In today’s society information flows freely and rapidly through wires and over air waves around the globe almost instantaneously. We know so much, or would like to imagine, about each other that we often lose track of ourselves. The answer is the personal annual report that is informative, and a record of the years that so easily slip away from us. The information designer Nickolas Felton (mgfn.net) has perfected this for himself by creating a visually meticulous account of his life.
Archive for March, 2008
Personal Annual Reports
Preserving The Animated
Recently at a gallery crawl in Chelsea, I witnessed an exhibit by the korean artist Hyungkoo Lee of the skeletons of animated characters. The first ones I recognized were the distinct duck-like bones of Huey, Dewey and Lewey fully restored in a dinosauresque display. There were also the remains of the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote along with Tom and Jerry. The thing that I found most interesting was the way that they were displayed and the story that was created by the mood of the gallery space. The walls were all black and the rooms were dark, except for the spot lights illuminating the sculptures. On a far wall hung a large sketch of mouse skull with an outline showing two very familiar round ears. In the back there was a viewing area where you could see the working area/excavation and preservation of these long lost creatures. The supposed scientists have created a family tree to track the known species of Homo Animatus. Who knows what creatures will be rediscovered, long after we have forgotten… these once famous characters from our childhood. Check out http://www.hyungkoolee.net/
Pop-up Books Are Awesome
Check out this 3-D alphabet pop-up book, this very elaborate Alice in Wonderland pop-up book and the Wizard of Oz pop-up book. You might have also seen the Lexus pop-up ad. And this is yet another ad.
The Typewriter is Not Dead
The analog word processor, also known as the Typewriter, has long ago fallen into obscurity after being technologically eclipsed by the personal computer. Let’s look at the typewriter’s downside: there is no delete key, forget copy and paste, and definitely no spellcheck. The typewriter is unforgiving, and yet in it’s day it was indispensable. It is the machine that replaced the handwritten, but was originally invented to help the blind to write. The first typewriters were created in the mid-1800s and were improved and refined over time. The appeal of the typewriter lies in the sound of metal letters striking the page, the clicking and clacking that has become synonymous with the written word in the typewriter’s 70 year reign. The finished product is also far different from the typewriter to the inkjet printout (from the modern PC). A typewritten page is far more tactile with slightly embossed letters imprinted into the surface of the paper. There is a certain standardization in shapes of the letter-forms, but also an unpredictability in the keystroke and how the ink will hit the page. As we have moved away from the handwritten our writing has become far less personal and is now very much anonymous. Anyone can shoot off an email with almost no thought and, more often than not, it appears impersonal. The typewriter, on the other hand, is a middle ground. There is a definite nostalgia in receiving a letter written on a typewriter, even if they are before your time.
Weird Science
A classic 80′s teen movie, “Weird Science” is one of my favorites. Gary (played by Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt are the typical sex obsessed “loser” teenagers who are striving to be popular with girls. Ian (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and Max are the “cool guys” who seem to spend all their time abusing the unfortunate “uncool”. Gary and Wyatt, in a moment of brilliant creativity, use their super-computer to hack into a power station and create a dream babe “Lisa” who has the I.Q of Einstein and the attitude of an 80′s rock star. The experiment far exceeds their initial expectations and they are catapulted into a crazy adventure of rebellion against the forces in life that have held them down. The movie follows the typical formula, but what sets it apart is it’s complete surreal dream-like nature. Lisa’s ability to magically make anything happen, along with the crazy side-effects of the creation, and the amazing theme song written and performed by the group Oingo Boingo, make this possibly one of the greatest coming of age stories ever told. The moral of the movie is, if you throw a huge party in a mansion and some scary mad max characters show up, show them who’s boss and you’ll get the girl.
Mini Screen-printing: Gocco!
Gocco is a small compact printing system that allows for easy and clean silkscreening. The gocco machine itself seems like a toy at first glance, but it is actually a very robust tool if you don’t have access to an entire silkscreening studio. There are different sized machines, though the most common and cheaper model prints at about 4×6 inches. This is a perfect size for most cards, small details or even blocks of text. From what I’ve seen this tool has been utilized mostly by “crafters” who print small runs of cards in their spare time and mainly sell them at etsy.com, or soon to be brides who want to make their own wedding invitations. My feeling is that gocco has been underrepresented in the design community, as it is a cheap way to silkscreen t-shirts, or print small posters (if you have one of the larger models). The only down side is that the machine relies on disposable flash-bulbs to expose the screens, and the screens themselves cannot be reclaimed once exposed. A great source of shared information and wisdom can be found on the gocco flickr group. A little while ago the company who produces gocco in Japan had announced that they were discontinuing production of the machine. A save gocco campaign was started and increased interest returned production back to 100%. I recently purchased mine at Northwood Studios.
Found Now
Found imagery and objects can be traced back to Dada, Duchamp, Picasso and conceptual art. The feeling of discovery, chance, mystery of “finding”… a scrap of paper on the ground, a discarded lottery ticket, a parking receipt… is amazing unto itself. The found has become popularized in “Found Magazine” which is a showcase of discarded notes and messages. They always leave me hanging, forcing me to create my own story behind them in my head.
fffound.com has paved the way in found virtual images. Posted by anyone with an account, these images are a collection of favorite visual material found though out the world wide web. Some users have contributed thousands of favorite images. Another feature of the site is to recommend imagery that you might like based upon what you have previously marked as a favorite.
Codex Seraphinianus
I first stumbled upon the Codex Seraphinianus in an article in The Believer entitled “The Codex Saraphinianus: How Mysterious is a Mysterious Text if the Author is Still Alive (And Emailing)?”. A book written in a indecipherable language with fantastic imagery of a parallel world… I was hooked. The problem: a physical copy of the book can cost around $500 because it is so rare. After searching around I found someone who has taken pictures of a lot of pages and posted them to flickr. I can only imagine that holding the book in your hands is much more enjoyable.
Birth of the Blog
After a year of little or no news on my portfolio site, I decided to join the rank and file of blog creators and writers. This is at most a journal of commentary, sometimes a test of will and mostly a space to shout out what I’ve been interested in to the outside world. To be honest, I don’t really like the word “blog”. To me it sounds like something lurking under the bed or in the dark spaces of the closet. The word “blog” is derived from weblog which was broken into we-blog and then chopped off at the head into what is now just blog. I’ve never been able to keep a journal… let’s see if I have the will power to keep this train running.
graphic designer
Brooklyn, New York