RockBlog

I recently noticed that Movies and TV shows are coming out with more typographic titles. Some are pretty cool and work well but others do not. At least they tried.

Recently noticed the tralier for the movie Pan's Labrynth, it looks very creative.

A Scanner Darkly was a cool film. The animation and graphics are completely fluid. Very cool to see

A Scanner Darkly. The movie is fantastic and I was amazed by the amount of work. It was filmed and then frame by frame drawn over by illustrators (each minute took 300 - 500 hours).

I have started to notice and understand current media ads more so than in the past. I have tried to understand why they did the things they have done and what typeface they have used. It is kid of fun when I can recognize different fonts.

Recently I have noticed the use of flat/dull colors and patterns coming back into style. Designs have begun to incorporate these hues and patterns very intensive. I noticed this alot in a sewing book I found at Barnes and Noble. The overall design of the book was this style and also the patterns of the sewing activities.

Charles Schwab commercials recently have been rotoscoped (animation over/made from actual footage)

(i saw it before amber!)

Print is dying, or at least drastically changing for the younger generations. Newspapers and other print media are moving on to the internet and consumers are much less likely to pick up the paper versions. I'm curious about how to keep print interesting, how print media such as magazines are evolving into monthly works of art, and how to create some kind of connection between paper print media and the information online.

I've noticed many new buildings using papyrus as their main font. ick

I recently noticed the 2005 San Francisco Indie Fest Film Festival handout poster. It is a popcorn bag that they used hand typography.

http://www.sfindie.com/indiefest05/

I just returned from Cancun, Mexico and for anyone who has been to the flea market in Cancun you know it's crazy. All of the shop owners try to get you to come into their shop by showing you something from their store. I was constantly shown the same t shirt with the powder puff girls on it. After the third shop of being shown this t shirt I realized that their impression of American girls was that we all liked powder puff girls.

I was watching a tv show on the G4 channel about all the new technology that is being released whether it is computers, televisions, sound systems, or games. It is something that is always there, but sometimes it can be a reality check.

I have noticed 60's mod screen printing/digital look imagery is coming back. i.e. MTV commercials, TLC commercials

Also, exotic themes and motifs are popular right now.

ICEBREAKER.
An outdoor clothing brand.
see what its like @: www.icebreaker.com or pick up the brochures at Duluth Pack in Canal Park.
I like the photos, and the way they display their clothing.

I recently noticed the HP commercials the have flooded the market recently around the holiday season. These commericals use a celebrity to promote all of the features that HP computers have to offer without acutually showing the celebrity's face. I thought this was a great way to highlight what HP was trying to sell using the celebrity testimonial as a backdrop.

Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlSGJGHJEpI

I picked up a book from Barnes and Nobles on teenage delinquency, a book reflecting on the evolution of teenagers over the 20th century from kleen teens to juvenile delinquents to the teenage rockstars. It has really neat graphics with magazines, movie posters, and books taken from different times of the century. A book showcasing the changing minds and styles of teenagers.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/ascannerdarkly/

I was recently at the apple store over break and noticed this ipod shuffle commercial playing on every screen in the place. The transitions were very interesting to me. They show how small and mobile the product is and suggest how everyone could use one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfywLP0rXxU

I noticed how department stores such as Target and Wal Mart are trying to be more sophisticated with "high design" low price merchandise.

His painting style is very layered and very graphic. His paintings are all very tightly rendered and appear to be digital works even though they are not.

I have also noticed that at 3st design studio (pronounced thirst) they also use alot of this hand made stuff, even if it is taking a typeface and streaching and manipulating it where it seems like it is hand made. They got alot of cool stuff on here.

http://www.3st.com/

i have recently noticed that a lot of designers are using older more delicate patterns specifically from the forties or fifties and are laying those patterns onto darker and more edgy type objects or fields. It gives it a new meaning and great contrast between light and dark, old and new, and so on.
http://pinupgirlclothing.com/heididress.html

Recently I have noticed that pop art is becoming a trend in clothing and television commercials. One example of clothing is the majority of the clothing that is sold at Urban Outfitters (mainly printed t-shirts). When dealing with television commercials ipod is a big one.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/jump.jsp?itemID=20&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=10&iSubCat=20&sort=0&viewall=All

"Vector Grunge"
Often layered with photography.

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-1141749.html

I have recently noticed that clothes have logos or designs in areas of the clothes that normaly would have nothing such as the picture that i found of a design is only on the one half of the zip up hoddie

i noticed that tattoos have become mainstream over the last few years. Tattoos aren't just for bikers and sailors anymore.

I recently noticed the intricate patterns that are being used inside jackets and vests. The designs tend to be nature based. An example is Columbia products. You can often see the design in the hood!

http://www.columbia.com/Product.aspx?top=2&p=3401&cat=210&viewAll=False

I have recently noticed a lot of layering and limited text in advertisements, especially alcohol ads. The URL http://www.bcpl.net/~ddavison/ads/smirnoff.html is a great example of what I've been noticing. They layer the bottle over a picture and then add text that says pure, and another word that connects the drink to the picture. The only other text in the ad is Smirnoff. Smirnoff isn't the only company layering or using limited text, but some of the other companies are only doing one of the other.

Diverse Illustration styles are seen more and more throughout the ad and clothing industries. I see many television commercials that are of people digitally illistrated. Check out Rachel Domm's website. She is a lifestyle illustrator with an edge, layering and adding unusual things to her designs. It's a very cool website and a great source for inspiration! http://www.rdomm.com/

Advertising is using weird, goofy humor. The Geico cavemen, the skittles beard, the skittles operatic bunny...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6nDyeV0i6w

The "crappy" art is now cool. What I mean by "crappy" art is the very simple, stick figures and almost child like drawing. One example that comes to mind is the winterfresh campaign. It's ment to be more comedic and speaks to a younger audience. If you'd like to see what i mean you can go to there website at www.winterfresh.com

I liked it. It's kind of fun!

I recently took up snowboarding and have spent a lot of time at Spirit, surfing the web looking at boards and gear, and going to the local shops in Duluth. I love seeing how a person's board, stickers they may have put on it, and sometimes even the jacket or hat they're wearing seems to reflect their personality. Not only the boards themselves but the advertising, websites and page layouts in catalogues are cutting edge and have a grafitti style almost unclassifiable.

Having a job at Cub Foods, I have noticed the style in which the grocery stores use to draw in people. The colors, and placement of items lure customers in and help guide them throughout the store. I find it fascinating how simple ideas such as the placement can capture the attention of an individual or let them know that that is not what they are after. Recently, there has been a remodel, and along with the fancy new signs decorating the above space, people now must look around more and in doing so take in the changes as well as find new items they might normally pass over (when the store was how they remembered it).

I often notice the ways that companies portray themselves. Recently I have noticed the holiday cups at Caribou Coffee. I found it very interesting the way they used different colors to identify different sizes. They also use a different shade of that color to make a subtle image that is much like the expressionist designs that are popular right now. But they have designed cup cozie things that bring all the line together. This makes there product very noticable in culture. They make people notice them. It is very intriguing.

I have recently noticed that bedding, especially college students, have more intricate design patterns. It's not your basic red and black checkerboard patterns anymore. There is style, color, design, and much more just where someone sleeps now. The Zumiez website has some great examples.

This winter I have noticed that snowboard jackets in particular have a lot of pattern and repitition. I have also noticed that the jackets have very vibrant colors that are accented by dull backround colors.

Over chrsitmas break, I saw the movie "Little Miss Sunshine", and I noticed that the filming is absolutely beautiful. I have a curious interest in film, and when I notice moving, documented, explicit photography, I really appreciate it. The colors and emotions and general composition in each scene were all very impressive. Which is something people don't really notice and/or look for in movies. The actors were great too, but the effort that was put into the "behind the scenes" with editing and all, I thought, had a much greater impact on myself, as a viewer.

I noticed some pretty intense use of Comic Sans. I was walking through the local high school over christmas break and noticed a huge banner just plastered with Comic Sans. After that I have been noticing how much it is used, when it really should not be.