Thought: Whoever taught us wine taste better in a glass container over plastic, paper, or styrofoam container? Did we learn, or just observe and accept the norm? Do we drive our own opinions, or just accept the norm?
Weird: San Paolo subway Fat seats.
Tech: ThisWasExpensive.com Info Viz chart, domain price vs visits.
Architecture: Wooden House
Trick: How to fix a car dent, with hair dryer and can of air video.
InfoViz: How different groups spend their day
The TED conference has transformed dramatically over the years thanks to the launching of TEDtalks which I’ve posted on several times. This past year, TED launched another brilliant event called TEDx which allows individuals to host their own local unofficial TED like events. Since March 2009 several events have taken place around the world. How awesome!
A few weeks back, I attended the TEDxBoston event which I wanted to post about, but had no videos to share. As of today, TEDx videos from around the world can be viewed and shared on the TEDx YouTube Channel as well as play lists from each location like TEDxBoston. I’ll post the TEDxBoston videos after the jump, and make sure to watch the last video with our favorite Ben Zanders conducting the Youth Orchestra of Americas.
Awesome. If you can’t afford it go use it at the Apple store! Computers, Programs, the Internet, Cameras, etc! Nicholi created several Youtube Videos and probably all his graphics using equipment inside the store on 5th NYC. Nothing like a young entrepreneur figuring out how to get things done, now getting him spots on TV shows. Watch the video above… I love the public’s reaction in the background.
“This little dude Nicholi has shot dozens of lip sync videos at the 5th Avenue Apple Store. And why not? Plenty of desktops. Free wi-fi. Solid tech support.
These are the same reasons model and self-marketer Isobella Jade wrote her entire memoir in the SoHo Apple Store. (Sound uncomfortable? Consider that Hemingway also wrote while standing up.)”
Far Foods by Designer James Reynolds
“Alternative packaging for supermarket produce, highlighting the distances that some foods travel from and the resultant carbon dioxide released during the journey. The receipt features a boarding card style tear-off strip.”
Awesome! I’ve always wondered when food labels would change my buying decisions. Some receipts tell you how much to tip , but none have been more eco-educational than this concept. Forget calorie counting, lets count carbon miles from food transportation. I’d definitely buy something for a bit more, knowing it used less carbon miles than another product. Think how the word Organic or Local has become such a buzz… hopefully one day, the carbon food miles will do the same =)
Awesome! Music is a universal language for sure!
“Bobby McFerrin, a master in the possibilities of the human vocal chords, recently demonstrated the common understanding of the pentatonic scale at this year’s World Science Festival. The playful and simple demonstration uses audience participation to recreate the scale even when it goes beyond the given instructions.”
Video above or here.
Lemonade the movie:
“More than 70,000 advertising professionals have lost their jobs in this “Great Recession.” Lemonade is about what happens when people who were once paid to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives.”
Right after you watch Art&Copy covering the fun hectic creative work life in an advertising agency, it only seems fit to check out “Lemonade” which follows a few creatives who lose their jobs only to find spare time to chase after their dreams!
Can you get the best in both worlds? Yup… Guru graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister during TEDglobal 2009 encourages creatives to take 1 year sabbaticals every 7 years to recharge.
“He described a typical life timeline: The first 25 or so years are devoted to learning, the next 40 or so to working, and the final 25 to retirement.
Then he asked: Why not cut off 5 years from retirement and intersperse them into your working years?
So every seven years, Sagmeister closes his design shop, tells his clients he won’t be back for a year, and then goes off on a 365-day sabbatical.It sounds costly, I know. But he says the ideas he comes up with during the year “off” are often what provide the income for next seven years.” (daniel pink blog)
“ART & COPY is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray (SURFWISE, SCRATCH, HYPE!), it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time — people who’ve profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising’s “creative revolution” of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in ART & COPY were responsible for “Just Do It,” “I Love NY,” “Where’s the Beef?,” “Got Milk,” “Think Different,” and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.”
I blogged about another documentary called The Alchemists back in 2006 which links to the same production company behind Art&Copy… weird yah! . Anyways, great to see the film making its rounds even though the name changed I think. Check out if it’s screening near you here.
I finally watched Food Inc the movie!
“In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.”
I found Food Inc to be a disruptive glance into the hidden political powers ruining the food industry where profits overwhelm the integrity of farmers and quality in healthy food. As the film says, you’ll never look at food the same way. You’ll be left appreciating local farming, an understanding in how an individual can influence large corporations, and cringing to take action which you can here. They also have a book you can buy: Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It
Go watch the film, get everyone you know to see it, and don’t bring too much food into the movie while watching. Start buying from farmers markets, eat organic, get local schools to serve healthy meals, and have restaurants display nutritional facts. Food Inc will not scare you away from food, but it’ll influence your food buying decisions while giving you a better idea in how some foods are manufactured, treated, transported, and concealed.
Nikon just announced the worlds first Compact Portable Camera with an integrated projector capable in blasting an image on any surface 5-40 inches! The Nikon s1000pj 12.1 MegaPixel Camera is surprisingly thin at .9 inche and will cost roughly $700 $430 when it comes out this fall in Europe! and yes, it still has a 2.7 inch screen.
I’ve played with integrated portable projectors since 2002 during some projects but only now are they coming out in real products. This will surely disrupt the portable media industry, though I’ve grown keen on sharing small screens with people lately.
What will happen… Will projectors over rule touch screens or will projected touchscreens be next. Or maybe augmented data will be projected on people your taking pictures of (watch the TEDtalk on the “6th Sense” project shown this past February embedded after the jump). I do wonder if you can project onto something your about to take a picture of… fun times in creativity and augmented reality!
via dpreview (source reghardware)
Artist Boey has a fun collection of drawings on Styrofoam Cups using one of our favorite pens the mighty Sharpie. Boey’s cup collection is an endless diversity in curiosity and whim that will hopefully end up in a major brands series soon. Make sure to see his Process and video of him making one of the pieces which I’ll add after the jump. I think he does commissions too if you want…
I know plenty of people willing to pay a small premium to have these disposable cups any day! Or maybe just provide pens with every cup making it a DIY disposible cup.
I’ve had my share in using sharpies on everyday objects including Styrofoam cups, though my favorite is still the backside of a paper plate for some reason. I’ve always mentioned to students about drawing on more than just paper. Draw what you visualize after reading a page in a book… right on top of the page, sketch on a sphere, a cylinder, clothing, walls, shoes, chairs, wallets, pencils, CD’s, your desk, etc. Just because an object isn’t made to b drawn on, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
I’ll post a few of my favorite cups from Boey’s collection after the jump.
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Hello world! Thank you for all your messages over the weeks since I have not had time to post anything lately.
I’ve been incredibly busy at the awesome start-up I’m at (We’re hiring creatives/designers..contact me), glued late at night watching the incredible Tour De France or just Lance Armstrong, laughing several times at the video of Buzz Aldrin punching a news reporter claiming the moon landing was fake, seeing very simple fun addictive websites such as this one, comparing the positions of people doing yoga or being drunk, viewing an awesome video of bike pro Danny Macaskill doing some great tricks, attending TEDxBoston, watching the Incredible Youth Symphony of America(YOA) conducted by Ben Zanders, trying to figure out how to help with the inspirational foundation El Sistema USA (a TED2009 wish), and most recently having a great time watching a recent wedding dance ceremony introduction go viral posted above!
Besides the crazy busy month in work and odd distractions, I’ll be catching up to many of the suggestions sent in and posting again soon. Or as I’d like to think, I leaned back briefly, just like President Obama did in this awesome picture in the White House.
Designer Vadim Kibardin’s very neat OLED Clock concept. When it’s dark, the digits light up. When it’s dark, they are black. I’m not exactly sure how they turn black, or what the material would be, but I can see a version using e-ink to make the white surface black (same stuff that’s on a Kindle). Maybe I’ll just go get some phospher watches and mash into my wall so the clock seems embedded into the paint! buhyah!
