Human Joystick

How cool is this Volvo cinema advert/experience which happened last week.... 'Audiences were shown an ad for the Volvo XC70 before the movie Ratatouille, and were asked to put their hands in the air and wave them left or right — as a group. A single camera at the front of the theater translated the audience's collective leanings, and the onscreen animated car drove in that direction. '

Faces in many places

I took a photo of this, while on holiday. I think it's a really important part of being a graphic designer to look at things in a different way - this hydrant look like a face and body. It would be cool to make a little family of hydrants with different characters. This one is definitely male, about 15, with attitude!

I'd read about these a few weeks ago in a magazine but I saw them for real today and they're quite impressive - not for their capability of providing light (!) but to act as a talking point - It's such a simple but effective idea! It makes me wonder what else could be used in a similar kind of way - taking away parts of the design that are essentially unnecessary.

artificial trees

Today on the news was a story about ways to combat global warming...one of the ideas mentioned was these 'artificial trees', which basically suck up all the carbon dioxide like a super-powerful tree. This idea intruiged me because it feels as though it's out of the cartoon series Futurama! If someone had shown me this image 5 years ago I wouldn't even have imagined it ever happening in my lifetime, but it seems scientists genuinally do believe in environmental architecture like this... It can only be a good thing if it helps the cause - I do, however, think they have the potential to destroy today's world (visually) for the sake of saving tomorrow's (environmentally) but maybe that's a sacrifice we have to make.

classic, retro, old-fashioned

I'm guessing most people are aware of the coke rebrand - now first of all, wow! love it!...I love the simplicity, the break down of all the elements, leaving only the iconic symbols of the Coca Cola brand...now, I would call this 'classic' (maybe vintage, is there a difference?): It shows Coke as a quality product with heritage and a loyal following regardless of water droplets, swirls and squiggles.

Secondly there's 'retro'. Surely retro isn't as good as classic but retro is still cool! I think a brand like poppets has worked out how to use retro. It doesn't have the same heriage as Coke but it does have 80s nostalgia linked to it and at the moment 80s kitsch is cool!

...and then there's old fashioned. Fray Bentos is old fashioned (although it's not doing badly - apparently worth £33 million a year!) ...it's not like they've tried to rebrand so I don't want to bad mouth them...but old fashioned is not cool: how does old fashioned become classic, vintage or retro?....Can it?

Is retro just a rebranded version of old fashioned?

Chromeo

Earlier today I downloaded Chromeo's latest album and decided to have a look at their website for tour dates. I'd never been on their website before and on first impressions I thought it looked cool - a kind of mishmash of images, which are all a bit cut and paste but come together to form a perfectly feasible composition - much like their music, which is a sort of electronic mishmash, with a funk undertone that comes together to sound...well...good! - but after exploring the website, the usability aspect of it just let it down. Everything you click opens in a new pop up window, which is slow (probably due to my internet, but surely a web designer should take this into account to a certain extent) and quite aggravating and it just didn't flow! It's a shame because I was expecting it to be a really good website. The album's definately better! (Chromeo - Fancy Footwork) Listen to that instead of visiting the website!

Ben & Jerry's Heritage

I saw this advert recently at the cinema and thought it was quite enjoyable! I love the fast pace of it, and i was actually quite surprised when i found it on YouTube that it was only 30 seconds long - it felt a lot longer when i saw it for the first time! The production of this advert seems relatively simple, which gives me more confidence in the digital side of design - it demonstrates how a good concept can shine through over fancy digital techniques, showing that you can be effective whatever your digital know-how.

Gabriele Magurno

I stumbled upon this website today and really like the look of it - i love the raw quality it has to it. I was surprised to find that Gabriele is a man because first impressions make me think this is a female's website - the colours, illustrations, and copy (magurno needs love, download goodies etc) but obviously first impressions aren't always right. I'm yet to explore the whole of the website but from what I have looked at so far it feels very personal, which I like - and I like the fact that he's offering free downloads, that's always useful!

Gabriele Magurno's Website

The Bourne Identity

This film is so cool! You've got to see it, even if you haven't seen the others in the trilogy! It plays to such a fast pace and I love how the camera work reflects this - sometimes it doesn't keep up, other times it's all blurry because it's moving so fast and this really adds to the viewing experience! There aren't that many films that engage me fully - I usually get more concerned about having a numb bum or running out of pop corn, but this one defiantly did!

See it!

Hand-Cooked Crisps

I really like the packaging of Real Crisps - from the packaging material, with it smooth matt texture to the typography. I think the copywriting is new, clever and unique in terms of crisp packaging but isn't amazing - perhaps it comes across a little bit cheesy! I noticed a really nice touch on Burts crisps too recently - where the use by date was printed there was also a 'hand-cooked by brian' detail, which I thought was really clever. It really got across Burts' message that care and attention has gone into that bag of crisps and what better way to say it than use the chef's name!?

A new way of saying the same thing

I found this copy in a bag that said the usual recycling spiel in a nice new way.

" This bag is made of newfangled bio-degradable plastic which means in theory that it will ultimately disintegrate by the action of sunlight - hopefully not before your purchase makes it safely to your abode. We suggest completion of your journey home within twelve months. Alternatively travel only by night."

...Should we be more digital?!?...I think so!!

I just had to photograph this!...As I was walking through the EC Stoner building yesterday I passed this display of exam results which I found quite humorous! If there's any argument that the world should be more digital, surely this is it! Think of the poor person that had to sellotape up probably around 100 sheets of paper!!

Julian Beever

This street artwork by Julian Beever is amazing. He has worked on pavements in the U.K., Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Germany, the USA and Australia. The three dimesional quality to his work is fascinating. In the right context these images can be really powerful - a useful one to remember for future ambient media ideas.
These images are just a few I picked out. There are loads more at http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/ It's not the best designed website I've seen but the artwork certainnly makes up for this!

Shelter Promo - Leeds City Centre

This promotion for Shelter, the housing charity, is up in Briggate, Leeds City centre at the moment. Shelter's message is "stick it to bad housing" and the public are invited to write their personal housing problems on the wall. I think this outdoor installation is a really good way of showing the public just how many people live in poor housing conditions,however the public haven't taken it seriously and many people have simply added toilet-graffitiesque messages.

It would be much more powerful if the messages were from genuine peope in need of better housing.

Anthony Gormley

While down in London we managed to get through a few galleries including the Anthony Gormley exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, which came from a recommendation from Will. The main piece was a glass walled room filled with mist (Blind Light). Once inside the room you can't see more than a foot infront of you and it's a really odd feeling, quite claustrophobic. I love art that is more than just visual, like Richard Wilson's room full of oil that I saw at the Saatchi a few years ago. It creates an experience, and engages all our senses...

D&AD exhibition

Last we Beccie, Nicola and I went down to London to check out the D&AD student work. It was really useful to see what other students on similar courses are up to and to look at the winners of the Student Awards. I think I've got a lot to do by this time next year!...business cards...my book and generally doing lots of good work. It's going to be a busy year!

Travis Millard

This is an image also at the Cult Fiction exhibition by Travis Millard, who designs limited edition comics under the name The Fudge Factory. I love the way loads of work in this exhibition is just pulled out of a sketchpad - it gives is a sense of honesty. This honesty stood out in a comic strip by another artist (name forgotten) where a spelling mistakes was simply covered by another piece of paper!

The the pencil and inkwork is so detailed in much of the comic strip artwork - I was really impressed with the skill and patience it must take to complete a full comic. Some of the artists include Posy Simmonds, Mark Kalesniko, Kerstin Kartscher to name but a few.

Cult Fiction - Art and Comics

Today was the final day of the Cult Fiction - Art and Comics exhibition at The New Art Gallery in Walsall. I'm really pleased I managed to get to it as some of the work was really engaging, particularly a 7 minute animation by David Shrigley. 'A community of misfits, beasts and tortured animals explore moral themes such as good and evil and life and death, in scenarios that are as comic as they are tragic'. The animation is constructed of simple line drawings with a very frank voiceover, which describes the character's thoughts and feelings of the world he lives in. The subjects covered are somewhat disturbing, although alongside the visuals they are uncomfortably amusing. The exhibition comes to Leeds City Art Gallery on 21st Sept and I'd recommend a visit.