Moo ShowCase

If you haven’t heard of Moo, then head over and check them out.  Front runners in print, from custom business cards and wonderful stickers, to festive greetings cards and accessories.

Recently I was fortunate enough to be sent out one of their new business card holders, the ShowCase.

In the ever increasing age of technology a great business card can be the difference in getting noticed, “less a method of handing out your phone number, more a way of starting a conversation” as Moo elegantly put it.

The ShowCase comes well packaged with Moo’s lovely attention to detail, and immediately using it is simply intuitive.  The “flick and push” or the “flick and fan” gives you an option in presenting potential clients with your card.

Full details (and a few more great accessories!) on the Moo site here.

Splitscreen: A Love Story

The launch of the Nokia N8 earlier this year has set the new benchmark for image recording, and rightly so, cramming a 12MP 720p HD video camera into something that fits in your pocket.

To demonstrate the confidence in their new handset, Nokia launched the Nokia Shorts competition, and the results were really something.

Here’s the beautiful winning video, Splitscreen: A Love Story.

A fantastically creative idea executed with stunning simplicity, and entirely shot on a mobile phone.

Check out the best of the rest from the competition here.

Freitag

As if I wasn’t already going to splurge on a new Freitag bag this weekend, I’ve just spotted this brilliant advert for their new F49 Back To School Back Pack over on Swiss Miss.

I’ve always loved Freitag bags; the idea, the concept, the story behind each individual one.

For those not in the know, the past 18 years have seen Swiss brand Freitag recycling the likes of truck tarpaulins, seat belts and inner tubes to create these unique bags and accessories.  Simply put, Freitag are R.I.P. (Recycled Individual Products), and now they bring us a new take on the traditional school backpack, the F49 Fringe.

This video brings together some of my favourite elements – slow motion, bright colours, testing something to (attempted) destruction, and even a llama!  Brilliant.

Deemed street-legal by the FREITAG R&D department, “because there’s no tougher hood than schoolyards, it was tested to the fringe of sadism. Whoever manages to tear up this backpack clearly should be dispensed from school”.  Who can argue with that!

Advert by Zwei Hund.

More from the Freitag lab here.

Moleskine Product Design

Moleskine, famous for their notebooks and, until now, famous for their notebooks alone.  This iconic staple in most designer’s satchels (for arguments sake let’s just call it a Freitag bag if I’m going to generalise throughout this post) is merely the starting point of the recently expanded brand of “legendary notebooks”.

Not content with launching the notebook across various limited editions, such as Pac-Man and Peanuts, they now offer a new collection to include pens and pencils (as you need something to write in your notebook with), bags and computer cases (somewhere to store your notebook) and of course the ultimate in geek chic – reading glasses.

And of course what better way to launch a new product range than a lovely, clever little video demonstrating the products in action.

Of course the original Moleskine notebook provided many a brainstorm opportunity to develop the range.  Designed by Giulio Iacchetti, the new collection takes on the aesthetic and functional characteristics of the classic notebooks, capturing the ethos and brand sentiments that have given us the elements of the elastic band, the rounded corners, the black color, and of course the timeless design.

All of these items naturally compliment the existing notebook, of which they themselves can now be customised with a selection of “Moleskin removable accessories” in the form of clips and stickers.  This is probably to differentiate yourself from the guy in the meeting sitting opposite you, who no doubt has a suspiciously similar notebook propped open in front of him too.

You can view everything to “make up the ideal kit for the modern-day nomad” on Flickr, and the products themselves are available from the Moleskine Store.

Animating Chanel

Animating Chanel.  You’d be forgiven for thinking I’d made a slight typo as you probably wouldn’t consider that luxury make up brand Chanel would be toying with animation of any sorts, let alone to such an effective result.

An autobot-inspired lipstick robot and an eyeliner spider have replaced the traditional faces of Chanel (Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss and Keira Knightley to name but a few) in this concept animation directed by none other than Peter Philips, Chanel’s very own Global Creative Director of Makeup.

Inspired by a range of headdresses Philips created from beauty product packaging (luxury upcycling springs to mind), the animated characters manage to maintain everything that is integral to the Chanel brand.  The final result is a journey that exudes luxury and a certain opulence crafted from the figure that simply appears to ‘smoke’ Chanel bubbles, cleverly epitomising the brand whilst stepping forward to embrace new media.

Although Peter Philips is largely responsible for the video, he did let one aspect fall beyond his control.  In quite a lovely and human way he confesses, with regard to the accompanying music, that “if it were up to me it would have been disco”.  Brilliant.

Crayon Maker

What can you do with old crayons?  All those waxy crumbs and colourful stumps, too small to hold in your chubby childhood hands, that used to collect in the bottom of your pencil case.

Well, you can now use Crayola‘s own Crayon Maker to “mix, melt and mould” your own wild colour combinations.

I wish this had been around when I was a kid, watching crayons melt before my very eyes to make unique swirling wax crayon creations.  Awesome.  See it in action on the Crayola commercial site here.

Children of today you have no excuse, get drawing!

Tron – Concept Process

You might be starting to sense some sort of a theme here, and you can probably imagine my excitement when I discovered the following images over on the Wired’s Underwire blog.

As a fan of both the original film, and Daft Punk, I’m not only particularly looking forward to my trip to the IMAX later this week for Tron:Legacy, but as a designer I’m often intrigued and fascinated by the process that films and products take.  How do the concepts and sketches on the back of an envelope compare to the final artefact?  How did that prototype model help to iterate the design and whittle it down to what we see before us?  I’m especially looking forward to the visuals, and seeing how well they’ve been executed (incredibly well if early reviews are anything to go by) when compared to the original film’s somewhat questionable, yet still groundbreaking for the time, special effects.

Some may say it ruins the illusion, but with me that’s far from it.  Understanding the process enhances the end product, helping me to (ever so slightly) understand and appreciate what went into it, and now Disney have offered us a mere teaser behind the scenes in their latest venture, Tron:Legacy.

Designer Daniel Simon was the main guy behind the 2010 light cycle design, and having a background working for Ducati  you must agree puts him in good stead to acheive the glossy heights that Tron:Legacy aims for.  I’d say the (shortened) process shown, of working through concept sketches through to final models and artworks, is fairly typical in the world of industrial and automotive design, though the standard is far from typical as it of the highest calibre.

The final light cycles did change ever so slightly when the 3D models were truly put through their paces with a physics engine.  Trying to work out how a 3tonne motorbike reacts on a glass floor at 90mph is quite something! So full credit to Disney for the attention to detail in really executing the realism. Even the small items such as the air brakes on the back  of the bikes are inspired by genuine real life working examples of brakes on jets.

Even the completely new items have been created such that the mechanism for it comes across as entirely plausible, leaving you not even batting an eyelid in questioning how it may (or may not) work.  That’s great detail design.

While at university I was the subject of a 3d body scan which, when mapped to a video of me in a lycra suit covered in tiny silver markers recorded by eight strategically placed cameras, translated to  a bio-mechanically correct 3D figure of, well, me!  You won’t need me to tell you it wasn’t a patch on the cameras Jeff Bridges had inches from his face allowing the crew to triangulate and stream footage of his every facial movement to impose an aged version of his head on another body.

The recording, mapping, and final effect shown in a hugely condensed three steps.

The special effects team for the film’s costumes claim the lights in the film ”were by far the craziest thing they’ve ever done”.  Not being sure how to achieve the effect they were after they gave every effects house in LA a small budget to find something that would work.  In the end Quantum Creation FX came up with a polymer-based “stretchy thing that would bend, deal with sweat, not hurt anybody and still get bright enough,” perfect for the job in hand.

Measuring 1/8th inch thick, the illuminated tube lamps were screen-printed and incorporated into the trim on each sleek suit, all powered by a lithium ion battery on a wiring harness running the length of the suit.  This self contained unit allowed perfect lighting, consistency and reaction throughout the whole film.

You might also notice that many of the outfits in the film fit rather more snug than usual.  Each character had a custom moulded outfit created by laser scanning each person and sculpting a life size foam figure upon which to mould the outfit from a CNC machine.  The result was a millimetre perfect fit for each protective, yet athletic prowess permitting, outfit.

If you’re in any doubt over what I’ve just  said, or maybe you’ve already seen the film and are still somewhat baffled, then check out the rather good Tron Wiki which should reveal all.  No excuse not to know your Recognizer from your Solar Sailor now!

World’s Oldest Computer Rebuilt In Lego

As a fan of Lego, with a keen interest in science, this recent creation from designer Andrew Carol is simply stunning.

In case you don’t recognise it, it is a rebuild of what is claimed to be the world’s oldest known computer.  The mechanism is known as the Antikythera Mechanism, part of an astronomical computer built in 150BC to calculate the movements of celestial bodies.  Using complex (even by the standards of today) algorithms of bronze gears and wheels it was incredibly accurate, and when the artefact was rediscovered on a shipwreck near the island of Antikythera in 1901 it gave modern day scientists the opportunity to x-ray and CAT scan the device to recreate the astounding calculations.

Seemingly unsatisfied with their approach, self-confessed “professional geek” Adam Rutherford got to thinking.  Inspired by a model of a Babbage Difference Engine, also in Lego and also by Andrew Carol, he got in touch and a few extremely patient weeks later the result is this wondrous video.

Rutherford summerises “we recreated a 1st century BC computer out of the best toy humankind has ever invented”.

Fantastic, couldn’t agree more.  So, get 8 April 2024 in your diaries and your protective glasses at the ready.

Via New Scientist.

Drawing Machine

To follow on from my previous post, here’s another on a similarly colourful theme. I give you Joseph Griffiths’ Drawing Machine.

It’s simple, no nonsense name coupled with the Wallace-and-Gromit-esque styling and assembly is exactly what the concept is about.  Deliberately not over engineered, and being still a little rough around the edges, plays right into the method and final execution of the art.

You really don’t need too many words to convey the simplistic beauty of this product, if any at all, so I’ll just leave it there and let you imagine the artistic mischief you could get up to on those plain white walls in your hallway, whilst casually toning your calf muscles.

Art as you exercise has started a whole host of ideas streaming in my head, just imagine a whole peloton of these lined up in front of freshly white-washed walls and armed with Sharpies and Pantone markers.  Amazing.

 

iDestroy – Destructive Apple Art

It was always going to be a big ask to follow the spirit raising dancing robot at the beginning of the week, but I’m sure you’ll agree that smashing up a range of Apple products in the name of art is calibre enough.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Apple fan.  Not quite as big as a lot of people, but between home and work a Macbook Pro, iPods, iMacs and even an iPad adorn most of the surfaces that surround me.  At the other end of the scale there are people fuelled by an equally strong yet opposing force against the Apple brand.  I’m almost certain that Michael Tompert and Paul Fairchild aren’t in this latter group, but what they have done is channelled their passion for Apple into some really quite beautiful artistic pieces.

The rather creative technique used involved “going to town on” an iPhone, iPad and iPods with a manner of saws, bullets and aluminium baseball bats, fully destroying the products.

Lots more (and high-res) pictures over here.