Design and digital culture NEWS // August 2007
THE_GROOP is
an award-winning, multi-disciplinary design firm that specializes in
brand strategy, identity design and user interface design for innovative
online product ventures, ecommerce and advertisers.
See the fantastic work they did for Live Earth; gotta luv the tee shirts
they've designed.
New
Leaf Clothing Rise collection dresses more than your body. Socially
engaged is good business.
Nice grungy feel flash website too.
Busted
Via Wikipedia Scanner by Blake Haney
There are people who think they're smart and people who
outsmart them! Do evil and it will catch up with you, this is the Internet
baby!
Rebeca
Méndez 
is
an artist living in Los Angeles working with various media to explore
the forces of nature modulated through technology.
Some of her work is incredibly abstract while some other include exploring
naturalistic settings and the passage of human presence. Her applied
art as environmental signage is very nice.
What
can greyscale interfaces do to be striking? What happens if you couple
it with flash? Here are two wonderful examples:
Checkland Kindleysides!
Lovely paper cut out flash animations. As for their portfolio? Gosh,
they have done excellent projects!!
Tea please? Jacksons
of Piccadilly is sooo fresh! Naturalistic illustrations and the
concept pops with slick animations.
Both sites were designed and built by Sennep who
are currently looking for a full-time, experienced ActionScripter that
shares our enthusiasm and that's not afraid of new challenges.
“Yahoo
has been making major changes, introducing new software and a new CEO.
Google's home page hasn't changed at all, but they continue to make waves
in everything from desktop software to wireless communications. Even
though the two companies have different roots (Yahoo as a portal, and
Google as a search engine), comparisons between the two Internet giants
are inevitable.”
Yahoo!
Overtakes Google by Erik Larkin
LCS
did a candid interview with John
Howe, master aquarellist and illustrator, best known for his iconic
Tolkien artwork.
“When did you first decide that you were going to become an
illustrator?
I think when I was about three… no, I’m kidding, but I’ve
always drawn pictures and did want to pursue something involving art.
Isn’t it strange how we all draw as children, but are so few as
adults? Why do they all stop? Actually, perhaps it’s for the better,
it makes for less competition. As for the profession, I think I put a
name on it after high school.”
The
3 most common problems small (and large) businesses have with building
and maintaining their websites by Jose Callaber
Grab the .pdf, loaded with information.
Erik
Otto, with a background in illustration, design, and graffiti as
well as film, dance, and theatre, his work acts as a culmination of
and draws directly from the diverse talents.
Stubborn
Sideburn is Junichi Tsuneoka’s design studio projects. After
being a graphic designer for 5 years, Junichi has established a style
often recognized as “California Roll Stylie,” the result
of both visual and conceptual fusion of Japanese pop culture and U.S.
urban culture.
Fantastic stuff. Cross over of doodling, comic strip and line art!
Rafael
Esquer is the lead creative mind behind Alfalfa studio. They've
done many projects and one of my all times fav is the Laundry Bag campaigns
running since 1998.
Pop
Flowers? Yes please! Brought to you buy Kapitza!
More
blinks for the eyes, Cicatriz Clothing awesome
tee shirts and visual craziness mix of video and flash.
Photographic
essay called Magazine
Illusions. Wish there had been more submissions. Nice!
Adoptthesky.org lets
visitors demand cleaner air by adopting a square mile of sky over the
US. They can also add a personal message that floats in their adopted
sky. All signatures will be delivered this fall to the EPA, where they
are now debating new ozone limits.
The
web interface of Grady Mcferrin illustration
portfolio is graced with DIY hand drawn font. Excellent work.
Ingenuity
best describes what Scott Amron, who is a freelance electrical engineer,
designer, conceptual artist, inventor and founding principal of Amron
Exptl, does.
Funtastic product design! Check it out!
Illustration
portfolio of Robert Carter aka Cracked
Hat has been updated! Awesome work!
Don't
miss the Judges
in action video. Get a sneak preview of the gallery, how it went
about and some of the comments from each of us. Thanks to Eric
Finkelman (2003 ADAA winner) and team for compiling this
cool video.
Presenting
the Adobe Design
Achievement Awards 2007 winners. Congrats to all, I'm honored and
inspired to have seen your work!
See why they blew our minds away! I recommend viewing all finalists
work as well.. Be inspired and I encourage you to participate next year.
For non-students: serious butt kicking work ahead, that should keep us
on our toes for a couple of weeks!
/ Fische und Schiffe by
Axel Broetje // Animation
/ Trusted Computing by
Benjamin Stephan, Lutz Vogel // Motion Graphics
/ Research Calendar by
Jörg Block // Digital Illustration
/ True Character by
Sean Teegarden // Digital Photography
/ You think therefore
I am by Po-Yun Jack Wang // Environmental Graphics and Packaging
/ Generative Engine by Kyle Phillips // Interactive and Web Design
/ Vulnerant Omnes
Ultima Necat by Sean Dekkers // Live Action
/ Car Color Timeline by
Aaron Kapor // Print Design Multi-page
/ Part of my life by
Soo Jin An //
Print Design Single page
Sara
Torres has
put a catalogo of her illusrations online. Just luv her style and her
attention to details.
Popping up with colors and beautifully executed, she's one of the best
out there! Keep an eye on her.
NotYourAverageJoe domain
is a tongue in cheek play on word of photographer Joe Grisham name. His
portfolio website concept is really exceptional (where did he find the
Joe woven patch for one?)
“But when it comes to photography, I love it all! Self taught
with an endless appetite to figure things out..”
Too many times photographers websites are not developed into branding
the uniqueness of the talent showcased and turn out to be just a virtual
gallery of thumbnails.
Not the case here, done brilliantly!
Trophies
or trinkets? Are we award show junkies?
25% - Peer evaluation. I measure my design skills against my peers?
38% - Revenue generation. The prize money is part of my business model?
40% - Business development. My clients expect award-winning
work?
Designboom interviews Jean
Nouvel, an eccentric and visionary architect!
“Where do you work on your projects?
In my bed, around the table in restaurants with everyone talking, and
sometimes at the big table in my office also. There is something very
alive in this contrast between big meetings of brainstorming and after,
alone in the silence.
I spend a lot of time in silence.”
Director Yannick
Puig interview about the I lived on the moon video by
Kwoon. Learn more about the behind the scene processes. BTW he's a
freelancer and ready for new music video commissions.
Why
complaining will not help by Pedro Meyer
“I have heard time and time again, how the market
for photo documentary work is shrinking and there is no work to be found,
and the little there is pays very poorly.”
When
talent is overflowing. Recently discovered new portfolios:
/
Caia Koopman sweet
big eyed fantasy illustrations
/
Mel Kadel illustrations or the art of lines redefined
/
Angela Boatwright hip
and youth market photography
/
Oriol Malet illos made with strongly controlled line art
/
Fudge Factory comics sitting on the very edgy edge
Whoohoo,
Netdiver listed as one of the 100
Websites You Should Know and Use
“The Web is constantly turning out new and extraordinary services
many of us are unfamiliar with. During TED University at this spring's
TED2007 in Monterey, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen
GmbH, offered an ultra-fast-moving ride through sites in many different
areas, from art, design and illustration, to daily news, blogs and curiosity.”
Darren
Firth aka Keepmesane relaunches
his portfolio. One of the most recent project that made wave is the Two
Faced book and exhibitions.
Laura
Weider aka
Misu2020 designed the cool sax o phono ep vinyl to buy and to dance.
It is a super limited edition - only 500 pieces - of hot
content #01! hot content is the new sublabel of External Linkeintakt
records.
The
Cooling Towers was made to persuade and change the views of those
who want to demolish it. We wanted to show a glimpse of what can be
accomplished with some artistry, energy and imagination. They are set
to be demolished in September this year so we need to act fast.
View the film, if you like the proposal, sign the petition. There are
3735 signatures so far! A great initiative by Smoothe.
If
you want to get your own impression about the modern professional German
advertising and design, the second edition of Selection
Germany has just been released.
Each of the selected agencies had a complete freedom in putting together
the material and design for their spread. The result is a quite representative
and inspirating mix of the German creative landscape.
Nice
settlement of new portfolios or projects worth visiting:
/
One Fine Day is a design and illustration studio
/
Smoothe is into image, design and film
/
Benjamin Mermaid illustrations combining retro feel fonts
/
aforest-design Spring-Summer
08 collection will be in Paris for Who's next September 6-9th
Champagne
Moments by Scott Adams
“I remember the day I got a call from United Media telling me
they wanted to offer me a contract to be a syndicated cartoonist. Yay!
But hold the champagne, I thought.”
Artecnica blends
art and technology to elevate the purpose and value of everyday objects
by using design to enchant, inspire and transform.
cool products with a designed with a conscience approach.
Announcing
the relaunch of PulcoMayo illustration
portfolio website after 3 years. The toys are fantastic!
180 is
an interactive surface designed for consulting situations and created
by Tim Roth. Traditionally, consulting situations involve two participants
sitting on opposite sides to each other.
What's
happened recently in our (wired) world?
Don’t
let branding kill your brand by Damon Dimmick
Freelancers
Forgo Office Space for Casual Coworking by Anna Jane Grossman
The
World's Tiniest PCs by Rob Beschizza
Conflicting
Absolute Positions by Rob Swan
(Chuck
Hoberman) Transformable Architecture by Verena
Linux:
It's Not Just for Servers Anymore by Michael Calore
Often-Asked
iPhone Questions by David Pogue
The
Perils of “Designed by Committee” as a Pejorative by
Armin Vit
Freelancers
by nature usually work on their own, as such we often don’t really
know what others are doing, charging and thinking. This survey aims
to compile our collective knowledge for the benefit of freelancers everywhere!
It takes about 10 minutes to complete...
Merry
Kawamura Ganjavian invents the Solar Plug, “a solar micro-panel
and transformer device with an electrical current output of 12v to
charge your portable computer helping to keep energy production and
consumption at an optimised equilibrium.”
Now we're talking sustainable design!
I
am presently in San Francisco to attend the Adobe®
Design Achievement Awards Oscar like ceremony to take place in a
couple of hours. I will resume to publishing schedule in a couple of
days.
After all the hard work and sometimes difficult choices that all judges
put in, because the works were that good, I can't wait to see the joy
of the winners who are going to be propelled ahead in their career.
To all who have participated - keep up the dream!
The
Chrono_Shreder is definitely a Design for debate and was created by Susanna
Hertrich under
the series of fictional products memento vivere (remember that
you also have to live your life).
Are we obsessing with time?
Read what she thinks.
Tyler
Lang is still a student and a promising graphic designer. Was blown
away when I first saw his Universal Demand poster at the recent ADAA final
judging round.
Well
I wish I lived on the
Moon too! Yannick Puig, director, designer, and animator has captured
the essence of hope in the face of threatening dangers and the fact,
that we're never completely alone in life.
The images are astounding and the story is one that reaches all: we
all want to win over evil. Touching video.
We
hate gravity MadeBySofia who
is actively looking for a job! cool photographic experiment.
Chris
Turnham illustrates in the grand tradition of an era gone by. Elegant,
excellent sense of perspective and top notch execution.
Now
you can play with Colorblok Mono,
his new limited edition vinyl toy.
Jack
Crossing luvs Helvetica and much more! Excellent graphic design
portfolio and some of his print work is sooo gorgeous.
These pins are made for wearin'!
What
is this? Industrial Facility created
a small home printing unit that is portable. Luv the touch clocks too.
Check their website for other outstanding products.
There objects are proof enough that mini can be absolutely yummy!
Nacionale is
home to xtra talented Doug Alves who is an available freelancing brazilian
designer.
What
Apple copied from Microsoft by Jeffrey Zeldman
“Changing years of work habits is not easy. Migrating data, in
some cases by hand, takes time I don’t have to spare. Yet I’m
making these changes of my own will, and happily.”
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
This comment by Cameron Moll summarizes
my thought: “Not only is this an insightful article, but it’s
written so beautifully it’s blissfully painful. Thank you, Jeffrey,
for reminding us how to write.”
From
installations, motion, furniture and jewelry, they do it with passion:
/
UnitedVisualArtists stunning Volume at the V&A installation.
/
Resses new website and nice motion designs. From Buenos Aires with
luv.
/
Faruk Akin new funky jewelry and furniture
/
MTV award intro beautiful forms and atmosphere by Umeric
Mathieu
Hubert has got a sharp eye! Luv everything he does: graphic design?
Brilliant! Photography? Check the Stereotopic ones. Illustration? Some
too.
Nice, nice and nice!
How
about recycling knitting needles into cool bangles? ModaMuse has
got some! Made by independent Australian and New Zealand designers and
artisans.
When
I'm 22, as Chuck Anderson the creative head behind NoPattern,
I will do nice colored designs like these.
Front are
a team of 4 female Swedish product designers producing playful, conceptual
and extremely innovative work. And they can sketch live
too!
Now this is what I call pushing the design envelope over the edge!
Slang
International do superb graphic design! Luv the intro picture which
changes periodically. OK, let's go!
Nevermind
the not so pretty and annoying pictures that rotates on index, dig in
to discover what Pleaseletmedesign does
as graphic design + everything else. Strong typographic and editorial
layout experiments.
Striking
creativity gold. Fresh portoflios for inspiration:
/
Mark Todd illustrations is all about owning your own style
/
Zena Holloway stunning
underwater photography
/
Jacob Magraw-Mickelson organically chaotic fluid feel paintings
/
Studio Habousha not the average photographers, great retouching
/
MILK desk by Koren Kjaer. Minimalist and functional!
The
fabulous imaginary world of Aaron
Jasinki illustrations all depicted in color rich palettes. Luv the
bar code navigation which permits integrating over 130 projects (and
growing) into an efficient, simple and beautiful solution.
Way to go!
Nick
Bednarz from London, created Of
the now street projection.
“The final version now has a laser trip so when someone stands
in the human outline in the middle the wings grow, animate, then they
fade when the person walks away..”
Created in 3D Max and Flash.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1:
via Wooster Collective
Web
Trend Map 2007/V2 by Information Architects Japan.
“We have done it before: The 200 most successful websites on the
web, ordered by category, proximity, success, popularity and perspective.
We have done it again – and better.”
“In
2004, he began his individual career and has kept his hands full with
eclectic projects. From toys, to furniture and interior design as well
as artistic installations, his boldness has been transcending the borders
of the often separated worlds of art and design, merging his own style
with ease between the two.”
Stage is a window into Jaime Hayon’s world! View the absolutely
gorgeous work of Hayon Studio.
Everything
he designs is really creative. Mike
Perry portfolio worth visiting from top to bottom.
Anke
Weckmann likes
to draw more than anything in the world.
We
never really know where our talent will take us, sometimes shaping an
unforeseen turn.. for the better, and this exactly what is happening
to Catalina Estrada .
Her charming illustrations and exquisite patterns now adorn a complete
fashion line: Anuncicao. The
beautiful collection is designed by Maria Elvira Crosara!
Superb lines and craft!
Swiffer never
looked this good, luv the animated fx. Check it out.
For
the luv of pixel design, Manocaja a
cutewebsite pixel full interface.
From Chile with luv!
They
do design! From stuff to incorporating font and linearts to produce stunning
graphic design work. FromKeetra!
An
illustrator in
evolution! Linde still designs
loads of harmless characters. I particularly like this illo: vibrant
and yellow.
Cute
animation and style exercise on a theme in the iCorn
Project.
Illustrator Pierluigi
Longo often crafts with mix-media and this approach sometimes yield
beautiful results as in the food, fashion leisure section or completely
weird, as in the object trouvés.
Visiting FURI
FURI is like falling head over heels into an early version of a
Pac Man game where everything feels like either a jammed candy store
or a comic animation on steroids.
We
do because we care! Support the HIV
Sierra Leone project.
“In October 2007 we are launching a project to fight the spread
of HIV and AIDS in Sierra Leone, and we need your donations to help to
bring it about. Collaborating directly with communities, music and films
will be created to disseminate public health messages to the region's
youth and fight the spread of HIV.”
Here is a direct link if you wish to make
a donation.
cool
logo and mostly print / branding related work for the Sopp
Collective.
Clothing
brand? These danglers are in fact Urban
Silo navigational system! Using simple ideograms, each section is
color keyed and once in a section, by dragging slider you can pick and
choose.
Superpitch is
a smart online game where if you lack luster in your presentation skills,
you can learn how to improve. Hilarious! You get to pick a company, a
name and a team plus filling in the presentation content.
Try it to see how you rate!
Papervision3D one
of the actual hottest add-on-technologies for Flash, moves from private
testing to a full public beta and is absolutely free for any commercial
use.
Examples: Audi Rhythm of lines microsite, Eye-Project by
KDDI
-> more news
^
