Brilliantly Adorable; Adorably Brilliant.

By Dei Gaztelumendi

For the Facial Hair-Challenged

I don’t really know what to say about this—except that it’s hiiiiiiiilarious. And, funny ranks high on my criteria for successful design. If you should need a crocheted beard, do call on Ms. Tara Duff of North Logan, Utah.

The Big Caption

So this post is way overdue, but better late than never! I was having a drink with my friend Ian and he mentioned that he created a blog where he matches photos he finds with his own copy & typographic treatments. I think they're great and you should check out his site (http://thebigcaption.com/) if you like what you see.

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!

Kung Fu Bunny

. . .need I say more? Check out this great Chinese animation—
a charming balance of humor and inventiveness. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Web Comic Book Nook

In this week's cozy recommendation corner, I would like to point you towards one of my favourite webcomics, namely "Shrub Monkeys" by KT.
The artist is a young animator who casts herself and her two siblings (Shagster and Hes) as the main characters in order to share... her life? Her daydreams? Random thoughts? Probably a healthy mix of all three - and then some.

I am always first in line when there's self-deprecating humour to be had, and Shrub Monkeys excels at that. Plus, the artist's style is nice and loose, communicates well, and the colourscheme strokes my soul.

Off to Shrub Monkeys!

There is hardly anything that excites me more than some quality stop-motion animation.
Maybe a great cup of coffee. Or the fact that the powers that be will soon provide us with another 80ies movie starring John Cusack ("Hot Tub Time Machine"), two decades after we had all considered that time window to be closed. But I digress.

So, stop motion animation: Here is an awesome and inventive bit of it, thought up by none other than Rhett and Link, who bring joy into my life on a regular basis.

The short is called "T-Shirt War", which should give you a fair idea of the content.

Enjoy. I did.

A fine gentleman who goes by the name Terry Border has been brightening my days with his "Bent Objects".

He breathes life into everyday objects with a bit of wire and a lot of quirky humour.
The photos are just fine speaking for themselves. So enjoy.

Where Creative and Disturbing Meet

If you must repeat this for your Thanksgiving dinner, find the instructions here. But perhaps there is a better application for this meat adorning technique. . .  . Send it to us if you try.

There’s Always Room for a Little Imagination

I stumbled upon this dining plate at the SFMoma store (while trying to play the part of a serious art enthusiast). The designers at Fred sure know how to carve out some space in the everyday for creative fun:

Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit up

Don’t really know how this video fell into my lap, divine intervention or by the efforts of an internet geek’s love of things pop-culture and quintessentially 80’s. The answer it seems is that I had been "Rickrolled"... don't know what that is? Someone needs to start surfing the nets and catch the Rick Astley tidal wave.

Rickrolling is an Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The meme is a bait-and-switch: a person provides a web link that he or she claims is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. The URL can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true destination of the link without clicking. When a person clicks on the link and is led to the web page, he or she is said to have been “Rickrolled” (also spelled Rickroll’d). By 2008, it seems that more than 18 million Americans had been Rickrolled.

Source: wikipedia

Rickrolling refers to the original Astley video, but I appreciate how these two music videos /songs—which could not be further apart from each other—could mix together so well in this video. Click here to see more work by Thriftshop xl, creator of the Rick Astley mashup video.

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.

Little Red Riding Hood by Tomas Nilssonse

This is a student project created by Tomas Nilssonse, Sweden. Overall, I think it was a really great animation and fun to watch.



Here is the original animation that inspired Tomas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xhdy9zBEws) while the animation is more flushed out I still like the Red Riding Hood one.

Forecast - 100% Chance of Raining Rundgren

What is it to be a man?
While I struggle to understand and develop my own personal definitions, I was blindsided by this album cover as I walked down the music aisle of the public library. Todd Rundgrens genitalia descended upon you me like Thor, the viking god of thunder. Dazed, I struggled with the decision if I, myself was man enough to listen to such music. With an unsteady hand, I raised up the album from its resting place and read the flip side track list; the final track entitled Man up confirmed that our destiny was intertwined.

This One Man Army produces, performs and writes his own music. However I don't believe it stops there. . .I would go so as far as to say that it is likely he was the mastermind behind the conception, layout, and even the photographer of the cover shot!

Wielding a guitar & cymbal as weapons to be used against those who dare show up to his concerts; a semi-aggressive squatting pose; and an unreadable expression may have been enough for lessor men, but not our gladiator Todd. To complete the illusion that his essence dominates every inch of the album cover, I believe he intuitively used the Photoshop Filter > Render > Clouds > to create a flesh colored stormy backdrop.

While I expected the same intensity as vocalist Nathan Explosion*, it was more like a ballad rock song from White Snake. My words do this album an injustice, so I will borrow Mr. Rundgren’s words from track 2 entitled Afraid: “Why suffer for nothing? Suffer for something.”

*Lead singer from the animated series Metalocalypse

Cat Toy Brilliance!

Good for some laughs. And, it should be noted that L.A.'s Spellwell stuffs these dolls with organic catnip—now getting high to visions of carcasses can be a green activity!

Creativity + Obsessive Behavior = Peanut Butter + Chocolate. Tasty.

For decades, Swiss born Paris-resident Felice Varini has made magic with paint, applying it to environments around the world. At first glance, the marks look random; but from a single specific vantage point, Varini freezes the place into a 2-dimensional piece. Call ‘em puzzles, call ‘em poetry, some people even call them math—I think these pieces work from any standpoint.




















P.S. Wondering what kind of crazy science Varini invokes to make these? I believe he uses a projector. Anyone? Anyone?

Designed to Make Us Smile

Paris-based company Atypyk graces us with these ingenious takes on familiar everyday products . . . because there's almost always a humorous side to everything.

Pencils with various moustache options (Clark Gable, Burt Reynolds, Salvador Dali, etc.) for those moments you rest yours on your upper lip

Kite

Pizza Plate

Drink Coaster

Secret Agent Umbrella

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