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.

[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 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

Cards of Life and Death

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

Unsun Karuta

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

Ukraine Human Feature cards

Images from http://photography-arena.blogspot.com/2008/10/ukraine-human-feature-playing-cards.html

Ambras Court Hunting pack

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

Filigree cards by Emily Arkin

Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/otc/aboutea.html

The Deal

Images from http://www.wopc.co.uk/reviews/thedeal.html

Hanafuda cards

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

Image from http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Frank%20Lloyd%20Wright%20Playing%20Cards_10451_10001_15706

Golden Tarot of Klimt

Images from http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/golden-klimt/index.shtml

Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot

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.

Artist: Yehrin Tong

http://www.debutart.com/artist/yehrin-tong/work/2341

http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/08/illustration-gustaf-tenggrens-grimms.html

http://ilikepencils.blogspot.com/

http://www.chuckkimmerle.com/

http://www.olofsdotter.com/

http://www.oliververnon.com/2008/07/24/2008/

http://www.naotohattori.com/home.html

http://www.koldobarroso.com/

http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/bamboolove/

http://www.gallery21.com/

http://www.sterlinghundley.com/

http://www.zuzafun.com/surreal-pictures

http://www.vladimirkush.com/home.php

http://www.graphic-exchange.com/archives/home_2008_10.html

http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Carl__Chiarenza_01/1/0/0/

http://polarulv.1x.com/

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.]

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).

“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/

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

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”.