Photos.com Blog

Let's Get Small

2008-05-01T15:29:51Z

While freedom is a wonderful thing, sometimes the constraints of a medium or the circumstances in which work is created can serve as the springboard to something remarkable. Just think of Michaelangelo's frescos in the Sistine Chapel, one of... In 2004 Luc Grateau began painting the portrait of people sitting across from him in the mêtro. His low-tech setup consists of a contraption that doubles as paintbox and easel, constructed from a calculator case that holds a few oil paints in a makeup container, as well as brushes and the tickets. Riders are apparently quite happy serving as subjects, since hundreds of portraits can be browsed on the artist's site. Less thrilled about posing are Grateau's neighbors, who have declined en masse. Unfazed, his response was to render 108 of them in the form of primates, with a result that's weird but compelling (Voisins de palier).

However, it's the ticket portraits that have a special magic, thanks to a sureness of touch. Many exude a sense of monumentality far beyond their modest format, with it being almost possible to imagine yourself by the side of Grateau as he dabbles away in his paintbox, the subject just a few feet away. It's a great reminder that no matter how powerful our digital tools, there will always be a place for traditional media, coupled with engaged observations of our fellow travellers.

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Dazzle Them With Daz Studio

2008-04-22T12:21:07Z

So you've been ogling the 3D capabilities of Photoshop CS3 Extended but there's no sign of an upgrade? In fact, you may be watching the 3D train leave the station with that helpless feeling of once again falling behind.... DAZ Productions has been around for a long time and has retained its focus as a provider of 3D creation tools and related content. Having a good understanding of the market, DAZ knows that making the jump to 3D can be a challenging one for 2D artists, and so makes available its DAZ Studio as a stepping stone to the 3D world. The free download, recently updated to version 2.1, consists of a 3D figure posing and animation tool that comes with a selection of scenes and props, including the versatile Victoria figure.

No point going through the many features here. But there's no doubt that DAZ Studio contains more than enough functionality to allow novices to keep busy mastering the fundamentals of 3D for some time. And in the process creating usable work, in part thanks to a plugin that displays rendered scenes as a layer in Photoshop. This lets you change poses, lights, textures and so one, and see changes immediately with Auto Update. Then you can render to a new image within Photoshop using the 3Delight render engine. If this all sounds daunting, it's good to know that the new version includes a QuickStart Interface to introduce the application's feature set, as well as a healthy batch of tutorials.

DAZ Studio 2.1 for Mac and PC is available for free download on the DAZ Productions site.

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Tune In to Adobe TV

2008-04-10T13:00:11Z

The release of Adobe's new Media Player has made quite a splash this week but those in the creative community using the firm's design tools have received an extra treat, in the form of the simultaneously-launched Adobe TV site.... While third-party sources have made available a steady stream of video-based training and tips devoted to the Creative Suite, Adobe has now provided a single point of contact for this in the form of Adobe TV, enhanced with its own programming. The result is a video-driven destination geared to designers, photographers, video professionals and developers.

Content on the Adobe TV site is provided in four channels, each featuring programming from Adobe evangelists, trainers, experts, and "luminaries who pull in the crowds at industry events around the world." More than 200 videos are available at launch, with the initial titles providing Photoshop tips, podcasts and design directions for Creative Suite, Photoshop Lightroom techniques, Flash Professional instruction for beginners, website creation workflow guidance, and information about video and audio production.

The Flash-based site can be accessed with any browser and contains a community element that lets visitors sort videos by various criteria, as well as rate, share and embed them in blogs or web sites. Not uncoincidentally, the videos can also be accessed via its new Media Player, which allows users to watch programs at their convenience, save content for offline viewing and subscribe to favorite channels. Finally, TV you can watch at work without getting fired.

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Just Another Brick in the Font

2008-04-03T12:02:37Z

While not yet announced, the FontStruct site, created by noted font vendor FontShop, is already attracting attention from those eager to try out its font-creation capabilities, as well as download fonts from the galleries.... When it comes to type vendors, FontShop easily wins the title of Most Adventurous and Playful—a bit by default, given the lack of fresh thinking in the field. But that's not to detract from one of its latest initiatives, which provides both a community-driven typographic experience, as well as serving as a sly way to market its own commercial fonts. FontStruct is a free, Flash-based web service that lets visitors use its tools to construct simple fonts, which they can then download in Mac or PC TrueType format (what, no OpenType?). They also have the option of posting them on the site, with visitors then being able to comment on them and download them free of charge.

Creating a font is a simple process of dragging the differently-shaped character building blocks—"bricks," as they're called—into place. You can then employ a handful of tools to make global changes and tune the results. Don't expect to be able to create the next Bodoni. But despite the inevitably severe design restrictions, some ingenious fonts have already been posted. It's worth pointing out that the service has been optimized for the creation of pixel fonts, which makes perfect sense given its grid-driven approach. Below is BlocParty, currently the most popular pixel font, displayed at the point size for which it was designed.

Nice touches are sprinkled liberally throughout the site, which is the work of Rob Meek, who last year startled the typographic world with his eccentric Meek FM Typographic Synthesizer. So hats off to FontShop for its involvement in the FontStruct project; it's a company that obviously understands how important it is to deepen its relationship with customers beyond simply making its products available for sale on the web.

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ABC3D in Motion

2008-03-28T09:20:40Z

Marion Bataille is a French illustrator who has provided the imagery both for her own books and those of others, including a volume of Surrealist poetry geared to younger readers. The clip above shows her latest book, ABC3D, in... Not only does a video make sense to show what the book contains, it's a killer way to market such a product. The title won't be released by its publisher, Roaring Brook Press, until October, 2008—seven months away. And yet this clip can now be found not only on the usual suspects, such as YouTube and DailyMotion, but on just about every design blog in the universe. And now here.

Was this too soon for such an initiative, given the distant release date? Perhaps not, since the wily publisher has already made the book available for pre-order on Amazon, where its sales rank indicates that it's doing very respectably. The only thing missing is a dedicated web site to tell prospective purchasers more about it.

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Put Your Lips Together and Blow

2008-03-22T13:34:48Z

If you need to display digital content in such a way that it just can't be overlooked, the traditional approach is to move to bigger and bigger displays. But once you've covered every wall with screens, things start to... This giant inflatable ball can be mounted on just about any surface and be driven by... well, something cool. The Pufferfish site doesn't indicate exactly how the video magic works but one would hope that getting imagery displayed on the glowing orb doesn't require the proverbial rocket science. The gizmo has been employed at a variety of special events and museum exhibits—it would be a natural, for example, at trade shows—but there's no word on what costs are associated with actually deploying it.

A hint is provided on the site that the real target for this display technology is in the form of the Puffer Immersive Mobile Sphere, an ambitious project now under development that is no less than a "full-size, portable Virtual Reality room for 360º collaborative visualisation." I guess the business model of renting the bubble out for raves wasn't working out. So while the future of the PufferSphere remains unclear, it would seem to take its place as part of a renewed interested in presenting digital content in more innovative ways, something that's long overdue.

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Razor Sharp Business Cards

2008-03-14T23:43:52Z

After nearly a million page views of my colleague Ivan Raszi's original Cool Business Card Designs article on the Creative Bitz blog, Ivan has submitted a second installment aptly named Cool Business Cards Part 2.... Always fun, often inspiring, Part 2 highlights some of the very interesting ways people are representing themselves from the truly innovative to just plain daft.

My favorite is probably the set of cards each with a different face part from a different employee. When arranged properly the "puzzle" if you will forms a complete though rather askew face and a mark representing the company as a whole. Nice.

Also, the metal business card with pop-out lock picking set from famed hacker turned security consultant Kevin Mitnick is a clever piece.

The re-branded whoopee cushion - not so much.

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Gestalten.tv Is On the Air

2008-03-13T16:18:36Z

Most publishers of art and design books don't extend their relationship with their authors beyond distributing the books and sending the occasional royalty check. But one German publisher is showing that more is possible to bring creative projects to... Gestalten is primarily known as a publisher of hundreds of books on art, design and contemporary culture, with a focus on emerging creators and trends. But its engagement with the creative community goes well beyond books. Among other activities, it publishes a small but spirited collection of fonts, helps organize and promote exhibitions, and is behind the Release the Freaks site devoted to limited-edition art toys, covered here earlier. And now it has deepened its early involvement in video to create Gestalten.tv.

The move made sense, since Gestalten has been developing experience in the area for some time by creating clips related to its publishing releases and has extended this to documenting exhibitions and live performances. You may have come across some of the resulting podcasts on iTunes, covering everything from graphic design and typography, to product and furniture design, architecture and photography. Clips on Gestalten.tv to not miss include an interview with Michelle Carr of The Velvet Hammer Burlesque and a documentary about the Fragiles exhibition, a still of which is shown above.

Will mainstream art and design book publishers take note and follow Gestalten's initiative? One can only hope.

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Electromagnificent

2008-03-10T22:17:39Z

A fixation on light and electricity has moved British Artist, Richard Box, to create some mesmerizing installation art pieces which he has had documented by various photographers on his Website. The focus on Box's Site right now is is... There's something simultaneously magical and eerie about these images for me. An excerpt from Box's Website states that he discovered the phenomenon as a child, while waving a fluorescent tube in his backyard which would "light up like a light saber" when he moved under the electricity cables that connected his house to the grid.

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Adobe Plays the Creative Card

2008-03-05T14:13:06Z

Let's face it, the applications in Adobe's Creative Suite are not always employed for work that most of us would care to define as "creative." But Adobe couldn't really call it the Ugly Banners For My Company Suite or... To remind us of how creative we all are (or are not), Adobe has thought enough of a recent Flash animation that's devoted in some way to the Suite to create a separate site for it. Design blogs are currently all excited about it, as you might predict. Check out AdobeCards.com and pretend for a minute that you didn't know it was an Adobe-backed effort. Once the interminable loading is finished, you'll need to drag the scroll bar over to walk yourself through the animation (this is called an "involvement device" in the trade).

It's whimsical enough, no doubt, until the rather pointless hostilities begin and everything goes up in a whirlwind of cards, all very Alice in Wonderland. And that emerging figure at the end? Repeated viewings have me convinced that he's the embodiment of someone's attempt at allegory. But of what, exactly, I have no idea. And why make this available in Flash, since beyond the annoying scrollbar this could have been served up in a variety of video formats.

I guess these high-concept branding exercises are just over my head.

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Bubbledrum

2008-03-03T23:43:46Z

What is the Bubblegum Sequencer? "The Bubblegum Sequencer is a physical step sequencer that lets you create drumloops by arranging colored balls on a tangible surface. It generates MIDI events and can be used as an input device to... "Here's how it works: A grid of holes, consisting of several rows with 16 holes each is the canvas. On it, you arrange colored gumballs. The 16 columns represent the 16th-notes in a measure. Each color is mapped to a specific sample.

"Because the output is generated in the form of MIDI events, the Bubblegum Sequencer can be used to control any kind of audio hardware or software."

- Taken from the official Bubblegum Sequencer Website.

Basically this is an innovative and fun way of explaining the basics of electronic music sequencing brought to you by Hannes Hesse, Andrew McDiarmid and Rosie Han. It was conceived and created in the course "Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces" at UC Berkeley's School of Information in the Fall semester 2007.

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Night of the Flash-based Widget

2008-02-27T14:44:22Z

Okay the name is annoying—we're long past the point where any new product or technology should have a lower-case letter i slapped in front of it—but once you get past that, iPaper provides an interesting approach to displaying documents...]]> And why not display documents on web sites via Flash widgets, much as YouTube displays video? We all know the horror of poking through complex web-based PDF files. And having other document types display in their respective applications is usually a jarring experience for web site visitors, abruptly yanking them away from the site. The developer of iPaper is Scribd (pronounced "script") and it makes a solid case for its approach to document display.

Being cross platform is a good place to start, followed by security, an improved document browsing experience, built-in social features and search engine optimization, and certainly not least the ability to monetize documents via the inevitable Google ads. If you need to make documents available to your site vistors, iPaper is certainly worth checking out. Despite the name.

Eating Out of the Box

2008-02-14T14:26:12Z

While here in the West we think of some chefs as artists, access to the rarefied dishes they create remains restricted to the happy few. But why shouldn't more of what's on our plate be consciously designed? As is... While the boxes themselves ran the gamut from simple to sumptuous, the food itself was often carefully arranged to resemble real-world objects, such as dolls, flowers or leaves. No surprise, then, to find out that current boxes for the young, called charaben, combine traditional approaches to healthy eating with the modern visual tastes of Japanese youngsters.

A new book by Mark Batty Publisher, Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes, throws some light on this tasty tradition and features its contemporary incarnation. We have writer and designer Christopher D Salyers to thank for this collection of lovingly crafted culinary creations, many painstakingly assembled by mothers for their schoolchildren. So say hello to a lunch in Pikachu form that we're told is made from beef, carrots, quail egg, broccoli, cherry tomato, egg, fish cake, green beans, imitation crab meat, lettuce, potato salad, rice, sausage and seaweed. Wow, I'll take one of those!

Interesting from dietary and cultural perspectives, yes, but ultimately these carefully constructed meals are driven by the same passion that lies at the heart of all truly great design. Thereby serving as yet another reminder of what makes anything we do worth doing—love.

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Come Back Pierre Bézier, All Is Forgiven

2008-02-08T18:52:24Z

Has the domination of Photoshop completely killed vector illustration? While Illustrator remains a graphics application that's difficult to love, the use of vector-based imagery has been making something of a comeback. Fueling this are a number of boutique content... Based in London, England, Kapitza is a design partnership formed in 2004 by Petra and Nicole Kapitza, focusing on book design and illustration, as well as art and exhibition work. Their first pictographic font, Blossomy, consisted of 72 flower and plant illustrations, which was followed by numerous outline fonts and collections of vector images. The latter typically start as photographs that the sisters then use as the basis for hand-drawn outlines, which are made available in PDF vector format. An earlier example of this is the We Love Nature illustration set, which includes the Blooms, Stems, Leaves and Flowers collections.

Kapitza's latest release is Herbarium, the inspiration for which came from an 18th century herbarium. This time out the sisters explored the fundamental structures that shape nature and came up with stylized forms to express this, the result being imagery that differs from the more realistic earlier releases. Herbarium includes Twigs and Branches, together providing 167 illustrations that can be used as-is or combined and modified in the image editing or vector illustration app of your choice.

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No Kitty. No Poké. It's Tokidoki!

2008-02-06T20:19:47Z

Italian Graphic Designer Simone Legno has made more than a mark for himself in the Pop Art world recently with his Japaneseque, Tokidoki brand.... Original illustrations inspired by the influx of Anime television that hit Italy when Legno was a kid are the backbone of Tokidoki and have spawned everything from clothing, makeup, jewelry, a full line of watches, skate decks and toys, to a fanbase of not-so-young hipsters that are down with Tokidoki enough that they sport the ink to prove it.

The Tokidoki cast offers a plethora of all but recognizable cutsie, playful characters that appear almost as imaginary friends coexisting with slightly more mature homages to Anime that are more realistic, sexier and distinctly more edgy.

Even if you are not into the whole Japanimation "thing," Legno's work is undeniably hip and looks like a lot of fun to create/design. I expect to see a lot more Tokidoki in the future, whether in the mall or perhaps down a co-workers arm.

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