Haircut 2.0 - The Ultimate Wearable Art

It takes a very brave soul to ask random strangers to cut one's hair... which is precisely what this young guy, Bilal Ghalib did. He's calling it Haircut 2.0. Crazy? You decide.

Portrait Drawing on YouTube

Are you one of those people who get inspired by being around other artists? if so, here's a quick fix for you: a 25-year-old Brazilian portrait artist who calls himself marcoseiji on YouTube. He scribbles away on paper, making it all look so easy. Check out his user profile, with his many vids, including this "composite" video. Then, there's the video of EclecticAsylumArt, another YouTube artist, drawing marcoseiji's portrait.

Podcast Mecca: PodCamp Montreal, 2008

This is the weekend many podcasters (and podcaster wanna-be's) have been waiting for: it's the weekend of freebie conference, PodCamp Montreal 2008, where the multimedia minds shall assemble under one roof, and share ideas. As registered guest number 344, I got in just under the wire (total number of guests is 363)... unfortunately, if you didn't register ahead of time, registration is closed.
PodCamp Montreal speakers (there are more):
iCar
Rob Blatt
Les Beaux Real Roux (French)
Zelaurent (French)
Topics will include marketing, SEO, techniques, etc.

A History of Windows Sounds

I don't think any sound has been quite so well recognized as the Windows startup and shutdown sounds... which, I suppose, is why some individual decided to post this video on YouTube, documenting all the various sounds from Windows 3.11 (the empirical sounding, "ta-da!") to present-day Windows Vista, which has a much more tubular zen sound (thankfully). If remixes are what you're into, check out this Vista remix or an XP one... as a friend so aptly put it, they really get going around the middle.

A Dinosaur of a Story

Meet "Leonardo", a 77-million-year-old hadrosaur fossil, uncovered in Malta, Montana. Scientists say that he must have died at about 3-4 years old, and was naturally mummified in the sand that surrounded him, since then. What makes this guy particularly intriguing, is the fact that he is so perfectly preserved... so much so, that you can even see the last meal he ate, in his digestive tract.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science will be the first city to host our dino friend, in an exhibit that starts next week. Paleontologist, Dr. Bob Bakker delivers interesting insight, here.

I Want to Sleep With Common People... Like You

"I want to live like common people.
I want to do whatever common people do.
I want to sleep with common people.
I want to sleep with common people... like you".

The lyrics to this song by British pop band, Pulp are truly inspirational, and set standards to live by... and I just had to post it.

Here's the same song sung by William Shatner and Joe Jackson on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno... I like the complacency with which (the otherwise very uncool) Shatner "tells it" (better than the original version by Pulp).

ABCs of PMS (that's Pantone Matching System)

I've often been asked what Pantone colours are, and why I use them. This 4-minute Pantone "commercial" explains what a colour matching system is, and how to use Pantone's chips as color guides--an excellent piece of basic graphic design knowledge, if you don't already know it. The latest piece of exciting color news is about GoeGuide, which integrates Adobe CS' digital library.

Artful Politics

Something moves me when I watch this video. Perhaps it's the prayer-like chanting of voices (echoing Barack Obama's "Yes We Can"), or maybe it's the black and white footage which recalls a memory of a time when the world felt safer--a time that much of the world struggled for its rights... Perhaps something calls to me from my childhood, that compells me to watch this vid. Whatever the draw, the creative person behind Dipdive executed a most artful, soulful, and hip delivery of any political message that I've seen.

Comfort Creatures on Art

What is Art? Well, here's a creative take on that age-old debate, as per these friendly playdough animals... Sure to put a smile on anyone's face. Enjoy the show!

Magnetic Liquid Design

Run a search for "Magnetic Liquid" on YouTube, and you'll find you'll come up with all sorts of freaky student projects. Filmed and posted for posterity--some include music scores-- you can watch as the laws of nature take over with this weird liquid that appears to have a life of its own, when taunted by magnets and prying eyes. Most of these clips are somewhat lengthly, but here's a quick show of how it works, if you don't want to sit through the longer, more artistic versions of these experiments, such as this one.

Out of Words?

Well, I've run into a busy time in my life as a graphic designer: the month of March. You see, it's year-end for my biggest client, the federal government. They want to use up their budgets now, so they are accorded again next year. A dream come true, in many ways, except that I don't have time for much else, at the moment... So, I'm afraid the schedule of my posts may be spotty for the next month or so.

All the more fitting for this particular piece I found: John Stossel's commentary on how 20/20 has not done a single piece on graphic design in the 27 years of its existance. As such, I thought this clip deserved air time.

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.

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

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.

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.

Dating's Not What it Used to Be

How would you like to go on a date with the boy next door? what if I told you that the boy next door had his head squeezed in an elevator door, and suffers from permanent head trauma. Or, as Daniel Murphy so aptly puts it, "... for some people you just get the feeling that given the opportunity they might squeeze love a little too tight and kill it."

Murphy comments on society's latest trend: self-marketing in the world of online dating, in his article, The Five Worst Online Dating Video Profiles. Take a read. Just be sure to go pee first.