Kindle 2: The unboxing, part 2
So yesterday, I posted something on the Kindle 2’s packaging. Unfortunately, as it was a gift I could do the actual unboxing, but it is revealed today.
Removing the ultra light box from its paper slip, the container is a simple molded carton stamped with the product name. Simple enough. No excess use of material, no fancy glossy paper, all recyclable material to be environmentally friendly.
The Kindle 2 has a nice and simple keyboard, with pleasing “round button” tactile quality that didn’t exist in on the first keyboard. It also comes without the awkward shape of the first Kindle, finished in back with a sleek brushed metal.
And finally after removing the Amazon Kindle, one would then begin to reap the benefits of the ebook reader with its beautiful free web access… an attractive quality for even those who don’t do the ebook thing.
[Image from http://xkcd.com/548/]
The Kindle 2 can be found at Amazon here.
A New Year, An Awesome Book, and the Candy-O-Matic…
For whatever reason, there comes a point when our logic and experiences take over. To put it frankly: our internal grown-up wins the war against our imagination. Which brings me to just a few words about an amazing book, rather, an awesome book, as in: An Awesome Book by Dallas Clayton. The book, in the style of all the books many loved as a kid, was a huge hit when the first edition was published and because of its success of course, it’s being printed again, to be made available to ship some time in January (if you want a copy you should probably grab one now). The illustrations are detailed and magical, reminiscent of drawings that a child would make or one’s own early mock-ups of inventions that were never developed as planned… like the mansion made entirely of bubble gum… or the ray gun that turned enemies into a goldfish. And much like the beloved Dr. Suess books, it’s needless to say that not only is it inspiring but it rhymes too… and rhyming is always fun whether you like to admit it or not.
Here are a few images from the book:
[Images from http://www.veryawesomeworld.com/awesomebook/inside.html ]
More can be found about the book from http://radder.bigcartel.com/product/an-awesome-book and http://dallasclayton.com/products/
Charlotte Day – Creative Surface Design
We’re in a posting frenzy this week. With a couple of minutes left till Christmas I thought it would be great to get just one or two last posts in before the Holidays. So with nothing but Christmas cheer in my heart I bring you Charlotte Day’s creative surface designs. This was yet another artist brought to my attention not only by resident blogger Katherine, but in the newest Computer Arts magazine that both of us subscribe to.
“Charlotte Day combines her passion for pattern and illustration with her love of plants to produce unique botanically influenced designs for textiles, stationery, wall paper, merchandise and editorial projects. While her main tools remain pencil and paper, designs are digitally assembled in order to create perfect repeats and provide work in commercially compatible format.” (http://www.charlottedaydesign.com)
The above image is some of his designer wallpaper that I thought was fitting for the season. Simple, creative, and visually remarkable Day’s work is a great example of tasteful wallpaper. Charlotte’s artowrk is reminiscent of the arts and crafts movement and takes the period of art in a new direction. Instead of my normal rants and reviews of artwork, I’m simply going to show some of Day’s work. Make sure to visit her website at:
http://www.charlottedaydesign.com
19 Amazing Playing Cards from Around the World
Images from http://thecontaminated.com/cards-of-life-and-death/
Czech Nationalistic cards by Emanuel Neumann, c.1895
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/czech/index.html
Hand painted Dasavatara Ganjifa cards, c. 1950
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/india/dasavatara.html
Image from http://www.wopc.co.uk/japan/unsun.html
15th century Italian playing cards
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/italy/italia.html
The Book of Trades by Jost Amman, 1588
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/germany/ammon.html
Images from http://photography-arena.blogspot.com/2008/10/ukraine-human-feature-playing-cards.html
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/germany/ambraser.html
Waddington’s Barribal Series, 1933
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/waddingtons/barribal.html
‘Unique’ playing cards by Ian Roth
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/usa/ianroth.html
Pippoglyph playing cards by Ben Crenshaw, 2004
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/usa/pippoglyph.html
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/otc/aboutea.html
Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/reviews/thedeal.html
Image from http://adnil.com/CARDS/jong.html
Invisible Playing Cards by Peter Woudt, 2002
Image from http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Invisible%20Playing%20Cards_10451_10001_15115
Frank Lloyd Wright playing cards by Frank Lloyd Wright
Images from http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden-klimt/index.shtml
Images from http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/aleister-crowley-thoth/index.shtml
And finally a very strange Chinese deck I picked up, with images of Chinese aristocracy. They also have little educational blurbs on each card, and apparently had a little trouble with the English translations.
15 Mysteriously Inspirational Images
- Artist: Yehrin Tong
http://www.debutart.com/artist/yehrin-tong/work/2341
- Artist: Gustaf Tenggren
http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/08/illustration-gustaf-tenggrens-grimms.html
- Artist: David Prosser
http://ilikepencils.blogspot.com/
- Photographer: Chuck Kimmerle
- Artist: Linn Olofsdotter
- Artist: Oliver Vernon
http://www.oliververnon.com/2008/07/24/2008/
- Artist: Naoto Hattori
http://www.naotohattori.com/home.html
- Artist: Koldo Barosso
- Artist: Nobumasa Takahashi
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/bamboolove/
- Artist: Eyvind Earle
- Artist: Sterling Hundley
http://www.sterlinghundley.com/
- Artist: Vladimir Kush
http://www.zuzafun.com/surreal-pictures
http://www.vladimirkush.com/home.php
- Artist: Tebe Interesno
http://www.graphic-exchange.com/archives/home_2008_10.html
- Photographer: Carl Chiarenza
http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Carl__Chiarenza_01/1/0/0/
- Artist: Kaveh H. Steppenwolf
Confrontations with Esquire
For those of you who have not yet seen it, the MoMA in NYC is providing the public a look at what great communication design really is. George Lois: The Esquire Covers exhibition is a collection of the most though provoking, controversial magazine covers designed by Lois. For anyone interested in the communication arts, or just politics or subjects that are… well… controversial, this is an excellent exhibition to see. And though it’ll be around until March 30th, it’s always good to beat the closing-exhibition crowds.
George Lois: The Esquire Covers
[Photos from: http://www.lostateminor.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/george-lois-8.jpg, http://www.thenewyorkcitytraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/6804-esquire-ali-stsebastian.jpg, http://media.newtimes.com/2175166.47.jpg, http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2008/04/22858553.jpg.]
Designer of the Week – Douglas Hill – Print Designer
I’m back from my Hiatus with a cup of coffee and motivation the likes of which this blog hath never seen. Today I have the pleasure of finally writing about Douglas Hill: print designer, father, artist, and programmer. Douglas originally contacted us to take a look at his work to review and comment on. Well I must say that after a thorough review, we decided to get back to Douglas and a few back and forth emails later, the staff here at Creative Fluff was completely convince that Hill was an artist that deserved a thoughtful review. I personally find that the best way to talk about an artist is to describe their background; luckily Douglas wrote us an autobiography and below is a short clip from his bio:
“During the development of TILER, I discovered that outside of the world of COBOL report generation, programming was pretty interesting. So, degree in hand, I went out into the world to earn a living as a computer programmer, and geometric patterns went into abeyance for years as I got married and raised a family. Though I mainly worked on embedded systems (printer mechanisms, medical devices, audio workstations, motion controllers and the like) I always took advantage of any opportunity to work on the image generation portion of a project, if there was one. Developing test patterns and color halftone patterns for inkjet printers, for example.
My daughters both have artistic abilities and I thought I’d provide a model for them of how to make an income from art as a sideline. Ha! Some model. A mere babe in the woods I have been. I learned how to print, mat and frame. I’d take these things around to craft fairs, which is a pain and a lot of fun. I loved being part of a creative community, having a foot in the art and craft world, seeing how other people solved (more or less well) their problems and found a way to keep going.” (http://patternsofreflection.com)
This short clip gives just enough insight into Douglas’s background to emphasize his creative spirit and motivation for seeing what patterns lie beneath the surface in our every day lives. Below are the samples that were sent to our local designer, Katherine:
Simply stunning aren’t they? Douglas managed to translate his patterns into successful print design pieces that are easily levels above what is sold in most print boutique shops around New York City (and trust me I’ve been to all of them). The patterns that Hill has managed to take from objects in the real world and translate into art would function on paper, on the computer, even as wallpaper for children’s rooms and as fabric designs on quilts. I personally feel as if these could easily be sold to fresh fashion designers as ideas for their own projects. If you haven’t already headed over there, I suggest you go to http://patternsofreflection.com and go through the rest of Douglas’s work, and check out his online shop
(I really want more of his stuff for our work space).
Once Upon a Wall…
The Cooper-Hewitt is featuring “Wall Stories: Children’s Wallpapers and Books” through April 5th, 2009. It is a collection that keeps us all in touch with fairy tales and the child within, and for those of us who can recall the nostalgia of having inspirational wallpaper in their rooms when they were growing up, or their favorite book to read through nap time at school. From the Cooper-Hewitt’s own description:
“Works on view will include papers illustrated with nursery rhymes and designs inspired by works of fiction and adventure, such as Peter Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella. The exhibition also will trace the evolution of children’s books from instructional to fictional and include developments such as movable and pop-up books, which added an interactive element to children’s reading.”
For anyone interested in designing or illustrating, or writing children’s books this is a good exhibition to see. Read more about Wall Stories and get more exhibition information at http://cooperhewitt.org/EXHIBITIONS/wallstories/
People’s Design Award…Last Day!
The Cooper-Hewitt’s People’s Design Award voting ends today at 6:00pm EST. In case any of you would still like to cast your vote there’s still time yet.
If you would like to have your say on the matter of which design is the best you can do so by visiting http://peoplesdesignaward.cooperhewitt.org/2008/ for instructions or go directly to the voting page: http://peoplesdesignaward.cooperhewitt.org/2008/browse/all/0
Artist of the Week: Vince Fraser – Creative Illustration
That picture just makes you stop and stare. With millions of things vying for your attention all at once, you soon find that the confusion creates a level of excitement that completes the piece. The above picture is entitled “My London”; aptly put when you take into consideration the volumes of pop culture that London spits out every year. Remember the punk fad in America? Well they’re the ones we got it from back when the middle-class wasn’t too happy about the establishment.
But I digress; the piece is done by the artist Vince Fraser, a 37 year old London based digital artist with huge roots in 1970’s pop culture. On closer inspection of the vibrant piece you can find major symbols used in London’s pop art; that is to say commercial symbols taken out of context and recontextualized into art. The double-decker bus, the yasar-arafat scarf, the buggy car, and more if you take the time to see for yourself. The most interesting part of this work, and as you’ll find throughout the rest of the pictures I’m going to post, is the heavily laden afro-centric themes of the funk period. I don’t know how big Funk was in London, but he manages to capture it with such skill that even my father and his afro would enjoy it. Below are other images by Fraser.
If you want to see more of his work you should check out his website: http://www.vincefraser.com where you can find his myspace if you ever want to get in contact with him. I wish that I could get the chance to collaborate on a project with him. And in Fraser’s own words: “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others”.
Featured Artist Gary Fernandez: Creative Art and Illustration
So after neglecting my duties as part of Creative Fluff, I finally decided to hunker down and write about our selected artist of the week. Granted, this artist was selected two weeks ago (unknown to him) but it’s better late than never right? I was pointed towards Gary Fernandez by my girlfriend who received a copy of the Computer Arts Magazine, he was the artist on the cover and that one picture was more than enough for the two of us to agree to write about him. Fernandez, a freelance graphic artist and illustrator, was originally based in Madrid but now you will find him in the peaceful rolling hills of Vancouver Canada. Miraculously(and lucky for us) being stuck up north hasn’t affected his artistic skills in a negative manner. He has done a myriad of work form companies such as Coca Cola, Camel Cigarettes, and even Nokia advertisements.
Camel’s, probably the only half decent cigarette beacause when people smoke them it doesn’t event your nostrils like hellfire. Fernandez found a deeper place in my heart by creative such stunning artwork for a decent brand name that had been dragged through the mud by years of bland branding.
Luckily commercial work isn’t the only thing that Gary Fernandez is capable of. As seen by the opening picture and the one above, Fernandez specialises in creative surreal landscapes and juxaposting them with innovative character illustrations that resemble something from traditional Japanese art mixed with American urban street art. The imaginative mind of Fernandez is one worth looking into. All pictures are from his website and you can head over there from the link below:
Mike Ming: Trendy Illustration Meets Commercial Industrial Design
The mainstream and the underground have been merging at an exponential rate in the past two years, and to put things into perspective lets take eclectic, trendy hip hop singers Santogold, and M.I.A. Both are known for their unique beats, melodies, and vocals which sets them apart from mainstream hip-hop. But just how underground are M.I.A. and Santogold? Not too long ago Santogold’s music appeared in a beer commercial, and then M.I.A. featured their song “Paper Planes” as the trailer music for the movie: Pineapple Express. The trendy underground is quickly moving towards the mainstream; part of this is due to the failing American economy, and part of it is simply because artists can no longer afford to starve (go figure). The question that remains is can these artists who become apart of the main stream retain their essential values and stand out from the rest of the muck. Mike Ming, a creative illustrator stands as a shining example that this is indeed possible.
Lets get a short background of Mike Ming out of the way before discussing his work:
“Brooklyn-based artist Mike Ming (born Michael Miyahira) brings fascination with popular culture and life experiences to the canvas.” – Dell.com
He graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1995 with a BFA in Illustration and has since taken his artistic creativity and honed it into a personal and expressive style which he can call his own. Ming was contacted by Dell to provide illustrations for their new inaugural Special Art Edition Inspiron 1525 laptop.
“I want to create a sense of energy, playfulness, sophistication and psychedelic momentum when I started this…This new technique from Dell brings my inspiration—water and the energy it produces—to life and gives computer aficionados their own display of style.” – Dell.com
But what is the technology that makes it possible to have Ming’s creative artistic talent showcased so vividly? Dell describes it best:
“A new Dell manufacturing technique brings alive every color and brushstroke on the laptop’s cover, creating a fluid, graffiti-inspired tattoo effect that lets style pioneers add another level of individuality to everyday life.” – Dell.com
Ming’s work has been showcased in a series of galleries, festivals, and art shows all across the country and if you like the laptops, I highly reccomend visiting his website for more of his ecletic design style.
www.mikeming.com
Playful Patterns – Nantaka Joy
It’s becoming commonplace that I don’t actually find these links to amazing artwork and design on my own, but that I get linked to them by other creative fluff members or one of our many subscribers ( I say many because we’re so popular I can’t be bothered to keep track). This time around I was given a link which took me to the impressive work of Joy Deangdeelert Cho and her line of creative print design under the studio name: Nantaka Joy. Her Work has been featured in mainstream magazines such as: How, Home Companion, Wedding, Craft, and Lucky.
Above is a picture of her “Ombre Lace Grey Tiny Card” which is an excellent example of her creative textile design which features a visually stimulating juxtaposition of foil and playful patterns as the cover to a normal sized note card. The note card, obviously meant for meaningless scribbles, gives anything that a person has to put down with ink significant meaning. Her work instantly transforms anything written within the notecard into a keepsake no matter how inane.
Another example of her famous ‘playful patterns’ can bee seen with her “A Note – Agate Grey” which features an interesting “textural combination of…high and low elements” (Nantaka.com) Lineart has always been a creative artform which only recently held attention in the high art and design spotlight. If you go to the MoMA store anytime in the next couple of weeks you’ll notice a large collection of line art stationery for sale. Though Cho isn’t featured at the MoMA (yet) that doesn’t mean her work doesn’t deserve museum treatment. Below is another piece of her work which came out five days ago: “Woodcut Floral File Folders – NEW!”
If you’re still reading this post you shouldn’t be. You should be over at her website taking a look at the rest of her work because I’m sure my descriptions of her wonderful work don’t give her enough credit.
Retail Stationery –Independent Print Design Doesn’t Always Cut It
There are thousands of design blogs constantly and consistently reviewing the most up to date trends in the field of print design, and more specifically: stationery. These paper products tend to come from independent, hip, and current designers who more than likely have no affiliation with a major retail provider in their specific field. What tends to get left out of these eloquent blog entries are reviews of trusted, dignified, and proven stationery retail manufacturers. Today we’re going to take a look at Cyperus Greetings as an example of a mainstream stationery store that doesn’t skimp on quality but still manages to keep things at an affordable price range when pitted against independent designer prices.
Cyperus Designs and Printing has been printing stationery and invitations for a little over 19 years now in the Syosset, Long Island area. They offer paper products such as wedding invitations, thank you cards (like the one above), journals, RSVP cards, birthday invitations and more. Though the stationery is personally to feminine for my personal tastes, it doesn’t stop me from appreciating the quality of the material or the fact that a pack of invitations from their company isn’t nearly as expensive a single invitation from a trendy designer. Below are two examples of their in demand, and well known, wedding invitation stationery by Cyperus Greetings:
[ ACDC ] – Black Ice Cover Art
This is the recently revealed cover art to AC/DC’s new studio album. The mirror image art and the grey and black aesthetic give off the hard rock vibe that the band has become known for. The band name in red with what looks like white clouds wafting over the lettering add a brilliant contrast to the cover.
Black Ice is the band’s fifteenth studio album; they’re first since 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip. It is scheduled to be released October 20th and will be store sold exclusively at Wal-Mart for the price of $11.88.
Pure Washi
Came across The Japanese Paper Place the other day online and discovered that they had a good collection of all different types of Japanese paper, or possibly “The world’s largest collection of fine Japanese papers”, which sounds extremely promising.
Okay, so The Japanese Paper Place is Canadian. But they stock a wide variety of papers, thousands of different types, prints and weights, machine-made and hand-made, from Japan. And among their beautiful papers and their wholesale “Potluck” packs, they have a nice bunch of gift products as well.
Click here to go to The Japanese Paper Place.
Creative Print Design and Illustrations – Keith Thompson
I am beyond pleased that I found this artist; he is by far one of my favorite artists, if not my favorite. I stumbled his website and I have been seriously considering buying one of his prints. Enough gushing on my part; the most notable thing about his prints is the realism coupled with surrealist themes and motift\s. Mechanical humanoid creatures and terribly horrific demons await you in this impressive portfolio. I personally know nothing of Keith Thompson, but his work speaks volumes to me in regards to his creative imagination, attention to detail, and patience (coloring these unique prints must have taken days). Below are more examples of his work with links back to his website:
PRIPYAT BEAST
“When the secondary explosion occurred at the reactor, spewing an almost immeasurable torrent of radioactivity into the jet stream, surrounding locales could only survive long enough to form mass graves for their dead.” – Keith
KARAKURI
“Commissioned long ago by the 7th Tokugawa, a great patron of Karakuri design during the Edo period. Used to entertain guests with its charming grace as it carefully presents its hosts with tea, the Karakuri has also been used sparingly in Noh theatre, much to the shock of the audience when they discover the true nature of a seemingly masked actor” – Keith
Death Magnetic Cover Art
The artwork on the album is sort of hypnotic. A coffin six feet under with the dirt spread around in a manner to imitate a magnetic field. The work is presumed owned by the record label and no artist is mentioned.
Metallica’s new album, Death Magnetic, comes out September 12th in the US and most other countries. It will be their first album since 2003’s St. Anger.
Typography Humor: Get with the Times, New Roman
Funny typographic movie from CHTV. If you’re a designer, which you probably are since you’re reading this blog. Have a good chuckle and take your field of expertise a little less seriously.
The Imagination of Studiospooky
While searching for something to write about, few things caught my eye. It was important to find something first-post worthy. Rummaging through a sea of vectors, product design, and typography, it was basically the same thing over and over again. Helvetica everywhere. When all hope was lost I was linked to Studiospooky’s automatic drawings, a breath of fresh air after emerging from the chaotic funhouse of “design trends”.
The artist, whose name is unknown, creates detailed large (and small) scale automatic drawings. All of it or at least what I’ve seen, is done by hand, and from looking at the result, the process of creating a large scale illustration of this kind must be painstaking. Whatever the amount of time and patience put into each piece, the result is definitely, for a lack of a better word at the moment, “awesome”.
Among his own creations, he has commissioned work as well, and I should mention that not all his work is automatic drawings. He does have digital work too, and work that combines the digital and traditional, the the Diamond of Drury Lane book cover. To explore more amazing work you go to Studiospooky.
Blue Vinyl: Free Typeface – “Synthetique”
I stumbled across the Blue Vinyl website and found a plethora of custom designed ( and well) fonts. The majority of the fonts were pay-for-use, however BV had a few free typefaces and today we’re taking a look at their newest one: Synthetique.
Synthetique Font by Blue Vinyl
Maybe it’s just me, but I can never get enough of the pixel/dot based typefaces. I haven’t had the chance to try printing the font, but it makes an excellent screen typeface. Since it’s free you can just head over directly to Blue Vinyl and get the font and other freebies, and don’t remember to check our download section for creativefluff exclusive items.
