7 billion (defined for visual thinkers)

Flash Workout

I can’t think of a better way to convince kids to exercise. . .but then, I’m not Beyoncé or Michelle Obama. This is a campaign called Get The Kids Moving aimed at fighting obesity. The flash workout took place in middle schools across America this afternoon.


And, it comes with instruction:

1923 aka Heaven

I want to apologize to the two people who have been enjoying our blog. We haven't posted anything since the end of October so I want to make up for it by posting one of the coolest animations, I've ever seen. The director is Max Hattler and it looks like he got a small team of talented collaborators to create this beautiful piece. More info can be found here. If the video stutters, turn off the “HD” feature.

Short description:

1923 aka Heaven is one of two animation loops directed by Max Hattler, inspired by the work of French outsider artist Augustin Lesage (1876-1954). 1923 is based on Lesage's painting A symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World from 1923. Here is the painting that he references (and if anyone requests to see more of Leseage's work, I will post more here. Its pretty amazing stuff.):

Connected!

A monster a day. . .

Just wanted to share this super idea from the fantastic graphic designer/illustrator/creative person-in-general, Stefan Bucher of 344 design: The Daily Monster—enjoy!

Does Retro times Retro make Retro squared?

The idea of taking retro films (at least they are retro to ditzy twentysomethings like this humble blogger) and creating even more retro book covers leaves me with a bit of postmodern whiplash.

But that time I was at the receiving end of a guy crashing into the tail end of a traffic jam sure didn't feel quite as good as looking at these designs. Actually, that felt awful. Moving on.

The graphic designer behind the blog spacesick creates an ever growing collection of brilliant book cover designs for the good, the bad and the ugly in film history, reminding me that the best work can come from projects you do "just because".

Okay, "Shaun" is not retro. It's just awesome.

It also turns out that the the designer is merely a year older than I am.
If you'll excuse me, I'll go play in traffic now.

Ever wonder how to explain your worth to a client?

This captures pretty much exactly what it is like on the business end of graphic design, among many other fields.



Here is a link to the creators of this video.

Imagining the Tenth Dimension - Rob Bryanton

This information may save your life (if you accidentally find yourself in the wrong dimension).




This video proves my hypothesis...that composers/sound designers (thanks for the correction Mr. Bryanton) are just as obsessive as graphic designers.

Western Spaghetti by PES

These folks know how to rock the stop motion around the clock.

You can check out a hi-res version of western spaghetti or see more great work at their website: here

Tasty stuff, thank you PES.

Chemical Party

I absolutely love this video. I want to make short films like this. Please watch and just try not to smile :) ........or comment!

(video pasted along by Jessie, thanks buddy)

The Kite Runner

Have y'all seen (or read) Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner? We finally did. If you like type (and I know you do), you'll enjoy the film titles that The Ebeling Group created:

And, I must mention the story, too: Whoa. Amidst the intensity of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the film manages to reveal a Kabul that is universal in its everyday make up of good and evil. I am not very familiar with this culture (I've never even flown a kite), but I absolutely felt our kinship as a species. I know some of the scenes are difficult to watch, but necessary, I think. Rather than allowing you to just be an observer, the author broaches the subject of honor vs. shame in a way that injects the moral directly into your blood stream. Pretty effective from my perspective. Your reactions?

*For those of you who don't know the story, I hate to ruin it, but it must be acknowledged that the rape scene caused so much controversy, the actors were actually threatened and had to be relocated to an undisclosed city in the United Arab Emirates before the movie's release last year. What's surprising to me is that the family that experienced the most grief was that of 12-year-old Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, the boy who played the victim. In Afghanistan, the victim of a rape is often ostracized. (And, not that it should matter but: Fearing their community's response, Ahmad and his parents actuality refused Ahmad's participation in the rape scene. A body double was used.)

The Story of a Sign

Here is a movie short (it moves a little slow at first, but worth watching) that reveals something that I think is an important component to graphic design that is not utilized frequently enough. It can make a good design great. It's not about trying to convince your audience what they should do or believe by telling them, but find a way to personalize their experience with your subject matter. I think its important to switch roles from designer to audience member, asking yourself what aspects may be meaningful to you even if you have no particular interest in the topic at hand.

Watch movie here

(Thanks to my e-mailing aunt)

Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe: Babel Fish

Here is an animation from the movie Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe. What I appreciate about this 80's style computer animation is how "graphic" the images are. The creator, Rod Lord (with this name you either work in the creative industry or in porn) does an excellent job animating the information graphics, using minimal imagery for maximum impact in terms of communicating an abstract idea.

More information on Rod Lord