Holiday Greetings from Circle!

For the past few years at Circle, we've sent out inspirational quotes as part of our holiday greetings (Chinese proverbs, ancient rune translations, etc.). This year we've decided to quote a Swedish proverb. I'll be on holidays from December 22 until January 2... I'm not sure how active the blog will be during this time.

Anyhow, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May 2008 bring you prosperity, peace, love and happiness. Cheers!

'Diorama Model' Photo Effect Tutorial...

Further to my previous post about the work of Ben Thomas - City Shrinker, Flickr user 'hallbuzz.com' has created a tutorial for creating a similar effect using your photo-editing software of choice. You can see the Flickr discussion here and the original tutorial with more examples at http://hallbuzz.com/dioramas/dioramas.htm - thanks to 'hallbuzz.com' for sharing the technique, cheers!

Recommended | R/GA Presents Tattoo Santa...

As a twist to the traditional e-card/holiday greeting, the creatives at R/GA have created an interesting little application (using Flash) that allows a user to select from some predefined tattoo styles/locations, input their own texts/greeting, generate a video and send via email. Quite clever and rather amusing... check it out for yourself at http://www.rga.com/holiday07/ - you'll need to have the latest Flash Player (ver. 9) installed on your browser to view the site properly... enjoy! Via NiceToMeetYou.

COOL! The johnson banks Christmas Card...

The creative team over at johnson banks has really done a wonderful job with their Christmas card this year. From the johnson banks website: The johnson banks Christmas card this year takes the form of trees ram-punched out of magazines and brochures that we found around the office. There’s no point in going green and then merrily printing off some paper based extravaganza, so we set ourself the task of re-using and recycling items that were close to hand.

I really like the idea and commend the creatives for their ingenious use/recycling of materials. See the full story and more pictures here.

Ben Thomas – City Shrinker...

Via Lost at E Minor:
Ben Thomas applies the skills he learned at the International Design and Animation School in Adelaide to make large, wide-angle photos of massive urban landscapes look as if they are tiny dioramas.

It's some very cool stuff indeed. You'll need to have the latest Flash Player (ver. 9) to view the website, check it out at http://www.cityshrinker.com/ - enjoy!

BAD Plastic Water Bottle... GOOD SIGG ?

A lot of attention has been given recently to the on-going debate about the safety of plastics for liquid storage. Particularly with the upward trend of personal water bottles in the urban/work environment. A recent decision to pull plastic water bottles off the shelves by the popular retailer, Mountain Equipment Co-op may be a cause for some concern (or at least your consideration) when thinking about your next water bottle purchase... see the Globe and Mail article here. If you must have a water bottle perhaps you should consider a SIGG bottle... they're Swiss made! ;)

COOL! Handface by Trevor Jackson...

I was recently introduced to the amazing work of multi-talented music producer and designer Trevor Jackson through a profile feature in issue 105 (Xmas 2007), of Computer Arts Projects magazine. One of the featured works that really caught my eye was the photographic work, Handface, for the 20th Anniversary book (BCCK 2007) for the Tokyo Director's Club. You have to see the work to really appreciate it, see Trevor Jackson's Handface here - enjoy!

HOT (or not)! Command Shift 3...

Friend and fellow designer, Paul Kletke recently brought the Command Shift 3 website to my attention. Some of you may remember the popular (and still going strong) website Hot or Not... well, Command Shift 3 is like that but with a slight twist... instead of rating people, you're rating websites. Worth checking out? You decide... see for yourself at http://commandshift3.com/ - cheers!

Learn How to Screenprint Your Own T-shirts...

A great video on YouTube about D.I.Y. screenprinting by the folks over at Make Magazine. Check it out here on YouTube - enjoy!

Recommended | El Negro Magnifico - 'The Place Where Al Dwells...'

I had the pleasure of befriending 'El Negro Magnifico' aka Allan Lorde back in college. Al is an amazingly funny and talented illustrator, as well as an avid photographer and designer. I highly recommend that you check out his blog at http://elnegromagnifico.blogspot.com/ - 'The Place Where Al Dwells...', where he writes about food, wrestling, illustration, design, "adult material", and other pop culture-type bullshit. Word. =) I'd also recommend that you check out his Flickr posts... enjoy!

Warhol - 'Larger Than Life' at the WAG

I had the opportunity to take in the Andy Warhol - Larger Than Life exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) this past weekend. Warhol's exhibit has over 150 works—silk screen prints, photographs, drawings, and film, plus more. Also on exhibit was PostSecret - over 400 homemade postcards bring together powerful, poignant, and beautifully intimate secrets collected by Frank Warren through his fascinating and compelling community art project. I highly recommend that you take the opportunity to visit these exhibits while they're here. Cheers!

COOL! The Great Robot Exhibition...

There's a wicked post over on PingMag about the Great Robot Exhibition currently being held at the National Museum of Nature and Science, in Ueno, Tokyo. They've got a great review of the exhibition with pictures! Makes me wish I was in Tokyo... personally I find the PBDR (Personal Ballroom Dance Robot) a little creepy. You have to check it out, see the post here. Enjoy!

Recommended | The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard…

I highly recommend that you take about 20 minutes of time and visit http://storyofstuff.com/ - watch the animated presentation with Annie Leonard. The Story of Stuff site was designed by the uber-talented folks at Free Range Studios (you might recall seeing 'The Meatrix'), The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

We all know it's not easy being green, but being aware of the little choices you can make on a daily basis to promote positive change is a good step in the right direction - Cheers!

Wicked Illustrator! 'zakizhang'…

Wow! I've just been introduced to the wicked illustrations of 'zakizhang' (via startdrawing.org), the moniker adopted by Zhang Xiaoke, a 24yr old Art Director from Shanghai, China. He has a unique calligraphic style of illustration, which uses bold strokes of black ink and splashes of vivid colour. It's a very dynamic and expressive style... you have to see his work! Check out more of his work at http://www.cpluv.com/www/blog/zakizhang - enjoy!

Typophile Film Fest 4 (Opening Credits)

I love typography and I love animation. This video created by the BYU Graphic Design students and faculty, is an excellent example of how cool animated type can be... check it out here on YouTube - enjoy!

Globetrotter ECO Car via Inhabitat...

Via Inhabitat: Ever imagined driving in an ultra lightweight, solar-powered plastic car? If designer Harsha Ravi has his way, this will be the future of sustainable automobiles. Winning the conveted Young Designer of the Year award, Harsha Ravi has envisioned a release from dependence on fossil fuels with an emphasis on eco-friendly vehicle technologies and cutting back the weight and bulk of today’s gas-guzzlers. Ravi’s concept uses a carbon-neutral, bioplastic body with 12 percent petroleum-based/88 percent corn-based plastic that reduces manufacturing energy 30 percent. And there’s much more - a zinc-air fuel cell, nano-paper battery, airless tires, nanopaints to absorb solar energy while parked to charge its batteries, and woven seat material. This car is lightweight, functional, frugal - the ultimate “tread lightly” automotive feast for the environment-savvy consumer... (view the original posting on Inhabitat)

I think it's a great idea and I completely encourage the designer's forward thinking... although, I do have some doubts as to the practicality of the design in environments as extreme as the Canadian Prairies (hot, dry summers and freezing cold winters). I'd be interested to see how an actual prototype vehicle would perform under conditions that normal vehicles would have to endure on a regular basis. What do you think?

Aesthetic Apparatus: "How we do" on YouTube

A cool video on YouTube (albeit the sound is a little annoying), by the talented folks at Aesthetic Apparatus. Check out the video here - enjoy!

Via H&FJ | Hoefler & Frere-Jones blog

COOL! TypeFlash...

Via Veer: The Skinny: Péter Vajda has enabled anyone to mash together motion, color, and type with the aptly named Typeflash. Clean and concisely arranged, the abundant array of variables and options contain hours of potential twiddling. Via Type for you.

I've only spent a few minutes playing around with it (I created a new header graphic ;P) but I would agree that there is hours of potential type-twiddling fun to be had - enjoy!

Amnesty International: Signature Spot Commercial

A haunting yet beautiful animation for Amnesty International. Worth checking out... see it here on YouTube - enjoy!

Wicked Illustrator! Eric Feng...

I was recently re-introduced to wicked illustrator Eric Feng's work via NOTCOT: I have long admired Eric Feng’s (aka Feric) illustrations. His work is gorgeous - a mixture of real and imagined and of natural and mechanical. I love the fantastical, mechanical anatomies of his characters, and how you are given a peek at what is beneath through transparent layering. Limited edition giclée prints of Feric’s work are available at his online store. They are fairly pricey for a digital print, but I could almost be tempted because I love some of his pieces so much (“Roda. Continue” - I’m talking about you!). Worth checking out at the very least!

I couldn't agree more! Check out his amazing work at http://www.feric.com/ - cheers!

COOL! Animated Typography...

Designer Daily has a neat posting about cool typographic animations. Check it out here. Via Veer: The Skinny - Note: the page might take a while to load due to heavy traffic.

COOL! The Dark Knight's Joker...

Wicked! The Joker for the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight is on the cover of the upcoming Empire magazine... he looks wicked! I can't wait to see the movie... view the trailer here.
Via Clutter Magazine's blog.

Recommended Reading | 10 Absolute 'NOs!' for Freelancers...

There's a great post on the Wake Up Later blog entitled, "10 Absolute 'Nos!' for Freelancers." I found it to be of interest... perhaps you will too? Check it out here. Thanks to Cameron Cavers for posting the link to the GDC Listserve. Cheers!

Marian Bantjes - Design Matters Live with Debbie Millman Video on Zoom In

Via Marian Bantjes' website:
A video of Debbie’s Design Matters Live interview with me, which took place in San Francisco, September 2007, is now posted on Zoom In. The video is a compilation of the live event, and a backstage interview with me; skillfully put together by Rachel Talbot and her team at Magnet Media. Thanks to all, and love to Debbie. (I’ve had some trouble buffering the movie; my advice is to start it, then pause it, go away for half an hour, then come back and watch the whole thing without interruption.)

Enjoy!

Helvetica Film Deluxe DVD Boxset…

I received my copy of the Helvetica Film DVD Boxset which I blogged about a while back (08/17/2007). I'm such a sucker for these 'deluxe' packages, included in this boxset was the DVD, three letterpress prints, a still from the film signed by Gary Hustwit, one "I love Helvetica" badge, one "I hate Helvetica" badge and a piece of vintage Helvetica metal type (actually it's Helvetica Bold Extended), from the Stempel Foundry, c.1970s (I got a lowercase Z). I'm looking forward to watching the film again, as well as checking out the DVD extra features (95 minutes of bonus interviews), stay tuned for more to come - cheers!

Recommended | www.robertlpeters.com

I'm currently a graphic designer at Circle Design Incorporated (based in the historic Winnipeg Exchange District), where I work with extremely talented and amazing individuals. One of whom you may or may not know, the Principal of Circle, Robert L. Peters. I highly recommend that you check out his website (www.robertlpeters.com), particularly the News+ section where Rob has posts about his design related travels, lectures, articles, etc. If you've ever met Rob, you know that you'll want to check it out - great thoughts, images and intellectual stimulation abound! Enjoy!

COOL! VFX by Optix for IKEA...

Wow. There is some really slick VFX in this spot for IKEA by the talented folks over at Optix Digital Pictures. You should check it out... click on this link and play the movie - enjoy!

Via Motionographer.

GDC Manitoba | 'Automoto' - Evening Presentation

GDC Manitoba is proud to present 'Automoto' a remarkable animated film by Neil McInnes:

Isolated in an elaborately mechanized workshop, a lonely wooden skeleton suffering from writer’s block enlists a factory worker to help him reconnect with his muse.

Please join us tonight as Neil McInnes and his production crew present the stop-motion animated film Automoto (recently shown at the Toronto International Film Festival), and a review of the elaborate process involved in creating this stunning and affectionate commentary on the artistic process. Tuesday, November 20 from 7:30 - 8:30 PM at the RRC downtown campus room A104 (Great West Life Lecture Theatre) Free for members, $10 for non-members. Seats are limited so RSVP early! RSVP: gdcmanitoba@mts.net - hope to see you there!

COOL! Women In Art - YouTube Video

Very cool video on YouTube showing an evolution of women in portraiture over 500 years. Check it out on YouTube here.

Via Robert L. Peters' Blog.

Recommended Reading | RFP, R.I.P. via IdeasOnIdeas Blog

RFP, R.I.P. was recently posted to the Ideas on Ideas blog. I thought I'd share it with you all since I found it to be of interest. Check out the original blog posting at http://www.ideasonideas.com/2007/11/rfp-rip - cheers!

Recommended | VectorMagic - Online Bitmap to Vector Conversion Tool

VectorMagic is an online tool for precision bitmap to vector conversion. Now, I have yet to try it out for myself but, the website has some good comparison examples between the results from VectorMagic, Adobe Live Trace and Corel PowerTRACE. There is also a video on the website that shows how to use the site. Worth checking out for sure! Check it out at http://vectormagic.stanford.edu/ - Cheers!

Via Computer Arts Daily

COOL! FF Meta Serif…

I'm drooling over the latest font release from FontShop, FF Meta® Serif. Description from the FontShop website:

It took three years and three designers to develop FF Meta® Serif. All through the ’90s, Erik Spiekermann made several attempts at designing a counterpart for his groundbreaking FF Meta®. Fans of Meta frequently asked him which serif face would best complement it. He recommended Swift™, Minion™, FF Clifford™, and others, until he realized that he should just buckle down and draw his own serif Meta. True to his principle of collaboration, Spiekermann enlisted the help of accomplished type designers Christian Schwartz and Kris Sowersby.

Hopefully I'll be adding this font to my library soon! Cheers!

Recommended | Guitar Hero III for Wii

My brother and I both recently picked up a copy of Guitar Hero III for the Nintendo Wii. Essentially it is a video game that requires you to press colour coded keys and 'strum' on a guitar shaped controller as corresponding coloured 'notes' scroll down on a screen.

Now, I've never really been very musically inclined so this was an interesting way to live out the fantasy of being a 'guitar hero'. I also don't have the best dexterity in my left hand so this was a great way to exercise and improve the ol' hand-eye coordination.

I must say that this is quite a fun game and the wireless guitar Wii controller makes it easy to 'rock-out' from anywhere in the room (on top of a table, upside-down, etc.). It does take a little while to get the hang of the controls but most average players should find the easy mode managable and fun. I highly recommend anyone who is into video games/music to give this game a whirl. Now if only I had a few extra fingers... that expert mode is insane. Cheers!

FITC Road Show - Winnipeg 2007

Winnipegger's, don't forget that the FITC Road Show is coming to Winnipeg this Saturday, November 17th. A number of excellent speakers are in the line-up. There is a full-day workshop planned for November 16th as well. For more details visit the FITC Website. Cheers!

Helvetica Film Winnipeg Showing - Round 2!

The 'Helvetica Film' is back by popular demand for another round of screenings at Cinemateque. The film will be on screen from November 13-15, so if you weren't able to catch it the first time around, now is your chance! For more information about showtimes, etc. visit the Cinemateque website.

COOL! Paul Rand Tribute Video

Via Nancy Wu and the GDC Listserve:
For Paul Rand's posthumous induction into The One Club's Hall of Fame for 2007, the talented folks at Imaginary Forces created a short film, combining original animation with a videotaped interview of Rand himself, that encapsulated his unique and timeless contribution to the design community.

Check it out at http://www.imaginaryforces.com/project/415 - Thanks to Nancy for posting the link - enjoy!

GDC Manitoba | Button Swap 2007 Reminder!

Don't forget! If you plan on participating in this year's GDC Manitoba Button Swap, the artwork and payment deadline is November 15th (that leaves you with one week)! For more information, visit the GDC Manitoba website.

GRAPHEX 2008 Website Now Live!

The GRAPHEX 2008 website is now live. This year's theme and call for entries was designed by the talented folks at Rethink Communications. GRAPHEX is an Icograda-endorsed national design competition that has been celebrating the best of visual communication in Canada since 1977. The primary goals of GRAPHEX are to promote the value of design to the Canadian public and business community - Good Design Is Good Business- and to create an archive of Canadian design for future generations to reflect upon and study.

For more information or to enter the competition visit http://www.gdc.net/graphex - better hurry though, deadline for entries is November 23, 2007!

COOL! Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints

Via startdrawing.org | the Asian Drawing Portal:
A big round of applause for Claremont College’s Digital Library, who is so kind to have scanned 289 stunning Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi woodblock prints. An amazing archive of woodblock prints collection. And the best part? Most of the prints are accompanied with a corresponding Japanese folk tale or fable. [Link via Drawn!]

Very cool indeed! Enjoy!

'Munny, Munny, Munny... Munny!'

I picked up a DIY Munny by KidRobot over the weekend. I was extremely happy to find a shop locally (Urban Waves in Osborne Village) that sells designer Vinyl toys! I've got a couple Munny concepts in the works... I'll be sure to document (or at least try to) the creative process. I'm looking forward to it! Should be lots of fun... there are SO many cool custom Munny's its crazy! Just do a Google image search for Custom Munny and you'll see what I mean.

The Legend of Bruce Lee Trailer

I've been a fan of Bruce Lee for as long as I can remember... my younger brother sent me this YouTube link for The Legend of Bruce Lee, a TV drama series now in production in China. It's scheduled for release to coincide with the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, I hope that they'll release a cantonese version... check out the trailer on YouTube. Cheers!

Make My Logo Bigger Cream...

This link was sent to me by a number of people (thanks!), so I thought I'd make a post about it... it's sad but true (in many cases). I'd say that it has to be one of the most common client requests... check it out at http://www.makemylogobiggercream.com/ - enjoy. ;P

COOL! Rubbermaid Halloween Samurai...

Via Boing Boing:
Flickr user Kudzutech's bad-ass samurai costume (build detailed at the link below) is made from 32 gallon Rubbermaid garbage cans! Link.

Wow! That is one serious piece of work... kudos to Kudzutech! Be sure to check out Kudzutech's Flickr set showing the process. Cheers!

BOO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween everybody! This has got to be one of the scariest latex masks I've seen... the 'Wacko-Jacko' ;) It kinda reminded me of this video... Happy Trick-or-Treating! Cheers!

Restraint, Released! Font by Marian Bantjes

I've long been an admirer of Marian Bantjes' work. I had the pleasure of meeting her last year when she visited Winnipeg as a guest speaker. At that time, Marian gave us all a sneak-peek at her pending font release - Restraint. Restraint has now officially been released and is available for purchase from Tiro Typeworks!

From the Tiro website: Designed by Marian Bantjes & Ross Mills, Restraint is an ornament font which happens to contain letterforms. It is 100% fanciful all the time, and not for those timid of heart. It contains numerous squiggles and curly bits for creating blocks of exuberance, borders, frames, and graphic flights of fancy.

Very cool... enjoy!

COOL! Vonnegut Dollhouse by Rethink Communications

I thought this was rather cool (via Serif). A twist on the traditional CD packaging, as well as carrying through on a theme. Very clever work by the talented designers at the Canadian design firm Rethink Communications. Have a look through the rest of their portfolio and website, check it all out at http://www.rethinkcommunications.com/ - Cheers!

Mac OSX Leopard Launches Today!

So after getting my PowerBook back for about a week now, I've noticed a few odd things here and there. After making a quick call to the Mac Service guys to discuss what I should do, they made a suggestion to re-install my operating system. So I've spent a good portion of the day just trying to get my computer back into 'full' working order... which again brings up the issue of making timely back-ups. Which in turn leads to Apple's launch today of their latest operating system... Mac OSX Leopard. I'm very keen to hear more about it, the Time-Machine function looks invaluable. Here's a review via CNET. I'll be sure to let you know if I decide to make the jump. ;)

COOL! I Love Typography...

I recently came across this website, I Love Typography via Serif. I too love typography... perhaps you do too? Check it out at http://ilovetypography.com/ - Cheers!

Guardian Dojo - Photo Albums Updated

The above photo is from this past weekend when the Guardian Dojo was invited to participate in a healthy activity initiative at MacDon Industries. It was quite an interesting time! Anyhow, in case you're interested the Guardian Dojo website has been updated with photos from recent and past events... take a minute to check out some of the pics. See all the albums, here. Cheers!

Amazing Mountain Photography

Via Veer's blog - The Skinny:
Mountain photography: it’s not just big chunks of rock
Mountains and mountain-culture are always awe inspiring. But just try to take a picture that stands above the average. The Banff Mountain Photography Competition recently announced this years winners from over 2100 entries.

There are some amazing photos here... I'd highly recommend that you check 'em out. You can view them all through the Banff Centre website, here.

COOL! The Running Man...

This blog has made its fair share of rounds around the blogosphere so, you may have seen it before. But, if you haven't the idea behind it is simple... set the camera on a stable surface, set the auto-timer and run like heck! I don't know why but, I think it's a cool idea... perhaps one of these days I'll attempt something similar. Check it out at http://runningfromcamera.blogspot.com/ - enjoy!

Free Papercraft Skull - via Skull-A-Day Blog

Just in time for Halloween or if you're looking to add to your collection of desk ephemera... via the Skull-A-Day Blog. Check out the blog at http://skulladay.blogspot.com/ and be sure to download the PDF for the papercraft skull. Enjoy!

Helvtica Film Winnipeg Show

'Helvetica - A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit' showed tonight at Cinemateque in Winnipeg. Sadly, there was only one showing of the film, which was sold-out in record time. Apparently, many people that wanted to see the film were unable to see it. Overall, I enjoyed the film and thought that it was well put together. I'll reserve my full review for after I've had the chance to review the DVD Boxset. I can't wait to get it! Cheers!

*Note: Apparently the theatre plans to run the film for three nights some time in November... so don't fret if you wanted to see the film but weren't able to this time around, you'll get another chance soon enough!

Audi R8 - If only I had a million dollars...

Damn. This is one sweet ride... the Audi R8. The R8 microsite is pretty slick too... worth taking a look at! Check it out here. Now, if only I had a million dollars... actually in this case, it's closer to $150,000(+).

COOL! Amazing Outer Space Pictures

I came across these a while back... I had filed them away in a folder and forgot all about them! The above Jupiter image was taken in 1979 by Voyager 1. It's an image of the planet's subtle, swirling atmosphere - kinda reminds me of a Van Gogh painting. There are some amazing images of planets and moons and all types of astral imagery - take a minute to check 'em all out! See the original postings via Wired and CNET.

R.I.P. Macintosh HD...

I posted about my hard drive experience a little while back. I finally got my PowerBook back today, after almost a week of re-adjusting to working on a desktop environment. I can't tell you how happy I was to hear that the Apple service technicians were able to mirror my hard drive... there is a lesson to be learned from this: BACKUP, BACKUP & BACKUP some more! There is no such thing as over redundancy here... this would definitely be a situation where it's better to have and not need than to need and not have. Rest in peace my former hard drive... you served me well. ;) Until you decided to start dying on me!

When was the last time you made a backup of your important data? Don't delay! BACKUP TODAY!