Internet | Media | Link-hopping

Ah, unemployment. It suits me well. I have been able to while away many an hour since I arrived in Australia by playing the internet equivalent of word association.

To wit: I was listening to a recent episode of the Pandora podcasts, this particular episode involving the construction of a song from acoustic demo to multi-tracked final cut. In the podcast, they mention one of the millions of early electronic keyboard-type devices from the '70's called an Orchestron.

As a footnote to the Orchestron post on Wiki, I noticed a reference to Swiss duo AK-Momo. Lacking a website, and having a band name more reminiscent of a professional ice hockey club, I had to turn to the repository of all things media to find more about them and this Orchestron thingamabob. This video (and the vocalist's more interesting than average My Space site) was the fruit of my labours:

Media | Internet | Mood Ring for the 21st Century

Getty, stock image and audio provider to the world, has devised quite the new multimedia project at Moodstream. Billing itself as a source of inspiration, Moodstream polls you on your current or desired mood using a 5-parameter scale (or gives you the option of choosing one of the very Urban Yoga-esque presets) and then streams images and audio clips to match the mood.

Long has Getty been touting the power of imagery to impact people (as extolled in their Change Me initiative). With Moodstream they have gone an obvious step further and started championing steaming multimedia for it's powers of influence. While the presence of "moodboards" (think storyboards for the emo set) are consistent with the stated purposed of inspiring creatives who have hit a roadblock and need a kick-start, I can't help but think this would make a great background for a multi-media wine tasting party at my place (if they would only increase the duration of the audio clips to nightclub length and add some cross-fading).

Next Thursday, anyone?

Photo, Quote

Photo for the day, then I promise, no more star pictures unless they're really compelling.



"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Blog | Allen AKA at 12ozPROPHET

Really, really enjoying Allen AKA's blog at 12ozPROPHET, which I was led to today from a link on
PSFK sharing some observations of drip graffiti in fashion trends. At his blog, I found awesome Nikes galore, beautiful black & white nudes (that ever-so-slightly hover towards porn, without losing their artiness), snowboarding pics, hommage to a classic Italian deli, a paella cook-out in Barcelona, and documentation of Terry Richardson's campaign of Kermit for Surpreme. In other words, the life I wish I was living. Go there immediately and soak up the goodness.

The end.

Music | Rockers International

photo by Yuri Shibuya

Seeing the above photo of Rockers International in Jamaica prompted me to do a little Googling, where I found a site with tons of excellent reggae mixes I can't tell if it's affiliated with the original label or is just a fansite, but excellent mixes nonetheless.

Photography | Yuri Shibuya

Oh, how I love the Internet. I was checking in with the sites and blogs I visit frequently, and was led from PSFK to 12ozPROPHET, dedicated to all sorts of amazing graffiti/street artists and designers, where I then discoverded the works of Yuri Shibuya. He's a Japanese photographer who has done some really fantastic work capturing the streets of New York City (with a particular emphasis on the streets and the skateboarders who roam them) as well as many other fascinating people and places worldwide. Some couple more I like, below.

Illustration | Eric Lister

Yes, I'm biased, because I went to college with Eric, but it's long overdue to give him a proper shout-out. Check out his awesome drawings at Ink for Brains or just go read his blog where lots of new sketches and such are on view.

Culture | Site | "See My Grill"

Yay! It's a "hot or not" for grills.

Illustration | Serge Seidlitz

I absolutely love the illustration of Serge Seidlitz. In looking over the vast array of drawings on his site, it's obvious many an ad agency and company does as well. Go there and enjoy lots and lots and lots of fun, detailed, quirky eye candy.

Website | Astronomy | Picture of the Day

I've been enjoying NASA's Picture of the Day site, where there's a lovely, compelling photo of our heavens posted along with some information and description. Looking at pictures of the sky always reminds me of one of my favourite poems, "Te deshojé como una rosa" by Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Te dehojé, como una rosa,
para verte tu alma,
y no la vi.

Mas todo en torno
--horizontes de tierras y de mares--,
todo, hasta el infinito,
se colmó de una esencia
inmensa y viva

(I took off petal after petal, as if you were a rose,
in order to see your soul,
and I didn't see it.

However, everything around-
horizons of fields and oceans-
everything, even what was infinite,
was filled with a perfume,
immense and living.)

Advertising | 1950s - 1970s Set

This fabulous set of 1950s - 1970s advertisements (posters, magazine ads, booklets, etc.) on Flickr is both fascinating and inspiring. Some of the ads are dated from a social perspective, but the design and much of the writing remains timeless and iconic.

Like this ad from Volkswagon ...



... I don't think its correct to use Native American stereotypes when selling cars anymore (thus the dated part of the ad) but overall the ad is striking and compelling. If I could write copy a fraction as 0s succinct, elegant, fluid and sharp as what's on this ad, I'd be a happy copywriter.

And this ad, from the Italian Art Directors' Club ...



... is not just visually a treat, but understandable to anyone, regardless of their mother tongue.

I think very often advertising creatives lose sight of the main task at hand -- communication. Deciding what needs to be said, and saying it -- through words, pictures or both -- as simply, singularly and memorably as possible.

These are old ads, but will you remember them? I will.

Blog | Ace Jet 170

I've really been enjoying design blog Ace Jet 170, especially for its devotion to found type and graphic images, all nicely collected in sets that showcase a the fine craftsmanship of these various disciplines, in all their slightly vintage glory. Such as this collection of stamps, shown above.

Blog | Ice Cream People

Yay, an entire blog dedicated to the arts and crafts of ice cream people. Like this yummy sculpture by Jenny Harada.

Art/Graffiti | Cans Festival London

Forget where I saw this link originally, but the graffiti art lovers amongst you will appreciate this excellent Flickr set of images taken at the Cans Festival in London back in April.

Site | FFFFOUND!

I must finally reference FFFFOUND!, which has become my must-visit site of the hour (practically). Users click images that they like, anywhere on the web, and you can see similar images in groupings. It's awesome!

Photography | Rui Palha

I don't know much about photographer Rui Palha, except that via a little Internet sleuthing, I learned he is an amateur photographer based in Lisbon. His photo sets on Flickr are really incredible and worth exploring, particularly this one of street portraits.

Typography | Craig Oldham

This "nudist" typeface, with its "dirty bits" pixellated, made me instantly really happy. It's very simple, true, and even the kind of thing that makes you go, "Gee, that's kind of obvious, but really not so obvious than anyone ever did it before, so maybe that makes it just a little bit genius?" The rest of the work on Mr Oldham's site is equally as provocative in its simplicity, such as Adidas goal post tape.

Design/Advertising | Petronio Associates

Petronio Associates are a design, branding, and advertising shop out of France that do absolutely beautiful work for an array of high-end fashion clients such as Prada and Chloé. Originally I think I followed a link from a site featuring their current posters for Chloé featuring -- surprise -- Chloé Sevigny, which are really cool on their own. But then as I explored the rest of their site, I was impressed by their work that is so much loftier, artsy, and inspirational than most advertising dreg that clutters our lives. How wonderful would it be to create work that truly straddles the divide between art and commerce?

Graphics | Dreamers Ink Aesthetics™

Forget where I found this originally, but I've been loving the gorgeous visual motion graphics from Dreamers Ink Aesthetics™. Of course my eye is drawn (ha) to the wonderful use of colour and balance of classic and nouveau elements, but check out their awesome logos, too.

Media | Internet | Human Calendar

Pretty novel, and makes a great widget, the Human Calendar is pretty much the internet at it's purest: quirky, innovative, and "why didn't I think of that"-ish. The more you think about the thought that went into developing something so subtle, the more impressive it gets.

Same goes for this video: