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Monday, January 30, 2012

ManvsMachine: More4 Rebrand

ManvsMachine: More4 Rebrand:re-blog from Motionographer







MvsM / More4 On-screen GFX from ManvsMachine on Vimeo.

ManvsMachine created this lovely rebrand for Channel 4′s More4. The logo morphs through a series of flips, folds and reveals, reflecting the range of content on the channel. It works as both a punchy onscreen element and as a series of “flippers” in real-world art installations.


Credits
Concept, design & direction:
ManvsMachine
Music:
Guy Connelly
Sound design:
Rich Martin
Installation design:
Jason Bruges Studio
Client:
Channel4 / 4Creative
Posted on Motionographer

Fashion in motion: Hard Bookazine

Fashion in motion: Hard Bookazine:re-blog from Polkadot
Tired of just observing fashion? Bang go static magazines and flat websites!

In order to get fashion a shake, eclectic German designer Ruben Scupin brings the experience of vogue like never before. His Bahelor’s project, entitled HARD, is a Bookazine (of course, half a book, half a magazine) which features all the elements of paper crafting to make you go ‘wow’. Great graphic ideas, a little bit of popupping, lenticular images, stitching and much more. Is Conde Nast hiring, at the moment?

















HARD. The interactive Bookazine. from Ruben Scupin on Vimeo.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Steve Jobs Met with Light Field Camera (Lytro) Company's CEO

Steve Jobs Met with Light Field Camera (Lytro) Company's CEO:




In the upcoming Inside Apple book by Adam Lashinsky, it's revealed that Steve Jobs had expressed interest and subsequently met with the CEO of Lytro, the makers the first light field camera. The relevant book quote posted by 9to5Mac states:
The company’s CEO, Ren Ng, a brilliant computer scientist with a PhD from Stanford, immediately called Jobs, who picked up the phone and quickly said, “if you’re free this afternoon maybe we would could get together.” Ng, who is thirty-two, hurried to Palo Alto, showed Jobs a demo of Lytro’s technology, discussed cameras and product design with him, and, at Jobs’s request, agreed to send him an email outlining three things he’d like Lytro to do with Apple.
Lytro received a lot of press last year when the first of its light field cameras went on sale in October. The product even received Popular Science's 2011 Innovation of the Year.




Light field cameras are a different take on photography by capturing "the entire light field" and saving all that information into a single file. Photographers can then edit the file afterwards in a number of unique ways -- including refocusing the image. This video walks through this unique ability:


One of the limitations in the early light field cameras is a relatively low resolution. The first Lytro camera produces final photos of only 1.2 megapixels (1,080x1,080). The cameras also don't take any video and start at $399 for an 8GB model. The camera carries an elongated form factor that seems to be a result of the unusual optics required.


Given the hype surrounding the technology, it's perhaps no surprise that Steve Jobs found interest in meeting with the young company. That meeting, however, is getting special attention due to the fact that Walter Isaacson had said that Jobs wanted to reinvent television, textbooks and photography.



Apple just released their first digital textbooks for the iPad, and is expected to get into the television space. Apple's future goals for photography, however, remain unclear. Apple includes a digital camera its iPhones and has made progressive improvements in camera quality over the past few generations. While Apple no longer makes a standalone digital camera, they were one of the first to product a consumer targeted digital camera back in 1994.


Given the popularity of smartphones and the subsequent decline of point and shoot camera popularity, we'd expect any future Apple movement into photography would be centered around the iPhone.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Final Call for Heineken Design Challenge

Final Call for Heineken Design Challenge:re-blog from CRBlog

Last chance to submit redesigns of the iconic green bottle
Advertorial content:


Final_Heineken2.jpg

The window is drawing to a close for designers to submit their proposals for the Heineken Limited Edition Design Challenge. Open until 31 January, the competition asks creatives to submit original work that reflects the way people will be connecting over the next 140 years. As an added twist, all redesigns must be submitted in pairs, with the Heineken Limited Edition Facebook page serving as a medium for artists to find like-minded partners. With thousands of people already connected, the challenge has pulled a substantial international and multicultural crowd with some exciting new looks at the classic green bottle.


Final_Heineken1.jpg

Judges for the competition include CH co-founder and executive editor Evan Orensten alongside Mark Dytham, co-founder of design community leader PechaKucha, and Heineken's head of global design Mark van Iterson. The top 100 will be forwarded to the judges, who will shortlist three designs to be refined for a final review. The winners will be announced in March, and their design will appear on Heineken's 140th anniversary gift pack.


Final_Heineken3.jpg

“The entries so far have shown there will always be magic in the chemistry that a team creates together, and technology is making it easier and easier for people all over the world to collaborate," says Orensten. "I’m really excited to see what can be created as the gallery continues to fill." Head over to the Facebook page to download the template and submit your design, and be sure to follow Twitter updates by searching for #yourfuturebottle.


Desktops

Desktops:re-blog from CoolHunting


Virtual versus physical: Our conversation with six creative professionals about their workspaces
Our environment influences our behavior both physically and mentally, guiding our personal evolution to determine, among other things, our quality of life. Nowhere does this ring truer than in the workplace. The surroundings, comforts, decorations and distractions that exist in the work environment can have a huge influence on creativity and productivity. For most, the workday revolves around the desk, and how individuals interact with that space can give some insight into the way they operate in the workplace. For the contemporary professional there now exist two desktops, the virtual and the physical, which raises some interesting questions about the relationship between these two spaces in our lives. We asked six creative professionals from the art, web and design worlds to show us their virtual and physical spaces, and found out what makes the modern desktop.


Monica Khemsurov, Co-Founder, Sight Unseen


Do you think of your desktops differently?

Yes. My virtual desktop gets far more use than my physical one, and it can accompany me into bed at night when I'm being a workaholic (which is always). I work from home, and my physical desk mostly just exists to keep me off the couch and save my back.


Monica_SightUn_Physical_Desktop.jpg

Favorite desktop accessory or decoration on both virtual and physical?

Virtual: My desktop image is the cover of a 1969 issue of the German advertising-art magazine Gebrauchsgraphik. Search its name on Flickr — amazing. Physical: Hard to pick a favorite, but I guess I'd go with the little metal bust on an acrylic stand, which I got this summer at a San Francisco antique store. I'm obsessed with things on stands; I also have a set of old geodes mounted on little metal tripods.


Monica_SightUn_Computer_Desktop.jpg

Where/when did you learn to organize or form a system of organization for them?

I don't have much to organize on my physical desktop — I keep my mess on my kitchen table. But I will say that on my virtual one, I've always religiously kept things in aliased folders because a long, long time ago I was told that storing a lot of stuff on your desktop slows down your computer, which I think is actually no longer the case. Ah, modern technology.


What do you look for in a work space? What are the key elements to keep you productive?

Quiet, comfort, and good food at arm's reach. I work really well at home actually — I can focus here far better than I can in an office. Offices make me tired and shifty. Especially when I'm not near a window, which has been the case for half of my working life. Once I was shut away in my own office with no window at all, so I hung a huge photograph of a forest on the wall, but it didn't help the feeling that my soul was slowly dying.


Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder, Foursquare


Do you think of your desktops differently?

Yes, my physical desk is just a seat. As much a place to sit and get work done as it's a place to store all the stuff I accumulate. The foursquare office is pretty open with lots of common space to work. There are some days I'm only at my desk for a few minutes (meetings, etc) and I'm totally fine with that. My virtual desktop is pretty bare—I've got a portal to Dropbox which mimics everything onto my Mac at home, iPad and iPhone. I guess the Dropbox cloud is the virtual equivalent of my messy physical desktop.


dennis-crowley-mac-desktop.jpg

What are you embarrassed about on your desktop?

Physical: It's a mess. I just tend to accumulate stuff—stickers, papers, postcards, photos, books, baseball cards, trinkets, USB cables. Virtual: Nothing! Since I got this new Mac I've bee keeping it real organized!


Favorite desktop accessory or decoration on both virtual and physical?

Physical: Penguins that sing and dance to House of Pain's "Jump Around" (my Mom sent it to me for Christmas). Virtual: I've been using this app called F.lux that subtly changes the color of your screen as you get further from dawn and closer to dusk. Took me a few days to adjust but it's pretty nice.


dennis-crowley-physical-desk.jpg

Where/when did you learn to organize or form a system of organization for them?

Virtual: My desktop hasn't always been so tidy - the desktop my old MacBook was littered with old files. My physical desk has always been kind of an "organized mess". Luckily, foursquare is moving offices next week which will force me to get rid of most of it.


What do you look for in a work space? What are the key elements to keep you productive?

Being in a crowded room. I'm more productive when everyone around me is buzzing. Most of the early foursquare prototype got built in East Village coffee shops since the atmosphere was much more motivating than working alone at my kitchen table.


John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School Of Design


Do you think of your desktops differently?

I don't see them as connected in any way. I do regret that I don't connect them more thoughtfully.


JOHN_MAEDA_PHYSICAL.jpg

Favorite desktop accessory or decoration on both virtual and physical?

On my physical desktop, Kinesis keyboard is a necessity. On my virtual desktop, I guess it would be my Sparrow Mail window.


JOHN_MAEDA_VIRTUAL.jpg

Where/when did you learn to organize or form a system of organization for them?

In 2005 I wrote a book called The Laws of Simplicity that espoused principles of organization that I use in my daily life.


What do you look for in a work space? What are the key elements to keep you productive?
I look for a large enough table with a power outlet nearby. The key elements are industrial ear plugs, my computer, and my in/out box.


Jon Burgerman, Artist and Illustrator

Do you think of your desktops differently?

Yes, one collects dust and the other, images dragged off the Internet.


John_Burgerman_Virtual_Desktop.jpg

What are you embarrassed about on your desktop?

Nothing really, I have no shame, not anymore.


Favorite desktop accessory or decoration on both virtual and physical?

I have a small collection of cute/ugly animals stuck to the wall of my office. I haven't really added to the collection for a long time now but I still like them. I try and keep both desktops clutter-free. I don't like clutter. I don't like unnecessary things. Almost everything is unnecessary...apart from wet wipes, of course.


John_Burgerman_Physical_Desktop.jpg

Where/when did you learn to organize or form a system of organization for them?

I am feral. I learned and adapted by need and circumstance.


What do you look for in a work space? What are the key elements to keep you productive?

Nothing. I like space and the suggestion of a never-ending afternoon. To keep productive I need no restrictions or distractions. I'm distracted so easily.


Kelsey Keith, Senior Editor, Dwell


What are you embarrassed about on your desktop?

It's a cubicle with gray walls and very little flair.




Favorite desktop accessory or decoration on both virtual and physical?

I moved into this office two weeks ago, so I don't have much in the way of decoration. Several must-haves are red pens, a stack of clean notebooks, and a drawer to stash all the extras: snacks, stain remover, passport, calculator, hand cream. I would equate that drawer to the folder of photos on my virtual desktop.


Kelsey_Keith_Computer_Desktop.jpg

Where/when did you learn to organize or form a system of organization for them?

I tend to remember things as soon as I write them down, so I wasn't forced to get organized until I started managing people in an editorial role. Now I stay on track by adding appointments, even tentative ones, to my calendar as soon as they crop up and keeping a running tally of high-priority tasks on Mac Stickies. Funny enough, I loathe physical Post-It Notes.


What do you look for in a work space? What are the key elements to keep you productive?

No clutter. Bright but warm light. Seltzer. Noise-canceling headphones. A land line.


Kiel Mead, Designer


Do you think of your desktops differently?

My desktops are the same, there is never enough space!


Kiel_Mead_Desktop.jpg

What are you embarrassed about on your desktop?

My wood shop is sort of next door to my office so there is usually a fine layer of dust on everything. I am kind of self-conscious of that when clients are visiting.


Favorite desktop accessory or decoration on both virtual and physical?

My dog, George, She is currently on my computer desktop and strangely, sometimes we catch her on the actual desktop! She is a 40-pound Basset hound, explorer.


Kiel_Mead_Screen.jpg

Where/when did you learn to organize or form a system of organization for them?

On my computer desktop I like all my icons very small. For some reason I feel like it is more organized when it is small. I wish I had a shelving system, floor to ceiling. I think that will be my next investment.


What do you look for in a work space? What are the key elements to keep you productive?

I am always looking for pens in my work space—they keep disappearing. My wireless printer is a task-killer, easy as pie, I can print from my phone! The main things that keep me productive are the endless threads of emails I tend to find myself on.

Oh wow, it's Daniel Arsham

Oh wow, it's Daniel Arsham:re-blog from CRBlog


The installations of American artist Daniel Arsham play with the very fabric of the gallery itself. His first solo show, the fall, the ball and the wall, has just opened at the OHWOW gallery in Los Angeles



Hiding Figure, 2011, Fiberglas, paint, joint compound, mannequin, fabric, and shoes, 87 x 48.5 x 13 inches

The show, OHWOW says "illustrates the artist's continued interest in manipulating architecture and in challenging expectations of accepted realities".



In these latest works, Arsham uses materials such as fibreglass and foam to create pieces that appear to be formed out of the walls of the gallery itself.



Curtain, EPS foam, plaster gauze






Mail Slot, 2008, Bronze, plaster, paint, joint compound

the fall, the ball and the wall is at OHWOW, 937 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, until February 16. Details here

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Goldfish Salvation

Goldfish Salvation:

Goldfish Salvation


Riusuke Fukahori creates incredible depth in his artworks by painting a layer at a time onto acrylic resin, until a 3-dimensional image is formed, sort of like how 3D printers work. More photos here.

LG: Smart Thief

LG: Smart Thief:

LG: Smart Thief

What looks like security cam footage of a thief caught red handed is actually a clever little piece of viral marketing for LG, flaunting their products’ key feature with an imaginative approach.







Daft Punk Derezzed Floppy Cover! SO AWESOME!

Daft Punk Derezzed Floppy Cover:

Daft Punk Derezzed Floppy Cover

YouTuber MrSolidSnake745 covers Daft Punk’s bliptastic TRON single Derezzed using five floppy drives. It’s not as clean as the electric guitar cover, but you can’t miss the song’s unmistakable riff.







Envisioning Disney Characters in reality!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Nitro Circus: The Movie

This is gonna be AWESOME!!!

Nitro Circus: The Movie

Travis Pastrana and the rest of Nitro Circus take their Jackass-with-vehicles antics to the big screen – and in 3D, naturally. We’re sick of the Angry Birds gimmick, but the other tricks are enticing.

Liquipel Waterproof Coating

Liquipel Waterproof Coating:

Liquipel Waterproof Coating

Liquipel is a nano-coating – 1000 times thinner than human hair – that provides smartphones with surface protection from water. Learn more about the tech and the process here and here.



Shut Up and Play the Hits (Trailer)

Shut Up and Play the Hits (Trailer):

Shut Up and Play the Hits (Trailer)

A documentary about LCD Soundsystem’s final show – aka “the best funeral ever” – with additional focus on frontman James Murphy, who was the one who decided to break up the band.