sonar from renaud hallée

What already was an amazing and amazingly curated music blog has now become even better. Sitting conveniently in a unique position among web experiences, this is now a place for some comfortably curated viewing and listening pleasures. From some pretty exquisite tastes at that. I love all the little typographic details as well. Alot of heart and care has gone into this. So as time permits, or as your interactive experiences permit, have a look at the new YYY. Yes Yes Y’all!

from ducroz.

underneath from above

beautiful.

OFFF Paris 2010 Titles from OFFF on Vimeo.

This came link came from my friend Hideki. I love this video by Daihei Shibata. Nice1.

It’s the end of the day, so a shameless plug for Move Make Shake!

The uber talented Jimmy Soat has updated with some new pieces in his range. Again, the attention to detail and the high level of aesthetics are unmatched.

Ryoichi Kurokawa is an audio-visual artist based in Japan. He creates video installation and screening works, and also performs audio-visual live. Some of his performances are on Youtube too.

This has to be the most amazing footage I’ve seen in a long time. It is an HD transfer from a 16mm original of a launch of a Saturn V rocket. Thanks for the link Olivier. :D

Timothy Saccenti’s work (director/photographer) is completely new to me, sadly. His new site, designed by Build, is fully charged and up and running – showcasing some of the most gobsmacking visual work I’ve seen for some time. Enough to make you want to pet your monitor in fact. After doing some not-so-considerable digging, I came across this recent interview with him here, which too is interesting as he articulates his process very carefully, as well as some commentary on the new site. Awesome stuff.

The talented folks at LoyalKaspar have undergone an interactive seismic retrofit. Nicely done. Love the subtleties and the details of their rebranding. If you take a close look, all around the site, you’ll see such niceties. And you’ll also see, they’ve added to their list of great work.

Agency Collective is a very intriguing and talented studio out of San Francisco. Judging from their portfolio site and their book, A:G is one of those rare studios that blazes new frontiers in the mediums they choose to pursue. Check it out.

A solid motion piece from Turkish based motion designer Onur Senturk.  Not much work on his site at the moment, but if this video is any indication, you can expect to see some great things in the future.

This could open an entirely new set of opportunities for animators, motion, and interactive designers.

Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

Also check out this short film from Alex Roman. Built completely in CG and references a lot of Tadao Ando’s work.

Human Studio (a.k.a Human) is a multi-disciplinary creative studio coming out of Sheffield, UK. Founded by former tDR director, Nick Bax, who is currently a visiting lecturer at Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, they produce some dazzling visual solutions for a global client roster. The portfolio is quite brief, so it warrants a quick look when time permits.

Nic Mulvaney has just released a great app. Unify which allows you to transfer playlists from iTunes to Spotify. Just drag and drop. Enjoy.

designers prevail /

A quick update on the latest exhibition Decode at the V&A, which sees a superb collaboration with onedotzero to bring you — Digital Design Sensations, interactivity, code and responsive practice. We popped along to see the likes of Joshua Davis, Universal Everything and Marius Watz. For more info also check the onedotzeroblog. A few more pics over on flickr too. Thanks to onedotzero for getting in touch.

Some really nice working coming from this illustrator and designer.

Even more great stuff on his Flickr.

Some really nice motion typographic work coming from this lady. It is a rarity these days to see some motion with some nicely placed typography as well as a real sense of the handmade. Have a look see when you get a chance. Ms. Galya Kay.

isaora

Some nice work coming from this guy.

Some really beautiful work coming from The MVM. There seems to be a few intersecting paths here. But I ran into their work while doing some searching on the record label, Rune Grammofon. Their work for the Last Record Company is pretty stunning. Magnus Voll Mathiassen.

originally designed for massive attack_us /

made with openframeworks / coding tak fung

uva

Magic Highway Cinemix from SaintYves on Vimeo.

A really wonderful excerpt from the 1958 Disneyland TV Show episode entitled Magic Highway USA. In this last part of the show, an exploration into possible future Transportation technologies is made. Its is pretty hard to believe the difference in attitude toward the future of transportation now compared to when this video was made. This is an artifact from a time where the future was greeted with optimism. I want to live in this world.

The always inquisitive punk rock stallion, Mr. Swinehart, has just released a pretty stunning research project. Perhaps not stunning in the typical sense of the word, but stunning in the meticulous and uncovering an area perhaps forgotten to a generation with more attention deficit disorder than the previous. Anyways, have a look see and a read. Itís a pretty interesting break down of the choose your own adventure book over the years. However, the A.D.D. idiot in me was intrigued equally more so by the lovely animations and the ability to even play them and receive some visual reinforcement as well. Have a look see when you get a moment. Nice work.

While browsing the selections at Other Music the other day, I was stunned by this cover. The internet jpg compression format does not do this cover justice. It is truly a mark of beauty. And now the more I research this group, and the more I find, the pieces are all coming together. Susanna and The Magical Orchestra is a duo from Norway on the Rune Grammofon label. And I did not suspect it at first but I find now that the collaborations have been plenty with one of my all time favorites, Mr. Kim Hiorthoy who directed this hauntingly gorgeous music video below. This music is kind of ridiculous. I love it. I will need to do more research but my feeling is, Mr. Hiorthoy is responsible for these beautiful covers as well. Hope.

Our friends at the Scout have produced this wonderfully beautiful movie on high quality leather goods makers Billykirk. Truly beautiful in editing, cinematography and production, it is worth a look see. Word is there are going to be a few more of these coming down the pipeline so stay tuned for more at The Scout. Great work guys!

Been loving the music from The XX. Yet another great find from Yes Yes Yall. Here’s a really lovely video from them.

Had the pleasure a while back of meeting with a Mr. Brcye Wymer. And man, his work is pretty much off the chain. Amazing tool kit of everything design, illustration, drawing and anything else in between. Have a look see when you get a chance.

Impressive visuals on this spot for Philips by Adam Berg

Rob Chiu in my perspective, is living the dream. Graphic designer turned motion designer turned film maker/ writer/ director. Keep an eye out for his film coming out soon called Fear/Love.

az / a beautiful collection of imagery seen in the new bird publication. andrewzuckerman.com

A strange and very amazing video for The Hickey Underworld. Seen from Yes Yes Yall.

Amazing. More at Daito Manabe’s YouTube page.

Mr. Stephen Fitzgerald won the Cut and Paste motion Championships in NYC recently. The contestants had 8 hours to come up with a 15 second spot under the theme “Dear Life, Thanks For Everything, Sincerely Me.î Fitzgerald’s piece explores the singular moment when ones life “flashes before their eyes.” Knowing how long it takes to craft something like this in motion, its quite an impressive feat. It also the won Audience Choice award.

Been listening to this album quite a bit lately. From Anticipate Recordings, Sawako makes some beautifully music. This is a nice cover designed by TheIngredient.

This is sorta geeking out on motion news, but I found this intro title by OnedotZero on motionographer. Apparently, they shot this using a still camera and two flashes (not a 7,000fps phantom camera). The photos were then camera/light mapped to a 3d model giving them full control over camera speed and movement.

Interesting new campaign for Sony created by Juan Cabral who also if you remember did the really awesome Sony Bravia Plasticine balls advert. Really love the way the new campaign is shot and the concept is interesting to boot.

scintillation / prepare. a beautiful film.

Took a further look at what was going on per Jimmyís post and after all these years, these guys are still killing it. There are, still reasons to hope. Still reasons to dream in this complicated world of ours. These are some shots from their recent reel.

Our pals at Cut & Paste have brought it to the next level. This is some international, almost galatic level ish, (keeping it PG for the kids:) For those of you in NYC watch 2D, 3D, and Motion take downs on Oct. 16th at the Hammerstein Ballroom. See grown men and women get shamed for questionable fast blurs, and getting too deep in to the z.

Some beautifully executed titles for the MTV video music awards by Prologue.

uva / massive attack uva.co.uk

response to mr ro / classic / tomato / underworld tomato.co.uk

On Saturday evening, went and saw a dual performance from musician Ezekiel Honig and visual artist Joshua Ott/SuperDraw. It was awesome. Pretty inspiring. Reminded me of some good times back in Germany. It got me thinking again about this relationship between designers and musicians again. And how if we do not step up now and start to rethink this experience, we are in the process now of currently losing something very special. Anyways, the whole point of this post was to talk about the show. I thought it was an awesome collaboration. The visuals were mesmerizing and the audio, as usual, was breathlessly atmospheric. I think there is something about these occasional good matches that really tugs at the heart strings.

So this leads me to wonder, have you guys seen any other interesting collaborations? Jimmy pointed out that NIN/Bill Viola set a while back. But is anybody else doing anything interesting lately? Please comment! In the meantime, do check out the music of Ezekiel Honig. Warm, atmospheric, and in many ways, I somehow derive a sense of wisftulness. Well needed wistfulness that is. The visuals are from SuperDraw are interesting too. Joshua Ott seems to be crossing the very fine line between too much and too little. And I think he crosses it well as it seemed to match the sounds quite appropriately. Anyways. Have a looksee when you can. Hereís some vimeo of a performance form 2007.

Joshue Ott/superDraw +Ezekiel Honig live at monkeytown from superdraw on Vimeo.

Is doing some nice motion work.. check it as you have a moment!

mad maxim

Ben and company have launched a new spot! Check it out here.

Holy frijoles. Creeping in my inbox last night, I see that Mr. Hall, has updated. And a nice update indeed. Seems he has been busy the last few years. Keep on keeping on. Nice1.

While doing some research on interactive installations, I found this crew from Lyon, France. Really inspiring work. As some folks might say, these guys are killing it. Straight killing it. A pretty fascinating hybrid of graphic design and a truly multiple choice answer of all of the above, I really admire their ability to not be discipline bound. Alas, another goal, I hope to one day keep for myself. No more boundaries. No more disciplines. But perhaps I am dreaming. Nevertheless. Have a look see. Some really amazing work. Give it up for Trafik.

Our own Clara Sims informs us of a new studio sheís opened up in Seattle. HIGHLIGHTER. Looks like they are up to some smashing work. If anybody needs some services give íem a ring. Check it out when you can!

The always amazing and always hungry, Ness Higson has informed us of a launch, version 7 to be exact of his online presence. This is pretty ridiculous amount of fine crafted and cared for work. I also greatly enjoy the experience of the site. Following a linear narrative one can also, at any point break that sequence when necessary. Both functional and telling, in a sea of functional work sites, it was nice to see this approach. Here’s an excerpt from Ness:

An explanation in brief. We find ourselves living in exciting times. We are currently in the midst of what feels to be a technological revolution of sorts. A time we have been calling 2.0, soon to be 3. As this particular medium has matured, the excitement and experimentation seems to have diminished, and has been replaced with usability standards and commerce. Rightfully so. The site / shell is a reaction to standardization. It’s meant to challenge the concept of space and how it’s perceived within ye olde browser window. It will undoubtably frustrate some, but may contribute to a large laugh and / or smile for others. It’s more experiment and temporary in nature than stiff and permanent.

I came across this nice link via Eat Me Daily. Making my Jetson’s dream a reality. Always on the cusp, Philips released a few conceptual videos on the future of food for their “design probes program” that are based around technology they believe will be tangible for us within the next 15-2o years. These explorations are featured in the September issue of Wallpaper Magazine. The Philips’ design probes program is worth checking out if you haven’t done so already. It probably deserves a full post in itself. I remember the Skin:Tattoo video being passed around. It reminded me of a piece that 1st Ave Machine did years ago where some hot girl was lying down with her back exposed and some digital bits pull up and out of her spine. It was a nice project. A lot more elegant than I make it out to be. From Philips: “Philips Design’s ongoing design probes program has been further extended with three explorations into the area of food. These projects – Diagnostic Kitchen, Food Creation and Home Farming – take a provocative and unconventional look at areas that could have a profound effect on the way we eat and source our food 15-20 years from now.”

Wallpaper Check out the videos here: Home Biosphere Nutrition Monitor Food Printer

YouWorkForThemís Michael Paul Young sends us news that he has just finished some visuals for U2. Now thats a heavy gig. Check it out as you have time!

Our old friends over at Golden have a lovely new film, letting us see behind the doors of their studio! Together we are Golden. Hug.

HunterGatherer from Arkitip on Vimeo.

HunterGatherer create a laptop sleeve for Arkitip curated: Wood on lockdown.

According to St. John, HunterGatherer “often creates things that have a ‘naturalness’ to them, but in many ways design is anything but. The woodgrain pattern is an expression of that thought: a purposefully fake version of something natural. I also enjoy seeing it as a wrapper for a concentrated brick of technology.”

For the most part, things are excellent. I really canít complain. Have met some super swell folks here and in all earnestness, really dig it here. If I were say, five years younger, perhaps I’d consider living here for a bit. Regardless though, things here are super good and I’m in a few words or less, quite stoked. This first week, I was able to spend some time with the awesome folks at Hammer&Tong, Marilyn&Sons, and SouthSouthWest. Seriously, all awesome and all more than accommodating.

Big shout to Mr. Pato from Hammer&Tong for being my gracious host for a few days and giving me the Melbourne break in and tummy rub. ;). I’ll write more details on each of these as I begin to edit the interviews and start to break down the data. So more to come soon! This week Iím now in Adelaide, which will be Ch. 3 of the Friendship Chronicles. But so far, so good. I have to say, from past traveling experiences, things are much easier this go round. Everybody here speaks english. And better yet, everybody seems super friendly. At least enough so that I can get on the right tram, in the right place at the right time. Hereís a few snaps that Iíve taken so far. Iíll post more as I take em. But so far, so good.

My portable life and Pato’s super comfortable extra room:

A Thai restaurant interestingly named Cookie:

A very nice bookstore that Iíll visit one more time before I leave named Metropolis:

I’m hoping next weekend to get out and see some real animals here. Not the gigantic spiders, but yeah, other animals. But so far, some interesting looking birds that are not pigeons:

As you know, people here drive on the left side of the road. I am pretty sure I look like an idiot everytime Iím crossing the street as I am still perplexed and perhaps one or two steps overly cautious before I cross. Hereís a beauty I saw in the North Carlton neighborhood of one of my favs, the 2002 from Bavarian Motor Works:

A fashion house with some nice wall vinyling and a nice name:

Awesomely enough, the State Library is having an exhibition on the beginnings and current incarnation of the type, books and writing of Victoria. If you are in the neighborhood, a well worthy visit. Here is some awesomeness I saw there, these photos are of Is Not Magazine. Itís quite beautiful in person. Iím afraid these photos do not do it justice:

Some pretty beautiful pieces from 70ís editor and poet Pi.0. Yes, an interesting name. These were quite beautiful:

Iíve finally gotten to see, for the first time live ever, a UVA installation and I must say, it is enthralling. I wish I could have seen it at night. But I was quite excited and quite moved by this. It’s really quite powerful:

Here are some images of the Australian Center for the Moving Image. I underestand this whole block, known as Federation Square to be quite controversial but from an outsiders point of view, it seems quite fancy fancy and a nice new mark to the city. Regardless, itís a nice place and I was able to catch a showing of StyleWars here on one night:

It’s cold here. But not too cold. But I’ve noticed, a lot of folks use these heat lamps everywhere:

The Australian Cenre for Contemporary Art is an interesting building as well. The exhibit was pretty interesting. I found some of the work of Tacita Dean to be simple and pretty powerful:

This is me, messing with her work:

From the Shrine of Remembrance:

I dig this loopy type in the Fitzroy Gardens:

Okay, this post is getting way too long. I’ll finish now. Just wanted to say, thank you Melbourne, for a great first week. Iíll post more soon again. Have a good week all and greetings from down under:

proper 3d / animation. tokyoplastic.com

The very gifted Mr. Mitch Paone has updated his website with a real nice range of work spanning broadcast, print, branding, art and better yet, music as well. Check out this pretty amazing range of work when you get a chance.

Do we all remember playing video games for the fist time? Bodies contorted, lips curled, and eyes focused? Robbie Cooper has some really nice video work of children playing video games capturing these moments. Sometimes the clips can be funny, scary and intensely emotional. You can view the video on youtube here or visit his site here which has some really nice hi-res video stills. I’d like to thank my brother for introducing me to this stunning video work.

Nice little stop motion piece. Well done.

Great stuff from Ilya Abulhanov at Prologue as usual. This time it’s the opening titles for OFFF 2009 in Oeiras, Portugal. In similar military post-apocalyptic mystery, there’s been an intriguing video going around the interwebs from a Dutch physics student named Tim Smit, and visual effects is his hobby. The 9-minute test film is the start of a more ambitious full-length movie idea called What’s In The Box?. Not a bad “test film” for a hobby.

Stunning visuals with a great sound combine together for Passion Pit’s “Reeling” goodness.

Pretty amazing installation / motion work at the Whitney by Jenny Holzer. The images look stunning and I can only image what its like when it’s moving. I have to get to NYC so I can see this.

Mike Cina and Michael Paul Young have made some wicked crazy things in their time, but The Interpretation looks to be one of their biggest ventures yet. This DVD is a collaborative effort of visual mystery and aural suggestion. A work of art that explores the relationship between nature, motion and sound, The Interpretation takes us on a languid journey through a slowly flourishing forest. Hinting at vague memories of microbiology and rotating through a cool organic spectrum of greens, blues, browns, blacks and whites; this motion-based work will entrance its viewer as the forest evolves.

For this work Mike Cina is actually on the soundboard and MPY is on the VJ decks. It looks to quite a lush journey. Get yourself at copy at … where else? YWFT!

Havenít had time to watch one of these in full but looks interesting. If you guys are looking for some time killers sometime today, tomorrow, yesterday, what have you, have a look see and enjoy. Design Smoke, presented by Spunk Design in Minneapolis, is a webisode series that engages innovators in the worlds of Design, Culture and Invention. We interview everyone from photographers and designers to fire starters and window dressers, aiming to explore a broad cross-section of individuals through relaxed conversation.