The Devil Made Me...

Walking into my office at Circle this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find this Halloween Treat on my desk (thanks Carol!)... ;)

In case you're from another planet, it's Halloween this weekend, which means you should be extra cautious, and on the lookout for the munchkins in costume darting about the city streets, prowling zombies/vampires, and costumed party-goers on pedestrian sidewalks.


If you haven't filled your weekend schedules yet, you may be interested in checking out the Winnipeg Comic-con, on this weekend at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. I'm planning to attend at least once.

Next week, on November 4th, GDC Manitoba will be hosting their resurrected, 'Tales from the Darkside' event - which is always a 'treat'. More information about the event from GDC Manitoba, here - don't forget to register (members must login to receive the discount)!

Have yourselves a safe and Happy Halloween - cheers!

To Winnipeg Beach...

This past weekend included a trip out to Winnipeg Beach, and a visit to What? Clay Art & Curios , the studio of talented ceramist and artist, Evelin Richter.


The weather cooperated fully, as it was a beautiful summer weekend (I passed through a number of localized thundershowers on the way out, but nothing that lasted very long).


Highlights from the evening (aside from the good times with great food and friends), included a visit to the Fishfly Gallery, a glimpse of the 'Boardwalk Days' festivities and catching up with Ev on what she's been up to... learn more by visiting http://www.whatclayart.com/ - cheers to Rob and Ev for hosting the evening!

Read my previous blog posts about What? Clay Art & Curios, here - enjoy!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm... (Part 3)

Another highlight from this past weekend, found on the bottom of baby August's, Buster Brown sandals... 'PLACE HELL HERE'.

...an oversight at QC? An honest, unintentional typo? Another example of 'Chinglish'? Hmmm... IMO, this definitely qualifies as one of those things that make you go hmmm... ;) What do you think?

Thoughts and comments (when relevant) are always appreciated... cheers!

WICKED! Nokia N96 + Bruce Lee...

A very cool bit of video editing here... in this commercial for the Nokia N96 - Bruce Lee Limited Edition (I wouldn't mind having this phone). Watch the embedded video above or via YouTube, here - enjoy!

Via swissmiss - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | 99DS.net

From the website:

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99DS.net is a collaborative exhibition featuring artwork digitally illustrated on the Nintendo DS handheld game console by local Wellingtonian artists Greg Broadmore and Christian Pearce. A shared, public exhibition showcasing the first two completed collections is scheduled for the 1st of February 2009. Each collection exhibits a series of full-colour digital sketch artwork - as prints, in books and on screen. Animated reels revealing the illustrative process behind each piece will be on looped playback throughout the exhibition. Housed in custom-made containers in Wellington's Civic Square, 99DS aims to show a fun and frivolous way art can be created on the digital media available to us today, free of symbolism, metaphor and manure...

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All the artwork was created using Colors! (a digital sketching/painting program) on the Nintendo DS! If you're familiar with the DS, these pieces are amazing to say the least... go and check 'em out for yourself!


99 Dodgy Slips by Greg Broadmore...


99 Deadly Sleds by Christian Pearce...

Very cool stuff indeed! If you're curious to see what some other artists have been creating using Colors!, go and check out the gallery over at the Colors! website. Thanks to my good friend, local designer/illustrator, and fellow Guardian Dojo Karate-ka, James Gillespie (KALAMAFRAZ) for the heads-up on this one! Cheers!

COOL! 1934 BMW R7...

Curious member of BMW's classic division were pleasantly surprised in 2005, when they opened a crate in the archives storage to find this gorgeous bike, 75% assembled.

Now fully-restored to showroom/working condition, this bike is a truly an object of beauty. Read the original story on Cool Hunter, here - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | The American Package Museum...

If you're a fan of nostalgia or packaging, I highly recommend that you take the time to visit The American Package Museum... where curator, Ian House has taken his personal collection of early 20th century packages and created an online gallery/archive to share with everyone.


There are some really neat old packages in this gallery, it's interesting to recognize some familiar brands and see how they've evolved... check it out at http://www.packagemuseum.com/ - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | LIFE Photo Archive hosted by Google...

An awesome link to share today... excerpt from the website: search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive , stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

To awesome for words to describe. You have to check it out for yourself! Goto http://images.google.com/hosted/life - enjoy!

Thanks to Dean McNeil, MGDC for posting the link to the GDC Listserve - cheers!

COOL! Car Logos Quiz...

A great little bit of fun, Car Logos Quiz... guess the automotive logo with just a part of it showing. Try it out for yourself, here.


I ended up with 45/50, and I totally guessed on a few of them. ;)

Thanks to Marie-Aline Oliver for posting the link to the GDC Listserve - cheers!

COOL! Peraves AG – Monotracer...

You have to check out this super cool, covered motorcycle... the Swiss manufacturer Peraves has recently introduced the Monotracer, a two-wheeled vehicle that is reminiscent of those seen in Tron (or Akira, perhaps?).


Anyhow, I'd love to take one for a 'test ride' to see how well they actually handle... I'm sure it'd be an interesting experience. Learn more by visiting the Monotracer website at http://www.monotracer.com/ - enjoy!

Via Lost at E Minor - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | The Extreme Post-It Note Experiment...

From the same two guys that brought you the Mentos and Coke experiments, comes this video.

In collaboration with ABC's Samurai Girl, the pair have come-up with the Extreme Sticky-Note Experiment... you can watch the embedded video above or here, via Today's Big Thing - enjoy!

Via Today's Big Thing and EepyBird.com - cheers!

Recommended Reading | ideasonideas - Running Your Own Race...

If you're a designer or working in the creative industry, I'd highly recommend that you take a few minutes to visit ideasonideas, where Eric Karjaluoto (of Smashlab) discusses design, brands and experience. In particular I recommend that you read one of Eric's recent posts entitled, Running Your Own Race.

I found the article to be quite interesting, and felt that Eric made some keen observations and raises some interesting points (thanks for sharing your thoughts Eric). Anyhow, I'll let you decide for yourself... go and read the article at ideasonideas, here. I'd welcome you to make a comment here after reading it. Enjoy!

Recommended Reading | Let the (Logo) Games Begin... via Speak Up

There's a great article/experiment over on Speak Up, where Doug Bartow hires four 'inexpensive' online logo design companies, giving them the same visual identity problem, and critiques the results. It's a must read IMO. Check it out over on Speak Up, here:

http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/005099.html

Thanks to Jean-Sebastien Dussault for sharing this on the GDC Listserve - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | Design Related Humor Videos...

I've been meaning to blog about these two videos I came across on YouTube for a while now... I found them to be rather amusing. Perhaps you will too? They're definitely targeted towards a designer audience IMO. The first one describes the process... 'what if there were no stop signs... and a major corporation was charged with inventing one?' I'm sure that the video is something that any designer could relate to, hopefully it will generate a smile! You can watch the process video, here (I originally had this linking to YouTube, but for some reason it's no longer available there)...


This font conference video is definitely targeted towards a design audience or for fans of typography... I'd have to assume that it likely wouldn't make much sense to the general public but, perhaps I'm mistaken... anyhow you can watch the font conference video on YouTube, here - enjoy!

Recommended Viewing | Less Hyphen, More Burst for Walmart via Brand New...

I highly recommend you take a minute to visit Brand New - opinions on corporate and brand identity work (a division of Underconsideration), and read the article (by Armin Vit) about the new Walmart identity , which includes an overview of the logo's evolution over the years... check it out here. Be sure to read through the comments... some of them are ROFL hilarious!

Thanks to Mark Simpson for sending me the link - cheers!

Recommended Viewing | GDC Manitoba's Spring & Summer 2008 Digital Newsletter...

The GDC Manitoba Chapter's Communications Chair, Jeope Wolfe has done it again! The Spring & Summer 2008 digital newsletter was sent out to the Chapter membership today... I'm sure that it will be available for download (at some point) via the GDC Manitoba Chapter website, visit www.gdc.net for more information. As the current Activities Chair for the GDC Manitoba Chapter, I'd like to take a minute to thank the professional development presenters for 2008 (to date):

Dean Smallwood (Associate, Bounce Design) for his March 25 Lunch Talk presentation Pro Bono Design. Dean reviewed GDC’s pro bono guidelines – what you need to know, whether working for a non-profit or your best friend’s cousin – in an informative presentation covering the issues that need to be considered.

Mike Lesyshen (Prolific Graphics) for his April 29 Lunch Talk presentation, Spekta - Hybrid Screen Printing. Mike elaborated on print technology, from conventional printing, to stochastic to hybrid, what they mean, what to look for, the pros and cons and how to take full advantage of what’s available and to bring out the best in your images and designs.

I’d also like to extend special thanks to Brian Fawkes (MGDC) and the Red River College Creative Arts Department (and faculty) – for their ongoing support of the GDC Manitoba Chapter’s professional development activities.


The great outdoors has arrived in Manitoba – get out there and enjoy the beautiful weather! Look for more professional development events down the road... visit GDC Manitoba on the web at www.gdc.net. Cheers!

WICKED! Ashley Wood's Nom de Plume...

Internationally acclaimed artist, Ashley Wood released Nom de Plume today, the faceless commander of the Dirty Deeds platoon. Limited to only 50, the Nom de Plume 12" figure was to go on sale on June 25th Hong Kong time and was available on Bambalandstore.com - apparently the figure was sold-out in 20 minutes! From Ash Wood's blog:

Re: Nom
Sorry for the folks who missed out, but remember before you get angry at the run size, these are not like books that are printed in mass very quickly, each Nom is hand made, there are no machines making the cloths on auto, the paint is not a quick spray job, it all takes time to make a cool toy. The logistics of Nom dictated 50, hopefully we can up the run's on editions as we move along.

Amazing... keep 'em coming Ash! Cheers!

Happy 80th Birthday, Mr. Adrian Frutiger!

One May 24th 2008, one of the most well known, and ground-breaking typographers of the twentieth century, Mr. Adrian Frutiger, turns 80! For those of you who aren't familiar with the man himself, you're likely to have come across something in design that has used one of the many typefaces he has designed, such as Frutiger, Univers, and Avenir to name a few...

Anyhow, in celebration of the man's great contributions to type design, Linotype has initiated a call for personal birthday wishes, which includes the option of attaching an image... feeling up to the challenge of creating a typographic 'birthday card' for a type legend? ;) Check out the Linotype website for more information about Mr. Frutiger, his typefaces, and their personal birthday wish initiative, visit www.linotype.com - cheers!

COOL! G.I. Joe Movie Snake Eyes...

This is beyond cool. I didn't even know that there was a live action G.I. Joe movie in production... it's scheduled for release in 2009. I must say, after seeing this 'first look' at Ray Park (Darth Maul from Star Wars) as Snake Eyes, I have high hopes for the feature film. I have fond childhood memories of watching G.I. Joe cartoons, as well as playing with the toys with my younger brother (he enlightened me with this link). Hopefully it lives up to our expectations. You can see more 'first look' pictures of other characters here - enjoy!

OGC Logo... WTF?

The UK's Office of Government Commerce recently revealed their new logo... to the amusement of the males on staff. Tilt your head 90 degrees to see why... read the original story here - cheers!

Thanks to Oliver Oike for posting this to the GDC Listserve.