Topiblogical

Ctrl+Alt+Shift

2008-10-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is a new project just launched by Christian Aid. Its a website and magazine that seeks to inform, inspire and involve British Youths on Global Development Issues. Not only does this magazine seek to combat the apparent listlessness our generation is being assigned but it genuinely shows us ways in which we can actively participate in changing our society. The standard of visual communication in the first magazine is amazing and the website visual work is also very exciting. Check it out at www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk

Drawing!

2008-10-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

I think this easy animation actually works remarkably well considering the simple concept. I love the colours and the speed of the movement involved. The animation and music is by Kojiro Shishido, made by Bauhaus Software Mirage1.5 and Corel PainterX.

Etienne de Crecy Stage show

2008-09-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

Etienne de Crecy's December current stage show will go down in history as one of the best, mainly because of the outstanding visuals. The creator carefully timed the lights using 'minimal' style graphic visuals in 3x3 cubes to express the work of the Parisian House maestro. Created by two member's of the Exyzt team, Frz Wunshel and Pier Schneider. I believe they are the same guys behind the work of the LabiChampi opening ceremony. I love the way the unit seem to be undergoing metamorphoses.I love the way they use this morphing style. you can imagine the reaction of a crown of hard-core Parisan techno or house heads watching this and going ballistic. This is because the imagery draws heavily on the psychedelic vision as a trope whereby they distort spatial and temporal relationships beyond what we expect. Its incredible!

Check out Etienne de Crecy's myspace page, it basically shows you the video above but its so good! www.myspace.com/etiennedecrecy

LabiChampi

2008-09-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

Another great project from the people at Exyzt.

After the Russian Soviet left the military town of Karosta in 1994, the town became a slum, full of crime and poverty. In a bid to improve social and economic issues in the short term, Exyzt created a micro-urban farm. This will help with local food production and incomes. The mushroom company was born.

This is a great project, but there are two reason I mention this in relation to my work. Firstly there is the outstanding visuals created for the opening ceremony. I love the interplay between the structure of the building and the overlaying motion graphics. The way the graphics seem to melt the actual physical nature of the building, leading visually into a new dimension where neither building nor graphics seem to be real, solid: the way detail is added then taken away. It is incredibly powerful and evocative.

The other reason is for the great graphics designed for the packaging and marketing of the mushrooms. I love the young feeling and I enjoy that the whole project has been effectively graphically managed to give it a strong identity. This not only makes the project fun and easily recognisable but also gives a point of focus for people to invest hope into. This is a community project that seeks to aid the social circumstances of those in Karosta. Without a strong visual identity the essence, or the icon that allows people to invest hope would be lost.

Ford Fiesta

2008-09-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

This TV advertisement for the new Ford Fiesta is intense. I love the use of stop motion to create these moving wall of televisions that play out a wonderful arrangement of electro, hot pink and yellow graphics. There are explosions, an image of a reclining white lady, star-scapes, a woman in a purple wig, 60's mono chromatic woman. These images move through the deserted streets and eventually turn into the Ford Fiesta which then drives out of the middle of two rows of televisions. It draws strongly on 1980's neon imagery. The colours of the whole advertisement are saturated and moody. Accompanied by a smooth electro-funk sound track, this whole advertisement screams up to the moment stylish, youthful sophistication that is edgy and cool. A great advertisement by Ogilvy London. I like the way the images build up a set of associations that we then attribute to the car. I also love the way these visuals are juxtaposed against the old graphic styled signs on the petrol station, making it even more prominent this car is about the present. It signs off with the logo "This is Now" "Ford Fiesta". It is a very cool advertisement, but I'm not sure how it appeals to the target market.

Evil Paradises

2008-09-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

Dreamworlds of Neoliberalism, Evil Paradises is a collection of essays edited by Mike Davis and Daniel Monk. Davis and Monk first met when teaching a course entitled Socialism and the City, and were both incredibly interested in the utilitarian and utopian social concepts of Le Corbusier and Mies Van de Rohe.

What they go on to expose in this book is the architecture built for the world's ever richer and global elite. They look at the way this group of people are pushing forward the architecture of places such as Dubai and Beijing, reshaping their environments into extraordinary high rises that creates a social dimension where the elite are segregated from the rest. These fantastic buildings are often built through the availability of cheap labour. It combats theories on capitalism as a necessary evil to push society and markets forward, and looks at the neoliberal theories on the market as an ethical end in itself.

Overall it is an interesting reflection on the globally rich in today's age and the way in which they seek to segregate themselves, and what their new utopian's mean for the rest of the world.

Pictures on Walls

2008-09-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Pictures On Walls is a quirky little book featuring about 60 photos of amusing little bits of graffiti found on walls around the world. What I like about this book is it takes the ordinary, the mundane and asks you to look at it another way. It proves that the mind no matter what its seeing wants to take abstract shapes and extract meaning from them. It makes you stop and remember that the whole world is a masterpiece, even silly little bits of graffiti on bits of old wall! You can buy it from Concrete Hermit here.

Jaybo

2008-09-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

Jaybo is amazing. He started life off in France where he was a graffiti artist. In the 80's he moved to Berlin and started to work as an actor, a rapper, a street wear designer and has created his own life-style magazine, he utilises ever channel available to be creative. This is evident when you look at the diversity of media he has worked in.
In this most recent work of his, he utilises the high-powered projectors of Skudi Optix to project an image onto the Berlin Dom Cathedral. The picture projected looks like Mickey mouse hands manipulated to create the famous Hokusai wave. I love the way it interacts with the building's own facade to create something truly unique with qualities of both design and structure being visible. I think it is awe inspiring.

Andrew Rae Website

2008-09-11T17:43:00.001-07:00

Andrew Rae is an illustrator, art director and animator. He has done a lot of big works including working as an Art Director for the show Monkey Dust on BBC 3, illustrating the identity for The V Festival and helping to judge Illustration for D&AD 2006. His short film the Stunt was screened on Channel 4 in 2007. He's part of the illustrator collective Peepshow and Black Convoy.

He mixes loose hand drawn figures in surreal like positions, or situations that give of a playful yet macabre feeling. Often you'll find the body-parts of two different species spliced together to create a new and wonderful being.

What I love about his website is it is so uniquely him. You know exactly what style of artwork you are dealing with when you enter this sight. Its very simple, and quirky and has those amazing little animations at the top of the screen, that wiggle and wink at you seductively. I would question its ease to navigate, finding it hard to go through the images and annoying to constantly scroll down, but who cares when it so seductively entices you to look through them with its quirky control panel. Rae is an established illustrator so its nice to see something so personal as his website! You can order his works off Concrete Hermit, I would definitely suggest a look at his book Perverted Science, its a lot of fun. Go and check out his website and see for yourself at www.andrewrae.org.uk

Havidol

2008-09-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Australian based artist Justine Cooper created this parody marketing campaign of fictional medication called “Havidol” (have it all), chemically named “avafynetyme” (have a fine time) to treat the also fictional psychological disorder Dysphoric Social Attention Consumption Deficit Anxiety Disorder (DSACDAD). She is playing around with ideas concerning the prevalent modern trend to seek medication when feeling un-happy, and the notions that medications mask problems but do not solve them. It is dealing with ideas associated with Disease-mongering. She is also looking at the social parameters we, as a capitalist society construct for ourselves and the way in which these exacerbate an anxiety of the post-modern human condition. I find the concepts she’s working with very interesting and I like the route she has gone down to try and draw attention to her points. I believe satire to be a very effective way of proposing alternative conceptions to things. She parodies the tactics used by the pharmaceutical industry to sell prescription medication, but in a humorous and subtle way.

The campaign recreates the entire drug marketing process, from the branding process, naming the drug, designing logos and promotional merchandise. Its look mimics others so accurately and the design is so slick that it is reported that many believe it to be an actual drug, although it has obvious ironic notes in the copy.

Visit the Havidol web-page here, it is an insightful trip.

Replica Magazine

2008-09-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Replica magazine is an online journal created through the ingenuity of Thomas Foxely a graduate of Leeds University. The magazine is an interesting concept whereby, people reading the magazine are also free to write articles for the magazine. It is an experiment into collective journalism, where people share thoughts and opinions in the structured form of a digital magazine. . Foxely, is producer, editor and art director as well as writing stories. It is only through the internet that this magazine is made possible, through the relatively cheap production value, the speed and ease of information transfer and the vast amount of people it is available to. He has a brilliant website to accompany the magazine, that although maybe a little graphically uninteresting and tame, allows for people to easily subscribe, contribute, look at back issues etc.

Check out his website at www.replicamag.co.uk

The way in which this information is written, consumed and circulated is a modern phenomena, that undoubtedly will change the media world forever!

Mercenaries 2 TV Advertisement

2008-09-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

I love this advertisement. It manages to explain the basic concept of the game (you completed a job and weren't paid for it and now its pay-back) through the ironic use of the American phrase "Oh no you di'n't". It shows the level of indignity, a sort of righteous anger this character is possessed of, that leads him to wreak vengeance. The quickly cut clips of explosions, helicopters guns etc. entices the blood lust of the target market, while revealing the nature of the game. However the sweetly indignant song and high note of the ending reminds us that it is a game, not to be taken too seriously, which is important as the market is undoubtedly children and there must be a reference to parents that this is not too violent or vicious.

If you really like this advertisement check out the making of on youtube its really quite impressive.

La Machine Extravaganza

2008-09-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

Built by French company La Machine, which brought The Sultan's Elephant to London in 2006, this 37 tonne and 50ft Spider was last week dangling from the Concourse Tower in the centre of Liverpool. On Friday the spider sprung to mechanical life at its new location. This has been an Artichoke Works organised events that has been working with Francoise Delacroziere, the owner of La Machine, to create La Machine Extravaganza in Liverpool for the 2008 Capital of Culture. This form of street theatre is very interesting as it allows a whole community to become involved and excited by a piece of extraordinary technology and art. Lyn Gardner wrote in The Guardian "There were times when it seemed to be leading the entire population of the city on a merry dance, like some kind of arachnid pied piper." It does something very unique to the social dynamics of a community. It allows for communal ties and spirit to be strengthened. It also excites and intrigues the imagination. Imagine seeing this as a child!

A Weird and Wonderful Guide to London

2008-09-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Le Cool is a free weekly online magazine that guides you through London events. You can read the current copy at www.lecool.com. Its an incredibly stylish and easy to use website, but you must subscribe to enter. Every week copy will be sent to you as a graphical e-mail.

Excitingly LeCool has brought out its first London guide book, A Weird and Wonderful Guide to London. Designed by Jeremy Leslie and John Brown, this book combines the incredibly understated coolness of the magazine's content with exciting visuals that echo the variety and range of places covered. Its full of fantastic photography, inventive typography and anarchic design. It also manages to pick up on an essentially London vibe without reverting to red bus imagery or tube signs.

Its content is as quirky as the design featuring spots to watch wrestling or find the best fish and chip shop, to top clubs, boutique comic book stores interviews with gallery owners and personal stories. The cover is the trade mark 'LeCool' richly coloured, tactile covering.

MGMT

2008-09-10T02:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you have heard of the band MGMT but their songs are all over the radio at the moment. There songs are, in my opinion amazing. There sound is very fresh Described as 'bombastic electro glam' their sounds are a mixture of rich new-wave electro synths with a strong rock base. Its hard to pin down exactly what they sound like in words, which is why I think their visual identity is so remarkable.

If you had never heard his band before I honestly believe that you can tell what kind of music they create through the visuals they present. They use otherworldly, sci-fi graphics, full of new-rave fluorescent colours mixed with dreamy landscapes. There are strong electro graphics, such as the typeface for the band's name on the cover of their album Oracular Spectacular. The cover shot is almost like a post-apocalypse scene; new-rave warriors on a purple, hazy, moonlight beach. Their album is cleverly designed as a cardboard booklet that holds the lyrics on one sheet of paper and the CD on the other side.

The CD also features a photo album of their tour and 'time to pretend' video shoot but also an 'electric feel' interactive video. This video sounds amazing but in reality it is barely interactive and the visuals are rough and unpolished! They have a playful psychedelic feeling though that reflects their music. Also their website www.whoismgmt.com reflects this slightly rough yet edgy electro feel. They cursor turns the background into blocks of colour as you move, and if you press the gun icon it fires and turns the whole background into a moving yellow design. The layout is poor, although not exceptionally hard to navigate. It looks like a very cheap job. And here I think lies the genius in their design. It represents that this is a new band without the polish of big names, reflecting their raw talent. Their music is all about pretending, having fun and not worrying so much. The exact lack of polish, conveys this perfectly allowing us to align ourselves with them. To invest a bit more heart than you would for the latest commercial band to be squeezed out of the 'pop machine'. There music is about pretending and dreams and surreal psychadelic noises, it has a very refreshing, youthful, hopeful vibe, which is accurately desdcribed through their visuals. I think I especially enjoy them as they have a strong neotribal look.

Dmote

2008-09-09T16:42:00.001-07:00

Dmote is another Graffitti artist who I greatly admire. He started off, with pretty standard street tagging that moved on to big letter works, and now works with a very intricate style of interconnecting lines and spirals that I think is truly beautiful. I sometimes find some of his works a little crude, with regards to content, or just blatant over referencing (even appropriation) of others imagery that does cheapen his work. However, it is the tribal inspired designs that really interest me. They are really absorbing pieces that I find really quite profound.

Check out more of his work at www.dmote.com.

The Mighty Boosh

2008-09-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

I believe I have already unmasked myself as a Mighty Boosh fan, but who can resist the delightful imagery and scope of imagination these boys bring to us.

On the 18th of September Canongate are publishing the Mighty Book of Boosh. Now we get to see the work of Graphic designer Dave Brown (who plays Bollo) who art directed, designed and shot most of the book. It is widely known that Noel draws all the characters that they dream up and designs costumes for them, and here we get to see up close all the intricacise of these dynamic characters. Its a real insight in the minds of these very creative and talernted group of people. Apparently there are numerous graphic design devices that Brown has designed to capture the essence of Boosh jokes in print. There are even two books inside this book. One of Vince's childhood upbringing in the Jungle and another of Howard's Jazz memories. Brown looks like he has done a great job. The Mighty Boosh book was always going to be good, but I think he's really pushed the boundaries.

Cadbury advertisement

2008-09-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Cadbury has not been doing well in the confectionery market recently. It has had to separate its Cadbury and Schweppes sections of the company into too separate branches because, as I understand the company was not doing well. The two companies have de-merged into Cadbury and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. This was done in a hope to increase the companies value, and allowed for the ability to focus on their own sections of the market, in Cadbury's case the confectionery market.

When ever a company undergoes restructuring in the hope to boost profits or company value, very often the advertising budget is cut in a hope to scale back costs. However, time and time again this has proved to be drastically detrimental. Cadbury have not taken this route. Instead tonight I witnessed two of their televisions advertisements.

The first, a very realistic Gorilla (one hopes not a real one) playing a drum kit to 80's rock... the second was of different airport machinery, drag racing down a runway again to 80's rock. The tag line 'A glass and a half full of joy'. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture here? This advertisment did not leave me yearning for chocolate or leave me feeling even a little joy, mainly just confusion. I have not been in the country for a year so at first I did not realise that, even worse, this Gorilla advertisment was first brought out in August 2007. Why are they still running it? Has it had some monumental cult following?

This advertisement to Queen's "Don't stop me now' is a minute and a half long, a lot of time when considering a television advert, and the reason behind the length? Inexplicable!

My biggest problem is that Cadbury's chocolate is so strongly branded that to try to get away from that at this crucial period seems ludicrous. Especially when they have so dramatically departed with the visuals and content of the advertisements, but to keep the old slogan of 'glass and a half'.

I would love to hear your opinions on this one!

(I have just been on the Creative Review Website while researching the Mighty Boosh Book, and there's a post about the Cadbury's advertisement. Both advertisment's have been overseen by the creative director of Fallon! Although it does say something about an inside joke from Big Brother, which I don't watch. So maybe I'm not getting it at all, but I couldn't believe it when they wrote 'they do smack slightly of Cadbury trying to ‘milk’ the success of the original spots'. The originals were a success? )

Alice by Jan Svankmajer

2008-09-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to post this as I think it is a beautifully animated twist on Alice in Wonderland. I like how Svankmajer has picked up on the slightly sinister side of Carroll's story and has actually engaged with some of the underlying issues and concepts Carroll actual plays with in his story.

“Be what you would seem to be - or, if you'd like it put more simply - never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.” Quote from Alice in Wonderland.

I love the style he creates with a real dated 1960s feel to his video imagery. I like how he plays with ideas of nostalgia and childhood in a seductive, compelling but also disturbing manner. The stop motion and quick scene cuts created a disrorted and stunted, stuttery flow to the imagery, which aids the eery and creepy feel. I especially love his visuals for Carroll's poem The Jabberwocky. It is so inspired.

The New Gallery Space

2008-09-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

The re-evaluation of Gallery spaces and the way they serve to impede the circulation of art in our society is an area I’ve been interested in for a while.

New Gallery spaces, that challenge the traditional elitism of the art world, are becoming widespread. One such projects that highlights this is Anna Muirhead’s Back Boot Project, where a serious of artworks are displayed in the back of her red hatchback. Art will always interact with its surroundings, to limit this galleries try to be as neutral as possible, but when the display space is as interesting as the piece itself in the context of a gallery, exciting tensions and dynamics are created between work and display space.

I’m also greatly inspired by the work of Scottish artist Kevin Harman. Perhaps most well known for his skip art, whereby he takes all the ‘rubbish’ in a skip, removes it, cleans it and then methodically replaces it to create beautiful and interesting sculptures. His art makes people on the streets ask why?!

Perhaps even more relevant to my area of interest is his presentation of doormats ‘borrowed’ from Edinburgh stairwell doorway. His art engages with the social aspect of such acts. He left notes to the owners saying they will be returned and to talk their neighbours to learn more. In doing so he tries to create a community interest amongst typically aloof strangers.

Check out more of Kevin's work at kevinharman.co.uk.

NeoFolk

2008-08-31T15:59:00.001-07:00

The work Anne Faith Nicholls really inspires me. This is a selection from her most recent exhibition entitled NeoFolk. I find the very nostalgic sentimental side of her work very appealing. This perhaps comes from her largely autobiographical referencing in her work. Her work makes up a kind of visual diary of her life. She uses oils, acrylics on distressed wood to create a style that is reminiscent of early colonial settlers.

I also like the way she mixes several scenes or narratives together, and lots of different visual imagery juxtaposed against one another to create a busy and diverse narrative. They are very surreal and almost haunting.

Neofolk, which opened at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, LA on September 5th, is her first solo exhibition.

Mumblecore

2008-08-31T15:58:00.001-07:00

Not many people are aware of the mumblecore movement in America, despite it being around for almost 8 years now. This is perhaps as it often overlooked as amateurish and poor quality. No doubt this is true about the films they are amateur films and the quality of the film, with regards to technical ability and hollywood polish is poor. But what mumblecore movies seek to do is open up the field of film again. It explores our expectations of what a film should do and without a doubt these films deal with the very undefinable area of 'willing suspension of disbelief' within our psyches.

Now mumblecore can be described as low budget films that typically look at the realtionships and dynamics of a group of 20-30 year olds. Actors are usually amateurs and scripts are highly improvised.

Benten films is a company the specialises in mumblecorps films and is great to look at for critical reviews and for information on new releases. Most titles are available through Amazon if you know what you are looking for. I would particularly suggest looking at the works of the Duplass brothers who have had much success at the sundance film festival with their works. Check them out at www.thepuffychairmovie.com to look at information about there "The puffy Chair" movie. And watch the trailer below. Their work smacks of an initial irony that we gradually lose throughout the film as we beginning to believe and root for the characters.

Sekenssor

2008-08-31T15:56:00.001-07:00

Exyzt is a revolutionary architectural group that seeks to challenge the constraints of modern ideology surrounding our world and specifically design. They wan to renew social behaviours. They believe that through the creation of interactive environments, people become their own architects, and through the dynamics of exchange new menaing can be found. Check them out at www.exyzt.net

The Sekenssor is an interactive architectural space. Interactive spaces are at the forfront of modern architectural, and design concerns at the moment.

What this space seeks to do is unite the canonised forces of art and technology to create an intelligent space which reacts to the dynamics of a living body. The Sekenssor is integrated in its environment from the outside, however, inside the Sekenssor becomes a narrow tunnel out of the real world, covered by a three-dimensional grid, an optical illusion projected or mirrored reminiscent of ancient perspective works. When left alone the Sekenssor goes to sleep only to be awakened by someone entering it. When you enter the body of the Sekenssor, through the use of vibration sensors, you have the ability to manipulate your surroundings, either through passing over the floor sound captors or playing with the way in which the inside 3D grid warps to your movement. On the outside flickering lights track any internal movement.

This strange sci-fi space talks a about the way in which science and art can unify to create real relevant meaning. I think this is a really exciting and important project to look at.

Tim Walker

2008-08-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Tim Walker has a display on at the London Design Museum at the moment for his outstanding fashion photographs. I really like his work and how he manages to capture really beautiful and awesome pictures that mix fun frivolity with a quirky strangness. I especially like his picture of Lily Cole on this spiral staircase, its like something out of a fairytale but the setting stops it from becoming too cliche. I like how he manages to tackle popular topics, like the bunny girl picture that features on the front of his book above, but puts his own twist on them. Very surreal and dreamlike. Worth a trip!

The Fusion of Spirit and Science

2008-08-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

Another Great mini-animation from Post Modern Times. This deals with the concept of Neo-tribalism.

Neo-tribalism is the ideology that people will only be happy when they satisfy their natural social needs by living in smaller communities that are not dynamically opposed to nature. This video goes someway to explaining the concepts of Dr Neil Goldsmith.

What I believe the director, Nikos Katsaounis, has done is, again like all Post Modern Times productions, stop the narrative from become boring or too overwhelming by allowing us visuals to help follow the theories. They keep it upbeat, fun and the style is current and modern. I especially love the depiction of growth pains, and when the little cave man urinates the words spirituality to depict the fact that spirituality is natural. It ultimately stops Dr Goldsmith dialogue from becoming boring and stuffy.

I enjoy the interplay between what is considered spiritual imagery and scientific imagery.

Barack Obama Website

2008-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

This website is brilliant and has been heralded as changing the state of current politics.

On accessing the site you are instantly directed to a page that asks you to sign up and donate money if you a supporter, if not you can easily navigate away from the page and enter the website without becoming a member. The layout is well thought out, easy to use and ultimately keeps his supporters informed. You can sign up to volunteer, then start a My.BarackObama.com page and then go on to host local events. There is Obama tv, Obama mobile (text 'hope' to 66262) he even has links to myspace.com and other social networking sites. His manifesto is clear to read and each issue has a heading so you can easily find Barack's opinion's on matters. There is even a 'fight the smears' section that seeks to reconcile any rumours or gossip about Obama.

Its a sleek conservative design that instills us with a sense of proffesional cabability. It's easy to navigate and everything is easy to find. There's no ambiguity. The colours of the american flag are used as the colour scheme and the american eagle features in the centre of most pages. Barack's 'logo' is again in red, white and blue, and looks like a mix between a rising sun, and a rainbow, couple this with his message of hope, it sends a strong message. At the top of your internet browser it reads 'Barack Obama: Change we Can Believ In'! Highly branded in a possitive and patriotic manner, this website shouts confidence.

What this website ultimately does is to allow a member of the public not only to instantly donate but to become an active member in rallying support for Obama. Obama and his campaign understand that this is the information age and the power the internet has to be a tool in this American president election.

Go see for yourself at www.barackobama.com.

Andy Warhol Exhibition

2008-08-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

Last Christams I visited the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia to see their Andy Warhol exhibition. It was truly magical to see so many of Warhol's work 'in the flesh' but also to see the variety of his work, and to see some of his lesser known pieces that get overshadowed by the mass circulation of his more famous pieces. As a design student dealing with mass communication, I believe, it is important to study Warhol's work because he does something very important in a an art historical sense.

Warhol's work attacked high modernism, representing the mundane of peoples' lives as something to be valued no less than the academic ideologies of avant-garde. It questions what is worthy of art and whether or not his type of art was more real and more relevant to culture than what had gone before. He also realises the effects mass communication is having on the society, and seeks through stark representations to elicit strong responses from people, as expressionist portrayals only further overloaded people with information. He is highly aware of the power of social icons and their ability through collective social associated ideas these icons can transfer meaning into his work, something so important when dealing with mass communication.

I believe we must understand historically how people have reacted to images before us, to enable us to understand society and therfore how our design work will be understood and interpreted.

Try Life in Another Language.com

2008-08-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

This is a website designed by channel four to get people involved in foreign cultures and show the value of being able to understand another language in order to broadern our culture awarness. It shows us the value and excitement in finding out about new things abroad. I think what they are trying to is really socially important in Britain that can sometimes be a little ethnocentric and narrow minded. But what I really want to discuss is the cleverness opf the TV advertisement. There are currently 5 tv ads, that are all different. They give an interesting glimpse into foreign life, atmosphere attitude, that nmaintains a funky, upbeat attitude that excites. They are not spoon feeding us an idea instead allowing us to see the excitment of another culture, and then leaving with the website name that also is the tag line.

The Shadow girl advertisement feature Spanish singer Nubla. Beautiful, quiet reflective, it draws us in without an obvious hint to where the advertisement is going. Key foreign words are projected onto her face tantilisingly as she sings them, intriguing us. The typeface and imagery are in an exotic twirling style that works well in the foreign context. Ultimately mysterious, excitingly exotic and leaves wanting to know more.

I love this advertisement by Disiz la Peste, the french hip-hop artist. I love the upbeat quick moving, animation mixed in wioth the real video, it has a real anarchic, revolutionary, rebellious feel, echoing his style of music, that ultimately connects with a youth vibe.

I think this aswell as the Football advertisment are great as they really connect with young men, who are perhaps harder to inspire to learn another language if not already intersted, (I know cliche comment, I do realise all girls are not neccessarily romantics!)

Great ads, check out the website to see more: www.trylifeinanotherlanguage.com

CH2

2008-08-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

Melbourne's Council House 2, built in 2006, is the first building that has been given a 6 star rating by the Green Building Council of Austrailia. Designed by DesignInc, this 10 storey office block is predicted to have paid for itself, in savings, the $51 million it cost to build it. Its even stated by the Victoria council that the fresh air circulating the building has increased staff productivity so much that it has saved them $2 million a year.

The building has many special and innovative design features. Particularly visually impressive are the recycled timber shutters that are sensitive to the strength of light on them dictating their angle of shade from the strong Australian sun without restricting natural light. So many of the features that make this building work are simple but so often in this world under used, such as the maximising of natural light to reduce the need for artificial. Or the use of thermal mass (large exposed concrete areas on the outside) to regulate internal heat instead of air conditioning. The five shower towers manage to cool air and water purely through the lost energy utilised by the water falling through it turning into vapour. Or simply vaulted ceilings that help with air flow within the building.

Check out more pictures and a run through of any extra information at www.melbourne.vic.gov.au

Troppo Architects

2008-08-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Troppo Architects are a group of architects based in Darwin Australia. They call themselves 'environmentally sustainable, responsible architects'.

They are organic designers in the sense that they start at the site of the building, and work on from there in a rationally minded way. I think what I like most about these designers is their common sense and ability to meld all aspects of creating a 'Green' home. They do not only think about the initial affect a new build will have on a site, on the places materials are sourced but also on the way they building will be utilised for years into the future. Their buildings have 'adjustable skins', meaning that they respond to the outside conditions, day to night, summer to winter. They holistically consider every part of their design process from self cooling spaces to considering the ultimate production cost to the environment of materials and energy used in the building process. I admire that they looked into the past to source design solutions for their buildings instead of looking to new technology. Trying to work with nature instead of resisting it.

They believe that 'the act of building, when mindful of its human purpose and process, can also help sustain a community's social and cultural fabric.' Check out there beautifully designed website at www.troppoarchitects.com.au

The Ice is Melting

2008-08-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

We hear so much about Global Warming that perhaps the flood of information and the enormity of the consequences, creates an immobilising feeling within society. So how to create an affective advertisment that calls people to action? Well www.conservation.org.co commisioned this piece of clever ambient advertisment. Ice sculptures of Polar animals where placed in 7 of Botago's main public spaces along with a puddle shaped sticker with the organisation's website address. When a topic as important and with as much information as Global warming is addressed perhaps it is important to get straight to the point. This piece of ambient media does it brilliantly, combining a a direct visual of ice melting and the destruction of animals. Its powerful, simple and above all incredibly affective as over 8000 people saw it, and apparently there was a massive increase in visitors to its website.

William Kentridge

2008-08-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

William Kentridge is one of South Africa's most famous artist and with good reason. He studied Politics and African Studies at university, but he had a background in film and theatre, which led to him directing Mozart's Opera 'The Magic Flute' in South Africa, 2007.

This Opera departs from the usual format, and utilising stunning visuals to strengthen the performance. Kentridges smdugy white images are projected onto and behind the performers. His visuals play out ideas and theories that Kentridge has been formulating for years. I find it Impressive how he has used the two strong opposing forces in the Opera, night and day, and all the corresponding notions that accompany these two opposites and through the use of black on white mark making and its subsequent inversion these opposing forces play out through the dynamics of the creation process of the visuals.

Kentridge believes that the brain wants to see patterns in his work, wants to predict what the space will do next. He believes that the most minimal of visual hints are needed for reading sense into a space. He’s interested in utilising our ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ that one enters into when engaging with a piece of art and the fact that the brain cannot stop this function when it comes to looking at abstract shapes. If McLuhan says the medium is the message then Kentridge does something interesting by revealing how his processes of movement are created. He renders these processes visible, in allowing us to understand the way in which the medium is utilised we see through the medium. We therefore question its neutral status for creating meaning and in doing this we see how it is selective, subjective memories that are crafted into the grand narratives of history.

He sees his political art as ‘an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted gestures and uncertain endings’.

One of my favourite quotes of his is when he’s referring to Plato’s allegory of the cave ‘Plato’s text is an extraordinary prescient description of what it is like to sit in a cinema - of what it means to have images on a screen ahead of you, a projector behind, and light streaming forward’.

Katy Crebbin

2008-08-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

Katy Crebbin is a fellow Manx graphic artist. I recently found some cards by her in a local shop and was impressed by her style. I really enjoy her colourful montages that feature a delightful mix of nostalgia, retro funk and modern influences. She successfully mixes a wide range of different photographed materials and textures, found images, cutouts and photographs, details of which are then painstakingly cut-out. Crebbin is a graduate of Central St. Martins where she studied Fine Art. She now lives in the North East of England and successfully exhibits her work in galleries. I admire the fact that despite being an exhibiting graphic artist Crebbin has utilised the craft aspect of her work to sell and ultimately further market her work. To see more visit www.katycrebbin.com

Toward 2012

2008-08-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

Please do not be put off by the slightly obscure references to the end of the world in this short film/animation. This is a Post Modern Times presentation. Post Modern Times is a group that focuses on creating short animations mixed with video interviews with people on progressive modern social threory. This particular short clip shows Daniel Pinchback talking on his thesis that on 2012 the world will undergo an apocolypse. However it is not his ideas that particularly interseted me but rather the interesting mix of animation and real video. I enjoyed the way the 3D mixed well with 2D. I also liked the speeded up old footage. The bombs and smoke images although a little cliche were still affective. I especially liked the moving of the cogs and how this became a flowing motif throughout the clip. Any other Leeds designers reading this will like the use of the Golden Ratio or Phi I am sure. I think I find this clip so inspirational because its an informative clip, that keeps the viewer visually engaged in a unique, upbeat and interesting way while exploring some quite deep and complex ideas.

Fundacion Vicente Ferrer

2008-08-22T04:23:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I couldn not find a good source for this advertisement and as I saw it while in Madrid airport I couldn't go back and take a photo, so apologies. The Vicente Ferrer Foundation is a Spanish NGO that is committed to helping the poorest and most needy area of India, Anantapur. This foundation is invested in the long term change of this area and community. It solutions are pro-active and forward thinking with regards to international relations and economics.

The actual advertisement was an A1 sized poster that was chopped in half. The top photograph showed the Indian girl in focus with the background out of focus. Unfortunatelty I cannot remember the exact copy but it read along the lines of 'Support her' or 'To help her'. Unfortunately I could only find this image which reads 'Comprometidos con Antapur', which roughly translates as 'seeking a solution with Anantapur', it has connotations of aid, negotiation, reconciliation etc.

The bottom half of the advertisment shows the same photograph, however the girl in the foreground is now out of focus and the group in the background is in focus. The copy reads 'apadrinas a su comunidad', which roughly translates as 'support her community'. I really like this advertisment as I feel too often that the focus of charitiy advertisements is too narrowly placed on one or overwhelmingly placed on too many. Here a balance is acheived via the two photographs throwing light both on the individual and the community as a whole. It gives a clear view of the holistic way in which The Vicente Ferrer Foundation works. Perhaps the call to action is the fact that this advert allows the confidence with which this organisation operates to be shown.

Trident Gum

2008-08-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

I find this print advertisement very interesting. I' am not sure how this advert really relates to chewing gum, or why exactly the designers decided that a 1940's pin-up style illustration conveyed the right feeling for Trident. The advert bares no correlation to the style or even mode of the gum packaging. Indeed I feel the whole advertisment goes against the brand identity that Trident has built up for itself.

However, perhaps this in itself is the very essence of the advert? The copy claims that the gum will 'mess with your head'. The advert certainly disturbs me from the aspect that it departs from my expectations. This may be because I analyse such texts more than the average person... but it is important to remember that everyone sees the world with sets of preconceived notions and perhaps showing the unexpected gathers more notice than the obvious. Of course the licking mouth that has been placed instead of a right eye also utilises the fact that we are experiencing an oddity. An open mouth , especially this one, which features a tongue running across the teeth, creates an oral fixation in the human psyche, and a solution to this fixation is offered by the gum. The background is in a mint green colour alluding to the flavour, which is chocolate and mint, a perfectly acceptible combination of flavours but not usually associated with chewing gum. This is where the whole advert comes together in the fact that the flavour will 'mess with your head' but is ultimately incredibly tempting. Sex appeal is used to stress the fact that the flavour is so tempting.

A very interesting advertisement, well thought out despite its unusual take on selling Trident. Personally though I couldn't think of anything worse than mint and chocolate flavoured gum!

Inspired by Russian Women

2008-08-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is a great bit of hard hitting design by a woman called Charlotte Fracke, looking into the treatment of women in Russia!

Jean Baudrillard

2008-08-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well heres another must read in the semiotics list, but again I believe its very interesting reading! Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation (1994), which is translated by Sheila Faria Glaser, uses the semiotic thoeries of Pierce and Saussure but develps them further. He is especially interested in the way signs in our society now no longer relate to an actual reality but relate instead to themselves. He argues that this operation in our society leads to a hyper-reality. When looking at adverts or any communicating images its possible to see how these theories take shape within them. Especially in big corporate adverts... for instance the Halifax advert that features the company's employees singing 'we are sailing' and then the actual building takes sail out to sea with a lit X on the roof. Deconstructing such advertisments through semiotic analysis allows for a deeper under standing of the way in which meaning is communicated through design.

Bang Bang

2008-08-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Alex Ryan's film at first glance seems like 'just a bit of fun'. The plot follows a group of boys playing with guns that then turn into real adult heroes and villains who use the same plastic water guns and water bombs but to dramatic affect. I actually find this a very engaging piece of work despite the lack of polish in the actual production. It has a charm in the way it draws you into the boys imaginations, and creates a fun tension which is thoroughly enjoyable. However, I believe the piece also subtly comments on media determinism and the way in which we are influenced by what we see in the media, how we digest what the media shows us and how we regurgitate it socially. Produced for this years itsallelectric.com £50 competition, Bang Bang was one of the finalists and went on to win at the Short Cutters film festival. You can check out Alex Ryan's video on www.grumpychap.com

Marshall McLuhan

2008-08-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

I would advice everyone also to have a look at McLuhans book Understanding Media: The Extension of Man, which he published in 1964. Even if your not a big fan of philosophical texts I think his beginning chapter The Medium Is The Message, is vitally relevant to todays market, especially when considering the range of ambient marketing. Its sound knowledge to have when dealing with the realm of Media.

Charles Sanders Peirce

2008-07-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

A rudimentary knowledge of semiotics is, in my opinion, necessary for anyone studying any form of communication. Semiotics is the study of signs or the theory of signification. It explores and describes the way in which meaning is created and understood. It’s a highly complex form of philosophical thought that is relatively new and widely disputed. Its acceptance into wider schools of thought is perhaps hindered by the complex form of language used to describe semiotics. C. S Peirce is considered to be the founding member of semiotics and I would suggest reading, Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotic, by James Hoopes (editor). His works are philosophical and it can be hard to follow in places, the language is particularly hard to understand, yet in spite of this I feel that it essential reading if you want to understand any further semiotic texts. Further readings are highly valuable when creating an understanding of the way in which people understand and consume graphic images. Although Ferdinand de Saussure is also considered a founding member of semiotics or semiology, his writings are more concerned with linguistics, and I would not recommend reading his texts. Barthes, Eco and Baudrillard are other authors on semiotics and whose theories are worth observing.

Camille Rose Garcia

2008-07-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Camille Rose Garcia is an artist who is part of the Lowbrow movement, a movement that finds its roots in the Pop Art of the 60’s. Her highly stylised pieces mix graffiti symbols and drips of paint with cute, cartoon like people that usually carry a satirical twisted edge. Her dark and unsettling depictions are accentuated by the juxtaposition of bold colours. I especially enjoy her Creepcake’s Bakery series that depicts an alien race assaulting a town through the use of tasty sedative snacks! It makes a satirical comment on today’s society especially in America, a recurring theme in her work. Her work is becoming well known and highly sought after. I especially like her print works.

The Mighty Boosh

2008-07-28T17:42:00.001-07:00

Of course The Mighty Boosh is an incredibly popular show. I wanted to praise the way in which they created a very surreal dream-like world. In the first series the creation of the Zooniverse is very distorted, compressed, an obvious set... that makes it all the more wierd and wonderful. I love the work of Special Effects designer, Tim Hope, who first suggested the use of projecting backgrounds as a way of keeping costs low but imagination high! More prevalent in the second series, I think these are some of the most inspirational and wonderful moments of the whole show.

June Nevin also does a fantastic job as the resident costume designer. The Boosh has many wild and wacky costumes but a tight budget. Nevin manages to successfully create awesome and inspiraional pieces from things as ordinary as tights and a coat hanger.

I believe the whole programme does something very clever and unique, drwing on loads of wacky references from across genres and time, which creates this ultimate surrealism. Like it says it does take you on a journey through "Time and Space".

Banksy!

2008-07-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Banksy: the infamous British graffiti artist has recently been supposedly unmasked as Robin Cunningham. Whether this proves to be true or not remains to be seen, but the fact that he refuses to create a public persona despite the acclamation he has received for his work is inspiring.

Banksy started as a graffiti artist in the early nineties, and was part of the Bristol underground scene. He turned to full stencil work after realising that speed is a necessity when the creation of your art entails the wrath of the establishment. Banksy is an incredibly talented artist. He creates satirical depictions, has a striking use of contrast and creates witty compositions that incorporate the environment they are placed, often in an amusing and ironic fashion. His pieces are often accompanied by witty copy, sardonic slogans that partly explain the conceptual premise behind the pieces. He has an attitude to art that I appreciate and admire. His anti-establishment and anti-capitalist views are admiral and fall in line with many of my own. I feel that galleries have an elitist and restrictive hold on art circulation and enjoy the fact that he uses public spaces to display his ideas. He allows people on the street to think about our society and social problems in a thoughtful, ironic and ultimately incredibly engaging manner. He makes us question the world we take for advantage. Some of his most risky stunts include placing a replica of a Guantanamo Bay detainee at Disneyland, and hanging his work without permission in the Louvre. His works smack of a rebellious nature that gains recognition, provokes thought and discussion.