GDC Manitoba 2008 Annual General Meeting & GRAPHEX 2008 Exhibit...

Join us next week Wednesday, January 28th for the 2008 GDC Manitoba Annual General Meeting! Once again, the AGM will be held at the Park Theater on South Osborne.


This year we're presenting the Graphex 2008 exhibit. Come see the best of the best of design in Canada. The exhibit will only be on display for the one evening - so don't miss out! You can also view the Graphex 2008 winners online at http://www.gdc.net/graphex/winners/ - enjoy!

GDC Manitoba Chapter attendees who have paid their membership prior to the meeting will be entered into a draw for a $200 gift certificate for Future Shop.

When: January 28, 2009, 7 pm
Where: Park Theater, 698 Osborne Street

For more information, please visit the GDC Manitoba Chapter website at http://www.gdc.net/chapters/manitoba/ - I hope to see you there! Cheers!

R.I.P. Shigeo Fukuda | 1923-2009

It's with great sadness that I learned today through Rob that Shigeo Fukuda (an internationally recognized Graphic Designer, Design Sensei, artist, sculptor, and master illusionist) has passed on. Long have I been an admirer of Fukuda-san's work, I love his poster work.



The international design community mourns, as one of its brightest stars (or a comet if you prefer) has fallen. There's an article in the Icograda eNews regarding his passing, here. You can view some examples from his prolific body of work, here and here - enjoy.

Rest in peace Fukuda-san. You will be missed.

So You Think You Can Cook?

I came across this culinary quiz today (over on mental_floss) and thought it would be interesting to see how others do with it. I'll admit that I do have a slight advantage, having worked in the F&B (food and beverage) industry for over a decade... but, to be honest I didn't think that it was all that tough, nor would I ever consider myself on par with a top chef.

I'm curious to see what others think, as I've been hearing a lot in the news lately about what the younger generation considers to be cooking. FYI, using a microwave to heat a pre-prepared meal is not considered cooking in my books. ;) Take the quiz and let me know what you think of it... have fun!

COOL! HTML-Ipsum...

This one is for all you webbies, cause regular Lorem Ipsum just isn't good enough for your comps... along comes HTML-Ipsum... ;) I'm sure that this will come in handy... check it out for yourself at http://html-ipsum.com/ - or visit http://www.lipsum.com/ if you still prefer good ol'regular, Lorem Ipsum - enjoy!

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

Wicked! Blue Vertigo...

Another wicked link to share (at least for creatives)... Blue Vertigo is an online archive of web design resource links. The links are vast and varied, covering topics such as fonts, stock photos, vector artwork, logotypes, Photoshop brushes, icons, 3D Poser downloads, colour tools, text generators, patterns, sounds and design contests (whew!).

Definitely worth a look (or bookmark) IMO. Check it out for yourself at http://www.bluevertigo.com.ar/ - enjoy!

Thanks to 'Segun Olude for sharing this awesome link via the GDC Listserve - cheers!

FYI...

Since MUHSASHUM was featured as a Blogger Blog of Note, I've experienced a huge spike in traffic, reader comments (which I have to moderate now... see below) and new followers, with that being said, I felt I needed to clarify a few things:

1) I don't post everyday, although I try my best... I do back-fill posts when I have time (this post would be an example), as some posts take longer to write than others.
2) I appreciate all the comments I get and try to answer any questions ASAP - I don't appreciate SPAMMERS... ;(
3) I enjoy porn as much as the next guy, but I really don't need or want any sexual/penile enhancement products nor links to 'something I might be interested in' - get a life! ARGH!
4) Thanks if you're one of the many people who send me cool things to look at, or blog about... I appreciate it.
5) If you haven't yet, please check out some of the recommended links, blogs/RSS feeds I've got in my sidebar navigation. If you enjoy my blog, then I'm sure that you'll find something amongst the links that you'll like.

Cheers!

Recommended Viewing | Enter the Serif...

Too hilarious not to share (at least for designers and typographers)... as described from the original post on FontFeed:

Enter the Serif... (a student film [1:54] by Johann Pascual | California College of the Arts, USA) combines typography with fragments from the classic Drunken Master – a mix of martial arts and slapstick comedy from 1978 which propelled Jackie Chan to mainstream success. The short film pits Univers Chang of the Sans Serif Clan against Sabon Huang of the Serif Clan. Excerpts of Drunken Master are alternated with dialogue screens that are inspired by the work of Jan Tschichold: his classic, centered serif period and his assymetrical neue Typographie period. Some bits are laugh-out-loud funny (via FontFeed).

I couldn't tend to agree more... ;) you should go and check out some of the other video highlights from the ATypI’08 | Typophile Film Fest 4 (there are some really nice ones...) via FontFeed - enjoy!

Thanks to Nancy Wu for sharing the link on the GDC Listserve - cheers!

The Year is 2009...

Wow. It feels somewhat odd to say that... the year is 2009. For me personally, 2008 was a blur of a year. My apologies for the lack of posts over the past few weeks... I took some time off from blogging over the holiday season, but hope to be back to a more regular posting schedule soon. Look for some interesting things to come... ;)

Until then, a belated Happy New Year!, wishes for peace and prosperity to all in 2009! Cheers!

Seasonal Greetings from Circle...

For a number of years now, Circle has sent out inspirational quotes/seasonal thoughts as part of our holiday e-greetings (past cards drew from Chinese proverbs, ancient rune translations, etc.).

May your holiday season be blessed with peace, love and happiness! Cheers!

Thanks Blogger Team!

MUHSASHUM was the Blogger Team's Blog of Note for Wednesday, December 17th, 2008. Thanks for taking the time to peruse my blog! I've definitely seen a spike in traffic, new blog followers and comments... ;) Cheers!

Did You Know...

Watch this video on YouTube... :O

Recommended Viewing | The Grid System...

I highly recommend you check out The Grid System, the ultimate online resource for grid systems. Excerpt from the website:

Made popular by the International Typographic Style movement and pioneered by legends like Josef Müller-Brockmann and Wim Crouwel, the grid is the foundation of any solid design. The Grid System is an ever-growing resource where graphic designers can learn about grid systems, the golden ratio and baseline grids. Created by Antonio Carusone, graphic designer and author of the design and typography blog AisleOne.

Some very cool and highly informative stuff (IMO) on this website... check it out for yourself at http://www.thegridsystem.org/ - cheers!

COOL! Optical Illusions...

Out of complete randomness while surfing the internet, I came across this cool site filled with neat optical illusions... view at your own risk of seizure/nausea/headache.


I think most of the optical illusions are self explanatory... check it out for yourself (if you're interested), here - enjoy!


Looking for a challenge? Count the black dots in the image above... ;)

*Note: The original website link stopped working, so I've replaced it with another one...

GDC Manitoba - The Art of the Storyboard...

Last week Tuesday (November 25), Doug Coates (MGDC) and James Gillespie presented, The Art of the Storyboard as part of GDC Manitoba's Lunch Talk series. Doug and James discussed the processes involved with storyboarding, showing examples of storyboards they've done, as well as the end result.


James touched briefly on how evolutions in digital technology are changing the process... it seems there are lots of exciting things on the horizon.


If you'd like to learn more about the art of the storyboard, Doug and James recommend you check out the book, Storyboard Design Course by Giuseppe Cristiano. Thanks again to Doug and James for their highly informative presentation - cheers!

Pictures from Doug and James' The Art of the Storyboard lunch talk can be found on my Flickr, as well as on the GDC Manitoba Flickr Group Pool, here - enjoy!

Recommended Viewing | Dinosaur Dynasty...

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Manitoba Museum to check out the Dinosaur Dynasty exhibit. Excerpt from the Manitoba Museum website:

Get ready for a Jurassic experience when Dinosaur Dynasty: Discoveries from China opens on November 20th. This immense, large-scale exhibit from China features over 20 full size dinosaur skeletons, fossil dinosaur eggs that are millions of years old, and a dino dig pit for kids. Dinosaur Dynasty is open during regular Museum hours.

I found the exhibit to be quite interesting... the scale of some of the dinosaur skeletons was rather surprising...


...ranging from poodle size...


...to the size of a small building.


The velociraptor was quite a bit smaller than I expected... though I still wouldn't want to be chained to a bunkbed with one. ;)

It's great to be able to see such a diverse range of dinosaur skeletons/fossils on display in the city and I applaud the Manitoba Museum for doing so! I highly recommend that you check it out while you can... visit the Manitoba Museum online to learn more, here - cheers!


Images from my visit to Dinosaur Dynasty can be found on my Flickr account in my Zoos, Museums, Aquariums, more... set, here - enjoy!

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! Hot Toys Joker...

About a week back I received a parcel in the mail from my sister in Hong Kong. Inside was the Hot Toys 1/6th scale Joker figure from the Dark Knight Batman movie... needless to say I was blown away! I've finally had the opportunity to open it...


The attention to detail on this figure, and it's accessories is second to none... sadly, I don't think my pics can do the real thing justice. It's truly one quality piece!


Why so serious?... ;)


I've uploaded pics from the un-boxing to my Flickr account. If you're interested you can see them, here - enjoy!

Thanks Sis!

A Series of Congratulations...

A series of congratulations is in order... first to my friend, local designer, photographer and blogger, Doug Fedrau for his 90+ days of being smoke-free! A huge thanks to Doug, his brother Jeff and Raelene, they were all on hand at the 2008 Guardian Challenge (this past weekend), they spent hours taking thousands of photos and hours of video! Cheers!

Congratulations to all of my Sempais and Kohais who fought in the tournament! Osu! A huge thank you to Sensei Diego Beltrán, all the volunteers, and to the organizing committee, for making this event a huge success! Osu!

Image: Fubuki Daiko (blizzard drums) performing on the tatami, inspiring the fighters, during the half-time show at the 2008 Guardian Challenge Kyokushin Karate Tournament.

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!

GDC Manitoba Button Swap 2008...

The call for registration for this year's GDC Manitoba Button Swap should be going out shortly... in case you haven't checked it out yet, the GDC Store is now open on the gdc.net website! This year's button swap is open to GDC Manitoba members only (savvy non-members can participate through a member friend).

Registration and payment is online, at the GDC Store, deadline for registration is November 28th and the artwork submission deadline is December 4th... for more information visit the online store at www.gdc.net - cheers!