News stories from Wednesday 07 January, 2009

08:30 Möbius Architecture » Post from A Daily Dose of Architecture

As has previously been pointed out elsewhere, in the realm of large buildings resembling möbius strips, Peter Eisenman's design for Max Reinhardt Haus in Berlin, Germany came first:

[Max Reinhardt Haus model | image source]

Then came OMA's design for CCTV in Beijing, China:

[CCTV rendering | image source]

And now we have Oppenheim's design for Miami-Dade College's Wolfson Campus Center:

[MDC Wolfson Campus Center rendering | image source]

Formally, Oppenheim's design seems to merge the first two precedents, softening the abrupt angles of CCTV with bracing that resemble the torquing of the Max Reinhardt Haus, the most möbius-literal of the bunch. The last definitely reinforces the adage that architects don't invent, they creatively modify what came before. But if looping buildings will start popping up all over the place is probably a long shot, given the great expense and lack of expandability that such designs entail.

05:38 Ceslovas Cesnakevicius » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Digital works by Ceslovas Cesnakevicius.

via: Booooooooom / Cesnakevicius!

05:19 Scene 360’s Gigantic Anniversary Issue! » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

7 new features… Reviews and exclusive Interviews in the fields of art & design, music, film, and literature! Check it out.

Also, we partnered up with Go Media to offer an “Advanced Hoodie Design Package” with all-in-one hoodie design and mock-up tool. This package is useful to most illustration and graphic/fashion designers… Enter our give-away!

05:04 SOS Curbly Experts-Burst Pipe Dilemma » Post from Curbly Recent Posts

Does anyone have any good advice for a group of college guys renting a rowhouse in Georgetown who just returned to find a burst pipe had been flooding the basement living area (tile floors), and main level (drywall and hardwood damage) I just got this call from a relative of mine who said he couldn't get in touch with his landlord and was asking me (???) what he should do.

Does anyone know smart steps to take until landlady can handle this?

04:58 Fashion Photography by Vivien Balla » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Vivien Balla is a young fashion photographer from Budapest, Hungary. Check out her art and fashion portfolio on vivienballa.com

04:41 Amazing 3D house for Justice » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Architectural model and 3D rendering of a building based on french electro Justice symbol

03:47 Trompe L’oeil » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Swiss Trompe L’oeil artist Felice Varini, Dont be fooled by your first perception of this work. These are not photo rendered images, not Photoshoped, it is master craft! - More Info & pics HERE

via JeTeTrompeLoeilsurTrendLand

03:33 MTV Master » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

beautiful work from Cristian Jofre (Agency 16Times9). He is responsible for more than 100 channels worldwide, Jofre was Senior VP Marketing and Creative Director for MTV Networks International - More Info & Video here

Via cyanaTrendLand

03:26 Sexy Fashion by Henrik Purienne » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Lets start the new Year with some sexy photography by South African photographer Henrik Purienne - I like I like :) - More info & pics HERE

Via Trendlandlovefashionandsex

03:25 Classifications of Modern Poster Art » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Color posters these days vary so much in style and design that it is really hard to box any specific poster artwork within a certain concept or category. A lot of poster printing designs span from classical and vintage styles from past eras towards the ever widening styles of today’s post-modern color posters. Yes, basically people use past and present forms of poster printing designs today because most of these styles still work and gain attention. This also means that most artists today would always like to follow a wide variety of designs and styles rather than to conform to one specific style that others impose on them. Color posters today have designs that come from the realm of our own vibrant imaginations and are not just exclusive properties of a select few artists and masters anymore.

Now, varied and extensive as most designs may seem to be. Most poster designs nowadays can still be classified into a few loose categories. They may be classified according to the style or technique that has been used, or they may also be categorized by era. Below are a few major categories of color poster designs in which you may get inspiration from.

Vintage or Theme Posters
Vintage or theme color posters are identified by their basis on a historical art time frame. For example, you may know a poster theme from the 70s or 80s just because of the fonts used and the styles of the graphics. A vintage western poster is easily identified by its characteristic western font and drawings. Propaganda style war poster styles are also sometimes used today. They have their basis on the posters used during the two world wars. This kind of design is usually seen in movies set at a certain time period, or for events and other shows talking about or representing those eras.

Art Style Posters
Also, posters may be based on a certain art style that was popular in certain eras and locations. Examples of this are, “Art Nouveau” type posters, Art Deco, Futurism and “Constructivism” style poster designs. These designs are of course styles unto themselves. However, they are not as popularly used today and we have collected them in this category as specific art style posters. These styles are basically used to present posters representing their respective eras, or as parodies of them. You would see this poster design style used in movies, shows or events using the above mentioned themes.

Collage
The collage is a popular poster technique especially for movie posters. Collage designs are identified by their use of several images collected to form an artful tableau. This tableau can form a whole object or pattern in itself, or the jumble of images can be placed in a form of artful and orderly chaos. Movies in particular benefit from this kind of design style since it is possible to show several scenes within one poster.

Object
The object style design is very simple. Color posters with this kind of design style has a centerpiece object or person. Usually, that is the only image displayed by the poster. Advertisements usually have this style, showing an image of the product or service with a few supporting words. Movies use this to show a prominent actor or actress.

Minimalist
Less is more. That is the basic premise of a minimalist color poster design. These designs sometimes can be considered abstract, though a poster design can be minimalist and still not be abstract poster art. The characteristics of a minimalist poster design is the breakdown of design elements to bear components. An example of this would be the use of simple lines and shapes without adding shadow or shading effects. Usually there is a “bareness” to minimalist designs that are clean and elegant. This type of poster can be used almost in any field though it is most useful for events, shows and films.

Vectored or Filtered
With the advent of computer aided graphic design a lot of new effects and styles have been appearing in poster designs. Image editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Corel has influenced this kind of movement. Professionals and amateurs a like take advantage of the easy use of filters and special effects those kinds of software offer. For example, a lot of “vectored” designs have been appearing in poster designs where actual photographic images are filtered and converted to bare lines and block colors often arriving at a beautiful effect. Other designs have soft or blurry styles, ripple effects and other special filters.

Typographic
The typographic style, or the “International Typographic Style” was a popular poster design concept that started in the 1950’s and came to dominance around the 1970’s. To put it simply, it uses characters, or themed fonts as its centerpiece in design. Usually these characters have a prominent place in the poster space and would usually spell out the main theme or title of the poster.

Abstract
The rules these prevailing days sometimes state that anything and almost everything can be “abstract.” Most people probably abuse the term. But of course abstract art for color poster printing is one of the norms these days. Usually abstract art is characterized by the lack of realism and perspective in recreating actual reality. It focuses more on the emotion of an image, a kind of visual language. Hence the forms of abstract art usually looks unconventional and unique.

Those are the major styles in color poster design. Most custom posters however do use a combination of these styles to further improve their design. So don’t be afraid if you want to mix and match these elements. These classifications are just loose categories of a continuing and dynamic form of art.

02:31 What are you doing, if your bored and stuck at home freezin ? » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

… I take a pen and draw. Today its minus 20 degree outside and whatelse you can do beside watching stupid television series or just lay around and drink tea…
Maybe you like it, more relevant information at www.lephex.de, theres some other work. Its kind of weather inspired.

01:00 Favorite Books of 2008 » Post from A Daily Dose of Architecture

Here's a list of my dozen favorites from the 65 books I reviewed last year on my weekly and daily pages, in chronological order. Tomorrow I'll post my dozen favorite doses featured on these two sites last year.

The Evolution of 20th Century Architecture: A Synoptic Account
Kenneth Frampton

Designs on the Public: The Private Lives of New York's Public Spaces
Kristine F. Miller

Patent Constructions: New Architecture Made in Catalonia
Albert Ferré, Ricardo Devesa & Jaime Salazar

Hyperborder: The Contemporary U.S.–Mexico Border and Its Future
Fernando Romero/LAR

Blubberland: The Dangers of Happiness
Elizabeth Farrelly

The Endless City
Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic

Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes
Andrew Blauvelt

Lessons from Bernard Rudofsky: Life as a Voyage
Architekturzentrum Wien

Shift: SANAA and the New Museum
Joseph Grima & Karen Wong

The Architecture of Image: Existential Space in Cinema
Juhani Pallasmaa

After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan
Thomas Daniell

DBOOK: Density, Data, Diagrams, Dwellings
Javier Mozas & Aurora Fernandez Per

00:05 How to turn a wire hanger into a laptop stand. » Post from Curbly Recent Posts

All you need is a wire coat hanger and a few well-placed bends and you've got yourself an ergonomic laptop stand.

It starts with a small bend in the middle of the hanger's lower bar. Then, you fold each corner 30 to 45 degrees, about three inches up from the corners.

After that, it's just a matter of adjusting the bent corners to fit your laptop.

For more pictures of the entire process, check out this link.

00:04 Florence Doleac » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

In Kyrgyzstan, the bride´s mother sews a rug that has as many as possible crossing seams. Each intersection point will bring a lucky day to the couple´s life - this is what the tradition says.

Designer and artist Florence Doléac got inspired by this tradition and created „La Chaise mise à nu”.

more photos>>>

News stories from Tuesday 06 January, 2009

23:53 When Paint Color Matching Goes Wrong » Post from Curbly Recent Posts

Think that if you take a paint chip into your big box or hardware store they'll always match it correctly? Wrong. I found this out the hard way last week when I handed over a paint strip containing Benjamin Moore's lovely Silver Fox to the paint mixer dude at my local big box store, indicating the color I wanted. While she was doing the deed, I ran a few aisles over for spackle. When I returned, the mixed paint was ready. The paint-mixer person put a smudge of the newly-mixed Pittsburgh (Grand Distinction) paint on the Silver Fox portion of my paint strip and dried it with a blow drier. Under the ghastly lights overhead, it looked fine.

When I returned home and started painting, things went from 'fine' to what the 'f&%#?'. Since paint dries darker, I waited, cheering it on. Ultimately, I realized this was not the color I picked. It was much lighter; it had no depth. Did I indicate the wrong color? Since there was no such color represented on the strip, the answer to that question was 'no'.

I took the offending can of paint back to the retailer. What up? they asked. That's what I'd like to know, I answered. This is what I found out: Apparently, some paint manufacturers supply color mix ratios for the colors of other paint manufacturers. The paint mixer dude simply enters the brand and name of the color--in this case Benjamin Moore & Silver Fox--into their computer and out pops the secret formula. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh had the mix wrong and I wound up with too light paint. The retailer graciously offered to re-mix the paint for free. Of course, they entered the brand and name again, which produced the same mix ratios. I declined that recipe and asked that they color match the old optical way. This time the interpretation added much more black and a smidgen of red. Already, I felt better. They mixed with the new, non-Pittsburgh formula, and voila, a perfect match.

So, the moral of the story for me is never trust the supplied color formulas when it comes to color matching. The optical decipher-er deal has never let me down yet. And it didn’t this time either.

P.S. A note about Benjamin Moore versus Pittsburgh's Grand Distinction paints. The latter is about 10 bucks cheaper than the former and rivals it in quality.

23:16 Martini Asti - Taste The Elegance » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

New website for Martini Asti. Produced at Ars Thanea.

23:07 How to Turn an Old Cupboard Door into a Serving Tray » Post from Curbly Recent Posts

We've seen a similar technique involving a picture frame, but this cupboard door turned serving tray is equally superb.

To make one, you'll need:

an old cupboard door
black acrylic paint
black spray paint
white interior paint
4 machine screws
2 drawer pulls
4 felt pads
wood filler
sandpaper
newspaper
pencil and hi-polymer (white eraser)
screw driver
small paint brushes
ruler
painter's palette or paper plate

To see how to proceed, follow this jump. Also, if you don't have a steady artist's hand, a stencil would be a great option, and I'd consider covering the entire thing with a couple coats of polyurethane to protect all your hard work.

23:00 clic » Post from A Daily Dose of Architecture

Walking through SoHo yesterday I came across a new bookstore on Lafayette near Broome.

[outside Clic Bookstore | image source]

Clic Bookstore & Gallery is so far only the first part of its monicker; according to its web page, "another location is presently in the works to occupy 255 Centre Street, just around the corner from the [bookstore]. This 2000 square foot space will allow for large scale photography exhibits,...book-signings and special events."

Clic is reminiscent of Dashwood Books on Bond Street (across from that building), another small shop focused on photography.

[inside Clic Bookstore | image source]

Clic has been added to my list of NYC bookstores.

22:44 2009 Design Trends: Practical and Sensible » Post from Curbly Recent Posts

OUT!

Have you read what decorating trends need to go in 2009? Oversized chairs (o.k. I exaggerated above), granite countertops, stainless steel....

kitchens, zebra skin cubes?

The L.A. Times Home & Garden Roundup section has an interesting and comprehensive list of trends that deserve to be ditched ASAP, according to designers. Interestingly, the readers' comments suggest that the biggest trend of 2009 is not to worry about design trends, but to decorate your abode according to your own sense of style, taste and individuality. Most readers are on board with scaling back, reupholstering (Yay!) and exuding a little understatement.

OUT!

Obviously these lists are almost always written by designers and decorators who have repeated or seen these pat looks overdone. When it finally becomes a mainstream trend, they're understandably burnt out. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Design major myself, I just believe that everyone's house should reflect their uniqueness-you know what I mean.

Be sure to read the comments of the readers--real people who can't afford to switch out a look when it's no longer trendy.

OUT!

Via

22:41 Designed to move your feet » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

link

22:30 Mobile Phone Concert! » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Is a large-scale concert performance pruduced by Dialtones whose sounds are wholly produced through the carefully choreographed ringing of the audience’s own mobile phones…Crazy!!

More here!

22:23 Calendar Poster 2009 » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Calendar Poster 2009 on Behance and eBay

21:53 EMPRNT: Books for Design Enthusiasts » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

EMPRNT is a resource for designers who love design books and design related items.

It’s a joint project between two web designers (Jeff Mehlhoff & Dennis Eusebio) who ironically love printed design. Produced under Thought & Theory, this site serves as a platform for us to review books, promote new book releases, interview designers and geek out over cool bookshelves.

21:40 Time to Go to Work! - Joshua Budich » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

www.joshuabudich.com

21:39 Unboxed » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

1st Avenue Machine and Passion Pictures create new commecial for audi.
Watch the video! | Via: Fabrik Project |
Read the rest of Unboxed

21:23 HandMade Font. New release. » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

20:42 Edward Burtynsky - Australian Minescapes » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky defines ‘epic’ in images. His latest project covers the nickel pit mines of Western Australia. Amazing landscape shots. Is that Hugh and Nicole down there?

More here.

19:54 Flying Santa 2008 » Post from Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]
Santa Claus commits suicide with the help of some Lippitt activists.
More related information @ lippitt.de.