You are currently browsing the archive for the Design category.
Good clean fun (for the most part).
These guys don't so much release videos, as filmic "events".
Not sure I could tell you what any of their songs sound like, but I do enjoy the videos, and it's apparent that they enjoy making them, so it's win-win.
OK Go: “This Too Shall Pass” RGM Version
Director: James Frost with OK Go & Syyn Labs
Production Company: OK Go Partnership
Producer: Shirley Moyers
Director Of Photography: Dermott Downs
Telecine and Online: The Mill New York
This one has been around for a few years, but it's worth noting.
The Route V50 is one of a series of short film advertisements for the Volvo brand. It's directed by Stephen Frears and stars a few Robert Downey Jr's. (the only thing better than one RDJ, would have to be several RDJ's, IMO). Surreal, smart and fun.
I remember Old Spice as "that funny smelling stuff" that all my friend's dads used... until it was replaced by Hai Karate...cuz face it, what man didn't want to have to fight off the women with their Crazy Martial Arts Skillz?
Anyway the point is, irrespective (or perhaps BECAUSE) of the fact that the word "old" is in the name, my perception of Old Spice was always that it was for smelly old codgers who were trying to hide something.
Apparently I wasn't their target market or something, though, being a girl and all of, maybe six, when I formed this opinion, because [insert awkward seque into meaningful observation about marketing, here] I've since come to understand that Old Spice is a premium brand.
They do great advertising, across all media and this one in particular really got my attention. Just great... and yes, a true man should smell like jet fighters and punching.
Another Music Video. This time, an interactive film created by Champagne Valentine (Nexus Productions), for Placebo's The Never-Ending Why.
From Champagne Valentine's case study synopsis: "Champagne Valentine’s multi-sensory experience takes the viewer through an interactive gothic landscape full of shadows, monsters and psychedelic splashes of colour.
Internet users can immerse themselves within this world by moving their mouse over the video as the song plays, becoming fully involved with the images presented to them."
Oh yeah, and the song's good, too.
Click the image below, to play the video.
Music Video for Of Montreal's Id Engager. Totally awesome awesomeness, created by Passion Pictures. Directed by SSSR directors Marc Reisbig and Hanne Berkaak.
2D Animation by Hanne Berkaak, and additional animation by Robin Bushell and Julia Pott
Stop Frame Animation: Matt Cooper
Compositing: Marc Reisbig and Hanne Berkaak.
Enjoy!
Met up for a rummage around the local Chapters with my friend, and fellow-blogger, sister Louise K a while back. sLK is the blogger behind My iPod Is My Sketchbook.
It was great to spend time in real life with a fellow geekoid artsy person and it's surprising how refreshing the concept is. Think about it. We're all in contact through various digital channels, with a wide (and sometimes vast) assortment of people, but how often do we actually SEE most of them these days? Of course part of my problem is that I've been working at home for the past year and spend virtually ALL of my waking hours in the virtual world. ugh. You heard it here: I'm henceforth advocating for more real life meetups! Get on board, and drop by!
So back to the story - As much as I love Amazon, nothing beats the oh- so-physical, real-world sensation of picking up a book and fondling it, fresh off the shelf. Major scores of the day? The latest issue of IdN magazine and, I finally picked up the copy of Gig Posters (volume 1), that I've been coveting since before Christmas.
The giant book is a collection of gig poster art from the online archives of gigposters.com (founded and curated by Clay Hayes) and features a mammoth collection of gig posters by some of the biggest names in concert poster design, like Rob Jones, Steve Walters, Jay Ryan, Gary Houston, Aesthetic Apparatus, Patent Pending Industries, Print Mafia and Squad 19 (to name a few).
It also contains 101 perforated, full-page posters, ready for framing but I'm not about to destroy my book, so if anyone wants to send me another one "for archival purposes" drop me a note. I promise I'll take very good care of it!!
Okay, the high drama of the 2009 Tour de France is over and while I managed to refrain from using Little Black Blog as a forum for venting, I couldn't resist this parting glance at an ad from 1st Endurance that was published in ROAD Magazine, featuring Team Astana and their naked buddy. Yep. Their naked buddy... If you don't believe me, have a look.
First the ad, and then a detail from said ad...
Here at Little Black Blog we lo-o-o-ve coffee. And great design. So just imagine the heart palpitations when you combine the two! Earlier this month Webdesigner Depot did just that, with this compilation of "50 Beautifully Delicious Coffee Designs". Enjoy!...
In Canada the language laws require all packaging to be bilingual - English and French, and both languages must be given equal prominence, which means, letter for letter, all the type has to be the same size, in both languages.
For designers it's a balancing act that often teeters on the edge, because French invariably requires more verbiage, to say the same things as English and when you're faced with detailed blocks of legal, the copy can easily overwhelm things. It takes a lot of finagling to ensure that all that copy (which no one ever reads) doesn't completely destroy the integrity of the design.
But designers are a hearty bunch. Those of us who do a lot of packaging and signage learned, long ago, to take the space requirements for two languages into consideration at the beginning of a design project. I pride myself on the fact that while I can't speak French without embarrassing myself, I can at least, typeset it, as ably as any Francophone. So I feel a bit petty bringing up this next point, but I feel it has to be said.
I'm unimpressed with the fact that while those of us in "the rest of Canada" are programmed, early-on, to consider the French language to be of equal importance to English, the same does not apply toward English, in Quebec.
In Quebec, English copy must, legally, be 50% of the size of French copy. This strikes me as discriminatory, elitist and, frankly, unfair. I did a bit of research on the subject and uncovered a couple of other issues related to the topic that I might as well share here.
In Quebec, new immigrant students are not permitted to attend English schools, whether or not they come from Anglo families.
Last year, an Irish pub in downtown Montreal came under investigation by the Office québécois de la langue française (essentially the language police) for having classic Irish signage, in English, inside the pub.
Here's my point. Everyone on earth knows that Quebec is the French province in Canada. We've all heard the arguments for preserving the unique French flavor of the province and I even agree with a lot of it, but I don't think they're in any danger of losing that "uniqueness" at this point, so what's with the discriminatory attitude toward English and English speakers? And why is it allowed to continue in this day and age? What do you think?