Monoscope

DK: The Future of Publishing

2010-03-17T16:52:32Z

Bravo, genius copy writing This video was prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared externally. We hope you enjoy it (and make sure you watch it up to at least the halfway point, there's a surprise!).

Read an interview with the creator of the video on the Penguin Blog: http://bit.ly/futureofpublishing --> Source

Tom Fidgen: Salvaged Ash Wood Side Table

2010-03-17T16:46:58Z

Author, furniture designer and hand tool enthusiast Tom Fidgen designed and built this side table using salvaged Ash collected from the shores of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. The drawer fronts are made of reclaimed Angelique wood that sat on a barge in Martha’s Vineyard for the better part of 100 years, and the table is finished with a food safe oil blend. It was built using only hand tools – no electricity! For more custom designs and to see inside a ‘hand tool only’ workshop visit the Unplugged Woodshop. --> Source

Jess Douglas: Elmo

2010-03-17T16:43:00Z

Hand pulled screen print by Jess Douglas Signed and numbered limited edition of 10 Approx. 59.4 x 42cm (A2) -> Get one --> Source

Dan Reisinger: EL AL poster

2010-03-15T21:59:45Z

Dan Reisinger is an Israeli graphic designer who’s work includes posters, calendars, logos, corporate and environmental day. He’s probably most known for his work for EL AL Airlines, which includes a beautiful series of destination posters that were designed from 1968 – 72. --> Source

Aldo Bakker: Silver Pourer

2010-03-11T16:39:15Z

This silver pourer by Aldo Bakker is beautifully designed and made — looks like a small basket. Perfect for oil, dressing, or gravy. --> Source

DSG: The PEN Story

2010-03-11T16:02:06Z

This is the PEN Story in stop motion. We shot 60.000 pictures, developed 9.600 prints and shot over 1.800 pictures again. No post production! Thanks to all the stop motion artists who inspired us. We hope you enjoy :-) Free download of the music at http://olympus.eu/penstory/ Some of the comments we have read here suggest that we should mention the creator of "A wolf loves pork", Mr Taijin Takeuchi. While we were looking for a way to realise a story describing "a journey through time" based on printed images, we were inspired by Mr Takeuchi's brilliant work. For this reason we intentionally quoted his work in our little movie while showing full respect to his original idea. We didn't mention his name because we did not want to do so without his prior agreement. However after considering some of the comments posted here we have decided to add credits to him and his work, which we obviously absolutely love. Now it seems there's a bit of controversy going on here regarding the attribution of ideas. Being a creative professional myself I have to claim guilt by inspiration on many a project. Here's Creative Reviews take on the subject: In 1937, just as technology was gathering momentum, George Orwell identified one of its fundamental truths. “No one draws water from the well,” he wrote, “when he can run the tap.” As soon as science gives us an easy way of doing something, doing it the old way instantly becomes a hopeless waste of time, in other words, a hobby. Once you can buy factory-built furniture the only reason to fashion a table for yourself is the arts and crafts impulse, and this, he observed, was the preserve of the “bearded fruit juice drinker”. The effect on craftsmanship is permanent. “In such circumstances,” he said, “it is nonsense to talk of ‘creative work’.” So what is advertising going to do, now that ideas are available on tap, in every office? Much has been written about the ethics of purloining ideas from YouTube [notably by CR here]. No one has stopped doing it. This isn’t surprising for anyone who’s worked on a nightmare brief. The one that’s been through the agency eight times, the one that comes with an apology from the head of planning, the brief that won’t flush. The first day is OK, you deflect your partner’s ideas, eliminating the obvious. Even the second day has a kind of hysterical calm, like a test match at gunpoint. It’s the third day, when you’re in the desert, the place where careers are really made or broken, and the review appears at 4pm. Suddenly that clip of a poodle playing a bassoon starts to look so very very right. It doesn’t just make sense for spineless creatives either. It’s an economic imperative. The problem is there in Orwell’s oxymoron: ‘creative work’. Work that is play. On the one hand advertising is an exercise in waste, an opportunity for brands to engage in that most inefficient of behaviours, entertainment. On the other it’s an industry, a multi-million pound concern, a tough market that promises its clients efficiency. Yes it would be lovely if we could all sit round having ideas, maybe playing a sitar, but if you can get it quicker from the net, you better do it alright? And this will be fine until clients wise up. The net is accessible to all, so why is a brand going to pay an agency millions of pounds to trawl it for them? That there’s an art to the selection of content is the agency’s last claim to legitimacy. But it’s threadbare. Ditch the agency and how will the brand manager know which clip to choose? He won’t need to. As Bernbach said, research can’t have ideas, but it can certainly help select them. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. It’s us or the computers and for the money men that’s a no-brainer. We don’t have to embrace the future, it’s coming for us like a septic great-aunt. This article originally appeared in the February issue of CR. ‘Gordon Comstock’ (a pseudonym) is a London-based ad creative who blogs at advertanon.blogspot.com

Mike Barzman: Pink Terror Hawking

2010-03-11T15:49:17Z

Nothing like a 1000fps 1080p recording of shit blowing up and getting smashed with the Phantom HD Camera --> Source

Umeric: MTV 'Organic' Idents

2010-03-11T15:29:17Z

Director: Ash Bolland Cinematographer: Jac Fitzgerald Producer: Von Dekker Audio: Simon Pyke/ freefarm.co.uk Visual FX: umeric.com Fabulous 3d typography from Umeric. It's taken 3d modeling 15 years to mature, and mature it has. Aside from major studios, the smaller shops are now producing stunning work. See more from studio Umeric here. Also be sure to check out the French MSN Talk spot (it's always nicer to hear marketing speak in French; if you don't speak French) As a side note, the self description on their Vimeo page is great: Work made in Umeric by Film Director Ash Bolland and Producer Von Dekker. We buy a lucky cat every time we finish a project. Recently we have purchased a bigger book shelf to accommodate the collection of porcelain felines, and the good fortune they bring in. Maneki Neko, as the figurine is known in Japan, is believed to summon wealth, health and happiness into the homes and business which display them. The sculpture depicts a cat beckoning with an upright paw. Some of the sculptures are electric or battery-powered and have a slow-moving paw beckoning. In the design of the sculptures, a raised right paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised left paw attracts customers. Creating memorable work is much like the Maneki Neko; it must attract, provoke and inspire people into your world. --> Source

Hunter: Track bike

2010-03-11T15:12:02Z

Here's a good tip. If you find a flickr photo on the web with no attribution and only a link to the image itself—e.g. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4411775087_fb13af883a.jpg— you can now find the owner via Find Flickr photo owner --> Source

Logorama

2010-03-09T22:42:47Z

Winner of the Oscar for Best Short Film. If you love profanity, ultra violence, and logos, you’re going to enjoy this as much as I did. --> Gruber

Cameron Moll: Colosseo

2010-03-09T16:29:48Z

This artwork representing the Roman Coliseum was handcrafted character by character over the course of roughly 250 hours. Characters from the Goudy Trajan and Bembo Pro typefaces form the Coliseum, also known as today as Colosseo (Italian) and originally known as Amphitheatrum Flavium (Latin).
Additionally, glyphs have been recreated based on the work of master Italian calligrapher M. Giovambattista Palatino, as featured in Libro di M. Giovambattista Palatino Cittadino Romano, published in Rome around 1550 AD.
Each poster is printed on Somerset Velvet Black or Crane Lettra Pearl and letterpressed by Bryce Knudson of Bjørn Press in Provo, Utah, United States.
The detail level on this is stunning
-> Read the whole story and get a copy

Mysterious Lamp

2010-03-09T15:21:01Z

70's Mysterious Brown Lamp ... (and no indication of brand or manufacturer?) with a shape very similar to the 3 Lightolier Interplay and a internal circular cover regulates the flow of light as the Lightolier or Artemide Eclisse. (internal cache that rotates around the bulb by turning the button on the upper part of the lamp) -> See more mid-century goodness

Stukenborg: Letterpress Dice Print: Iowa6

2010-02-25T21:51:09Z

This piece was printed on a letterpress (Vandercook32-28) in a limited edition of 10. The composition was built by arranging 1,147 dice on the bed of the press, and ink was rolled directly onto the face of the die for each impression. The paper used is Stonehenge (White 250gram - pretty beefy) the sides have deckle edges and the top and bottom were torn to the final size. It measures 22"x26" The name "Iowa" for this print comes simply from the fact that this print is from a series of works that were done while I was a visiting artist at the University of Iowa.
-> See more --> Source

The Emotion Lab: Safe bike rack

2010-02-25T21:00:37Z

Barcelona's industrial design studio The Emotion Lab has designed 'safe', a bike rack that promises to be a more secure alternative in parking your bike. the form of 'safe' follows closely to that of one of the oldest symbols of security, the padlock. Unlike many other bike racks, users can have confidence that 'safe' will not scratch their bikes. Finally, in releasing these designs in public spaces, emotion lab hopes to encourage people to choose a more sustainable method of transport. --> Source

Adams Morioka: UCLA Extension Summer

2010-02-24T21:34:38Z

-> See more of his work --> Source