How NOT To Use Powerpoint - by Don McMillan

As a designer, many a time has a client sent images and text in the ubiquitous program, PowerPoint. A recent conversation on the GDC Listserve about the program reminded me about this great piece by comedian Don McMillan. Don't get me wrong, I think PowerPoint is great (when used properly!)... but, I prefer 'the Adobe'. ;) Check out the piece by Don McMillan on YouTube.

Joseph Wu - Origami Artist Extraordinaire

Joseph Wu is an extremely talented Origami artist residing in B.C., Canada. His work has been exhibited/commisioned by numerous galleries & corporations internationally. Check out his extensive body of work at http://www.origami.as/. Don't forget to check out the instructions section, where Joseph has been kind enough to post some of his Origami diagrams for your personal folding pleasure. =) The website and identity were designed by Joseph's wife, a GDC member (B.C. Chapter) and regular GDC Listserve contributor, Nancy Wu (an extremely talented designer). Check out some of Nancy's work at http://www.nancywudesign.com

Nathan Sawaya - Brick Artist

Nathan Sawaya is an amazing Lego artist. Some of you may have seen some of his works before, his work ranges from small tabletop pieces, to elaborate, oversized floor sculptures. If you haven't seen his work before, you've got to check it out at: http://www.brickartist.com/

Comic Cover Browser

Cover Browser is a searchable online archive of comic book covers and more. The site features an extensive collection of covers ranging from golden age comics to modern day titles. Definitely a must 'bookmark' for any comic book junkie. Check out the impressive collection at http://www.coverbrowser.com/

Designer's Toolbox

A great little online resource for designers, the Designers Toolbox provides many useful items such as a 'Lorem Ipsum' generator, standard sizes/die lines for print applications, as well as tools for online usage. There's even a section that contains downloadable Word documents for legal forms (i.e. Freelance agreement, model release form, non-disclosure, etc.). Definitely worth checking out! Check it out at http://www.designerstoolbox.com/

Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs

(Via Marie-Aline Oliver and the GDC Listserve)

I love the tagline on the header graphic of this website... "ugly website. brilliant content". The website offers a quick way to generate a variety of different graph papers and grids of all types, to variables you'd define, in PDF format to download. As a bonus when you open the PDFs in Illustrator, the lines and curves are all vectors, and the text is editable text! This could come in handy... enjoy! Check it out at http://www.incompetech.com/graphpaper/

Thanks for the link Marie-Aline.

David McFarline Flickr Set

A very cool Flickr photo set of stamps by David McFarline - check it out, via Oliver Oike and the GDC Listserve. Thanks for the link Oliver... where do you find these things?

Cheers!

James Wignall - Mutant Hands Animation Short

Via Computer Arts Daily:
The animator and Computer Arts contributor James Wignall has just put online a little project he has been working on. We think it's very good...

I would tend to agree... =) Check it out at http://www.mutanthands.com/a_tale_small.mov

You've got to be kidding...

$215,000 for perfume? Who cares if there are only 10 bottles in the world bottle or that the bottle is Baccarat crystal, decked with five-carat white diamond, decorated on an 18 carat-gold collar. People who would consider buying this should really think about how their $215,000 could be better spent... perhaps donating it to UNICEF or some other charitable organization? Did I mention that it comes hand delivered by a Bentley and served with Harrods' champagne? Yeesh...

Sketchtravel

My good friend and design colleague, James Gillespie sent me this link earlier today. From the Sketchtravel website:

This concept is not a contest but an international challenge bringing together more than 50 artists, famous or not and carefully picked up. The challenge is to share ideas, concepts, moods and styles of very differents talented artists coming from all over the globe in ONE COMMON SKETCHBOOK.

The distinctiveness of this sketchbook is that artist will not have to send a sketch, a drawing or a painting to a publisher : instead, a real sketchbook will travel from one artist to another during one year.
So, step by step, invited Artists can be inspired by what previous artists have done before in the Sketchbook.

It's not only about skills and abilities it's also about creativity, ideas and friendship. The original sketchbook will be exhibited at the Arludik Gallery, Paris. It will finally be sold at auction for a Charity Association, selected by the artists.

I think this is a great concept and has potential for local applications... perhaps a GDC Manitoba activity (I got the hint James). Visit the Sketchtravel website to view sketches and to learn more at http://www.sketchtravel.com

Helvetica Film DVD Pre-order

It was recently brought to my attention by Oliver Oike (via the GDC Listserve), that the DVD pre-order has begun for 'Helvetica - A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit'. Even though I have yet to view the film, almost all 'designer' reviews have been positive. I've already ordered my limited edition copy (limited to 1000), because I'm a sucker for cool packaging... I suggest that if you want one you'd better hurry. Visit http://www.helveticafilm.com/shop.html to pre-order your copy today!

Curse of the Amazon.ca

Just a little rant... for those of you who are unfamiliar with me, I am a collector of sorts... I collect all types of things, ranging from found ephemera to toys, movies, books and more. Anyhow, I was going through my bookmarks and came across this neat experimental flash site called Amaztype. It's a neat little program that searches through a user specified Amazon locale, for images that match your search word (see image). I felt it was appropriate considering how much I love/hate Amazon. I'll admit, I use Amazon for most of my book purchases, majority of which have become online... this is where the curse comes in. I don't know about anyone else but, I've found the online shopping movement to be a curse altogether... its far too easy to make purchases online and forget about them... the fact that Amazon doesn't charge your credit card until they ship doesn't help the fact either...

Oh well, check out that experimental Flash site here: http://amaztype.tha.jp/ and BEWARE the Curse of the Amazon.ca

ORIGINAL DESIGN GANGSTA

Originally posted to the GDC Listserve
LOL... some designers just have too much time on their hands. ;) ODG - CMYK 'YO! View 'Original Design Gangsta' on YouTube

Brands of the World

As a follow up to my previous post about the Identity Archives Project, I felt that it would be relevant to share one of my favourite online resources for vector logo artwork. Brands of the World is an online resource of vector artwork for popular brands and logotypes from around the world. It's not a definitive source by far but, it comes in handy every now and then. Check it out at http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/

Identity Archives Project

From Jon Whipple, via the GDC Listserve:

The Identity Archives Project - the soon to be the premier online keyword-searchable database of logos and brand identity designs from around the world. There's no need to register, and use of the database is free and open to designers, brand managers, marketing professionals, educators, students, brand identity design enthusiasts, and the general public.

The Identity Archives Project is brand new and growing. Help spread the word so that this database can become as complete and useful as possible for the benefit of the brand identity design community. Visit http://www.identityarchives.com

Thanks for the link Jon!

Apple's New iMac

Apple Computers recently unveiled their latest version of the popular iMac. Available in 20- and 24-inch widescreen models, it includes built-in wireless, Mac OS X, and the new iLife ’08. With its anodized aluminum frame and glass cover, it’s visually striking to behold. Apparently, Apple used recyclable glass and aluminum to make this iMac friendlier to the environment. Either way, it is a thing of beauty... I especially like the wicked thin aluminum keyboard. I have got to get me one...

Sunset at 'the Hilton'

This past August long-weekend, I had the pleasure of going rock climbing with my good friends and design colleagues, James Gillespie, Robert L. Peters and his lovely girlfriend, Evelin Richter. We spent the weekend climbing the cliffs north of Minaki (in Ontario), known as the 'Goosenecks', and camping at a nearby site dubbed 'the Hilton'. It was also my birthday weekend! It was an amazing and awesome time to say the least. This is a picture taken by James around sunset, one evening at the 'Hilton'.

Many thanks again to Rob for his excellent 'trad' climbing instruction (and for making sure we came back alive)! I've uploaded pictures from the weekend to Flickr.

Guardian Dojo - Kyokushin Karate

Also mentioned previously, I'm currently studying Kyokushin Karate at the Guardian Dojo - where I feel very privelaged to be under the tutelage of Sensei Diego Beltran, 4th Dan. I've dabbled in various styles of martial arts since youth, and I must say that the Kyokushin experience has been by far the most challenging. This past June we held the first Kyokushin Karate tournament in the Prairies - The 2007 Guardian Challenge, it was a huge success (you can watch some of the action on YouTube, or you can check out some of the wicked pictures that Doug Fedrau took, which I've posted to my Flickr account).

Kyokushin is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達). Kyokushinkai is Japanese for “the society of the ultimate truth.” A very practical method of self defense, Kyokushin emphasizes realistic combat and physical toughness, and it is deeply rooted in the philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training. Its full contact style has gained wide international appeal, with more than 10 million practioners worldwide.

The Kyokushin way is not for many... but if you're interested in training in any type of martial arts, I'd highly recommend that you look into Kyokushin Karate. For more information, visit Guardian Dojo's website at http://www.guardiandojo.com/

GDC Manitoba

I've mentioned previously that I'm the Activities Chair for the GDC - Manitoba Chapter. For those of you who are unaware, the GDC is the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, Canada's national graphic design association. It is a member-based organization of design professionals, educators, administrators, students, and associates in communications, marketing, media and design-related fields. The Society has been acting as an advocate, voice and resource for Canada's graphic design profession since 1956. The GDC maintains a national certified body of graphic designers and promotes high standards of graphic design and ethical business practices, for the benefit of Canadian industry, commerce, public service and education.

I would strongly recommend to any designers (new or veteran), to seriously consider joining the GDC. There are a variety of membership categories available, for more information visit the GDC website at http://www.gdc.net/

Circle Design Incorporated

As mentioned, I am currently a designer at Circle Design Incorporated, located in the historic Winnipeg Exchange District. The above image is the Circle Maxim/Dictum. I feel very privelaged to be working at Circle, where I work with an extremely bright and talented group of individuals... for more information about Circle, please visit the Circle Design website at http://www.circle.mb.ca/

About MUHSASHUM…

Greetings!

Welcome to 'MUHSASHUM', a blog about Design, Art/Culture & whatever. This blog is published by Adrian J.K. Shum (LGDC), a designer (working at Circle Design Incorporated), active Karateka (training out of the Guardian Dojo - Kyokushin Karate) and Activities Chair for the GDC - Manitoba Chapter. This blog is intended to act as an outlet for my random thoughts, ideas, and generally cool findings... along with the occasional rant. =) Hopefully, you'll enjoy my blog, share my thoughts and perhaps I'll even provoke you to submit a comment every now and then...

Cheers,
Adrian Shum, LGDC