Posts from July, 2011

Get routine, get inspired, and get yourself to Dana Tanamachi’s site to check out some amazing chalk drawn type. Even better? Check out the time lapse videos of her process in action.

There are troves of posts on the subject of inspiration. There are great arguments negotiating where the line is drawn between inspired and stolen. There’s also a great quote from Chuck Close that made the Tumblr rounds. Basically, he says to stop reading and looking at shit and just get the work done already. I could almost agree, but I’ll be damned if I miss out on all that glorious time lounging around, flipping through magazines and reading my google reader.

For inspiration, of course.

I think it’s good for us to seek inspiration but there needs to be some limits, some…routine, maybe? It’s easy to get sucked into the internet (particularly when you have a turntable.fm chat dinging in your ears) and it can get stale, boring, routine in the worst sense of the word, so I get away from my desk. I look for inspiration elsewhere and I try to allow myself a specific amount of time to revel and ruminate before a project begins. So, I thought I’d share what we do because IT’S FRIGGIN AWESOME. Not to mention, inspiring.

This is the Phillips Exeter Library, part of the Phillips Exeter Academy (see super serious and world renowned prep school) in Exeter, New Hampshire. 20 minutes from our office. The architectural style of the building is Brutalist. I mean, really? Can that be any cooler? The architect who designed it was Louis Kahn and this building was his opus. Again, it’s 20 minutes from our office.

Read and see more after the jump.

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Jun Gil Park is a young artist from Melbourne, Australia who draws on bananas in a very clever way.  Jun scratches into the peel to oxidize and then the artwork starts to appear on the surface. Check out more of Jun’s work here

Go Banana

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French Designer Steven Burke

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Vintage inspired illustration and design by the UK’s Ben Newman. Read the rest of this entry »

Year Zero – OFFF Barcelona 2011 Main Titles from PostPanic on Vimeo.

I cannot believe the amazing titles PostPanic created for this year’s OFFF conference in Barcelona (which just happened in June).

The darkness, the craft, the post-apocalyptic shivers, the beautiful yet unsettling scenery—overall an incredible piece, not really just opening titles but more of a story within a story. Mischa Rozena and Si Scott partnered up to write this, their reflection of what the future may look like.

It’s stunning, and although i keep making you guys watch these longer videos, I hope it’s been worth it.

happy monday friends.

Ok.  Remember when you got all excited because you assembled that Ikea computer desk without having any leftover pieces lying around when you were finished.  Yea, Kagen Schafer would have made an MC Escher-esque sculpture out of your Ikea parts and had it sing romantic Portuguese lovesongs to you.

Schafer creates furniture, boxes and other curious devices, all of which have some kind of puzzle twist that, when solved, allow secret compartments to open.  For example, the Lotus Table has a surface with 10 concentric rings of inlaid wood, that when twisted into certain combinations and patterns, allow one of the six compartments below to become unlocked.

Another recent creation, the Pipe Organ Desk, is quite a curious piece of furniture.  Each of its drawers are connected to a different note of a full octave pipe organ.  When you close a drawer, the air is directed into one of the pipes and it creates the sound.  The entire thing, down to every single screw, is completely fashioned by hand out of wood.  Now that would be pretty damn cool in its own right, but of course, here comes the twist.  Inside of that desk is what Schafer calls a pneumatic logic board which allows the desk to remember the pattern of notes you’ve played.  If you play the right jingle in the right pattern, a secret compartment unlocks.  You can even adjust the logic board to allow a custom tune to be used to open it up.

Seriously, take a few minutes to poke around his site.

I can’t remember how I found Araminta’s work exactly but I can remember that my first thought was it’s the places you’re willing to go to, the people you’re willing to talk to that make you a great photographer. Photography is kind of common, amateur these days and by these days I guess you could argue that means all the days after Kodak began weeding out professional equipment and replacing it with point and shoot snapshot toys even a child can use. Not that I don’t use them myself on the daily. Not that amatuers aren’t snapping beautiful, captivating pictures.

So if it’s not the equipment that separates the pros from the bros, then I think maybe it has to do more with courage, adventure and plain old, undying curiosity about people and places all over the world, no?

More of Araminta’s curious work after the jump.

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Dave Murray is an illustrator and designer, currently based in Toronto. His unique cubism-inspired style lends itself well to the bottles and cans of the beers he drinks.  If you want a print of these beauts, you can get them here. I only wish you got a beer with every print.

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There’s a lot going on over at cityfabric these days. You guys may remember when I posted about them back in November. Well, now they have a new logo and an awesome new kickstarter project with lots of new collateral—if they raise $13,000 by August 31, you will be able to get their signature figureground maps on pillows, totes, canvases, prints and limited edition t-shirts. Watch the video above to learn more about their project and support your local business!