Hello Bauldoff

Former coworker Barry Campbell recently finished this nicely...

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:31:00 -0400

Former coworker Barry Campbell recently finished this nicely detailed Steampunk Darth Vader mask and helmet. I’m not sure if this was a Halloween project or not, but posting this today seemed appropriate.

In case you’re interested, Barry is selling this item, and is also taking orders for custom projects. Contact him here.

I really like the concept and the sentiment behind Nathalie...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:47:00 -0400

I really like the concept and the sentiment behind Nathalie Stämpfli’s Soap Flakes, a bath device that easily dispenses shavings from soap bars. Stämpfli developed a wall-mounted version (pictured), as well as a pepper-grater-esque hand-held version.

I always love to hear the designer’s individual stories and rationale behind interesting inventions like this. Among her motives for creating Soap Flakes, Stämpfli has a personal dislike for the “weird slippery” sensory experience of handling bar soap, yet she prefers the ecological efficiency of it to liquid soap. She explains further on the project page.

I also recommend browsing through Nathalie Stämpfli’s other design explorations.

This is how the world changes for the better: individuals taking experimental steps to extinguish their own personal annoyances and sharing their results. Mankind ends up reaping the benefits.

via Designspiration

Twenty-six years ago, I was an odd little eight-year-old,...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:05:00 -0400

Twenty-six years ago, I was an odd little eight-year-old, experiencing my first run-in with digital-aided art & design, the Helvetica typeface, and a strange little exotic input device called a “mouse.” All of these first encounters, I owe to Steve Jobs.

So early on, I was smitten by the realization that I had access to these tools, all within my own home, that could help me build creative projects that emulated the professionally-executed media that I admired out in the world… books, animations, logos, posters, songs, motion work, games, apps, and on, and on, and on… all thanks to our family Macintosh.

Not withholding any gravitas or sentimentality, it was directly because of Steve Jobs and his team of innovators at Apple (Bill Atkinson, Jef Raskin, et al.) that I was able to get a VERY early start on my creative education, and was able to explore my love of creativity in so many facets from such a young age. I was in grade school, designing and programming, with no comprehension that these experiences would benefit me greatly as an adult. Today, I see my children expressing their creativity through the technology that they have access to, and I’m filled with such gratitude that they have such advanced tools available to them; tools that have been marinating and fermenting sweetly in the years that have passed since I was their age, sitting in front of my family Mac’s black-and-white 9-inch screen, building and manifesting and learning and growing. Without Mr. Jobs, I would not have the professional experience and knowledge that I have today. Without Mr. Jobs, I would not so easily vent all the expressive runoff that has been spilling over within me since childhood. Without Mr. Jobs, I would not have that “I got this” confidence I feel when sitting down at my desk to start a new project.

For all of this, I am so very very thankful.

My sincerest condolences go out to Steve’s family, friends, and coworkers.

1982 photograph of Steve Jobs at home by Diana Walker

“Everything was beautiful. Nothing hurt.” Noticed Kurt...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:26:58 -0400

“Everything was beautiful. Nothing hurt.” Noticed Kurt Vonnegut’s desired epitaph chalked upon this wall organizer near the end of Gary Hustwit’s Objectified.

The Fukushima Plate, a concept by German designer Nils Ferber,...

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:40:00 -0400

The Fukushima Plate, a concept by German designer Nils Ferber, is a kitchen plate with a built-in radioactive meter, visualizing your food’s level of contamination by lighting three OLED rings (representing three user-customized levels of radioactivity).

via Blonde Redhead

Matthew Ebisu of Cupertino, CA, modified a Game Boy Color (and...

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 20:36:00 -0400

Matthew Ebisu of Cupertino, CA, modified a Game Boy Color (and some Gamecube bits) to build a working replica of the adorable Adventure Time character Beemo. Matthew shares a step-by-step guide and an expansive Flickr set on his process.

Note: this Beemo is NOT camera.

via Frederator Studios

Remember Oona, the little “Aphex Twin girl” from a few years...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:13:14 -0400

Remember Oona, the little “Aphex Twin girl” from a few years back? Above is her second video published this past March, about three years since her debut. Just as cute. Just as twitchy.

Photographer Sacha Goldberger (probably best known for his...

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:35:53 -0400

Photographer Sacha Goldberger (probably best known for his superhero Mamika series) constructed an outdoor set in Bois de Boulogne park, Paris. There, he asked random joggers to pose immediately after an exhausting sprint. One week later, these same joggers arrived at Goldberger’s studio to pose the same way they had before, under the same lighting, sans the running fatigue. The resulting collection demonstrates an interesting physical contrast, showing both raw and unruffled extremes found within each individual.

Goldberger says, “I wanted to show the difference between our natural and brute side versus how we represent ourselves to society. The difference was very surprising.”

via @rands

I am in awe. Motion designer/director Chris Abbas used...

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:13:48 -0400

I am in awe. Motion designer/director Chris Abbas used photography from NASA’s Cassini-Huygens spacecraft to create an absolutely beautiful, meditative short film of Saturn, her rings, and her moons, building motion from the publicly available archive of sequenced stills.

Interesting note: Vimeo user Hynee explains that the streaking star trails seen near the end and throughout are “navigation system calibration runs; the spacecraft uses spinning wheels to stabilize itself, and [they need] to be checked on.”

The music is 2 Ghosts I from Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I–IV album.

via @AlwaysWithHonor

Despite the painterly color and uncanny composition,...

Tue, 17 May 2011 17:16:17 -0400

Despite the painterly color and uncanny composition, the National Geographic Photo of the Day is, indeed, a photograph.

Photographer Franz Lanting captured this scene in Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia. The bright orange background is a large sand dune, illuminated by the morning light. Camel thorn trees line the foreground, in the shadow of another dune.

via @nopattern

Camera lenses sliced down the middle, here & here. The...

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:03:38 -0400

Camera lenses sliced down the middle, here & here. The engineering revealed inside is fascinating.

You can purchase the top-pictured Lecia Tri-Elmar-M cutaway model on ebay for $995US.

via notcot

Design 101: Putting Contrast in Context. For the Studiobanks...

Fri, 06 May 2011 00:08:00 -0400

Design 101: Putting Contrast in Context. For the Studiobanks blog, I wrote this broad, abstractionist introduction to contrast in graphic design. While I’m a little concerned that this is merely the subconscious result of one too many make-the-logo-bigger’s in my life, I enjoyed writing it. I attempted to be informative to readers who are not in advertising or graphic design, and maybe also a bit therapeutic for those professionals who are “beyond” such elementary principles.

As a child, I was fascinated by what would occur in that...

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:00:00 -0400

As a child, I was fascinated by what would occur in that split-second after shutting off a tube television. While watching the screen, I would often catch a fleeting glimpse of such beautiful abstract colors and shapes; before my mind could even register what I had seen, they were gone. Immediately, I would turn the TV on and off again, trying to recreate the event with little success.

The imagery above, Luminant Point Arrays, is a series of work by photographer Stephan Tillmans, who has captured these very moments as the television picture dissipates. Tillmans describes his series as the following:

The television picture breaks down and creates a structure of light. The pictures refuse external reference and broach the issue of the difference between abstraction and concretion in photography. The breakdown of the television picture discribes the breakdown of the reference. The product is self-referential photography.

via swissmiss, but does it float

Some very captivating photography found in the 1970 book,...

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0400

Some very captivating photography found in the 1970 book, Living Architecture: Islamic Indian, by Andreas Volwahsen.

via Designspiration

I just love these brilliant Anatomical Nesting Dolls by...

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:22:00 -0400

I just love these brilliant Anatomical Nesting Dolls by Stuntkid, illustrator Jason Levesque.

via Urban Taster, Designspiration

Wild Dog: Absolutely stunning work by illustrator Corinne Reid....

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:47:41 -0400

Wild Dog: Absolutely stunning work by illustrator Corinne Reid. Available to us mortals as both a print and a shirt.

Reid points out that the image is inspired by the story Wild Dog from the book Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling. I’ve never read it, and my Google Fu turned up nothing; are any of you familiar enough with the story to offer a brief synopsis in the comments?

Swallowed By The Sea: Illustration by Tomer Hanuka for...

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:14:14 -0400

Swallowed By The Sea: Illustration by Tomer Hanuka for Newsweek.

“As Japan reels from the tsunami, archeologists claim to have discovered the lost city of Atlantis, a fabled place built—like much of the world—in the crosshairs of nature.”

Art direction by Dirk Barnett.

via 1983

The Sands of Time by London designer & illustrator, Aled...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:45:00 -0400

The Sands of Time by London designer & illustrator, Aled Lewis.

Blinding Love are beautiful heart-shaped pendant lights made...

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:45:00 -0500

Blinding Love are beautiful heart-shaped pendant lights made from blown glass, by Montreal designer Thien Ta Trung. The work was designed specifically for this week’s Toronto Made at Home show.

via @rogiervdheide

This isn’t the first time I’ve lusted for an...

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:33:00 -0500

This isn’t the first time I’ve lusted for an ampersand, and it won’t be the last. Fantastic large wood Helvetica type for sale by Canadian vintage decor & furniture shop, Hindsvik. Yes, please.

via The Office Stylist (Thanks for pointing me here, Jason!)