While I have no plans to attend the Typographics conference, I am rather enjoying their site. Great color choices, questionable but daring giant headlines and nice overall design (as one would expect). I'm also enjoying the shares and insights from their blog, which are tangentially related to the conference but mostly serve as profiles for their various speakers. I mean, any post called Branding and the Brain is going to grab my attention.
I know I've posted this How I Became the Bomb video for Ulay, Oh (off their Adonis EP) but it's currently at 3.9 Million views and I think that's worth taking note of. I've no idea how this equates to sales or any amount of income coming in for the band that's been at it for as long as they have but it's great to see them getting some recognition in one way or another. Read more about the explosion here and then be sure to watch the video - bump them up to 4million views.
Browsing the repository of type from VILLAGE taught me two interesting things. First, they have a wonderful, varied, collection of typefaces. I think Urtd and MCKL grab me right off but there's so many great examples throughout. Secondly, they're in the same building as VHX! Hopefully I can go sneak around their space.
Sam tipped me off to this wonderful repository of Scientific American covers. The publication spans an absurd amount of time - 1847 to 2008 in the archive - but the real sweet spot seems to be the 50's through the 80's. Or maybe I'm just revealing my own personal preferences with that.
I ran across the work of Aaron Moreno the other day, aka Retroband, and love his dedication to "making toys I wish I had growing up." Basically, he's hand sculpting, molding and painting a series of figures from the films that shaped his taste. The They Live and Creepy Kevin pieces are among my favorites but there's plenty to see in the portfolio.
I am taking over the VHX Instagram this week and I've got big plans. We've been doing a rotation here at work for anyone that wants to take it on and this is my week. I am planning on posting a smattering of random personal images, NYC movie trivia type imagery and even some giveaways. So, yea, you don't wanna miss out on free stuff (yes, I am openly baiting you into following and liking posts - nothing wrong with that).
I lament not attending last years inaugural Creative Works Conference in Memphis. So, seeing that tickets are now on sale for the 2015 event, I jumped on board immediately. Hopefully nothing comes up as a conflict because I'm looking forward to seeing this very solid lineup of speakers.
Been absolutely loving the #100DaysofPatterning results from Melissa Motzkin. It's great to scroll back and see the handdrawn style at the start of the project and how it has evolved into more digital based offerings - a very distinct difference but you can clearly tell it's all sprung from the same mind. Lovely indeed.
How is it that the short weeks at work somehow feel the longest? A question for the ages! If you haven't watched that Kung Fury short yet, get on it now. You'll thank yourself later. Beyond that, enjoy the following distractions:
Riker - Episode 1 - a TNG spin-off focused on Riker? Yes please. Thank you Paul for the heads up on this.
Trevor Noah - Daily Show tryout - trying out Jon Stewarts chair. Not super funny but interesting to see that the promotion has begun for his September takeover.
Temporary Secretary Live Debut - despite being in the McCartney catalog for a long time, this is the live debut of it. It's every bit as awkward as the recording but lovable specifically because of that.
Hackerman's Hacking Tutorial - just another Kung Fury teaser for you to be convinced to get into this wacky short.
Trapos - Superstition - I have no idea what this series is but the Rag characters are one part Menomena and one part Mighty Boosh. It's weird and I'm glad to be ignorant to its intentions.
Berlin 1945 - color footage of Berlin after the bombing. Not so much funny as it is fascinating. The sound design also makes it feel even weirder and sadder given the destruction.
Sam Prekop - A Geometric - very atmospheric, ambient piece of work from Prekop but I like it. Good mood piece to improve your day.
I'm just going to assume you've heard of Kung Fury. It was a huge Kickstarter campaign and the trailer remains a wonderful piece of Internet viewing. The great news is that the full short from that project has now been released. You can watch right here. VHX also powers streaming purchases of the site. Why would you buy a thing that's available for free? Because you can take it with you on our iOS or Roku apps - which is honestly convenient as I watched it on my train ride yesterday and couldn't have done that with just a youtube view.
Anyway, this isn't really about VHX. It's about a 30 minute short film featuring a kung fu cop that travels through time to destroy Hitler. It's an homage to 80's action and cartoons to the highest degree. It also happens to be hilarious and engrossing. Please, watch it.
After revisiting the works of Malika Favre I was curious who made her site - as it was immersive and just about the most perfect way to showcase her creations. The site was created by designer and technologist, Guy Moorhouse. The catalog of web designs, app designs and animations is stellar to say the very least. Tons to learn from here and be inspired by.
It's been a few years since I visited the works of Malika Favre and I'm no less impressed with what I see now than I was the first time I encountered it. I love how seemingly simple it appears but has so much character and distinction. With a client list like Sephora, BAFTA, Vogue and The New Yorker - I'm not telling you anything new. She is phenomenal, go remind yourself of that.
Nice writeup from VOX on Why Your Favorite Show Was Cancelled, complete with a fancy animated gif of how the current licensing process works. Kenyatta's note pretty much sums up my reaction nicely: "oh we can fix this, whether television wants it or not."
Just wanted to leave this photo of Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures offices here. Great use of the space and I love that the digital bleed made its way into the texture.
Meghan Doherty is involved in a lot - author, illustrator and (in my opinion) Vine dominator. She's got a great blend of pop culture, vivid colors and just the right twinge of something dark and creepy underlying it all. Her latest undertaking is the official video for Adventure Kids by Teen Men. It has all the things I've come to enjoy from a HazelSt creation. Watch the video and then follow her on allthethings.
I realize the world of exclusive filmed musical performances has exploded over the last few years but there's still plenty of greatness to be mined from them. The latest that I've encountered is The Pink House Sessions - a series of performances put together by Langhorne Slim in his pink house, filmed by the originators of the genre, LA Blogotheque. I'm partial to it because the artists are, by and large, Nashville based. The latest is a performance from James Wallace. It's an excellent venue to showcase Wallace's voice, which can run the gamut of estranged, crazed and vulnerable. I love it. Watch him play "Mighty Eye" and then partake in more goodness from Evan P Donohue, Jonny Fritz and more.
It's a helluva long read but this article on The AI Revolution is kind of a must read for everyone. Not only does it simply lay out how technological improvements exponentially grow over time but it proposes a potential future ahead of us - changing from Artificial Narrow Intelligence to Artificial General Intelligence and then, ultimately, Artificial Superintelligence. That last one is the scary one because we're basically out programming ourselves as a species but it's not like anyone is going to pump the brakes on it.
All and all, it's not really scary as much as it is fascinating to imagine where things are headed. The simple tasks that our phones and devices perform now are all contributing to a forthcoming entity that can combine and think on its own.
I spent some time over the holiday weekend hanging out in Salem, MA with my lady. It's a quaint little small town that's managed to build a tourism industry around a somewhat tragic series of events in the 1600's in which they hung 19 people for being witches. It's not quite on the same level as the British witch-hunts which resulted in folks being burned to death but it's still fascinating to see such a horrible thing turned around into a positive bit of entertainment.
If you've got the inkling for it, I recommend spending a weekend there. It's got a small town feel, plenty of history and entertaining offbeat destinations. Oh, and maybe one of the best record stores I've ever been to - Record Exchange. Excellent relaxing getaway from your regular hub-bub.
Once upon a time, there was Nashville's Smallest Art Gallery - a 27" x 37" display case in Hillsboro Village with a rotating exhibition. Since the deconstruction of that area, the gallery is no longer.
However, Ben Griffith has picked up the mantle and launched Nashville Tiny Gallery. Truth be told, I assume he's never heard of the previous Smallest Art Gallery but it's completely unrelated but the concept is great. He sets up various very small galleries in secret locations around town - hiding them in plain sight and leaving a trail to find them on his site. There's a nice NPR piece about it and he's open to open sourcing the entire concept.
You can see the results here - definitely worth searching out if you have the time.
