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!

Horiyoshi III, Irezumi Master - Amazing Japanese Tattoo Artist

Via PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about 'Design and Making Things'… Irezumi is the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand. Irezumi dates back to at least 300 B.C. to 250 A.D. and it literally means 'putting in ink', Horiyoshi III is a legendary Irezumi master. If I ever decide to get a tattoo I'm definitely going to consider having it done Irezumi. View the original posting here.

COOL! Wallspankers.com

Via Computer Arts Daily:
Wallspankers is a free PDF sticker magazine featuring beautiful black and white work from designers around the world. The new issue is out now. Check it out at http://wallspankers.com - enjoy!

COOL! 'Left Brain vs. Right Brain'

This is a really COOL test... an Australian website (www.news.com.au), recently posted an article about the difference in perception between the two sides of the brain. Which direction do you see the dancer turning? If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it. Take the test here.

Via Robert L. Peters and the GDC Listserve. Thanks for the link Rob, Cheers!

'Put your PowerBook into the Freezer...'

Today my PowerBook's harddrive decided to die on me... after returning from lunch and doing a routine email check, my HD decided to freeze-up and started to make clicking/purring noises. I instinctively tried to force quite applications and restart my CPU... no response. So I proceeded to do a 'hard' restart and powered off. When I tried to power back on I knew something was amiss because I got a distorted Apple logo and it wouldn't boot... I eventually got the black warning screen telling me that I required to restart my computer (in 8 different languages). So, I proceeded to follow the instructions and powered down, waited a minute and tried to power back up. This time I didn't even get the Apple logo... I got a blue screen with a blinking folder icon with the OSX symbol and a flashing ? mark. I think I had a mini-stroke at that moment...

After regaining my composure, I went to break the news to the rest of the office... luckily I had Rob in the office at the time (who has seen a fair amount of tech/hardware issues in his days as a designer), who suggested that I 'Put the PowerBook into the Freezer'. What? Yes, I didn't hear wrong... so I did.

Low and behold, after allowing the CPU to cool for a while (as I tried to recall the 9GB of work in progress I had on my machine), I went to boot it up again. This time, to my amazement it booted up! I was able to login and managed to back-up all my important stuff onto an external HD. Phew! Thanks to Rob for the 'crazy' idea... more to come

Recommended | The Johnson Banks Thought for the Week

As a follow-up to my previous posting about Sony's new Bravia ad, I thought it was appropriate to mention Johnson Banks Thought for the Week. There has been a flurry of postings in regard to the 'inspiration' for the new Sony Bravia ad, many accuse Sony of ripping-off the idea from an illustration by US artists Kozyndan. Which brings Banks' latest
'Thought for the Week' to mind, the latest thought is about Copyright, bunnies and the public domain... well worth the read! Check it out at http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/thoughtfortheweek/ - enjoy!

COOL! Latest Sony Bravia Ad

WOW... have you seen this? The latest Sony Bravia ad is a combination of stop motion and 3D animation shot in NY. Little colourful bunnies hopping around... how cute! Via David Coates and the GDC Listserve:

The latest sony bravia ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLUAbkRUvVQ
and in case you haven't seen the original:
http://www.bravia-advert.com/commercial/braviaextcommhigh.html

Thanks for the link David! Cheers!

Circle Design Incorporated Launches New Website!

For a number of years now I've had the pleasure of working at Circle Design Incorporated. Circle is located in the historic Winnipeg Exchange District. Since 1976, Circle has helped hundreds of clients conceive winning strategies, implement distinctive corporate identities and brands, and transform information into powerful communication and targeted marketing materials that bring outstanding results. We've recently launched our new website (which we put a lot of effort into), check it out at http://www.circle.mb.ca/ - Cheers!

OHGUSHI - Beautiful Ink Illustrations

Takeshi Ohgushi is an amazingly talented Japanese illustrator who specializes in the use of inks and traditional tools (brushes, pens, etc.). I recently came across his work and website via a feature article on PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about "Design and Making Things" (see the article here). The OHGUSHI website gallery has some amazing works that must be seen, check it out at http://www.ohgushi.jp/weeklygallery_e.html - enjoy!

Recommended | DesignNotes by Micheal Surtees

DesignNotes is a blog published by Michael Surtees, a prolific designer, photographer and avid design enthusiast. I had the pleasure of meeting Michael at my graduation Open House in 2005 when he was in town for the GDC AGM. At the time, Michael was the President of the Alberta North chapter of the GDC, since then he's migrated south across the border to the 'Big Apple' where he's currently working. Check out Michael's most recent blog posting about the typographic walking tour he recently completed with Tobias Frere-Jones and be sure to check out his Flickr pix from the tour. Check it out at http://designnotes.info/ - Go Michael! Cheers!

Recommended | Etsy.com

Etsy is a really cool online place to buy and sell all types of things handmade. I've been meaning to blog about this site for some time now... I find it to be a great place to see all types of crafts, jewelery, ceramics and more. As far as I am aware, anyone can become a part of the online Etsy community by signing up, all you need is a valid email address (signing up is required in order to buy or sell). It's definitely worth a look! Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/