February 2008

Water Cube aquatic centre

As Beijing gears up for the architectural show of the year – this summer's Olympic Games – one of its centrepiece buildings opened for business this week. The Water Cube aquatic centre, designed by Australian-based PTW Architects with Arup, is next door to Herzog & de Meuron's "nest" stadium. Here's a photo essay by Beijing-based photographer Ben McMillan who has been documenting the construction of the building, which consists of a steel frame clad in ETFE pouches.

Water Cube aquatic centre, Beijing

Published: Feb. 28th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: China, Photography

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Linda Zacks Illustration

Zacks is rare hybrid of gritty artist-illustrator and astute designer, she’s logged a decade in the creative corporate world, as both design director and freelancer. Living in New York – drawing inspiration from the surrounds – and working for a vast array of clients – she herself is her toughest critic – she can reposition and invigorate the urban drone around her into vibrant campaigns for Target, Verizon, eBay, and many of the editorial venues she also enjoys reading. Her work has been recognized by design websites around the globe from Australia to Iceland to Colombia to Russia. Her one of a kind style has also been seen in various exhibitions worldwide.

LINDA ZACKS IS EXTRA-OOMPH: illustration | design | art

Published: Feb. 26th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Art, Illustration, Portfolio

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Ratus

Bloesem: Happy New Lunar Year. Monoscope.

Published: Feb. 24th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Illustrations

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Six Principles for Making New Things

“I like to find (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems© that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly.”

Six Principles for Making New Things. 37s.

Published: Feb. 24th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Creativity, Innovation

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Extend washbasin

Extend washbasin by Marike Andeweg.

Published: Feb. 24th, 2008. Categorized: Objects. Tagged: Bathroom

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How to Draw Caricatures

This is the first of a series of articles I will post here on The MAD Blog about my theories, methods and processes concerning how to draw caricatures. A lot of this information is part of what I teach my theme park artists, so it is derived partly from the approach of doing live, quick-draw caricatures. However all of that can be applied to more studio orientated caricature work and I have also added points and concepts directly from the less time-constrained world of caricature illustration. Therefore this is not instruction for just the live caricaturist but for any artist interested in caricature for any purpose.

How to Draw Caricatures: The 5 Shapes

Published: Feb. 24th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Caricatures, Draw

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Poolga

iPhone and iPod Touch wallpapers from a selection of designers and illustrators from around the world.

Poolga

Published: Feb. 24th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Wallpaper

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The Ultimate Gadget

Published: Feb. 24th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Featureitis, Gadget

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How to Set Project Guidelines

The budget, schedule, and skills needed to make a project succeed are based on assumptions about the project. So, before you make a commitment to complete an communication product within a certain schedule, budget, with the skills of a particular group of people, you need to identify and share with your client the assumptions on which you make those promises. If these assumptions change later, or prove to be incorrect, you need to work with your client to renegotiate changes to the schedule and budget

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Manager's Toolkit: How to Set Project Guidelines

Published: Feb. 20th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Management, Project management

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Resources for Information Designers

Below are links to how-to articles, worksheets, and samples that assist you in performing the various tasks in the process of designing and developing information.

Following a process is a critical factor in successfully designing and developing information. By following one, you have, at the least, a check list of sorts that helps you make sure that you complete every task and, at the most, a guide to make sure that you address issues in the most logical sequence.

By following a well-defined process and applying creative design and development techniques, you can design communication products in the most effective and efficient manner, and publish material that will dazzle clients (internal to your organization or external) and users alike.

Resources for Information Designers: To Master the Information Design Process

Published: Feb. 20th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Information design, Process

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Manifesto of the UI

I’ve been thinking more and more lately about the state of user interface and it’s evolution path — it’s something that I can’t get out of my mind. Over the past few years (we’re talking less than 5), we’ve seen user interfaces across the digital world morph from a static experience into highly dynamic interactive experiences. Web sites like Facebook and MySpace have proven that interactivity and the ability to relate real world ideas to the digital realm wins over features and functionality. Applications like iTunes have shown that how data is presented and you interact with that data is more important than how your computer processes the same data.

As such, I’d like to pose a simple question to those front end developers out there: What do you think the future of UI technology will look like?

Link

Published: Feb. 12th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Design, UI, User Interface

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Mental Models

Haven't read it yet but I do like the cover. Rosenfeld Media - Mental Models.

Published: Feb. 12th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Books, Cover

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Chia Chong Photography

Based in Georgia and born in Malaysia. Beautiful work. Chia Chong Photography

Published: Feb. 9th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Fine Art, Photography

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James Jean

Cannibal. Acrylic on Paper.More great work here and at his beautiful weblog.

Published: Feb. 9th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Art, Illustration, Painting

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See Magazine

Actually haven't read it but I like some of the illustration I have seen from various sources. From Issue_29

Published: Feb. 9th, 2008. Categorized: Visual. Tagged: Magazine, Taiwan

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En busca del silencio-Escorpion en ascendente

This is an LP recorded by the eclectic Mexican Theater Director Juan José Gurrola in the early Seventies with various friends (Victor Fosado: Percussion, Roberto Bustamante: electric Guitar, Eduardo Guzman: Trumpet). It is an unknown record, only a few copies were made. It is a rare example of Mexican experimental music, free jazz, alternative music, at that time. I consider Gurrola a pioneer of sound art in Mexico, along with Alejandro Jodorowsky who was a good friend of his back in the sixties.

On 2007, the curator Mauricio Marcin did an exhibition of Gurrola's artistic works and he asked me if we could make a CD of this forgotten LP, but inviting electronic composers to do remixes, sound interventions or works inspired in the different tracks of Gurrola's LP. I had already suggested this to Gurrola, and so he agreed and I invited 20 Mexican people to participate. It became sort of homage to this grate interdisciplinary artist, that sadly died recently, just after the CD was published. I present also here the works of these composers.

Sample: Nay Happiness

Juan José Gurrola | En busca del silencio Escorpión en ascendente

Ivan Naranjo is a sound arranger and composer from Morelia, Mexico. A fan of composers from Kevin Drumm to John Cage, Naranjo creates experimental compositions with a predilection for original sound textures.

Via The Hippodrome.

Published: Feb. 6th, 2008. Categorized: Auditory. Tagged: Experimental music, Mexico, Sound art

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