Lunar Eclipse... Missed it Again...

I've only once witnessed an eclipse, that I can recall. It was when I was a kid, in elementary school. I remember the fuss surrounding it, and the strict instructions not to look *directly* at the sun. Well, guess who looked directly at the sun. Oh yeah--I did. I'm not blind yet.

I don't mean to advocate looking at the sun when there's an eclipse, because quite possibly, one could go blind doing so. As I recally, it was really a sneak peak, in the truest sense of the expression... I held my hand over the place where the sun was, and then oh-so slowly, moved my hand away to reveal where the eclipse was reportedly taking place. I didn't see anything unusual. But then it happened, and the light went out of the sky.

Recently, there was another lunar eclipse. My brother called me from the West coast, to ask me if I could see it. This time, it was taking place in the night, and it wouldn't damage my eyes to gaze at it.

I peered out my window, but could see nothing from below the eaves of my house. I noticed the neighbour's young daughter out, all bundled up in a -25 degree weather snow suit. That was enough for me to decide that I would wait until the next eclipse to come my way.

Decorating Ideas... for the Prince of Darkness?

Enter the sci-fi world of weird. Report-writing has never been more macabre (or life-like) than it is on Richard Riley's desk (http://www.tomspinadesigns.com/), described as an "elegant and extremely unique piece". I think it would be fodder for nightmares, myself. Design intended for shops, theme parks, "home theatres", and perhaps film sets, can now add a touch of living of the surreal to your home. This realistic-looking "Deluxe Werewolf" stands at 6 feet tall, and can grace your home for $6999. Think of how much fun the kids would have at Halloween!

Free Range... Humans?

While we're on a national health awareness kick, why not make a pit-stop at this award-winning UK design shop called "us", for some free range human? Too much skin, you say? well how about other ideas that push the envelope just a wee bit further over the edge of societal conformity, such as tee-shirts that don't require laundry detergent to wash, or portraits that toggle between hairless, naked people and their hairy, clothed alter egos?

Exotic Species Imitate Art

Fan of glass blowing? Well check out these eclectic samples of fine workmanship... brought to you, courtesy of Mother Nature.

The transparent, tuberous stems boast exotic-looking "fauna", among which, sea creatures such as starfish and anenomes frollick. These are the chilly Antarctic waters, just off of Tasmania. Photos were taken at a depth not previously explored, leading voyage leader, Martin Riddle, to think that new species may even have been discovered. How exciting!

Blue Cake and other Homemade Delectables

I am now officially counting down the days until the Carp Farmers' Market opens its gates once again, to the culinary (read: baking) challenged... those of us making the pilgrimage are hoping to fill our long-emptied pantries with delectable homemade goodies and home. That blessed day is now less than a month away. I've marked it off in my calender, with a 3-day reminder, just in case.

Among my many favorites, is an artful cake maker who aptly calls herself, "The Girl with the Most Cake". Her works are eye-catching, colourful and exotic creations, showcased in an old-fashioned glass case, set up on top of a table. There are usually crowds around her stall as people line up to see her unusual designs. They are quite fantastic, indeed, and of course, they are quite delicious.

Art or Science?

Welcome to the universe's own art gallery, which boasts endeavours that have been in the works for billions of years, and will likely continue, well after our species is extinct. NASA documents these natural phenomena with Astronomy Picture of the Day.

This particular image is a nebula... a mass of dust and gas, and a couple of stars. It looks to me, like a contemporary art canvas, or perhaps the close-up of a glassy monster eye.

The surreal glowiness of the bottom image (with the black tree silhouettes) reminds me of those black velvet Elvis-styled tapestries of the 70s.

Keep Your Creativity Flowing

Do you suffer from creative boredom? Do I? Well, sometimes. Are ideas slow to come to you? The can be to me, at times.

Well I found a resource full of ideas at the designer mag, How Magazine's web site. It's chock full of creativity exercises... Creative exercises are not only for artists, but they're just good for the soul--any soul--in my opinion. If you are a CEO or an accountant, or the coach of a hockey team, you also need to "think outside the box" at times, here's your chance to re-engage in the "ideas world". Now go to it, and save the world from drudgery!

Let Your Eyes Play Tricks

We've all seen those optical illusion books. In fact, many of the "quivering-edged" dots (that aren't really quivering at all) and other such trickster imagery have found their way online. But--have you seen the interactive version yet? If not, be sure to view Arthur Shapiro's crazy collection of psychadelic, mind-altering visuals. Here's the linky link.

Google Maps Gone Creepy

Two dudes in a pad. One needs to know where the picture frame store is. The other guy Google maps it, and inspired by curiosity, discovers much more than the store in question!

A short b-styled, YouTube vid by a couple of college aged guys pushes the limits and made my hair stand on end, if only for a moment. How much does Big Brother really know about us? ... Really? How far will technology go? Weird.

Dashing Desktop Designs

Are you tired of the same old desktop design, everytime you boot up? Maybe your computer's operating system (Mac only, I'm afraid... sorry, Microsoft users) didn't ship with the right image to make your world turn. Well, if that's the case, you can choose from a multitude of awe-inspiring (and not so awe-inspiring) designs at Desktoptopia. The concept is that one subscribes to a series of desktops, so that your desktop changes regularly. You might find something that tickles your fancy, and for designers, it's a wealth of cool effects to look at.

Flash Cheat Sheet... Coult it Be So?

If you're like me, you love to see fluid creativity in motion, but you may not be so adept at the programming side of things... enter, Sprout, "the quick and easy way to create sophisticated multi-media content". A user-friendly, pre-built WYSIWYG Flash programming claims to make Flash programming easy and breezy. Here's the Youtube video.

The Sprout web site proudly boasts a launch date of January 28, 2008... Well, we know that date is past. Akin to most software companies, I suppose they have run into unforseen delays before their product launch. I thought I'd try clicking on their "Get Started" page, but received a message saying that they're in the closed beta stage (code for: they're testing their software, and they have enough testers already, thank you very much).

From a programming-challenged designer's perspective, it looks like a promising solution, so I've signed up to be notified of their launch... I'll keep you posted!

FEB. 19 UPDATE... Get your Sprout here: www.sproutbuilder.com/friendsofsprout

Sea and Food

"I'd like to be under the sea In an octopus' garden in the shade" ... Well, Ringo Starr can now eat his heart out, in this underwater heaven on earth known as the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island--one of the more unusual in the Hilton hotel chain. Inside this glass-domed room, one can marvel at schools of fish while dining on fine "Maldivian-Western fusion cuisine".

Clearly, this kind of restaurant would be near impossible to maintain year-long in a northern hemisphere. Indeed, it is located in the Maldives. Make your reservations early, for it apparently fills up quickly. Also, the restaurant's underwater life span is an estimated 20 years, and it has already been in the water since 2004.

Prankster Art

An elaborate illusion: these guys spent time (and probably money) to paint the picture of a piece of paper on the wall, so as to fool their buddy into thinking it was a real piece of paper. They sandblasted the wall to make it look real... and by all accounts, they succeeded in their mission. Check out this crazy video of two guys' artwork prank.

For the Love of Logos

What's in a name? or better yet, what's in the image, behind a name? Well, a good logo should provide you with all the necessary clues to figure out the brand promise. Some of these clues are easier to decipher than others.

Well, if you care to peruse logo designs, here's the site for you: logopond.com. At first glance, the raison d'etre for their web site is not all that clear... they have a large cache of business logos. I'm not even sure that I really care what their site's purpose is because they have a lovely, inspirational collection of beautifully-presented logos to browse and comment on. Nice.

Why? Why, why, why do we do such things?

So, what's the point in participating in these silly kinds of human rituals? I think it's to prove to ourselves that we are somehow able to do something that most people cannot. Perhaps, in some small way, we want to challenge our existance?

Well, go ahead, and see if you can make the above exercise happen. Is your body able to defy logic? If you need bigger writing to soak it all in, click on the handwriting.

Smashing Fashion

Victoria & Albert Museum, in London, England, is ripe with elegant and beautiful design. In particular, their recent Couture exhibit has some wonderful, timeless fashionista artwork. As the daughter of a former dress designer, I appreciate the sophisticated Vogue drawings and paintings, of long and lanky models.

As a child, I recall trying to draw and paint glamorous women like that, and my mother explaining to me how fashion artists always make the women in their pictures seem awkwardly thin, more so than is natural. So, I made the necks longer, eyebrows a bit more raised, and waists only a bit wider than the long necks. I suppose people like that do exist in real life. Most that I know, however, have "better fed" physiques than the models of yesteryear.

I appreciate what Dove is doing, with their Campaign for Real Beauty. It makes us "regular" folks feel better about ourselves--more hip to the groove. Oh, I know that they are making money off their campaign, and some would say that's wrong, but I'd rather they capitalize off of healthier self-image promotion, than off of stick-figured, anorexic prototypes. Maybe others will follow.

On a related note (that note being the name, Victoria), I wish a very happy birthday to my dear friend, Victoria Marie!

Human Goldfish

Care for a little swim? well how about this hotel's cool pool, located in Dallas, Texas. It's part of Hotel Elan's spectacular urban offering. I'd venture to suggest that the splash experience would be much like swimming in an aquarium... So no below-the-water's-surface hanky panky, and... er.... don't loose your trunks, unless you want all the world to see you in your birthday suit!

Yet Another Wooden Bike...!

Okay, since I've started this blog, I spend a fair amount of time looking up new (and hopefully interesting) material to write about. On my informational journey, I think I've uncovered a new (at least to me) phenomena: the wooden bike. It seems that--while I was so busy with my urban life--I'd never noticed these hand-tooled creations before. Much to my surprise, I've now uncovered a third one in as many weeks. Photographer, Harley Palangchao, says this pic was taken in the Phillipines.

This is the meaning of freedom, and according to what the near-naked, buffed riders are (or are not) wearing, there's not a whole lot of protection, should they take a spill--I mean, look at the first guy's hair, and the blur of the bushes behind them... Clearly, these mean machines pick up speed!

How to Block Facebook Apps

Handy. That's all I can say.

How many times a week, in Facebook, do I get asked to join a virtual snowball fight, or perhaps get involved in a Vampires chase, become a zombie, grow a garden, care for an aquarium, and on and on and on?... Most of the time, I add the applications, because I don't want to hurt the sender's feelings. I want my friends to know that I like them, and that includes their ideas. That said, every time I get another useless application sent my way, I cringe. Wouldn't it be nice if they just never came my way in the first place? Well, here's a useful "how to", on how to block specific Facebook applications, so that you NEVER have to see another invitation to "all these games that most people don't want to join", as narrator Jeff Lange puts it, so matter-of-factly. Right on.

Getting Tanked

According to this guy (I think his name is Mero Pyaro... it's hard to tell), here's a drawing of one of the world's first tanks. Apparently, it was to be built large, so that many men could hold it over themselves, as they ran, in step, toward the enemy.

In his article about the evolution of military tanks, Strange Tanks, he discusses the weirdness of tank design, over the years... and weird, it is.

Powerful Paper

I've noticed a great deal of ingenious art work coming out of Scandinavia. In particular, Denmark seems to cover its share of the design market. Peter Callesen is one such designer. His paper is not only his canvas, but it's also his artwork, as he creates clever cut-outs. I've marvelled over cut-outs in the past--their intricacy never ceases to inspire a sense of time and profound patience.

Callesen's work is a bit different than an average Hallmark card: he not only delicately cuts up the paper, but he has concepts that make you think beyond his fairytale-based work. Some are small, but many of his works are life- or giant-sized. Even Ikea couldn't come up with anything *this* good.

Test Tube

Youtube has a little secret spot, known as "Test tube". It's where they experiment with different ideas, including this one, called Warp. It looks like Cheerios floating in outter space. When you mouse over the O's, other little O's spawn from the bigger O, showing what's related. As you listen to the videos, it draws a line from one watched vid to the next. Clicking the colour-coded dots on the top right of the page brings you back to the associated video that you watched.

I'm not sure how useful this is, but it sure is pretty design. And kind of fun, in a bored, poke-around-the-internet kind of way. Check out the "Top 10" Super Bowl ads here.

Visual Vertigo: the Panoramic Way

Ever wondered what it must be like, to sit in a private, first-class cabin of one of the world's top notch airlines? Well, get a little closer... check out Singapore Airline's Airbus A380, in this cool panormamic experience, courtesy of gillesvidal.com. In fact, he's got the entire launch of the airline's fancy new fleet addition covered, with a number of top-to-bottom, 360-degree, high-res shots... you can litterally see all around you, from the press conference, to the exterior, to the desirable, swank first class.

Also see his Venice pics (nice!), and Mouammar Kadafi's Paris visit... Neat-O!

A Very Gehry Good Idea

Contemporary Canadian architect, Frank Gehry has created giant, out-of-this-world designs. His weird, larger-than life, organic shapes are reminiscent of Paris' Restaurant Le Georges, a top-notch Parisian gem, located at the top of the Centre Georges Pompidou, and boasts one of the best views in all of the city.

Back to Gehry though... his exhibit, an ocean and continent away from Paris, is called Experience Music Project. Located in Seattle, it captures the spirit of enormity... Enormity of thought, and perhaps, making those who wander through it feel rather miniscule. Revel in giant organic shiny shapes.

Cool vs. Practical Musings

It is my belief that in the world of designer survival, there exist two basic breeds: those who will not compromise their artistic integrity under any circumstance, and then, there are the pragmatic. Accepting this philosophy can be a tough pill to swallow. As for myself, well, I think I do fall into the the latter group.

It's not to say that I don't think I have talent (for I have a typical designer ego, loving my own work, for the most part). I argue, however, that willingness to compromise, while sometimes eliminating my candidature from some of the more sophisticated and creative contests (much to my regret), has probably brought me more steady work over the years, and enabled me to survive as a self-employed freelancer.

True, I envy exciting projects that cross the desks of some of those non-compromising colleagues. On the other hand, I believe that (inevitable) change requests are perhaps less disturbing to pragmatic designers.

Designers at Work

I was so impressed by the trendy Belgian ad agency, LG&F, that want to write about them a little more. Their site, while entirely professional (okay, there are perhaps too many pop-up windows), is a delight to visit, and made me laugh. In particular, I enjoyed the various versions of their "About" page (reading of text is required, here).

Being a Flash site, I'm unable to link to the actual page in question, only their main section. This humble group has a strong portfolio, and an even stronger sense of play.

The Language of Color

"The Color Purple", "out of the blue", "caught red-handed", "Orange Crush", "yellow-bellied"... colour is important to us humans, so much so, that we incorporate it into our everyday dialogue, without so much as giving it half a thought. The Sensational Color web site takes color and color concepts to a deeper level: they have documented all sorts of "color-isms". In particular, I like their section, "Color Meaning & Symbolism"... a great cheat sheet, for when you have to 'splain away concepts and use of color, etc. It's all there, in black & white.