this is my heart

Its quite coincidental, that (since I'm traveling and haven't been able to do much graphic work) I've started writing, and happen to have come across a great blog 'this is my heart. it is a good heart' thanks to my friend back in South Africa - Fathima.
The image (from love notes) also caught my attention seeing as I'm away from home at the moment. Hopefully I'll give my writings a graphic treatment and post them here soon. via Fathima

Light, angels & a short film concept

It's been quite difficult staying creatively active away from home, in a foreign county and totally out of the local creative culture loop. But recently I've been brooding over a number of projects. The above series of images was just a quick gap filler in my day full of applying for and getting no response from design agencies and recruiters in London.

The project I'm tossing backward and forward in my mind the most, is a short film project called 'The Runner', a short film about anxiety, frustration, and perseverance. At the moment I'm still working on the script, and looking for interested parties to collaborate with; you can see a vague outline of the idea on the Facebook group I created for organizing it.

White Winter Hymnal, Grandchildren

I can't really remember how I found the work of Grandchildren (Sean Pecknold), but I was asstonished at what I found. This stop motion music video, for the song 'White Winter Hymnal' by Fleet Foxes is utterly brilliant.
What I find so unbelievable and what only adds to the brilliance of the video is the fact that it took only 2 months to produce. Amazing.
Based on the music video, I went and got the albumn Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood, now if thats not the point of a good video, then I dont know what is. I've posted some stills from the video, but you can click on the images, or here; to view the video.

It's easy to see how Grandchildren produced such a brilliant video, when you look at his portfolio, awesome photography and good design. Well worth a perusing.

Melting Words by Kotama Bouabane

Melting Words, by Kotama Bouabane. As simple as they are, I love them. You can see Bouabane's portfolio at the link above.
[via Pan-Dan, Omami]

Im busy working on an upcoming exhibition I'm organizing with fellow members of The Empire Collective, called "Share and share alike", I'll post work in progress (as soon as I've progressed, hehe)

A one lady fashion catalogue

Ok. I'm not sure where to start, when I started my blog I had intended (or at least imagined) it to be full of graphic design (of the print variety), but as I sit here and contemplate my previous post trends, it would seem I'm far more interested in fashion that what I had thought. Thankfully not to the point of excluding all other disciplines of graphic/visual design. It's rather enlightening to see the things I've found visually appealing through the time I've been posting here. I blame Gary of SprayGlue for my subtle shift towards fashion.
Anyway. This post is actually about a miss Liebemarlene Vintage. I came across her Flickr page whilst browsing the net for fashion reference for work, and OMF is her sense style good. The pictures are awesome too. So far as i can gather (I'm not one for research), she buys her clothes at thrift/antique stores, then sells them on via Ebay.

[Coincidentally the sunglasses she's wearing remind me of my beautiful girlfriend]

Papercraft Trabant 601

This is what i got up to during my lunch-break on Friday last week. I found Perpenduum.com thanks to ffffound, and on his blog found his template for the above Trabant 601. Its surprising how realistic the photgraphic texturing make the very simply folded paper. but i suppose thats the theory/practice behind most 3D/CGI modeling and texturing. I quite liked it, so I took a pic to share. If you want the template, you can get it from Perpenduum.com

Tropical storm blew through my backyard.

Wow! You should have seen the tropical storm that rolled through Durban (South Africa) yesterday. It was amazing, we could see the clouds churning as we watched, it was surreal.
Then the wind, rain, and hail hit, and was gone within 20 minutes. weird weird weird.

Photos by: Marco Franchini (http://www.marcofranchini.co.za)

Cool Boots

Very cool boots, I wonder if there are guys versions. They're kinda halfway between wellingtons (Gumboots), and a pair of Allstar Hightops. Ali took the picture whilst at a photography class, and the photos are just about as cool as the boots.
via ali loves curtis

Datsun Blue

I love Datsuns. so when I found this picture, taken by Sandra of Smosh, I couldn't help but repost it, the composition is perfect (and blue). And it was while I was browsing her blog that I came across the link to the portfolio of photographer Christine Rudolph. Here's my favorite from her portfolio.

Jiten Ramlal photography

Here are some flipping great pictures of Holmes Brothers clothing, by photographer friend of mine Jiten Ramlal. Using local model Klaudia Dedekind. Some great pics. I'll link to his flickr page as soon as its up and running.

Finally my degree show is done and dusted (If you keen to see the 3rd and 4th year Graphic design exhibit, its on the 8th of November (Durban), let me know and I'll email you an invite)
So I can get back to blogging. Oh and thanks to everyone who wished me well/luck :)

Youngna Park Photography

Some flipping brilliant photography by New York based photographer Youngna Park, I particularly liked the images from her "street" category. I think its the urban/neutral feel that they have, coupled with the bright swatches of colour, makes for great photos.
via A cup of Jo. via Ali Loves Curtis although they liked a different pic, from the "light" category.

Flickr Finds

Image by Elif Sanem Karakoc.

Image by nancz.

Image by Elkie.

Image by 9x13.

All of the above images have just recently been added to my favorites on flickr.
Very very cool images, that I just had to share. Also I learnt for the first time what on earth a dyptich is (thanks to 9x13's pics).

Hard Edge? Fashion & Photography

Ok, first off I appologise for the vagueness of this post, but these guys (Sunday Workshop, unappreciated.scholar) are super busy, and I'll get all the proper info (maybe and interview, if I get a chance) when its possible.

Anyway, I came across their blog Sunday Workshop, and apart from the pictures being really cool (I couldn't believe most/if not all are from my home town Durban,RSA), but the fashion is also really cool. Its definitely more Haute Couture than fashion, "Hard Edge" as they put it, but cool none the less. As soon as i glean more info out of them, I'll post it.
I'm hoping they'll be interested in being featured as the fashion component in a magazine I'm working on at the moment (but thats still in the wings).


From a featurette on them in a local e-zine : www.thebeard.com

It Struck a cord.

I came across this image whilst browsing through flickr. And all I can say, is that it struck a cord. Photo by Violaceousdaisy

Sagmeister on Happiness

I was browsing the TED site the other day, looking for interesting talks by "famous" people on design, that related to my 4th year work, to include in my academic report. And I came across a talk by Stefan Sagmeister on Happiness, very cool, if a bit sentimental (but I suppose thats happiness). Anyway heres the link to the talk( Yes, design can make you happy ), its worth a look :)

Sky Type

The alphabet made from those photos of looking up at buildings. Not exactly a run-of-the-mill solution, I think its so cool. via Noisy Decent Graphics

More Mark Lanning Photography

These are some of my favorites from the portfolio of South African photographer Mark Lanning.
I may be a little bias on the first picture (the rural one) though, because it was a shoot I assisted on (that sign isn't stuck in the ground, I'm lying on the ground holding in in the right place. And I made the sign (prop design :D).
But I genuinely think the car picture is awesome I love it, plus I have an uncanny weakness for landscape (format) photography. Check out more of Mark Lannings pics at his portfolio site www.marklanning.com.

Tape Cassette Trend followup

Its seems that they are everywhere, we cant get away from them I noticed this book cover at The Book Design Review blog, and as cool as I think it is, I can't help but notice which "band-wagon" it comes off. After reading the artical at DesignBOOM about our current nostalgic fetish with Tape Cassettes, I couldn't stop noticing them everywhere. I particularly like the Hasbro Cassette tape Transformers, produced in 1984, I think they're wonderful, and have definitely stood the test of time.

Ice Lolly

"Water that floats freely and makes contact with minerals is able to regain its vitality and its crystal structure. This was the inspiration for Dutch designer Nienke Vording to develop a series products for water consumption." via Core77

Its a very "Nice" idea, not sure if it goes much beyond that though, I cant help thinking its a little contrived... although that sounds a bit too harsh. Whilst I applaud those people that drink natural water, I can hardly see how the "Ice-lolly" is making it more accessible or practical. But to be fair I'm not sure what the designer's original intention was (His website is in Dutch). It's a "Nice" idea, but not sure whether it's much more than that.

Lori Nix - Accidentally Kansas

"In Accidentally Kansas I offer viewers the terror of the terrain—found not in the image itself, but in their own imaginations. Through the mind's own processes of massification my Dixie Cup sized pieces of wood and miniatures become large and looming, such as a nuclear reactor meltdown, even if it's just for a couple of seconds."

A wonderful collection of work by Lori Nix mixing photography and model making. Pictured is an extract from the series ‘Accidentally Kansas’, which explores Nix’s memories of growing up in the state combined with her love of 1970’s disaster movies.