Impressive and Fun Animation

For a recent project based around Saul Bass, I've been really getting into animated opening sequences for movies and stumbled across this. Its a fan-made animation for the upcoming The Adventures of Tintin. Its so good in fact that Steven Spielberg has actually offered creator James Curran a job on a future film... There you are. The powers of the internet.

The Adventures of Tintin from James Curran on Vimeo.

(via A.V. Club)

Texture from Type

Photographed texture

Texture recreated using only type

Description of the original texture: "The soft texture is made up of many grid-like, rectangular bumps, similar to kernels of corn on the cob. Each bump is made up of dozens of small threads that create a nap to the texture. Running a hand down the nap feels smooth and velvety. Running a hand up the nap creates a little more resistance and a fuzzy surface like the coat of a short-haired dog. Then, each thread is more noticeable as they brush against skin."

In recreating the texture with only type, I used 25 layers in Illustrator. Garamond works well with its serifs occasionally reading as loose bits of thread sticking out of the fabric. The typeface's humanist strokes of subtly varying widths and angled serifs and strokes helps to portray the looseness of fabric. A sans-serif, slab-serif, or even modern typeface may have been too machined, rigid, or structured to give off the feeling of fabric.

Type has the potential to do a surprisingly large amount of what photographic images can do. It can communicate depth, texture, space, color, lighting, etc. With enough type and enough painstakingly long hours upon hours upon days upon weeks... I don't see why type couldn't finally achieve the photorealism of a photograph. The only problem is that the computer might explode before that point.

Scale: Giant Sculptures

It must be very impressive (and possibly intimidating) to stand in front of these sculptures of objects and people in larger-than-life scales. I think their largeness is exaggerated further by the fact that each of the sculptures are modeled after subjects that viewers recognize and are used to seeing at a certain, smaller scale.

(via The First Post)

Conceptual Earthscraper

These are some designs and models of a conceptual earthscraper, an upside-down skyscraper. Its purpose is to offer additional work and living space in the center of Mexico City without hogging up the skyline. Needless to say: it's an insanely cool idea. The areas of space from top to bottom would go Aztec museum (first ten floors), retail,  apartments and then businesses. Now, the glass floor (see also: ceiling) is made to allow light from the outside to filter throughout the structure, but somehow I doubt those businesses at the bottom are getting much sunlight. I think I'll stick to living and working aboveground, thanks. The museum and retail spaces, on the other hand, do look like they'd make for a fantastic tourist attraction. For now, though, its only a concept.

Yes, the glass is designed to be walked on. Not good for those afraid of heights... or of falling the 50+ stories below. I hope its sturdy.

(via Geekologie)

Type: more from Axel Peemoeller

When I was looking at Axel Peemoeller's awesome parking garage way-finding, I noticed some more interesting work with type. Above is some cool type made from what appears to be torn paper. Below are some magazine ads for cars. They're a bit creepy as well, but I'm fascinated with how the letterforms interact with their environments.

(via Axel Peemoeller)

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(Axel Peemoeller Car Ads)

Texture

Navigation: Axel Peemoeller

This way-finding design in a Melbourne parking garage clearly states where you should be going and yet, just thinking about all the thought process that went into its creation is absolutely mind-boggling.

(via Neu Black)

Layers: Rock with a Reason

Zivrezcara on Deviantart

(via Deviantart)

Environmental Design: Let it out

The location for this project is the Park Street T Station entrance/exit. This is an area that receives a lot of commuter traffic, especially from people who work or study on Beacon Hill and the surrounding area. 

Commuting, especially on public transportation, is not exactly a bright and cheerful experience. Quite often, the trip is long, crowded, uncomfortable, and filled with dread for the rapidly approaching workday. This signage is designed to help those commuters to release some of the negative energy that develops on the T before continuing on to work or school.

The first graphic the viewer comes to is the phrase THIS WAY with elongated stems reaching around the corner. This action of reaching and moving over or through the obstacles in between (an advertisement, pipes, crevices) is designed to attract the viewer's curiosity. Since the type is so large (in comparison to the signage and type nearby), it is implied that something big and important is just beyond the doorway. 

The viewer is drawn to discover what is so important that these words needed to visually reach out, grab them, and drag them around the corner.

Once on the other side of the wall, the viewer is presented with large brackets with the simple phrase "let it out." Here is where all the frustrations and anxieties developed on the T can be let loose in any way the viewer chooses (yelling, stomping, cursing, etc.). From there, viewers are free to go about their days in higher spirits and less likelihood of taking their anger out on fellow workers.

Not having color in this project forced me to rely much more heavily on type and scale to convey the message. Rather than bright, eye-catching color, the scale of THIS WAY is what is meant to catch attention along with the movement created by the traveling lines. The condensed THIS WAY was also able to evoke the tense feelings of agitated commuters, thereby connecting with their current mindsets. Once outside, the type changes. "Let it out" is in regular Futura, a more calming, elementary school-esque weight of the font with circular o's and e's. In all lower-case, its as if the phrase is being said in a soothing voice to let the viewer know it is okay to vent. This is a safe, enclosed space. Creating the space are two brackets that are immediately recognizable as containers, but are open enough at the top and bottom to not make anyone feel trapped while standing inside.

Go on. Let it out.

Charles and Ray Eames

Eames Christmas card, 1946

It has become too common of a practice for people to find a very specific, narrow field and commit only to that. Charles and Ray Eames decided that if they had an interest in it, then it would become their business, regardless of what they had accomplished the day before. The couple contributed to art, design, science, furniture, architecture... the list goes on.

A project that blends science, film and design, "Powers of Ten," blows my mind, especially considering that it was made in 1968, before today's very liberal use of CGI in film. The photographs used to simulate a camera traveling from Chicago to beyond the Milky Way are patched together nearly seamlessly, allowing the film  to convey the wondrous scale of the universe in a very accessible way.

Filming during "Powers of Ten"

Charles and Ray Eames had a fantastic curiosity for the world. The interests and observations they held continuously crossed over into their work. For example, the couple had a large collection of photography that documented forms as they naturally or beautifully occurred. Finding interest in the world (or even beyond in such cases as "Powers of Ten") allowed the couple to relay the elegance of nature and observation. Below is one such observation photograph of a fence's shadow on sand. Notice the gently wafting curvature and compare it to the lines created on the chair design below.

Observational photograph from Eames "cabinet of curiosity"

La Chaise chair mold

Some of Ray's cover designs for magazine Arts & Architecture also caught my eye. It was Ray's aim to portray the magazine's avant-garde representation of art and design. She did this beautifully with these abstract forms, whether very structural or organic. The randomized repetition of figures in the last one is also fun and eye-cathcing. What I find most appealing in these covers is the presence of Ray's hand, whether through collage or pen work.

(via Library of Congress)

Voice: Paula Scher

Achievement First Endeavor Middle School

Paula Scher's prominent and colorful work is inspirational. These examples of large-scale typography demand to be read and offer up-beat, humorous, and energetic messages. She really has a knack for injecting space with extraordinary energy and voice.

Achievement First Endeavor Middle School gymnasium

Achievement First Endeavor Middle School stairway

Achievement First Endeavor Middle School hallway

I wish my middle school had looked more like this! How could anyone walk through this building in a bad mood? With the bright, energetic colors and large-scale positive messages taking over the environment, I can only imagine that Scher's designs help boost the morales of kids in a difficult, transitory time of life. 

Queens Metropolitan Campus murals

Concept for a midtown Manhattan parking garage

(via Pentagram)

Sol LeWitt

Kevin Kennefick (Wall Drawing 1152)

Standing in front of a Sol LeWitt wall drawing is an experience. The ideas LeWitt came up with are so radical and exciting that his work continues to be executed even after the artist's death. LeWitt focused on the process, so he left clear instructions in the titles of his pieces to ensure that his work could be enjoyed over and over, always being a surprise. Even with instructions, the same piece is different every time it is produced because of the different people who work on it, among other factors. The piece below from the Early LeWitt section is a great example of what made Lewitt a leader in Conceptual Art.

Kevin Kennefick (Wall Drawing 51)

In Wall Drawing 51, every corner on a wall is connected by line to virtually every other corner, including those of the fire alarm. This piece is the perfect example of how LeWitt's work can be so different depending on where it is installed. Different walls will help yield different results just as different people doing the installations will cause variations in line intensity and, perhaps, even accuracy. The results may be impressive, but while standing in front of these large-scale drawings, there is awe for the tedious work that went into creating them. Wall Drawing 51 in particular made me want to install this idea onto my own wall... some far-off day when I have unlimited free time, of course.

Kevin Kennefick (Wall Drawing 415D)

Despite many very simple shapes and colors, there is an intense energy emanating from LeWitt's work. Standing in front of these cube-like forms makes the viewer feel at one moment as if a box is levitating off of the wall. The next moment, the viewer is looking into a space with two walls and a ceiling. Perhaps both sensations are seen at the same time. There is a collaboration between the profoundly contrasting color and scale that can only be experienced while standing in front of a Sol LeWitt piece. Pictures simply can't convey the same effects. There is vibrancy and motion that are not normally associated with something as flat as a wall. Just stand in front of Wall Drawing 880 (below) for a few seconds and see what I mean.

Kevin Kennefick (Wall Drawing 880)

I swear, looking at this wall does something to you. It's the visual equivalent to drinking.

Overall, I found Sol LeWitt's work to be an awesome thing to experience first-hand, the way it is meant to be seen. All periods of his pieces are impressive in their own ways, from the extreme precision and tedium of the line drawings to the mind-boggling colorful spectacles of his mid to late career. I will definitely recommend a visit before 2033 to as many people as I can.

(via MASS MoCA)

Brain Powered Movies

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley have figured out a way to translate brain activity into visuals. I'll try to sum it up the best I can. With the aid of a functional magentic resonance imaging machine (fMRI) and what sounds like a very complicated algorithm, a computer is able to create what it believes to be images that the mind "sees." The computer is programmed to recognize visual patterns in videos and to associate those patterns with brain activity from the subjects. Then, when only given brain activity information, the computer pieces together what it believes the viewer is seeing in the form of a mishmash of various combinations of 18 million seconds of YouTube clips. Got it?

Are we living in the future? Because, its discoveries and crazy innovations like these that make me think we're living in the future. After this kind of technology is developed, no more trying desperately to remember that dream you had last night. Just a click of the rewind button and there it is, clear as can be, on your TV screen.

On a more bettering-of-society kind of level, this technology could do a lot of good for people with severe speech issues. Sufferers of strokes, neurological disease, and maybe even comas could have a new way of communicating. Of course, there's still a lot of development, research, and many many years before any mind-reading tech will be readily available. This does seem to be an impressive first step, though.

(via Geekologie)