So listen to this first:
Good-ol-rump-shaker-Beastie-Boys-vs.-Matt-Kim.mp3 – Good ol’ fashion rump shaker.

Then listen to the original:
03-Good-Ol-Fashion-Nightmare.mp3 – Good ol’ fashion nightmare.

Granted there are a ton of websites out there giving creatives the opportunity to share their inspiration with many, I stumbled over these guys on the weekend and quite enjoyed the random beauty submitted by it’s members.

The site is very easy and simple to use – and they have this neat ability to capture any image you decide to “Love”. All you have to do is add their handy dandy widget to your browser (I use Firefox 3 so I’m not sure if it’s compatible with other browsers). I’m going to try and dig deeper into what they’re using to do this because honestly I think it’s so intuitive that everybody should share in it’s brilliance.

However aside from their cool technology for such a simple site – it’s still fun!

Website: weheartit.com

Angry Bear by Mellowdrone – rocks!

He hears you.
He sees you.
He sits beside you.
Sometimes her scent brings just enough momentary comfort, that he forgets…
Sometimes it’s enough, that the comfort feels just right.
It’s deserved.
It’s reward.
For…

At times he waits.
At times he lays awake.
He opens his eyes thinking that the moving shadow is her.
His ears receives distant shuffling with such startling fervor that he becomes anxious.
Anxiousness.
It’s welcomed because it makes him feel invincible and alive.
Trepidation.
It’s welcomed only in its undeveloped form.
Undeveloped emotion.
Undeveloped longing.
Undeveloped lust.
Undeveloped reasoning of intimacy and connection.
Intoxication bring out the truth.
It may be momentary but he revels in it.
He bathes in its light – so bright – that he is too stunned to react.
Reaction plays into a dissonant revelation of his own intuition.
His own rationale.
Do he bleed lust into his minds abstinence?

She sleeps.
He waits.
She wakes.
He hold still.

Not to be confused with any offspring of Mr. Roper from Three’s Company, James Roper has some incredible illustration skills.

website: James Roper

Today whilst waiting for a cuppa at my local coffee shop, I stepped aside after giving my order and decided to perch myself against the counter – affording me a birds eye view of most of the store.

Within minutes this gentleman came in to place an order, and even at the risk of giving my sexual nature some latitude, he was handsome. OKAY who the fuck says that these days anyway, but hey he had that scenester 80’s look to him. Long blond hair, deep v-neck t-shirt, tight acid-wash jeans, nice tan…

Now. You might be asking yourself, “Why was he staring at this man? Is Shaun coming out?”. Haha, well to answer that first question I’d have to go back and tell you about a girl around the age of 6 sitting with her family across from me. The second question is a no…

She was very beautiful, very inquisitive, and very interested in said gentleman. I mean VERY interested. Even though she was perched beside her father, even though my natural assumption would preclude her from being at that stage of interest. She was looking at this dude up and down, lips pursed, eye-widened, following him all the way as he exited the coffee shop.

Now why was this so fascinating to me? Probably because, given her age, this was probably the first man she’d ever seen and realized an attraction toward. It was probably something that even she could not explain or understand – but it was there.

That’s what prompted my question.

Do you remember your first crush? That first unknowing feeling of absolute liking for someone you knew. That sensation of being immediately at ease with a complete stranger. Do we ever get to an age when we forget these juicy moments of our lives?

I don’t. I still get them – even though the innocence is lost when we adults tend to follow through sometimes.

My favourite is: CPLUV – http://www.cpluv.com/ . It creates a cool community for designers and professional alike to collaborate, communicate and share (can even find work!)

And yours is?

Okay, so granted I have been on a photography kick lately – but you can hardly blame me when all these beautiful photographers are surfacing with some amazing, not to mention, unique portfolios. Isreali born Guy Aroch has an incredible eye, and he has the credentials to back it up. With an impressive resume, he now teaches at the US School of Visual Arts.

I like beauty. It might seem a simple noun to describe that which evokes a sense of pleasure and delight – but the seeming quality can go deeper. Farther. It can reach into the recess of the most evil and pull from it a sense of empathy, compassion and vulnerability that – even though might last mere seconds – will still prove that beauty is power.

, originally uploaded by i.anton.

The perspective of this photo is beautiful to me. To me it injects fun, carefree, sweet candy, the smell of the ocean and the smell of vanilla sun tan lotion as it catches the wind.

Do yourself a favor; get some Nina Simone (personally I was listening to Feeling Good), and stare at this photo. If you get the chance, then do ME the favor and let me know what exactly came to your mind.

From April 20-30, 2009, the graduates of Langara’s arts programs are displaying their final projects to the public.  This includes students of Display+Design, Film, Photo-Imaging, Fine Arts, Theatre, Art History, Publishing and Journalism 

The events are all free of charge and are located in various venues around Vancouver.

For more information check out the website: artsfest.ca

Don’t believe me? Read them yourself…

I’ve started compiling some etiquette and best practices for using Twitter, which limits users to 140 characters. Most ideas come from other sources, to which I will give due credit. Most of these tips are most appropriate for people new to Twitter. (Apologies is any or most of the tips seem familiar to people who have used Twitter for a long time (i.e., several months).

1. Remember, Twitter is a conversation.
2. Ask questions; don’t just pontificate.
3. What part of 140 chars do you not understand? (Thanks to jyarmis).
4. Discretion: Some things are better left unsaid. So avoid stream-of-consciousness-blogging via Twitter. Check out this article about what happened when a tweet backfired.
5. Transparency is vital — just as with any other social media.
6. Consider quality vs. quantity. (I am going to look at what makes for a useful tweet in the next few weeks.)
7. Many users provide links to interesting articles, information, etc. Guy Kawasaki does this many times a day.
8. Use proper grammar. Check out Mignon Fogerty, the host of the Grammar Girl blog/podcast who tackles proper grammar usage on the popular micro-blogging site. Her tips are available at”Grammar Girl’s Strunk & Twite: An Unofficial Twitter Style Guide,” and include:
   • “Don’t start posts with ‘I am.’ You’re answering the question, ‘What are you doing?’ It’s OK to answer with fragments in a conversation.”
   • “Use proper capitalization. Typing in lowercase doesn’t save characters; it’s just lazy.” I totally support this tip.
   • “Don’t use abbreviations such as 4U and L8…Shorthand symbols such as >, =, &, and @ are allowed.”
9. For an interesting look at the impact of Twitter, IM , SMS and texting may have on language, check out the Boston Globe’s “Is language dead or evolving? Some see the use of shorthand and abbreviated text as the beginning of the end. But studies say students know the difference between formal writing and instant messaging.”
10. “Use numerals, not words, for all numbers.”
11. “If you can’t say it in 140 characters, reevaluate whether you should be posting it at Twitter.”
12. “Provide links and context whenever possible. Remember that many of your followers can’t see what you are responding to.”
13. If people follow you, it’s polite to “follow” them back. However, because of that, be careful about adding too many people at one time — that’s the Twitter version of spamming. People will think you’re trying to sell/hype something rather than start a conversation.
14. It’s really about conversation. When I tweeted about writing a blog on etiquette, I got a lot of response. But be careful contacting someone you don’t know — like in real life, you could be seen as butting into someone else’s conversation. If they don’t know you, they may not respond. (A better way to initiate a conversation would be to comment on that person’s blog. That assumes, of course, that the person has a blog.)
15. In fact, according to jljohansen in a tweet written after my first draft of this article, he said, “First rule of Twitter is ‘Don’t be creepy’ after that, Right and Wrong are dependent on social contract of your friends/follows.
16. To which Nedra said, “Sadly, the creepy people don’t realize they’re being creepy.”
17. See, how the conversation idea works?

Check out some other articles: Twitter + Etiquette = Twitterquette?, Twitter Fan Wiki, and “The 10 rules of Twitter (and how I break every one)” by Robert Scoble.

Of course, there may be a rule that I’ve just broken, according to a comment on Scoble’s blog, Scobleizer: Don’t blog about how you use Twitter.

So I’ve posted some video’s before of some stop action tilt-shift photography, and I just can’t resist posting this incredible sequence at a Monster Truck Rally. The perspective is so odd it’s like a mix of hot-wheels and a Thomas the Train episode.

I could go into a 2008 retrospective but I think there have been more dark moments that shining moments – so all I have to say is this:

WE all have the power and ability to steer our own course in this life. It might be small compared to schematics of the universe. But the beauty of this world is not what we accomplish as individuals but what we’re able to change together. Sounds pretty tacky I know – but take a step back for once and see the world for what it is – just one big bubble. A bubble we’re all inside of, a bubble that is fragile, but also a bubble that is majestic and everlasting, giving us life. A bubble that surely can live without us if it were sentient enough to just wipe us all out tomorrow, but a bubble WE can’t live without.

May 2009 bring you all joy, peace and power. Power to live life. Power to live it well!

FCV however, has been around since 2005 and in those short 4 years, it has grown at an alarmingly successful rate. I work as Lead Designer for them- and I might be accused of having a slight bias in terms of singing its praises – but if you sum up the talent, drive and passion we all share with technology, couple that with the fact we’re all under the age of 40, I’d say we have enough endurance to outlast even the big guns.

Don’t believe me, then check us out!

I stumbled on a couple of these brilliant and effective postcards and tried to find who’s responsible for creating them. I found more images following the same theme and quite possibly the creator – Wilhelm Staehle. They’re quite cheeky – which I love, so enjoy them.

If you’re really crafty you could always just print one out and use it as a great birthday card.

I have been a little slow on the post lately – but for good reason. New direction! 2009 will see some changes, some major some minor, but all we be in the good interest of sharing, collaborating and showcasing art and design globally.

With the holiday season in full swing I do wish everyone a safe holiday where ever you may be!

The deciding factor in watching any movie we know nothing about will always be the poster hanging behind the glass showcase outside the theater. It’s an art that goes beyond just creating something to market the movie, you have to consider that you’re creating a narrative all to its own.

Movie poster art has always been something that fascinated me. I even had my own ragged poster collection as a teenager, that I took from the theater I worked at. Over the years though, especially in the independent film world – that art has been brought to new light. For reasons that are many, the ones that stand paramount are the fact that they don’t have the big studio backing them up, and they’re relying on the “emotional pull” that poster will evoke on the audience and how that’s going to carry with them as they go in to see the film.

In the 70’s through to the 80’s and early 90’s, artists  Drew Struzan and John Alvin created created some of the most iconic posters of our time. These guys forged the path for where movie poster art is today. Without them – who knows where it would have ended up?

Online design shop Mary and Matt has just stared selling a unique and delicious product.  Their Chocolate Pie Chart is made of 70% milk, 20% dark and 10% white chocolate.  It costs $20 US. 

I realize I have been falling behind in posts – however I that does not mean I haven’t been searching for something exciting to show you all. Well I think goes beyond anything I thought to expect. Patricia Piccinini is a artist and sculture born out of West Africa, she immigrated to Australia to emerge in the late 90’s as one of Australia’s most prominent artists.

I could blab on more about her but I’m sure you’ll find more backstory here. I’d just take a look at her work and I guarantee you’ll be mezmerized for a while…

..or at least untill you’ve run through her entire collection.

On Main street, between 23rd and 24th Ave, across the street from Crave restaurant, sits a small stationery store full of surprizes.  The Regional Assembly of Text sells all sorts of artwork, clothing and stationery which use emphasize text in the design.

Particularly interesting was a collection of tiny books in the “lowercase reading room“.  Also of interest is their letter writing club where people get together to practice the art of writing letters.  This store is definitely worth a look.

The Regional Assembly of Text 
3934 Main Street 
Vancouver BC

MTV created a global warming media campaign called Switch, which looked into getting people actively involved in the environmental issues at hand. Now – I’ve always trusted MTV ad campaigns to always be unique in its approach and voice. Stumbling on this just reaffirmed that notion.

Enjoy!

Stumbled on this Ad of the Day and thought i’d just post the print ad that was release – since there really isn’t much else information other than it was created by CLM BBDO, Paris, France.

Even though this has no affiliation with Pantone, I have to say that Ignacio Pilotto has a done a great job putting some fun into an iconic toy.

Not much out there about the Argentinian designer – other than this puzzle making its rounds.

Justin is an artist out of Spokane, Washington – with a very twisted mind. I remember being a kid and mutilating most of the He-Man figurines I had (including my cousins Barbie doll), but Justin seems to edge a line that makes this almost horrific.

Good thing it’s Halloween!!

Not much is known about these guys or girls at Oprisco, but it’s fairly evident that their work is top notch. But with most – the tragedy here is a poorly built site.

It’s sad when you have great work and a bad site to view it – aside from just viewing the photography, there isn’t much information on the photographers, and the navigation is non existent.

Oh well, check em out anyway.

What would you say to rechargeable and wireless stereo speaker docking station for digital audio players? Well designer Victor Vetterlein got stuck into the idea and came out with Yo.

“…The design intention is that a renewable energy source such as solar power, wind power, or hydroelectricity charges the battery packs when the stereo is not in use.

The speakers also contain lithium-ion batteries in their base, and recharge when placed in the stereo base portals. The batteries also provide high-density ballast enabling the speakers to stand upright when removed from the charging ports. The speaker enclosure is designed to amplify sound. The speakers are mounted in the rear of the speaker housing.

Similar to a megaphone, the front portion of the speaker enclosure is extruded to increase and direct sound. Two removable rods are mounted between the stereo speakers to stabilize the stereo assembly and provide a lifting handle when the unit is transported.”

Jeremy Prasatik, of Dallas TX has got a really great approach to design and seems to navigate with enough sense to not get too carried away with fads or “what’s hot” in the design scene. His site jp33 has a pretty eclectic and large body of work, which is definitely worth taking note.

Although, he does seem to pull some flavour from designer Scott Hansen. Come to think of it, the whole grunge-seventies-eighties-art deco style seems to becoming more and more prevalent. But who cares! It looks good, and is appealing to most descerning tastes. So take a look at Jeremy’s work – you might even find a couple of awesome christmas presents by way of some awesome t-shirt prints.

Ever wondered what on the inside of some of “characters” you’ve encountered in life. Perhaps you’ve always wondered what the life cycle and skeletal system of a Gummi Bear is. Well Jason Freeny of MoistProduction.com has a somewhat odd intepretation of things – which serves him well enough to gain some notoriety.

“..armed with a youthful, overactive imagination Jason create smart, intricate illustrations that tickle the deviant intellect through a mix of hard graphics, pop iconagraphy and wit.”

Enough said – just check out the damn site!!

Weblink: Jason Freeny

On Thursday I came across a piece created by Andrew Zuckerman. It wasn’t about him or about a product he wanted to promote or sell. To me – it personified the idea that the greatest gift one generation can pass onto another is wisdom, pure and simple.

Visit wisdombook.org and watch the video, watch the Making of interviews and just listen. Aside from the simple approach to shooting an interview and photography – Andrew goes into detail of why he used the mediums he used, and the method behind the scenes.

Enjoy.

Growing up in South Africa, our version of Oreo cookies was Bakers Biscuits cookies, and while doing my usual perusing for cool motion graphic video’s I stumbled over this little nostalgic throwback.

Most of the talent recruited by Agency Ogilvy in Johannesburg included Shy the Sun (direction) and Blackginger (production coordination) and Cab Films (live action).

With an obvious pull from popular fairy tales – I think they’ve definitely exposed some of South Africa’s burgeoning talent.

With a regular appearance in the “How To Spend It” , The Observer Magazine, Tatler, 125 and Dazed & Confused – Zena Holloway has created some of the most stunning imagery I’ve seen thus far. Drawing on her own scuba diving experience, coupled with an sharp technical know-how and “…superb creative direction”, this relatively new medium is gaining some widespread recognition.

Zena has worked with clients such as: Nike, Umbro, Epson, Sony, Herbal Essences and National Geographic.

Well it looks like FOWA will be held in the Miami next year – with some great speakers covering topics like:

- The future of the browser
- How to build a community that is crazy about your product
- Using video and podcasting for increased success
- How to build quickly with Django, Symfony, cloud computing and Git
- How to make powerful web apps using Objective-J and Cappuccino
- How to achieve tech team nirvana
- Future web business models that will actually work

Michael Arrington TechCrunch

Michael Arrington is the founder of the Crunch Network and editor of TechCrunch, the leading blog covering new Internet products and companies. He also co-founded Edgeio, an online classified listing startup. Previously, he worked as a corporate lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers and Wilson Sonsini, worked in sales and business development at RealNames, co-founded Achex, which was sold to First Data Corp., and was COO at Razorgator.

Daniel Burka Digg & Pownce

Daniel Burka is the creative director of Digg and is one of three cofounders of Pownce. He is also one of the founders of the Canadian company Silverorange where he worked on various projects including branding and user interface design for Mozilla. At Digg, Daniel works with Kevin Rose to evolve concepts into a cohesive user experience. Enabling the site’s vibrant user community participate on the site is a constant challenge as the site grows and changes. Daniel also designs the user experience for Pownce and works with Leah Culver and Kevin on feature development.

Jason Fried 37Signals

Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals, a Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. 37signals’ products include Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da List, and Writeboard. 37signals’ products do less than the competition—intentionally. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people’s desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of 37signals products.

I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had the chance to upload any new works – notably my photography walks of late. Enjoy.

weblink: Mediakik Flickr

weblink: Mediakik Works

Okay – so a while ago the Big Buzz word out there was Twitter, which is a free social networking tool, a “micro-blog” if you will, created for you to get constant updates from your friends, family or even from your music artist, clothing company etc…

Its humble beginnings started with a company called Obvious who actually just used the tool internally before officially launching it in October 2006.

Well just like Facebook its popularity has escalated and grown to incredible numbers. But what’s the big deal?

Well Twitter allows you to post mini updates on what you’re doing, where you’re going, what you’ve seen, something you’ve heard and allows you to share it with all your Twitter friends (followers).  Like if you’re planning to head to the airport on a Friday morning in absolutely crap weather, and insane gridlock – you can save your Twitter friends the same agony by texting in – with your mobile – the traffic conditions. Or you’re out shopping and you stumble over a sick sale on some Chuck Tailors – just pull out the mobile and text your find.

You catching on yet?

It has an open API – which means that if you’re a code monkey you can develop an application like Twhirl, that allows you connect to your Twitter on your Desktop, and follow everyone’s tweets (à la MSN messenger style). If you have a Facebook account – you can hook your Twitter into it so that when you Tweet – it updates your FB status. Cool huh!! If you have an iPhone you can download the Twinkle or Twitterrific Application which lets you broadcast, attach pictures and chat to nearby peeps.

Simply put – it’s just another way to stay connected. So what are you waiting for chump!!

A combination of stellar special effects – Munich based design firm Velvet Mediendesign and Black Mountain Studios VFX teamed up to create this spot for Mattoni Spring Water. Nothing like Brazilian supermodel, Gisele Bündchen in a water dress to promote natural spring water. Oddly enough she used the same “water-dress” concept to promote her own line of sandals which were featured in several magazines.

Pure eye candy and pure seduction.

Date & Time: October 21, 2008 7pm
Location: Langara College Library 3rd floor

As an artist producing works for gallery installations and public spaces, Antonia Hirsch will address issues and concerns faced by artists as they develop projects for temporary and permanent contexts.

Barbara Cole will discuss the potential of large outdoor advertising screens as viable platforms for artists projects in Vancouver.

Brodie Neill is a young dynamic designer capturing the attention of the international design scene. Only recently having graduated the 28-year-old Australian has quickly built up an impressive collection of international exhibitions and prestigious clientele.

Already, Brodie’s progressive approach has resulted in the much-celebrated design E-turn (Kundalini) and the @ Chair; a design recently included in Time Magazine’s most influential designs for 2008.

He definitely has some crazy contemporary style – but it’s his seamless and fluid design that makes it stand out. Pretty slick – if you pardon the pun.

An old tradition in the Vancouver web community has been reborn.  Tonight at 5pm the reinvented Ideas on Tap is taking place at the Yaletown Brewing Company.  It’s a networking event for people interested in blogging, internet marketing and online social networking.  You can have a look at the blog to see who is coming.

If you’re a T-Shirt nut – which I honestly would like to call myself, but I stand at risk of being called a “poser” since my collection is diminishing – then you would love the tasty gem: www.youreyeslie.com. They’re a small collective of artists pumping out shirts with style, edge and a little of WTF?

And it’s a good thing they have killer designs – because their site is pretty dismal. You can do what just did, and that was download their catalog, skip the riff raff and get to the good stuff.

Check em out: The YourEyesLie Store

Wordle is a fun little web site that lets you create art out of words.  It was created by an IBM software engineer named Jonathan Feinberg.  You can view other users’ tag clouds in the gallery or easily create your own based on a block of text, an RSS feed, or delicious bookmarks.  Then you tweak the appearance of the cloud by changing font, layout and colours.  The image above is constructed from mediakik’s delicious bookmarks.

An interesting technique that takes wide angle and high angle shots from a high plane – and adds a depth of field to it – giving a very cool illusion that you’re focusing on the subject matter. It’s almost surreal because everything looks miniature in a way.

It’s a technique that’s becoming popular – however it’s pretty hard to achieve and there have only been a few photographers able to capture the essence of what tilt-shift photography is.

Check out Vincent Laforet – a photographer for the New York Times and Keith Loutit a photographer based in Australia.

I had the chance lately to go through depth cores 35th exhibition entitled “NOIR”, and I was thoroughly impressed by the eclectic works produced by the many artists that submitted their interpretation of the theme.

depthCORE was started by Justin M. Maller & Kevin J. Stacey as mean to showcase “modern craftsmanship” – a term I personally liked. Joined by Brian D. Smith – the three oversee the workings of depthCore with submitting personal works, recruiting artists from around the world by personal invite only (which would explain the high calibre of artists).

If you make to their site every three to four months you’ll get a fresh glimpse at what they refer to as “Chapters” – a collectively themed showcase based on  a given theme.

Don’t believe me – check it out!

Link: depthCORE

For those of you who who are looking to find some inspiration in colour design check out the website ColorLovers.com.  The site lets designers share 5-colour palettes with other designers.  Sometimes users will also post the photograph that inspired the palette, or share a story of how they came across the color combination.

The site has all of the typical web 2.0 elements, like discussion groups and the ability to rank and collect favourites.  Because the site content is driven by designers, what you get is a reflection of what trends are popular at the moment.

The best part is that you are able to search through thousands of colours, palettes and patterns.  Once you’ve found a colour combination you love, try the feature that lets you create patterns using those colours.

There’s a blog on the site sure to be of interest to true designer geeks.  They talk about the latest trends and drawing inspiration from the real world.  Check out this intesting post where caterpillar colour schemes are used for design.

The couple turned out to be two NDP volunteers from North Vancouver.  Their image was supplied to The Element Agency by Getty Images, one of the largest suppliers of stock images.   The ad agency was forced to remove the clip when Jean and John Macintyre recognized themselves in the ad, but say they never agreed to have their image used.

Although it’s embarassing for the Liberal party, they are correct in saying, “When you deal with a company such as Getty Images, you are assured that all the appropriate rights were acquired.”   We’ll have to see what becomes of this story.

You can read more from the reporter who broke the story here.