large spots
with vivid and contrasting colors create the perspectives.
Zina Saunders is
a capable portraitist with a striking useage of colors. She has been
a professional writer-illustrator for 15 years and has shifted from general
illo to reportage.
People
Of Our Time “is on a global mission to create the largest
online collection of people's thoughts, opinions, and hopes for the
future, with the aim to build an honest and intimate portrait of people
today through their individual entries.”
Beautifully made website too!
The
amazing and mostly polical art of Steve
Brodner! Now that's a master cartoonist!
He's just released Fredom Fries which comprises over 350 of
his illustrations.
A
new photography + graphic design studio Werberw is
looking for a fotograf, webdesigner and programmierer.
The
realistic and old world master feel illustration art of Peter
Cusack!
Joseph
D. Fiedler painterly mixed media illustrations with somewhat of
a 40s / 50s retro feel.
Different
strokes for different folks: Joe
Ciardiello has been drawing all his life and is also a musician.
He plays the drums regularly with several groups including an all-illustrator
jazz band.
/
Motomichi just reloaded a new website! Same great projects from
a talended illustrator and toy designer!
-> more news
^
