After waking up under the weather this morning it took me a little longer than usual to get into “design mode”. I decided to do a bit of lingering around the web before diving into a project that is in much need of some attention.
With the artist Feist as my current inspiration, I began researching album covers and gig posters. Silk-screen and letterpress designs have always seemed to grab my attention first. Their vibrant colours, and layers of inks on the page give the print an absolutely spectacular texture and hand-made feel, something that is certainly lacking in my current design wing.
In an effort to see more of these beautiful designs I began scrolling through numerous blogs and was surprised to come across a Canadian pair that did some excellent work. Andrew and Matt McCracken, a brother duo based out of Toronto, Ontario, are currently operating a design and illustration studio (Doublenaut) with some pretty neat clients. The two have managed to design posters for bands such as Billy Talent, Dave Mathews Band and Flight of the Concords. Myspace Canada, Warner Music Group and Wired are just a few of the other clients on their list.
Check out Andrew and Matt’s designs and illustration below, and definitely take note of their unbelievable talent to create visually pleasing geometric designs!
With school back in full swing again I found myself in a very common position. It is an action put forth only by myself, however it is one that I cannot help. Most of the time it will stay for only a few hours… but if I’m lucky enough it can last for a few days. It is the joy and stress of procrastination! So, with this lovely urge to delay absolutely all of my seven projects, I decided to watch movies and boy I’m glad I did.
I want to share with you today, a film that was brought to my attention by friend. This film is called Catfish. A very strange title I know… but trust me there is a meaning behind it. I have attached the trailer for you to view:
So as you can see, the main storyline of the film consists of Nev and his relationship with “the Facebook family”. Nev is a photographer who lives in New York City, and one day he received a painting of one of his photographs in the mail. The painting came from eight-year-old Abby in Ishpeming, Michigan. Nev continued to send Abby photos to paint and soon found himself intertwined within her virtual family. Through a series of events, Nev came to the conclusion that his “Facebook family” was not completely how he had perceived it to be. His friend Abby and mother Angela were indeed real people, however, they did not look the same and Abby was not a painter. Unfortunately, Abby’s mother Angela was the one doing all the paintings, and she was also the voice of the sixteen individuals from Nev’s so-called “Facebook family”, including Abby’s older sister Megan who Nev had a relationship with! Angela was able to construct an imaginary network of friends and family for Abby by stealing entire collections of user’s photos.
Social networking has become such a staple of today’s young society that Nev was able to have a relationship with a make-believe network of people for a total of nine months. Although many of us treat social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace as primary means of communication we have to remind ourselves that nothing compares to face time. We mustn’t dive too deep into the waters of uncertainty, or if we do lets hope they’re filled with Catfish.
Vince (Abby’s Father)
“They used to take cod from Alaska all the way to China and they used to keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the Codfish reached China the flesh was mush and tasteless. So, this guy came up with the idea that if you put the Cod in these big vats and put some Catfish in with them the Catfish would keep the Cod agile. There are those people who are Catfish in life, and they keep you on your toes, they keep you guessing, they keep you fresh, and I thank God for the catfish.”
Recently over the Christmas holiday I was relaxing in my favourite armchair sipping wine with my mom, while my dad and the two boys from next door played with Legos in front of the fireplace. I began to wonder about how the activities we engaged in, and the toys we played with as children, shape the people that we grow up to be.
I never really played with many toys as a child because they could never hold my attention long enough for me to be satisfied. There were, however, a few staple items that always remained. The toys that always seemed to keep my interest were Legos, crayons, and puzzles. Interestingly enough, all these items seem to have very similar traits, they are toys that require construction, or a sense of imagination. So the question becomes, was it these toys that lead me to an education in design?
Throughout my life I have continually asked myself if people thought and visualized the same way I did. For example, did they notice that the marble pattern in the wallpaper looked like a lamb? Or, did they see the small cat crossing the ditch while scanning the landscape along the highway? Did they too assign specific colours to the letters of the alphabet in their mind? After years of wonder I have come to the conclusion that this isn’t the way everyone thinks. At first I began to panic, why am I so weird? Why do I do this? Why can’t I just be like the rest of my friends?
After almost six years of an education in media and design I have come to terms with the way I think, visualize, and create. I no longer want to be “just like the rest of my friends,” I want to be completely different. So whether or not it was these toys that directed me toward an education design, I find myself in a place where I can put these characteristics to use. I can use these special ways of thinking and visualizing to create and communicate… how cool is that?
