: need a typeface?

Check out some amazing student work. Might come in handy some day. You can buy this poster here.

"So you need a typeface is an alternative way on how to choose fonts (or just be inspired) for a specific project, not just by browsing through the pages of FontBook. The list is (very loosely) based on the top 50 of the "Die 100 besten schriften"."

: pantone

Via a post on CoolHunting

Great video from Pantone on how they develop their color standards and some of their new hues. There is even a cameo from simplicity guru and RISD president John Maeda. At around 3:15 there is a peak at a new Color Manager App that seems to work on the iPad. "It allows a designer to push digital color values into all their applications". Very interesting.

: letter forms

It's always good to brush up on the fundamentals.

While you're at it, go check out this great personal site I borrowed this graphic from. www.chrisglass.com

: holophonic sound

Came across this reference to something I had never heard about. It's a technique for recording sound called holophonic. That post recommends listening to these clips with headphones. You really get a 3d - holographic sense for where the sounds are coming from. I guess this is already happening in some form in surround sound systems, but this example shows it being done with just a simple set of headphones.  Check out the clips below.

Bag | Matchbox | Blow Dryer

Could really come in handy for creating digital experiences for the web, gaming and even more importantly for augmented reality type executions. For instance, could you project sound or advertising from a particular location to a consumer as they walked by a storefront? Creepy? Maybe. Still, its worth exploring, and I am sure someone already is.



For those of you more on the geeky side of things, Wave Field Synthesis is the title for the underlying approach to holophony technique. From Wikipedia - "WFS is a spatial audio rendering technique, characterized by creation of virtual acoustic environments." Go read some more.

: sound cloud

This site/service is new to me, but hoping to share it anyway because it is such a fabulous idea. It has been described as the Vimeo or Flickr for music pros. Came across it when I saw an article claiming it just surpassed 1 million users worldwide. Pretty impressive for any type of service, but even more so when you consider these are people contributing musical content.

Just a couple of great features that I came across…

• You can create drop boxes to place on your own site. This allows artists to easily send sound files such as demo tracks to producers and labels.


• No limits on files sizes!


• You can add notes right in specific instances on tracks using the visual that represents the audio clip.

I wonder if people are using this service the same way that we use a Flickr to find and source imagery for comps as inspiration or perhaps as final art? See the video below for a quick tour of the entire service.

SoundCloud: The Tour from SoundCloud on Vimeo.

: my sky status from lufthansa

This big banner caught my eye on NYTime.com earlier today. Not sure how anyone could miss it. Took up large portion of the upper part of the page.

It takes you to a Lufthansa page where you can register for My Sky Status. What is it you ask? "In the air doesn't mean out of touch. While you're flying, MySkyStatus automatically sends status updates to your social networks. It's travel made social and it's easy to set up." The banner and the homepage seem to have real-time updates from users, and the homepage has global stats. I guess this is not a new service, but it has been redesigned/re-engineered recently.

I wont even bother commenting on whether a service like this is worthwhile or even socially desirable. Seems like an interesting platform for Lufthansa to engage their customers though. Seeing as how the system is open to all flights, it could engage all their potential customers.

: up there

Great work from the NY agency Mother for Stella Artois. "Up There reveals the dying craft of large scale hand painted advertising and the untold story of the painters struggling to keep it alive." Amazing what these guys go through to get this work done. Not many still doing this today. Most of what we see is printed on vinyl where most of the work was done from a comfortable desk in Photoshop.

Check out the accompanying site here. The videos below are the trailer (top) for those of you with little time, and the full film (bottom) for the full experience. It is beautifully shot. Directed by Malcolm Murray. Check out some of his other work at HereIsThis.com

: taxi share app

Our former intern David Prentell is at it again with his awesome ideas. Check out the video below for a mobile device (specifically Nokia), taxi sharing, eco friendly concept that recently won him a D&AD award. We miss you David!



Taxi Share app from Interactive PR on Vimeo.

: eyjafjallajökull

Came across this on Facebook from a friends post. It is mindblowingly beautiful. Watch it here, or go over to Vimeo to watch it in HD. Go full screen, its worth it!



While you are at Vimeo, check out some more of Sean Stiegemeier work. This stuff is shot with a DSLR. Just gorgeous.

: the artist is present

While in NYC recently, I found a little time to go up to MOMA to see Marina Abramovic's career retrospective as well as her Artist is Present exhibit. Truth be told, I was more interested in the Henri Cartier Bresson exhibit, but was underwhelmed by it but was drawn to Abramovic's work instead. It consists of the artist actually being present, sitting in a chair at a table, across from which there is another chair. Visitors are encouraged to sit in that other chair and visit silently with the artist for as long as they want.

Screen grab from MOMA live video

Marina, is actually in her own chair the entire day without moving. That is in itself a tremendous physical feat. The real magic though seems to be happening with those that visit with the artist. See some photos of them below. You can see the entire collection at this Flickr Photostream from the exhibit.

I did not expect to be moved by this at all. I was curious, but chalked that up to a lingering ironic pleasure of making fun of performance artists. I have to say that is was quite fascinating. The scene is ritualistic on the same level that churches and theater seems to operate on. The site of all those New Yorkers and people of all sorts of nationalities waiting for a chance to sit quietly with another person raises all sort of questions; questions about time, modern life, connections between people, communities, emotions, our interactions, our selves, even art itself. The artist offers herself up as a catalyst to trigger these and probably a multitude of other reactions in the viewers minds. Plus, when was the last time you saw a New Yorker sitting still for more than a couple minutes?

Going even a bit further, it seems that the experience is so moving for some that they come to tears. See this site for portraits of people that have cried while sitting with the artist -  Marina Abramovic Made Me Cry.