Travis Beckham, aka Squidfingers, has always struck me as an impossibly talented guy - illustration, design, craft projects, you name it. He's able to do it. So when he posted some iPhone wallpapers promoting the Kansas City Creep Fest I was stoked. Unsurprisingly, they deliver. I suggest checking out the full site for more great illustrations in the same vein. Love it.

When I ran across this collection of images from Rafa Zubiria I knew I was seeing something great but upon visiting his full portfolio I'm just now realizing that the No Way Home series is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of projects to see. The floating homes, apartment buildings and various other entities are fascinating, surreal and not to be missed - but you also don't want to overlook the ZoOo collage series, his poster series or various photography. Phenomenal stuff!

It has become wildly apparent to me lately that the kind of games I'm most prone to spend time with are pretty simple in nature. While I think it's great that the iOS devices can handle the processing power of some epic RPG-style undertaking, or a realistic racing game or a Tekken style fight game.. none of that is for me. Now, give me something like Cross Fingers; a puzzle game challenging you to take dissimilar pieces and combine them into a solid tangram and I'm hooked! You can see a trailer for it here or just take my recommendation that it's a dollar well spent.

If that doesn't tickle your fancy, maybe have a look at MobiGames EDGE - a bit more involved graphically and the gameplay looks to be along the lines of a modernized Marble Madness.

The Oregon Manifest Constructor's Design Challenge was an undertaking to design an "e-bike" with enough battery integration that it would be a viable alternative to your standard vehicular transport. The people's choice winner, The Faraday, is a pretty intriguing entry. Aside from its slick look it's also got a nice quick-release front rack, integrated high-powered lights and an electric hub motor for assisted pedaling. It's worth taking some time to browse over the rest of the entrants in the winners gallery but also take some time to read more details on the Faraday. Loads of great stuff happening up there in the Northwest.

This Friday, Oct. 14th, Kindercastle, Codaphonic and Shaboi will be playing at The 5 Spot here in Nashville, TN. I put together this poster with artwork from Amir Raissian and myself to promote the event. Thanks to the screenprinting wonders at Grand Palace, I now have a stack of beautiful 18" x 24" prints of it. They'll be for sale at the show if you want one (if you don't reside in TN, you can email me and we'll figure out how to get you one).

It just so happens that all three bands are part of the yk records family - a happy accident!

In summation, if you're in or around Nashville this Friday. You owe it to yourself to get to The 5 Spot to see this show.

Absolutely loving this colorized photo of John Vachon's "Times Square on a rainy day" from Avi Katz. It is, as with most things, best viewed at full size.

via Kate.

The design portfolio of Mark Brooks has a load of great, and inspiring, works throughout. I'm particularly drawn to the Santa Monica LW, Biopolitan and King Pigeon Yoga projects but there's a load more work in there to be entranced by if those don't happen to be up your alley.

via Kyle.

I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING. “Did he just say 16 pixels? For body copy? Obnoxiously big! 12 pixels is ideal for most websites.”

I'd like to persuade you otherwise.

I'm not entirely sure I 100% agree with everything in this article persuading designers to use 16px body copy but I'm more inclined to go with it than I am disagree. Unfortunately, the actual article uses 19px for the main body so you're likely to think it looks huge and horsey (it is). Regardless, I'm ready for larger fonts to start being more commonplace.. don't make me get out my special reading spectacles!

via Chad.

Do you recall the Beercamp 2011 site? It was / is an impressive use of CSS transforms to create a zooming experience for modern browsers (ala So Fake, minus the need for Flash). I recall being pretty blown away by it. If you were curious, .NET has posted an insightful tutorial on how to create just such an interface. I'm pretty sure that even though it's been done, it'll still be impressive if you do it again.

• Qwikster Dead Before It's Launched - in a surprising turn of events, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced that splitting Netflix streaming and Netflix DVD into two separate services would be a terrible idea after all and, consequently, won't be happening. So, Qwikster is gone before it even started. Good on Netflix. Now get more Watch Instant happening!
• CSS Properties Index - do you like giant tables of CSS properties and what iteration of the CSS landscape they belong to? Then this is for you.

It will likely never be possible to top this but I will continue forward with another week of Friday Videos...

• Here's To The Crazy Ones - eventually this ad had Richard Dreyfuss doing the voiceover but it's rather poignant with Steve Jobs taking the role.
• Chatons Telecom - Cats Doing Business always gives an approval from me.
• Kittens activate vacuum monster - what more can you say?
• Russian Mobile Metal Band - I would love to encounter this randomly on my own.
• Where's the Octopus? - I've seen this footage of Roger Hanlon encountering an incredibly stealthy octopus in the wild but the follow-up / science behind the way the camouflage technique is absolutely fascinating. If the color shifting wasn't mind-blowing enough be sure to familiarize yourself with the Mimic Octopus.
• Amy's Trip to the Haunted House - yea, it's a clip from Ellen but if you can make it 1:10 you'll be in for a screaming treat.

BONUS

• Cold Sodas and Cold Hot Popcorn - I've no idea what I'm seeing here but it involves an awful lot of ridiculous clips.
• Chatons Telecom BONUS - outtakes of kittens from the above linked Chatons Telecom commercial. Yes, more cats.
• Sons reaction to "Empire Strikes Back" reveal - pretty amazing facial expression. Also hilarious when The Crying Game is substituted (still SFW).

Have a great weekend!

This photoset of Scared Bros at a Haunted House is phenomenal. Presumably the room is actually quite dark and scary with just a momentary flash to capture these people in their horrified states. It's perfectly ridiculous. See loads more here.

The portfolio of Mando Alvarez has a nice, quiet, simplicity to it. The photos certainly tell a story but there's something mysterious to them - it probably doesn't hurt that a lot of them are at night with little presence of anyone around. I am, obviously, a huge fan of the Haze set, as I am a sucker for some good night / fog photography but I suggest taking some time to browse through Eloquent Profanties, Picking at Existential Scabs and all the rest as well.

via Jeremy.

Ex.FM recently relaunched their entire site into a much more immersive experience. They also added a good deal of discovery, monthly mixtape among other things. On top of all that, they added a great site player - which I can only hope garners a ton of attention and replaces that awful YMP you see everywhere.

Obviously, by now, you've undoubtedly heard the news that Steve Jobs passed away. His battle with pancreatic cancer was lost at the age of 56. I am sure there are those that can memorialize him much better than I but it's worth taking a moment to reflect on the huge influence he had on our lives. It's crazy to feel a loss for the head of a corporation that made computers and personal devices but he always seemed Different, more passionate, more on top of his game. He, and Apple, changed my life in numerous ways (as did Bill Gates with DOS / Windows 3.1) and I thank him for it.. the future we imagined as kids is closer at hand thanks to his efforts.

• Apple Memorial
• Jon Contino Steve Desktop
• Devour Video Memorial
• WIRED: Steve Jobs Memorial - no permalink so visit while it's still up.. some phenomenal quotes from a ridiculously wide range of people.
• Brian Lam (Gizmodo) on Steve Jobs - if you can get past the absolutely awful site design and hard-to-read type this is a pretty fascinating story of Steve Jobs interaction with Brian Lam of Gizmodo, covering the whole debacle with the iPhone prototype.

Apparently this Countdown video from Celine Desrumaux has been in the works for two years. After having watched it, I completely believe it - and know it was worth it. There is an incredible amount of detail, style variation and knowing influence packed in to the journey. The music, provided by Apparat, is a perfect fit. Long story short, go watch it.. now.

via Chad.

What better way to review a movie than by illustrating your thoughts on it? Such is the case with Lisa Hanawalt's Drive: An Illustrated Response. Obviously, it helps if you've seen the movie to be able to fully appreciate it but the two final bullet points will appeal to anyone, guaranteed.

• Tilt-Shift CSS - quite an impressive effect created entirely with CSS3 techniques. The live demo is pretty nuts and it seems like it's only going to get crazier as time goes on.
• Illustrator Template Toolbox - if you find yourself sketching mobile solutions without a good batch of Illustrator templates to move you along your problem is now solved. Handy resource for sure. via Will.
• Shaping Textfields in Photoshop - Watching this video tutorial inspired a complete "Oh! Duh." moment. I can't believe I didn't realize this was an option before now.
• Rarewire App Creation - an XML based solution for app creation that is, as far as I can tell, still on the way. You provide the content, they provide the rest. It sounds worth keeping an eye on at the very least.

This set of peculiar snapshots from Unexpected Tales is a mish-mash of vintage photography ranging from the truly baffling to amusing scenarios to ridiculous and everything in between. There are seven pages of goods so you can basically click for days and continue to see something great.

via Swiss Miss.

The photographic works of Swiss artist Rene Groebli are mesmerizing. This gallery is a good introduction to the type of black-and-white works to expect but it's probably best to visit his official site and enjoy the images as they were intended - in grouped sets. I'm particularly fond of "Varia Sites", "Rail Magic" and "The Eye of Love."

via Nevver.