simplicity

..could be the philosophy of my life. i'm always trying to make the things in my life as simple as possible. to not waste my time thinking about the complex things that happens in the world and have as much relaxing time to enjoy the little things that happens in my life.
i'm doin this without any strict rules, then it would be to complex of course, it happens more subconscious but compared to the people surrounding me, i think i'm quite good in simplyfing my life and relax.

but this book about simplicity by john maeda where he presents 10 laws and 3 keys to achieve simplicity is very useful.
it gets the things out of my subconsciousness in cold print where i can make notes and underline important things to make them from subcounscious feelings to real thoughts i can work with.
this book, for me, acts like a guard that helps me fixing my thoughts about simplicity and complexity.
especially because i'm interested in webdesign/-devolpment i find it very useful for my studies. he talks about how to reduce and organize things, how to deal with time and knowledge to achieve simplicity. on the other hand he talks about the symbiosis of simplicity and complexity and the importance of finding a good balanced center but always have a look to the edges on the left and right side to make sure that you are still in the balanced centere.
the laws of simplicity acts like a dictionary cheered up with stories from e.g. his daughters and life as a professor at the MIT.

eric needham - black & neon

there is currently an exhibition in the gallery of waterstones view from the top (fourth floor). resolution, an open photography show in support of photovoice. out standing for me was the work of eric needham. first, his work seems to be the only digital one, and i like his use of neon colours.

i'm not quite sure how he did this. for me it looks like soap bubbles on a glass plate. i can't really say how much is from the photograph he took and how much he did afterwards in the computer with it. i'm sure that it is a photograph, because on his website he just talks about himself as a photographer and not explicit about the use of computer programmes.
'My innovative style of photography involves using revolutionary mounting methods to support the subject, also using light and colour to enhance this.
I also use shape, light and colour to create abstract images.'
this quote from eric needham's website could mean everything. it is not really clear if and how much he retouches his photographs afterwards.
what i like about his work is the use of black and neon colours. i have a strong weakness for black or in general dark and dirty colours, and i like big contrasts as for example given in this picture above.
a comparabel artist i found some month ago on ffffound. his name is chuck anderson a freelance artist, designer, and photographer.

i collect such kind of art (usually stored in my social bookmarking) to have some examples when i need inspiration for designing a website or retouching photographs i took.

who needs fancy pants?

'On Saturday January 12th, 2008 nearly 2,000 people took off their pants on subways in 10 cities around the world. In New York’s 7th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride we had around 900 participants, spread out over three subway lines.' via
shake ya ass!

bob + sophie

i was just listening to a song from bob dylan. that reminded me that i saw a movie in the broadway cinema on the 6th of january. i'm not there from todd haynes. sometimes it is very nice to check out the website from films. this was affirmed by the websites of the darjeeling limited, stardust and pan's labyrinth.
the website of i'm not there offers to create an interactive movie and to send it to friends. you can write a personal message in bob dylan's subterranean homesick blues. it is a wonderful idea. and i couldn't resist:


this online project was designed by ten 4. there were more than 250,000 messages send.

my valentine

it is not really popular in germany and not usual to spread valentine cards in school or so, and i never gave a valentine card to anybody in my life, but if i still were a little girl i would probably wanted to send one of those groovy valentine cards which hp offers on their activity center for free download.
guess who would be my valentine:

desgined were those valentine cards by curiosity. a 'new breed of marketing company' from portland (oregon). their clients are for example: apple, dreamworks, hp, disney and paramount.
their work includes among others webdesign, editorial and craft.

this company actually got my attention because of a beautiful animation they did. probably with after effects?

"Suicycle is a lively, multi-textured animated short created specifically for the 2007 DesignPolitics exhibition in Santiago, Chile: a forum for "visual ideologies" comprised of the best issue-driven design work from around the globe." via.

human become trees

gerard moliné, a catalan designer, designed a biodegradable urn with bios seed. as for example of a tree. isn't it a nice idea to plant a urn, not to bury it, and see a tree growing out of it? for me there couldn't be a better gravestone in the world.

smile

in my head: charles chaplin - smile. i'm trying.

human tetris

can't stop laughing!