I just got waaaaaay too excited about this when I read about it on Creative Review’s blog (which, by the way, if that shit is not in your google reader, you are missing out).

The Ri Channel is a new online project by the Royal Institution showcasing the very best science videos from the Ri and around the web with an aim to “connect people to the world of science.” Well, if it looks this good and Carl Sagan is on the front page, I’m sold. And definitely connected.

More after the jump…

Spend some time on the site. It’s Friday after all. Learn something new (new to the 70s) about Mars. Besides, Carl is kind of adorable, no?

Lots of news out there today in the tech world about the out-of-nowhere announcement from Apple that Mountain Lion is coming this summer.  After we all collectively sighed and chuckled and realized, damn, we should have seen that coming, we can move on to more interesting matters like what it means for the future of interaction design.

Obviously Apple is on a trajectory to merge the conventions of iOS (and now the apps) into OS X.  It wouldn’t surprise me that after maybe a few more iterations of OSX, that the next major (ie OS 11) upgrade will be unifying across all Mac platforms – desktop and mobile.

That’s kinda terrifying, to be honest.  We all know that the touch and point stuff that happens on an iPhone or an iPad is not directly translatable to a computer, and the reason is pretty simple.  It’s tiring to hold an arm up and touch the screen (sorry, Minority Report, it ain’t happening).  That’s why I think this article on Gizmodo is really quite smart and forward-thinking.  Forget all the graphics upgrades, solid state drives, and better screens and everything, the real kicker for the next generation of Macs will be full width integrated trackpads along the bottom of a keyboard in laptops and external keyboards.  Having a large trackpad area will not only allow for more natural multitouch interactivity with the screen, but it keeps your hands and arms where they are used to being (and where they belong).

This will allow Apple to bring all the best of the multitouch interface into the desktop world.  And they’re slowly and not-so-secretly teaching us how to do this as well.  First, they added two-finger scrolling, which most of us can’t live without at this point.  Then they got rid of the button on the trackpad on laptops, giving your fingers a bit more room to dance and do fancy 3-finger gestures like back and forward web-browsing, or invoking exposé. Then they let us add a trackpad to our desktop machines with an even bigger surface, and clearly as an obvious line-stepper into the mouse’s turf.  It’s only a matter of time before the trackpad continues to grow, while 4-finger, 5-finger, and even tw0-handed gestures get slowly added to our repertoire right under our noses.

While all of this is great, I think progress in the human-computer interface is ripe for capital I Innovation.  What Apple is doing with multitouch, and the trackpad is evolutionary (at least at this point).  My biggest problem with this is explained thoroughly in this post by Bret Victor.  To summarize the issue – it’s still just the tip of a finger touching a glass or metal surface.  There’s so much untapped potential for using not only the rest of our hands, but other senses in interaction design that finger-on-surface can’t deal with.  And to be frank, not all of this is really Apple’s responsibility, but they seem to be the only company willing to lead on a such a grand scale in this area (and they do a damn good job doing it), that maybe it is up to them to continue to disrupt other industries (or at least jumpstart their photocopiers, as they say).

Let’s use things like weight, scale, color, location, tactile and aural response, and visual awareness.  Get rid of the skeuomorphism and create new conventions for interface design that take advantage of the rest of our senses (or at least more than 2 fingers).  I think as designers we are obligated to ask / answer these questions and drive the technology.  There’s no point in putting a small graphic of the remaining pages in an e-book along the side of the screen if it gives you no indication of how many pages are left in your book.  Just look at what Clear app is doing.  No buttons to be found.  Buttons are for mice.  Smart audio and color cues, and taking advantage of the things Apple has taught us about how to use multi-touch gestures.  There’s a reason why that has turned so many heads this week – because it’s challenging our notions of how design interfaces drive interaction.

I know this doesn’t exactly offer any solutions, but at least something to chew on for a bit.  Thoughts?

Photographer Matthew Williams + Animator QIL have created some amazing animated GIFs of Jack Donoghue based on photos taken for an upcoming issue of L’Officiel Hommes. I just can’t stop staring at that undulating cube and the clarity of the GIF. My mind is blown.

More crazy cool GIFs on QIL’s website

But I mean, read Troy’s bio and tell me if you’re surprised about the subject of his awesomely dark work:

Troy Moth was born in a remote tree-planting camp on the west coast of Canada and spent the first few years of life in a tent guarded by large dogs. He loved the wild and abundant nature he grew up immersed in, but eventually the call to adventure became too much and he moved, first across Canada to the big city (Toronto), then across the world to India, to pursue a career in photography.

Mark Whalen has been a topic on this blog before—but his latest exhibit at FecalFace (Works by Jay Howell & Mark Whalen) prompted me to repost.

As often, I prefer letting the artist tell his story:

As complex as the cosmos or the workings of the human mind, Whalen’s pieces resemble elaborate puzzles or labyrinths, set up by the artist to challenge ones understanding of their own place in life. From his beginnings in Sydney, Australia, Mark Whalen has evolved into an artist whose meticulously crafted paintings and sculptures examine the human experience by exploring communication, emotion, sexuality, invention, interaction, and ritual – all with an undercurrent of quiet absurdity. Whalen’s line precision and glowing color palette is enhanced by the introduction of colors of light, caution and arousal, making the interaction of his subjects more accentuated and accessible. Thick, seductive layers of clear glossy resin create a post-modern plane for the artist to explore spatial possibilities and relativity within the narrative.

Whalen has evolved into an artist whose meticulously executed paintings now have a prominent place in galleries around the world. He was also included in 2009′s Apocalypse Wow! Exhibition at MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, Italy, and 2010′s SPACE INVADERS Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. His work has also appeared in publications such as Juxtapoz, Modart Europe, Lodown, Arkitip, Art Ltd., Anthem, and Monster Children. He currently lives and paints in Los Angeles California.

RAD. Happy Monday friends.

I was blessed with a magical gift over the holidays. The gift of beer. I’ve been wanting to take a stab at home brewing for a while, but it just always ended up lower on the list than every other project that sprung to mind. Since Santa was able to cram a seven gallon brew kit down the chimney this December, the time has come to brew!

I’m kicking off my first batch this weekend, but up until now, since high school really, I’ve been done an extensive amount of field research to help ‘refine’ my palette. Lately, I’ve been frequenting Sams Quick Shop in Durham, and Tasty Beverage in Raleigh for an assortment of brewery tastings.

Something I’ve come to realize during my time at these two fine establishments is that there is potentially a huge opportunity for designers in the form of craft beer labels. It seems small/craft brewers are producing seasonal & specialty beers more frequently than ever these days. I think breweries should treat the labels on these specialty beers like book covers, and let the label truly reflect the uniqueness of the beer itself. This could mean a complete divergence from the brand style of the brewery & their main beers, but that’s ok. I think the target audience involved would be particularly forgiving in this instance, and as long as there is some visual thread among the entire line of beers, I think unique (well designed) labels for specialty/seasonals are the way to go.

Hailing from Madrid, designer Ritxi Ostáriz cranks out a ton of solid work for “clients in the culture sector, especially musical artists, recording labels and producers from such countries as Norway, Iceland, Germany and United States.” Inspiring stuff.

About eleven months ago an ambitious Canadian Designer named Aaron Christopher Judd started a project called “365 Days of Tumblr“ . Every day of the year he posts a well-executed design conceived from an inspirational quote. Aaron’s work is a real double whammy of good design and heavy-hitting quotes. I really like going back to the beginning of his project and seeing how Aaron has refined his technique over time. Definitely worth a follow if you have a tumblr account.

Today my first big website that I designed as a freelancer went live! It is for Raleigh based video production company, Myriad Media. Planning and managing such a big project on my own was such a huge learning experience. Luckily, the folks at Myriad Media are fantastic and we were completely open with each other throughout the process. And the programmer I worked with, Nick Coates from ForeverHeavy.com, was also wonderful about coming up with web friendly ideas.

With my background being strongly based in print design, I sometimes get frustrated with the limitations of web design. However, for this project I was quite pleased with the ideas that we came up with to give the site the same detail and friendliness as is in the culture book I designed for Myriad Media last year.

If you want to see more of the new site, you can check out my behance page or visit the real deal: www.myriadmedia.net.

Yes. That’s correct. We’ve started a new business. A year after we opened Haigh & Martino in our bedroom and a few years after we became internet friends with Brainstorm (remember the rad giveaway we did with them!!??) we combined forces and have opened Industry Standard, a screen printing shop with the greatest intentions. We’ll be working with talented artists whether they’re a big name already or waiting to be discovered by readers or kids with crisp bills at craft shows.

Things have been moving fast, to say the least. The pic above is from a recent open house for important people at 3S Artspace, where our studio (both HAM, Brainstorm and IN/ST combined workspace) is located. We’ve been lucky to become friends with the founder of 3S, all around amazing dude, Chris Greiner (he sings and surfs!!) and we’re ecstatic to be housed in the next hub of all things creative in Portsmouth, NH. 3S will be turning into a music venue, an art gallery and a farm to table restaurant. Not a bad place for us to be. I can just imagine working all day in the studio and walking downstairs to check out the band and grab a beer at the bar. WHAAAT?!!? Dreams, people. Dreams. They sometimes surprise you and come true.

3S was kind enough to offer us a ginormous (albeit real raw) space and with a little elbow grease, some pallets and a lot of love for what we do, we’ve got it into working condition with enough room for every-thang. And then some.

The greatest thing about Industry Standard so far? If it’s not the lunchtime frisbee/skateboarding breaks, the bobby bottleservice jokes, serious shop talk about paper stock or the sheer thrill of walking into a space that looks and feels like who we all are and want to be – then it’s definitely being in business with great people who love to work hard and play even harder.

If you’re an artists who needs screen printing, give us a holler.

If you’re a bright young thing looking to make your life truly yours, I hope this post inspires you to jump into it. Fully. We have and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done. So far.