Amazing flash video

An interactive music video. I've been using Flash for a good few years now but I still can't imagine how someone would create this.
http://soytuaire.labuat.com/

Typographic product design

While looking for inspiration across the internet, I came across this fantastic piece of design. It's a shame I can't find any details about the product itself or the designer that created it. Basically each part has a different purpose, clearly outlined below. There's a radio, MP3 player, woofer, speakers, and a wireless LAN adapter, all controlled by a central remote. If anyone finds any more on this I would love to know. I've seen it on 2 websites but neither could supply any details and I originally saw it on the fantastic Touchey.com which I will blog about at some later stage.

5 websites you should know about

http://www.depthcore.com/

An art collective with a difference. This website combines art by top artists from all over the world into 'Chapters', each described by one word only, "Noir", "Temple" and "Requiem" to name a few. Always full of quality, variety and above all, great for inspiration. Updated every month or so with a new chapter.

http://www.deviantart.com/

Deviant Art is a website community where you can share your artwork with the world. Get it seen, get it rated, get feedback, get tips, get encouragement. The community is friendly and welcoming, if a little impersonal.

http://www.pixel2life.com/

Need to learn any piece of software in a hurry? Some idea of what you need to do but no idea how to do it? This website is an all-in-one tutorial package for everything. Literally. This website has taught me everything I know over the last 6 years!

http://www.davidairey.com/

A blog belonging to David Airey, a graphic designer/identity specialist located in Northern Ireland. I subscribe to a lot of blogs, but this is really one of the only ones worth paying attention to. Fantastic for advice, always asking controversial design questions and with a great community backing, he manages to explain his whole workflow and thought processes for every project he takes on.

http://abduzeedo.com/

A design website handy for a few things, including daily-updated content, tutorials, webpages and its famous "Daily Inspiration" pictures. A gold-mine of strange imagery.

Cinema 4D test

I've just got a new software package called Cinema 4D. I've only used a handful of 3d modeling packages up until now but it's still obvious to see the benefits, even for a newbie like me. Where you might be using 3dmax for complicated modelling, or you might be using Maya for the advanced rendering options, Cinema 4D seems to be uniquely geared toward ease of use while still delivering top quality results. To start with, all the options you'll need are on handy visual menus, everything from modeling to lighting and rendering. It's easy to get stuck in and renders can be as complicated as you want them to be. Below is my first attempt at rendering a scene.

Iconic photo

The Brief:

You must recreate an iconic photo in studio conditions. "Iconic" is open to interpretation and includes people, scenes, classic photography and work by well known artists, but no paintings are allowed. Afew subjects have been blacklisted including the Pulp Fiction image, Breaskfast At Tiffany's and anything by Man Ray.

All of the images for this recreation were taken by a talented graphic designer called Didi Blackhurst. You can find more of her work here. For this project I chose a self portrait of Andy Warhol, an icon himself, originally taken in a photobooth.

Letterpress workshop in Hoxton

Some photos from the day.

"The Rules"

The Rules:

1. You must make 50 pieces of artwork sized a maximum of 95mm x 130mm.

2. This can consist of 50 x 1 piece or up to 50 different pieces of work.

3. The work can be based on anything, but should be influenced by an artist's book or by the title "The Rules".

4. The piece will be swapped and handed out to ever member of the class and 2 teachers, until everyone has one of everyones.

5. You must design a holder that is visually congruent and large enough to holder 50 pieces of A6.

6. The holder must either be in the form of a book, or a folder.

The results are shown below. The top two images were used to make a holder for the artworks and the bottom was used as the artwork itself.

Comic sans destroyed

The white chocolate experiment.

Manifesto project part 2

After scrapping a short essay I wrote about changes in china in the 21st century, I went back to the drawing board to generate some more manifesto ideas. I came across a few ideas based on different design principles and then eventually remembered something I read: Carpe Diem. Seize the Day.

I set about writing a manifesto based on a new thought movement: NOWism. It's all about living in the now, not worrying too much and being productive. Of course a bonus is that it fits pretty well into Modernity, so it's the perfect match for me.