Winnipeg: Love & Hate The Blog…

A while back I blogged about my friend Bryan Scott, a local designer, photographer and Flickr nut (see my original post here) and his amazing collection of Winnipeg photos on Flickr...

Well, if you enjoyed them then you should be excited to hear that Bryan has now started a Winnipeg: Love & Hate blog! Check it out at http://winnipeglovehate.blogspot.com/ - enjoy!

OH! A happy February 29th 'leap day' to you all, hope you enjoyed the day that only comes once every four years! Cheers!

Painting Art for Angels...

Okay, as you can see in the image above I have a blank canvas... I'm in the process of painting [insert something here] for the Art for Angels fundraising art event. This will be second year that I'll be taking part in this event. I'm also training for my next belt test at the Guardian Dojo, where I've been studying Kyokushin Karate for the past few years...

SO, what I'm saying is that IF I don't post as frequently for the next while its because I'm 'busy-busy'! ;) I do plan to document my process for the painting and will post about it soon after the event (in March).

Hope you're all staying warm - cheers!

James Gillespie's - Hellboy Watercolor...

I've recently added to my ever growing art collection... many thanks to my good friend and fellow designer, James Gillespie for presenting me his Hellboy watercolor painting. I feel obliged to mention the quote he wrote on the back:

For Adrian
"Crush your enemies.
See them driven before you.
Hear the lamentation of the women."
–Conan (What is best in life?)
From James

;) I should mention that James and I also train together at the Guardian Dojo where we practice Kyokushin Karate under the tutelage of Sensei Diego Beltran. To learn more about Kyokushin Karate visit the Guardian Dojo website at http://www.guardiandojo.com - cheers!

Thanks again for the painting James! Visit KALAMAFRAZ, James' blog at http://kalamafraz.blogspot.com - enjoy!

COOL! Mulheres Barbadas...

The above image was created by Mulheres Barbadas for Computer Arts Projects magazine issue 105 | Black & White. The artists describe themselves as follows:

We are two bearded ladies working together. We take turns drawing until we either fill up the canvas (or are too tired to go on, whichever comes first). We like monsters, icky stuff and tender love.

Check out their website at www.mulheresbarbadas.com - they've provided large, downloadable 300dpi images for you to enjoy! Very cool. Enjoy!

WOW! Real 3D using the WiiRemote...

Recommended Reading | Small Caps

There's a great little article by Alec Julien over on the i love typography blog about small caps. I would definitely recommend that you take the time to read through the article, it's quite informative and I'm sure that you'll learn a thing or two you didn't know before. Check it out here - enjoy!

Via i love typography.

February 20th, 2008 - Total Lunar Eclipse...

Yesterday was February 20, 2008. It was a typically cold Wednesday in Manitoba, with the windchill making it feel like -40 below. There were clear skies in the evening though... which made for excellent viewing conditions of the total lunar eclipse. Apparently the eclipse was visible from Europe, the Americas and Africa... hope you had a chance to see it for yourself, because the next total lunar eclipse won't occur until December 21, 2010!

The above image was shot by Rick Strong in Ottawa and is used with his permission. Image is © 2008 Rick Strong, Ottawa. rnstrong.com.

Thanks Rick!

COOL! 36 Days of New York Sky by Michael Surtees...

There's a wicked post over on Michael Surtees' blog, DesignNotes... an excerpt from Michael's post:

For thirty six days now I’ve been taking an image of the sky from my apartment in Manhattan. It wasn’t until I started noticing that most mornings have a really unique colour to the sky that I thought there might be something to comparing the colour day to day...

I think it's an excellent visual experiment that anyone with a digital camera could/should attempt. Keep up the great work Michael - Cheers!

View the original 36 Days of New York Sky image on Flickr here.

A Belated, Happy Louis Riel Day!

Apologies for the lack of posts over the past few days... I needed to take a break. ;) Yesterday marked the first Louis Riel Day in the province of Manitoba, a new statutory holiday passed by Manitoba's Legislative Assembly in April of 2007. The name of the holiday was suggested by Manitoba school students and was meant to honour Louis Riel, the Métis leader regarded as the Father of Manitoba. The new stat holiday corresponds to Family Day in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, and Heritage Day in some Canadian localities...

Hope you all had a nice, February long weekend - stay warm, cheers!

Valentine's Wishes...

Wishing you all the loveliest of Valentine's Days! The above image is a photograph (a bad one at that... it was shot in a hurry on the studio light table) of the Valentine's greetings I received this year from Marian Bantjes, friend, designer, illustrator, typographer, teacher and more (she's a mad hatter of all sorts)... this will go beside the one I received last year (once I've had the chance to frame it), thanks again Marian!

Warm wishes to you all. Particularly if you're based in Winnipeg aka 'Winterpeg' where today it's a nippy -46 degrees celsius with the wind chill... ;P

Cheers!

COOL! Fifa Street 3 Viral...

Pub Fifa Street 3 (Foot Capoeira)
by mehzz

Okay... this is either a video of some insanely talented footballers or else some clever video editing... or it could be some amazing martial artists, a la Shaolin Soccer... ;) Check it out for yourself here - enjoy!

Via Motionographer.

COOL! Short Video on YouTube about Typography and Font Design...

As a follow-up to my 'Fontastic Fun' post, check out the above (made for TV) YouTube video short on typography and font design featuring interviews with Steven Heller, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones. It's a rather basic overview but, worth watching anyhow. Check it out on YouTube here.

Via Drawn! - the Illustration and Cartooning Blog. Cheers!

Recommended | Icograda Launches New Website...

Icograda, the international council of graphic design associations and a partner of the International Design Alliance, recently launched their new website. The redesign of the Icograda website was a collaborative project between Icograda's IDA partner, ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) and Vancouver, Canada based Ion Design and Smallbox Software. The website will be an invaluable resource for staying up to date on international design news, as well as being a massive resource of feature articles, case studies and research reports. Check it out at http://www.icograda.org/ - enjoy!

About Icograda - The International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) is the world body for professional communication design. Founded in 1963, it is a voluntary assembly of associations concerned with graphic design, visual communication, design management, design promotion and design education. Icograda promotes communication designers' vital role in society and commerce and unifies the voices of graphic designers and visual communicators worldwide. The vision, mission and core values of the council are collectively embodied in the statement 'leading creatively' and manifested through our members' diverse activities to use design as a medium for progressive change.

Fontastic Fun!

Last week I came across this awesome little font quiz via Michael Surtee's blog, DesignNotes. In ten short questions you can see how familiar (or unfamiliar) you are with some of (what should be) the most commonly used fonts around these days. Sadly, the average score is only 58%... which is truly sad considering that the sample texts generally give you enough clues to make an informed guess (if you don't know your fonts). Take the test and see how you score here.

Thanks for the link Michael! Cheers!

(FYI, I only scored 9/10... I'm blaming it on the fact that when I took the test it was still early and I hadn't had my coffee yet... ;P)

In Response to 'Who Would Portray Me...'

Okay, I'm throwing myself into the fire with this one... ;) As a follow up to my Tuesday, February 5th post about, Design Observers - 15 Minutes of Fame, I've been asked who I would want to portray me. Well, after giving it some thought (j/k, not very much actually)... the above two Chinese actors rose to the surface. On the left we have potential candidate number one, Julian Cheung aka Chi Lam, on the right we have candidate number two, Raymond Lam aka Lam Fung, with me in the middle for reference... I've been told in the past (on multiple occasions) that I resemble both of these actors. What do you think?

Personally, I cringe at the thought of being portrayed by someone else... but, it's fun to think about who might be cast as you. ;)

You can visit Raymond's Fan site here (if you want) and one of Julian's here. Sorry, but the sites will likely be Chinese. ;)

*Ask me for an 8 x 10" glossy sometime (I'll throw in the autograph for free)! LOL...

Gung Hei Fat Choy! Sun Lein Fai Lok! (Happy Chinese New Year!)

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! Chinese New Year celebrations wouldn't be complete without a massive fireworks display. The above YouTube video is from Hong Kong's 2007 Chinese New Year fireworks display.... I guarantee that you won't see fireworks like this in Canada (I'll try to post this year's fireworks display once it becomes available).

May the year of the Rat (the Earth Rat to be specific) bring you all good fortune, prosperity and success in all your endeavors...

Cheers!

GDC Manitoba 2007 AGM/Annual Report...

This past Tuesday (February 5th, 2008), the GDC Manitoba Chapter had their AGM at the Park Theater on South Osborne.


It was our first time having the Chapter AGM at the Park Theater... I'd like to think that the venue was quite suitable and look forward to having more events there in the future.


Congratulations to Michael Feng (GDC Manitoba Associate member), for winning the PS3 door prize! Many thanks to all who came out and to my fellow board members, thanks for another great year! The GDC Manitoba annual report is now available as a PDF download on the GDC website. You can read or download the PDF (500kb) here.

Recommended Viewing | Fifteen Minutes of Fame via Design Observer...

There's a great post over on Design Observer - Fifteen Minutes of Fame, which I highly recommend you check out. Following closely on the popularity of the past summer's blockbuster hit documentary film, Helvetica - the folks over at Design Observer have compiled a tongue-in-cheek list for the cast of Graphic Design: The Movie (a fictional film as far as I am aware)... the casting is ongoing with the list being updated periodically as readers add their submissions.

Who would you want to portray you in a documentary film? An interesting question to ponder... ;) Anyhow, check out the original post on Design Observer here - enjoy!

COOL! Mr. King - Malaysian Seal Engraver...

There's a really neat article over on Pingmag about Mr. Ze-King Tham, a Malaysian seal engraver. Mr. King (it's how he was introduced), hand engraves up to 15 seals a day. The seals that he crafts range from the typical 'chop' style signature seals (consisting of Chinese characters arranged to fit inside of a grid), to more exotic Arabic signature seals and illustrated portraits of famous people. You have to check it out! Read the original post (with more images) on Pingmag here. Cheers!

Recommended Viewing | Bryan Scott's Winnipeg: Love & Hate Flickr Set...

Canadian Pacific, originally uploaded by bryanscott.

Friend and fellow Winnipeger, Bryan Scott is a local designer who is also an avid photographer and self-confessed Flickr addict. He was one of a number of local designer/photographers featured in GDC Manitoba's Fall 2007 newsletter (You can read or download the 1.8 MB PDF here). The above image is one of the many amazing pictures in Bryan's, Winnipeg: Love & Hate Flickr set (I apologize for the horrid cropping... I'm not sure how to fix it ;P). His love for experimentation, photography, architecture and design show through in his expansive and diverse portfolio of images. View Bryan's Winnipeg: Love & Hate Flickr set as a slideshow here. I guarantee that you've never seen Winnipeg like this before... be sure to check out some of his other images as well (in particular, his HDR experiments)! Enjoy!

Keep up the amazing work Bryan! Cheers!