Lina and I have made an addition to our little home. Her name is Josie, she’s a 12 week old ragdoll kitten. Rambunctious little monster when she’s awake. Lot’s of sleeping and eating in her daily routine. And I’m not sure if it’s the food (we switched it up) but Josie Toes can pack a smelly un-cute cat fart. Similar to being hit by a brick, but you look down and see this tiny fur ball with big blue eyes staring up at you and you can’t help but feel a bit torn in how to accept the possibility that “yeah, that just happened”.
Anyways, she adds to our quality of life around here, plain and simple.
———-
THE PYRAMID CODE: Want to get blown away in a sands of Egypt type of way? This five part series brings up some big questions about humanity. How long have we been here on this big round blue earth? How did they build such structures? I’m halfway in to this series and I’m so glad peopl eout there take time to make these films, our world is so interesting, and being able to peek at it for an hour a night over the week is a real treat.
Back to work. I missed it, I did. My chair, my white desk and my mouse. Sad I know, but as an American, I’m not used to 5 weeks of mandatory vacation. Just boggles my mind to think of that amount of time, and the money I could spend within it. Good thing the wallet doesn’t have a wallet or I’d be toast.
On the way home to Stockholm, my mom joined Lina and I up in Amsterdam, which was a real highlight for me. Good to see family, healthy really. That Atlantic is fucking big, and sometimes I can feel it’s grand-ness when it comes to friends and family.
Anyways, a big thanks to Cari Vander Yacht for letting us crash for a few nights. Your Pico De Gallo was unheard of fucking awesomely good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Bird and I had a blast.
Above is an image I illustrated of my mom a few years back. She’s not a smurf, just chose a tonal route in some blues and greens. She is tiny though, gets smaller every time I see her. Love you Mom, come back soon and we can head back to Gilda’s for coffee.
———-
DON’T LOSE YOUR SOUL – Adrian Shaughnessy answers some good questions on everything graphic design in his updated version of How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul. The book has a good stand on how to maintain the important beliefs you fight for in your design career, even if those things differ for separate folks. He’s got experience, and I always think thats worth a listen. I’m 75% through it now, and I recommend the book for any Professional through first year design student. Hell, even people around the business edges of design should take a read. I like his approach, I definitely learned (or re-learned) a few things.
More soon, lots of stuff to post, but I’m gonna spread it a bit.
TIME FLYS! Appreciate every moment, even the less favorable times. Since the beginning of June there has been little time for sharing on the blog, a bit of a back burner for me these days, but important nonetheless. Some changes coming to this site and my approach, gonna make a few shifts next month.
My Big Fat Greek Vacation Started back on July 2nd (10 days ago), and I am here until the 21st. Landed on the mainland and after a few days in Athens we wandered to Naxos and Amorgos. Ios and Santorini are next on the list. All seperate islands with there own small quirks and entertainment. Almost three weeks of stimulating the Greek economy. Doing my part abroad I guess (wasn’t planned). Great people the Greeks. Polite, proud, relaxed and pretty damn good at english (big help). I also dig their flag which actually color-wise translates to almost every home here on the islands. White and Blue everywhere.
Lost it on the last ferry ride to Amorgos, never been sea sick before, but I lost these sea legs right in the beginning of that trip. Got thrown around the stall while I lost my breakfast somewhere in the Mediterranean.
More to come as internet access gets easier over the next week or so.
———-
Vector FLAGS OF THE WORLD. This was a score that came from a Welsh flag search. All the worlds flags in vector.
A few months back Big Dave and myself set out a big plan to bike half of the worlds longest recreational bike race in the world, Halvvättern. A lofty goal for two couch potatoes. So we started training the best way we knew how, riding our single speed city bikes around Stockholm eating hamburgers and drinking beers on sunny days. But before you knew it, and before I could even realize what was happening, my clothes getting tighter and the “carbon fiber” guy I said I never would resemble, slowly began to take shape. Oh man, was it quick, that disease is a killer (if you can call it a disease).
All said and done, we began to form our half-joking team. Team Gooch! Now for you out there wondering what a Gooch is, it’s best answered HERE. And for those of you who have ridin a bike for more than a half hour you know exactly our reason for calling it that. Plus it’s quite fun to say in a mixture of more sensible words.
Team Gooch hit the first leg of the race pretty hot. We were cruising at a good pace of 30K or so depending on wind. Full of excitement and some power we began to take a good downhill 72km (45 mph) down a mountain pass type of road into a tight corner, and then the unthinkable happened. SLAM! My poor tea loving Welsh friend Big Dave went off the road at 41km (25mph) over the handle bars. I was right behind him just watching this event unfold in complete shock. I though Big Dave was dead, or a collar bone had been bent up at least. People still speeding by us as Dave lied in a ditch while I played frogger to get to him. A few minutes later the the tides turned and Big Dave, full of mud, blood and shock, got to his feet and said “I feel alive!”. Damn was that good to hear. Definitely one of those, “did that just happen” moments. Scary.
Tough bastard that Big Dave. He rode the 110km out to finish the race. Super proud of him and Team Gooch for sticking it out. It was a blast.
Wear your helmet folks. Shit, wear a bear suit.
As spring and summer have rolled in, I began stepping away from the computer a bit, soaking in some outdoor time. Maybe because of the harsh Swedish winter, who knows? What I do know is that I began focusing on some goals outside the office, and one of those big fuckers I always wanted to tackle was a full grown Marathon. I never ran long distance in my life, maybe for gym class in high school or middle school for a mile or two max. The thought of running 26.5 miles sounded possible, but I didn’t know how to reach that distance. I took all the wrong steps in preparation in the beginning (late January) and didn’t know what the hell I was doing or getting myself into. But as with anything you put your head into you begin to learn the ropes a bit and that just fueled the fire. Opened up a whole new sub-culture world of running.
Around 18,000 people from 80 countries ran the race. Saw some pretty shameless “number two” tactics on the side of the road which I haven’t seen since my days in San Francisco. Anything goes kinda rules in this game, just to cross that finish line. One of the toughest mental battles I have ever faced and I have respect for anyone who has conquered that battle.
A big thanks to all the spectators who gave high fives and positive reinforcement when times were tough. Also a huge thanks to Early Man for making their Closing In album, without I would be in a ditch. Nothing makes the legs move like some heavy metal.
The human body is a complex miracle of nature. Have you ever done a physical endurance activity, only the next day to find new muscles that you never even knew you had? Ever been up a set of stairs in sheer pain with a stiff frankenstein like walk for a couple days? If so, you must be a runner. Blisters, sore joints and an unrelated rotator cuff click are the ailments to date.
Been training a bunch for the Stockholm Marathon. Now I’m not a big runner, never have been or ever will be, and to be completely honest, running isn’t all that fun for me. But the goal, and the path to reaching that goal is something I live for. So much knowledge behind something as simple as moving your feet. Now the science may be limited to a few key areas, such as shoes, training and friction removal (leg shaving), but the path to be able to have your body endure that distance are vast. I’ve heard everything from “just run a lot” to “minimal running and pure strength training” so as a beginner it’s hard to find what your best approach is. I’m on a learning curve until I cross that finish line.
Maybe it’s my older age, or I was naive, but the downtime I have to take after a long run is pretty shocking. 1 week I feel put back together enough to go for a long haul again, but thats a while when you talk weeks to up your distance by a bit. I took a drastic approach, not that it’s incorrect, but I felt my legs could handle the large distance jumps, and last week I wrapped a half marathon in two hours and 10 minutes approximately. Can’t really focus on going further than that as the recovery time is too long, but I can try to get faster within that distance or a little less. It’s a science in itself, but it’s also really cool cause you find out about what your body reacts too, and all the little quirks it has when pushed to the limits.
It’s amazing getting into these sub-cultures of society. Lot’s of people take running very fucking seriously, and have been moving their legs for years. I see lot’s of couples and older people, as well as your younger athletes and computer nerds like myself. It’s quite a mix, which I like. It’s almost like another language that only they can understand and feel which brings them together. I’m learning it, the rewards and such, but I’m still an amateur at best. Workin on it!
Got my hair chopped today. Now you may be asking yourself why the hell I would write about such a subject, and well the reason is, it’s a humankind unifier, all of us got a bit somewhere. Some more than others and in different areas around the human body, mine just happens to grow real fast on the top of my big head. That shit grows fast, so fast in fact I don’t even really use a steady cutting facility to take care of it (I would end up spending hundreds annually), I just let it get long until I start getting “hey lady” enough that I question my life direction and shave it all off with my sheers. Like a Chia Pet in a constant growth cycle.
Anyways, a great girl we know here in town gave me a steal of a deal birthday gift / free chop. I took her up months later and came through today and I’m glad I did. If you have ever had long hair and cut it, it feels like you neck just inhaled a large breath of fresh air and it can relax again. Thanks a ton Åsa, see you in a few weeks.
———-
On to more important stuff…
Got a great laugh out of this one, not sure who brought this studio to life, but the cease and desist stuff on the blog is funny. Maybe a few students for a project, or a total against the industry grain type of job application? Who knows but there office space is looking tight, must be hooked up through Apple to get thin display monitors like that, looking like a few MM from here.
———-
Nice weather = Less computer time = Less blog posts
It’s that special time of year, when Uncle Sam throws a wrench into your warm spring weather plans. Hiring someone this year, no way in high hell am I touching all the papers that go along with working outside the country. Just so you know, Uncle Sam doesn’t let you off cause you move off his property, he taxes any income no matter where your at, even if you’ve been taxed by the government your currently living under. TAX on your TAXES and such. Just going with the flow on this one as I don’t even have time to stress it. Get it done and out of the way approach this year.
——–
THE WIRE – A bad decision, jumping into a TV series that has six seasons all wrapped up. It’s terrible for my sleep as I usually stay up and keep interest late into the night thinking I won’t feel it in the morning. Cramming about 2 to 3 episodes a night while Lina Bird passes out. I gotta finish it quick before it swallows me whole.
Interesting how the system works, or… doesn’t work for that matter. The war on drugs, really? Let’s try the war on poverty, maybe that will help remove some of the need for these drug rings to exist. It’s a TV series but it’s amazing how it shows you the corruption on all sides, pretty unbiased in it’s presentation (which I like). No super hero’s, just drunk problem riddled cops, militant drug dealers, and your high up the chain creepy politicians. All that and I’m only on season 2.
Zum Yum! A small identity project I did last year, and now it’s officially up and running, out there in the big world. Had to go few rounds on this one and I produced some stuff cool stuff. Fun stuff. The kind of stuff that shouldn’t live the rest of it’s days on a storage drive. I pull the pants all the way down on this one, but here were a few others than came to fruition:
Lately I’ve been trying to mock up elements that accompany logos or logotypes. It’s a little dangerous because a client can easily take that as more work for the same money, but so far the results have been a steady approval of thumbs up. I just like to flush out a logo as more of a brand, maybe for selfish reasons, but I think it helps when people see the possibilities beyond a mark. This could open a whole new can of worms or totally fuck your creative process, but I think the clients appreciate it, and I know I do, guess thats all that matters.
———
Back from London, what a wild place. Chaotic as ever, old as… well London. Did some tourist stuff, visited Thea and Emil at LBI for Friday beers, did some 1722 Pubbin, saw Doug Stanhope. Felt like 8 days packed into 4.
A big thanks to Steve Jones for putting us up and taking us out. Your always welcome up north Steve.
Went to the doctor last week, got examined and prodded. Interpret that how you will. Not a big fan of the sick house as important as they are to our everyday well being. In respect of the developement of healing technology during the past century and the people keeping us healthy, I made some icons above. I went through all those icon actions, including the needle. I hate needles. But I was a bit at ease at the same time as it was by far the best sick house visit I have ever had. Around 15 to 20 bucks, no health care provider needed, informed well received doctor got the orders and checked up and then the needle. Bam, out the door.
Now say what you will about a more socialistic society setup (Sweden), but heath care is just a basic need. Why can’t we figure out health care in the big US of A? Maybe I’m too simple to realize the immensity of the whole situation. But I can tell you it’s amazing to know that if you don’t have insurance and you wreck your bike and break a knee that your not gonna be in the hole 5 grand. Number 1 reason for bankruptcy in the US is medically related injury or illness. Anyone that has been without insurance has had that “walking on eggshell” feeling before, it’s nerve-racking! No way to live, in fear.
Just a bummer for such a large population of people. Wish we could see a solution in sight.
———
Some great portrait illustrations by Alexey Kurbatov on behance network.
Check this one / Big Lebowski > John Goodman
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, nope, it’s terrible public education! A MUST SEE FILM:
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN / TRAILER
Never has a documentary hit so close to home, at the very roots of any american who has been through the public educational system. I found myself on an emotional roller-coaster. Lot’s of hope, inspiration, fight and love back to back with stagnant politics, selfishness, a failing educational system and struggling families. Tears and laughs all the way through.
I won’t even start on tenure as it was mostly developed to support college professors, not assist middle school teachers who can’t teach. I also realize and understand regulations to help teachers, but it’s not 1930, 40 or 50 anymore. In those times 20% of people went to college, so the system functioned better in those economic times. Now, supporting any family without a college degree is next to impossible. The demand has risen but the same educational growth system is still in place today. With some student drop out rates in some areas over 60%, and 3% given a shot at a four year college in some areas, it’s not hard to see why some parents pay extra for their children’s education. What would you pay for your kid to have a chance at a better life?
Watch some progressive teachers who are sick of seeing people struggle and started to fight back, one kid at a time. Just moving on all levels. Makes you want to help and make a difference. Just makes other things seem less important.
It also brings you back to your education, and the teachers that stood out. Damn, I wish I gave more appreciation to some of them, hard job. I know I wouldn’t have been the same without a high school teacher Maris Kittel. She helped me through some rough patchs and kept my feet grounded in school, and I will always be forever thankful.
Just found her on Linked In, connect and email thanks are coming soon Maris.
The day of romance and mass produced greeting cards (Saint Valentines Day). Above is a tree-friendly holiday card to you from me. I’m going to leave it at that.
Enjoying a nice warm evening, hope you are as well.
———-
Just getting back into the groove of things after a week away. Haven’t been near a computer in awhile, feeling really jazzed about getting back into the mix of things.
Lina and myself are taking a train up to åre for a board on snow trip. A solid week of sore and sauna are in the works. In that order. Expecting some spring conditions but I’m dressing for wind and ice. Who knows what these swedish folks are used to for conditions. Curious to find out.
———-
Beckmans College of Design hosted a party last night, and the turn out was huge. Cheap beers, dance party, coat check, the whole nine yards. I find it fascinating that schools host parties for the students, a real party, not a gathering or an uncomfortable bored to death school event. A PARTY. Never seen that before. 3 big things I found out about Beckmans, one, it’s best graphic program out in Sweden, two, it takes on under 20 students a year for the design program, and three, it’s one hundred percent free. That last one makes me cringe. School loans are evil.
Recently I have been working up an identity concept / pitch for a Spanish pizza company. Had a blast doing the whole pitch, start to finish. Pizza man, nothing like it, thinking about buying one for dinner tonight. You ever wonder how many pizzas sell globally every night? I can’t even imagine. It’s also strange the pure range in pizza restaurants these days. You have your over priced brick ovened $30 pizza all the way down to you 2 for 1 at Little Caesars cardboard pizza. Quite a range in the market, for a fairly simple recipe by make and shape that is. I’m not saying a traditional Italian pizza recipe is simple by any means, but the key elements are minimal. Oh, and all that “put a new spin on the pizza” shit marketing schemes they come out with these days just got to resort back to the basics, because their pizza is usually shit. Not pointing any fingers at chain restaurants but I’m looking that way. Seriously can’t name one quality restaurant chain other than In – N – Out Burger, and thats just based off their 3 meal menu and it’s difficulty to access from my part of the globe.
All these factors / ramblings made for an interesting logo / brand process, I’ll show more later this month.
Hungry all over right now.
Holy Froosh! Do you like fruit and simple as it comes ingredients and design? I’m sold in colors alone. I have drank one of these smoothies almost everyday since a couple of weeks back, and I can’t get over how ridiculously good, healthy and simple it is. On the back of their labels there is a list of all the fruit they crush into these fruit smoothies > 1 banana, 1 apple, etc. No bullshit, no bad stuff, zilch, zero, nada. I always wonder why products like this haven’t been on shelves for years? Maybe it’s hard to preserve? Maybe the money isn’t right for the producer?
I got so inspired by this little bottled beverage I wrote the company to express my gratitude. and that same damn day the owner of the company wrote me back! Wanted to thank me for the positive email and told me thanks for the kind words. So great to know that it wasn’t owned by Coca Cola or some shit, just a lady making healthy smoothies for the world to enjoy.
Pearlfisher is responsible for the package design and they have a few heavy hitting designs within the beverage industry out there in the world. Good go on the glass bottle as well, plastic is just scary these days. With the amount of fuel it takes to create PET and the fact that it isn’t biodegradable which creates trash islands in the pacific ocean between us and Japan, shit. Alright, enough! Another post, another day.
Today, fruit on the mind.
Unless you have been under a rock for the past three years you have probably seen the image above at some time or another. Shepard Fairy created the design back in 2008 for the presidential race, and I’m sure Shepard had no idea the popularity and legal action it was going to bring his way. Watch this clip if your not familiar with this story before reading on.
Today Shepard’s lawsuit from the Associated Press was dropped, and I’m happy things swung his way. I picture Shepard back in 2008, on his computer, just google image searching Obama photos. He probably chose on angle and clarity, who knows, all I do know is that he used the Associated Press image to create a piece of art. It has similar features and blah blah, copyright infringement? Hmm, hard to say from a legal standpoint, but that’s what makes this case so interesting, this could shape copyright lawsuits to come for many artists and lawyers alike. One thing is for sure, Shepard knows his way around adobe illustrator and I can tell you now, creating what you see above is not a drop in the bucket, probably one of the farther things from it. With that being said, is it illegal for an artist to paint a picture they see in the newspaper? The answer we got is > If it sells 230,000 t-shirts for 20 bucks a pop then it sure as shit is to the Associated Press. It’s also amazing how many rip offs of this Obama design I have seen, hundreds.
Shepard has always been and always will be a big inspiration, even if he has lost some his luster to others, he’s still writing good checks on the art front. Check out his new Animal Farm / George Orwell book cover, check cashed.
———-
And on the opposite side of politics and lawsuits:
Get ready to be blow away when the term “living off the land” gets explained real quick. In 1980, Jimmy Carter established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Alaskan Interior, cutting off 19 million acres of prime boreal wilderness from the mitts of fur trappers, oil tycoons, and would-be lodge owners alike. Only six families of white settlers were grandfathered in and allowed to keep cabins in the refuge—of them, only one still stays there year-round living off the land. His name is Heimo Korth, and he is basically the Omega Man of America’s Final Frontier. A must see film, and it’s free.
Animal lovers and queasy vegetarians view at your own risk.
Happy New Year! Lot’s of ones on New Years Day. A bit late but better than never. Not like anyone can’t change their program or habits any day of the 365, but somehow it feels right to push a few goals out for the up and coming year. I tend to fill my agenda to the max all too often, so I’m gonna take the pace down a bit in 2011 and really focus on the shit I need to hammer on. Just one of the three I have lined up, but that big one aligns the rest. Find a little balance in there, wherever it may be and place it whenever it needs to be implemented. Easier said than done.
Never wait for the new year, make your moves! The world won’t wait for you, it’s spinning too fast. My words of wisdom or stupidity, you decide.
———-
WORLD WAR II in HD > I sat for 10 hours and watched these documentary episodes resting up from a big New Years night. These life stories of ultimate sacrifice won’t give you an inch of distraction, if your into history. Those grim days should never ever be forgotten, and while 10% of WWII veterans are still alive, it won’t be long until that 10% is much less. My grandfather was shot in WWII and although he survived the war, he was a part of the 90% before I came about. Wishing I knew more of his stories, kinda similar to those Werthers Original commercials, advertising is ridiculous that way isn’t it.
A 1980 candy advertisement has been implanted in my brain and represents the non-existant relationship with my veteran grandfather that has passed away in the late 70′s. I feel weird.
Tired, goodnight & take care.
Merry Christmas! I am writing this post next to my dad’s fireplace , just got a nose-bleed from all the dry heat it cranks out. Snow covered Vermont with Lina Bird this holiday, doesn’t get much cozier. Still full from last night, but Big Steve racked up a record chinese food order the previous night with a whopping $93 dollar take-out purchase. Serious biz, my dad and that chinese take out menu.
So good to see some old friendly faces with new stories this time of year as well.
———
SCARY ASS SANTA MOVIE, I’m gonna check this out. Looks like they find Santa before all the coke-a-cola promotion in Finland. The last line in this trailer is the best, have a watch.
———-
Take care and be well. Wishing everyone a great holiday season the rest of 2010, and a plentiful 2011.
The past few days have been flooded with skateboard links, art and culture through some research I’ve been up to lately, here a some winners I bumped into along the way.
———-
JARROD SCOTT BRYAN (graphic above) was my roommate in college for a few years when we first started art school in San Francisco back in 2003. 2 guys, one small Vermonter and a large Texan, living in a cramped studio apartment. New experiences around every corner, parties, classic skate spots, city living, good people and graphic design. Such an amazing time and experience.
JARROD is just an awesome guy, great designer, and one of the best people persons I have ever met. He had me rolling on more than a few occasions and is just on another page when it came to certain things artistically. Glad he is doing well and I can write this post today, he is a big inspiration to me. Check out some of his work at Full Color Canvas Dot Com y’all.
———-
INSIDE THE WORLD OF BOARD GRAPHICS – A book that dives into skate, snow, and surf board art and design. A few names we know personally in their, and others we don’t but have a deep respect for. Coming fall of 2011. Excited for this one.
———-
ISO50 POSTS some old board graphics with some links to some great books. Wow, look at the Powell graphics in there, so good.
———-
Dave Abair is a skateboarder from Vermont, and this is his video part in the SHUFFL video. Great song, even better well rounded skating. Love to see those good steep hill roll-outs. Makes you want to grab your board and go.
STOCKHOLM RATS – My Welsh friend David Drew bought two 1951 Husqvarna Mod: 28 motorcycles, one put together and another in parts. Over the Swedish winter our goal is to get them both up and running for the spring. Were both a bit over our heads, but not much went on mechanically with motorcycles back in 1951, which helps us rookies out a bit. More or less it’s a reason to get out of the house a couple times a week, hang out, feel manly, get our hands dirty, talk shop and drink English tea.
Check out the STOCKHOLM RATS BLOG that shows pictures and write-ups and documents our process, follies and achievements when we build these two bikes.
Big Dave on the subject:
When God created man, man created motorcycles.
Big Dave and Lil Steve, that’s us. Two guys living in Stockholm Sweden with the same interests have decided to build a motorcycle. The catch, neither of us know anything about building bikes.
Wish us luck.
Happy Thanksgiving you turkeys! Lot’s of things to be thankful for, even if it doesn’t always seem that that way in our chaotic lives.
A BIG THANKS TO: Family & friends, risk takers, and merry makers around the world.
It’s been snowing a good amount here in Stockholm, forcing the holiday season upon us pretty hard. And getting all festive I tried to show swedish Lina Bird a proper Thanksgiving dinner (which she pretty much cooked), and were not dead today, so I did well. It’s hard to come by the basic ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner in Europe, and I had to work, but I scored when I found this little slice of home called The English Shop. Well it’s English, not American, but hell, the goods they sold were close to what I grew up around, nice to read a little English on your food labels every once and a while. Another thing to be thankful for, English food labels.
I hope all is swell and your happily full on food.
-Steve
The US Senate Commitee OK’s Domain-Name Seizure for Pirate Websites. Basically the US Government is trying to block access for internet users within the US to “dedicated to infringing activities”.
I’m not condoning stealing, pirate sites or torrent sites. People should pay for movies and music, but I think a new system needed. With all the technology shifts in the past ten years and everything going digital, why can’t record companies follow suit? Everyone used to have to go to the record store to purchase albums, now you open Itunes. A big shift, so your business models need to shift. I’m not saying all record stores should or will disappear (and they won’t), I’m saying there has to be a solution so that everyone from the artist to the listener can walk away happy. Companies like Netflix and Spotify are already making advances, but I think it’s almost funny when government gets involved to control an almost uncontrollable situation. There has to be a better way then just taking away the rights of American citizens and choosing what US citizens can see and what they can’t.
If people have the option to download for free they will! Bottom line, it doesn’t matter if you make it illegal, it has been happening for years and will never be a fully contained market again. Let’s move forward!
The Pirate Bay (above) is one of those websites that will be black listed immediately. It’s the 91 most popular website in the world and extremely pro-piracy. Raids on servers, lawsuits from big companies, huge fines and still nothing can take down the site, so there going for the jugular, the domain-name. Other countries have censored the site, but not to the degree that the US is proposing.
A movie is being filmed now about the 3 Pirate Bay creators, which will be released soon, copyright free I hope.
———-
THE BEST OF GOOGLE STREET VIEW – It’s amazing to think about just how many photos Google has it’s street view feature. A car driving around with a 360 Camera on top just documenting the lay of the land. It can get a bit scary when you think anyone can just take a look at your front-yard.
MAKE BELIEVE STUDIO says it right in their logo above. Plus their website navigation is pure sweet, some great textures going on in some of their logo work also. Right time and place.
———-
The calm before the storm happened last week, which means currently I’m in design lock-down for the rest of 2010. Mash in a bunch of work with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and some non-working weekends and it never feels like there are enough seconds in a minute.
Happy Holidays.
My jaw dropped when I saw this 2010 Calendar by Lene Mirdal. Loving the colors and the visual way of showing a single year as a circle. Either way the 2011 prints are for sale and you can bet you last penny that I am framing one of these for the apartment, even if it is $200. Fair trade. Think of the hours spent by the designer and then put yourself at the drawing board on how you would approach a design similar to this. Lot’s of information. Put it on the Christmas list.
A BIT MORE FROM TAYRC:
Another way of visualizing time with a circular overview of:
Year, months, weeks, days, hours, summertime with longer days, wintertime with shorter days and seasons by color.
The All Year Round Calendar is a 70×70 cm graphic design calendar in high quality print on matte paper. To note special dates, as a planner or simply as a graphic design poster that visualizes the year with a circular and colorful overview.
———-
A FANTASTIC DOCUMENTARY: WINNEBAGO MAN
A viral video from the late 80′s that created a hesitant present day celebrity. A truly hilarious documentary that equals it’s laughs in emotional triumphs. Prepare for some heavy cursing, North California wilderness, RV Sales, and a fantastic story.
To put it in perspective, this viral video was before the times of Youtube. VHS copies were made and distributed making this a hit clip even before internet was a common tool for material similar to this.
A must see.
It’s creeping up on us, the Holiday Season. Above are illustrations of the “Wish List” by the creative power couple Nathan Strandberg and Katie Kirk. Both Nathan and Katie run a design boutique in Minneapolis Minnesota called Eight Hour Day. I’m into the name, but when I check out their work section it looks more like a 16 hour day kinda place. Lot’s of great illustrative works, design, all followed up by a great site. Thanks for showing Lina.
CREATIVE COUPLES – The Strange Attractor site interviews artistic relationships from all over. Although, the interviews were weekly, they have slowed a bit, but still very interesting.
Hat’s off to couples who can work together and leave their work at the door! It’s a skill in it’s own right.
Take care.
On February 26th 1994 Bill Hicks passed away, and it’s a tragedy in the fact that he shared so much insight on global, religious, and political issues through his own developed medium of comedy. Quite an amazing skill to walk that thin line of depressing topics and fall down funny laughs. Such a blunt, enlightened and extremely funny angle of discussing society and pressing world issues. Bill Hicks + a stage and mic = pure magic.
The film I watched last night > American. The Bill Hicks Story
Rumors of a Ron Howard directed film of Bill’s life are floating around on the web. Russel Crow as Bill Hicks? I’ll have to see for myself.
Portland Oregon is awesome for a number of reasons. The coast, city and snow all within a bearable driving distance, but behind the scenes Portland is home to a bunch of small sub-cultures, which I believe makes Portland such an amazing place in this big world. Something that hit me fairly quick when I first arrived to PDX back the fall of 2006 was pinball. Not “I have an extra quarter, lets push some buttons for a minute” kinda of pinball, but more of a “$10 roll of quarters, a few beers and a whole load of frustration” type of entertainment. I find pinball way more entertaining than digital video games, something about the pure mechanics of the table. Think about how long it must have took some engineering nerd to just layout the foundations, then build all the little contraptions that make the thing actually work. Impressive.
The pinball industry is a struggling one. Back in 2005 there was only 1 pinball manufacturer in the whole world, although I’m sure that’s changed now, its been a tough ride into the digital age for the game.
Above is the illustration / design by Drew Marshall for the Portland Pinball Map App which is a interactive resource for finding out where every pinball machine is in Portland. No joke with the illustration from Drew, had to post.
———-
On a holiday note, Lina and I just booked tickets for a Vermont Christmas this year. This years “made by us” presents could include:
A: Shower curtain with a print of Lina and I peeking in from the edges. A daily reminder of us in your earliest of hours just taking a peek.
B: A Steve and Lina designed tea / coffee package of a special Swedish blend to keep you toasty in the colder months.
C: A big white rock that we spit polished. This is what my father threatens to gift every year, just returning the holiday love.
Take care.